Kentucky Conference: 2018
Table of Contents
The House of God
Address—Bob Thonney
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Umm, the Father's house.
Oh, bless the home the.
God.
Why all the good times?
Of God's way.
I love that hymn. How blessed the home.
The father's house and sometimes.
I ask myself, what is the Father's house? When we think of the Father's house, we think of heaven.
And what it means, I love to think of it just as this brother father's house is the place of the enjoyment of the father's love. There is one that occupies that place.
Of special affection from all eternity. So it says there, the Father's house, the Father's heart, all that the Son is given, made ours, the objects of his heart. So we're going to be introduced into that. But my desire this afternoon is to speak a bit about.
The House of God.
As it affects us right here and now, I think it's important and Scripture speaks quite a bit about it, you know?
We often speak about the church as the body of Christ, and that's a wonderfully beautiful subject as well.
But the church has different aspects, and as one of the aspects is the body of Christ, another aspect is that the church is the House of God.
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Here in this world right now, and I'd like to look at verses that deal with that and speak about its practical implications for it. Let's go, first of all, the First Corinthians chapter 3.
Where we have it presented.
Verse nine First Corinthians chapter 3. Verse nine For we are laborers together with God.
Ye are God's husbandry.
Ye are God's building. There it is.
We are God's building, brother Heinz read that verse in, uh, Psalm 27.
In the prayer meeting beautiful verse, David said one thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the House of the Lord forever. David had a special place of affection for the Lord and to dwell in his house forever. In Psalm 84 I think he says.
Blessed are they that dwell in thine house.
You know, at that time the revelation of God was not complete as we have it now in Christianity.
And David wanted to be in that house. He longed to be there.
But brother, we have a step better not only to be in that house, but we are that house right now. And I think it's important that we learn to enjoy that in our souls. And it's in the measure that you enjoy it that it will have the proper effect on your life practically as well.
So here Paul continues to say, let's just read a few more verses here verse 10 according to the grace of God, which is given unto me as a wise.
Master Builder, I have laid the foundation and another build that they're on, but let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. So here we have the house in the aspect that it is.
Men's work in man's building. Did you know that if you're a believer in the Lord Jesus, you are a builder? Don't look at the brethren that take part in the meeting and say they're the ones.
I really am not in that category. We all are and we're going to all be Val evaluated at the judgment seat of Christ. But the apostle Paul was the wise master builder. It was given to him, this truth as to the church as the House of God.
And he says other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ.
It is the foundation work. When you rest your souls on him, you become part of that house. Then it says verse 12 and here's the part that is for.
Our exercise, brethren. Now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every.
Man's work of what sort it is. So there's six types of material that it's mentioned here in these verse 12 gold, silver, precious stones, things that are valuable and things that are enduring. I'd have a hard time piling up much gold and silver and precious stones on this podium.
And all my life. But you know what?
If you take a match and put it to that material, it's going to stay there. It's not going to be affected by the fire. But notice the other three.
Wood Hay stubble You can fill this hole room with wood hay stubble in your lifetime. But you know what? If you put a match to it, what happens?
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Not too much later, it's gonna all be ashes, and here comes the wind and it's all gone.
What is our life going to be like at the judgment? Cedar Christ? That which has been done according to the light of His Word is what is going to remain. No, brethren, how we need to live our lives in view of that. I'm not talking to those who get up to speak the Word merely. I'm talking to everyone of you.
Our lives count now and notice.
Then it speaks about verse 13. Every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it. And here it's talking about the day of manifestation, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. Then we have three options. Verse 14.
Verse 15 and verse 17.
Verse 14 is a real believer whose work abides. If any man's work abide which he hath built, thereupon he shall receive a reward. Not only is your work still there, but on top of that you get a reward.
Is that worthwhile striving for? I say yes, it is. But there's another case in verse 15. If a man's work shall.
Be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved. Yet so as by fire. Here's a real believer.
And even though his work is lost, he's saved because his faith was in the Lord Jesus.
But.
Loss. Is there gonna be a sense of loss at the judgment seat? That's what it's saying. There will be and I'm not saying.
Brethren, that I won't suffer a lot. I'm sure there will be areas of my life where I will see that wasn't really what the Lord had in mind, and it's gonna be burned. I say I'm sorry about that. There will be a sense of loss.
Oh, may the Lord help us to evaluate things.
We have in the Old Testament an illustration of these two and Abraham and Lot both were men of faith. Although if you would read the story of Lot in the Old Testament, you would be hard pressed to believe that he was a real believer some of the things he did.
But Scripture tells us in the New Testament, he vexed his righteous soul from day-to-day. How do you have a righteous soul? Was because there was faith. There was that true faith in God.
But what did he end up with at the end of his life?
Oh brother, may the Lord help us not to be like Lot. He lost everything, even his testimony. Terrible end for that man Lot. And he's not mentioned again in scripture.
Well, he's mentioned in the New Testament, like we said, that may it not be that way. Now you have in verse 17 another case. If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. For the temple of God is holy. Which temple ye are. Here we have a worker who's not a true believer. He professes to be. He takes that position as being a worker.
But what he has done?
Has been a defilement to that temple, and not only is his work gone, he himself is destroyed. And of course that takes place not at the same time as the believers are evaluated, but it will take place.
Like to go over now to Ephesians chapter 2 because we have it there as well presented the.
House of God or the Household of God?
Chapter 2. And let's read from verse 19 of chapter 2. Now therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the Saints and of the household of God.
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Or you should say the House of God, the family of God. We are the family of God. It's our relationship when it's the body of Christ that's taken up the church.
As the body of Christ, it's our relationship with Christ as head. And there we're gonna will. We could see. We don't have time to do it this afternoon, but it takes up in the question of the church as the body of Christ, the gifts that Christ, the risen ascended head has given to the body down here for their profit and for their edification.
But here we have it. The church has the House of God.
And it's our relationship with God as Father to enjoy that, brethren. David longed for that down here, and many times he was far off because he wasn't.
Where the House of God and the earth was at that particular time.
And so he longed for it. But oh brethren, that we can enjoy that here and now. I challenge you. Do you enjoy the fact that you are part of the household of God and are built upon the foundation? And notice in First Corinthians chapter 3 it says Paul says I have laid the foundation because he was the one that went to Corinth and laid the foundation.
There in that city, but here it says our build upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone. Interesting that says the foundation of the apostles and prophets. And I think it's very important, brethren, that we have an understanding, you young people get an understanding of the New Testament epistles.
The writings of the Apostles and Prophets.
It's not only the apostles. You know, the two of the four Gospels, we have two, only two were written by apostles, the apostle Matthew and the apostle John. Mark was not an apostle, but he gave us Mark's Gospel and he's a prophet because he gave us the word of God. Luke is another one, something that Luke was a Gentile could have been.
But.
He was a prophet and he gave us two books of the New Testament that are extremely helpful, especially the book of the Acts as to the church and how it came into being and how it progressed in the times of the apostles.
So we're built upon the foundation. You know, when a person is building a building, he makes sure that he's doing it right over the foundation. It's important.
They have what they call a Plumb line. You're seeing a bricklayer uses the Plumb line to make sure that what he's building is right straight above the foundation. It's important because he gets off the foundation where there's not foundation, it won't last. And I say when we build, when we live our lives, when we do work for the Lord, make sure.
What you do?
Has foundation in the Scriptures the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself. He is the foundation in that in First Corinthians 3, but he is here referred to as the chief cornerstone.
And that is a little bit different facet of truth. You know, when we lived in Bolivia, in the city of Cochabamba, we, uh, bought a piece of ground and decided to build a hall on it. And when we build it there, there was big piles of stone on the property.
And so I said to the brethren, instead of buying bricks to build with, why don't we use these stones?
They're right there and there's a brother that is pretty good at building, and so that's what we did. But it's interesting. In one corner of what was to be the building, they put a large stone. It was called the cornerstone. It was the reference point in the whole building. How long was this building going to be?
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They measured from that stone.
How wide was it gonna be? They measured from that stone. How high was it going to be? They measured from that stone. All the measurements were made from that stone. And that's so important. It's not about us, brethren. Sometimes people think it is about us and they want to assert their own rights. I have my rights.
That does devastating.
Damage to the testimony of the church. When we insist on our rights, it's him that is the cornerstone. I remember the story of a brother.
There was some problems in some place and.
This brother came in, he was a brother that God had used largely, and one after another, one brother and another laid charges against him. And finally, at the end of all, when everybody else was quieted, another brother said, Uh, brother, what do you say about this? Don't you have anything to say?
You know what his answer was? She says. They haven't said anything wrong about the Lord Jesus. I really don't have anything to say.
He insisted that the reference point be not his person, but the person of the Lord Jesus. And that's the way it should be, brethren, in connection with this building. It's He that is the cornerstone. But notice verse 21 now.
In whom all the building fitly framed together, growth unto and holy temple in the Lord, That is what it's going to be.
In the future, sometimes this house is called a temple, sometimes it's called a building, and notice in verse 22, it's called a habitation. For in whom? In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit, the Spirit of God dwells in.
Us as believers in the Lord Jesus.
What is He here for? What is the purpose of His presence? Says very clearly in John 16 that He is here to guide us unto all truth. He's there to show us the Scriptures. And it's so important when we come together, brother, to let the Lord.
Guide us. Sometimes we think, oh, it has to be predetermined what we're going to do.
Well, if there is a brother that has a gift and a brother and see fit to give him a meeting, why I don't have a problem with that, but I say I must. I appreciate increasingly are there Latin brother in the South. And let me say to you this simply, I think I've said it here before that if you come to visit in Bolivia.
Or Argentina. I don't think you'll ever be ha asked to have a meeting.
They might say, well, since that brother has come to visit us, perhaps there's something he might have for us. So they announced a meeting. They don't ask you to have it. And I appreciate that because of times I'm accompanied with other brethren that also the Lord may say fit to use. And so that gives liberty for the Lord to use them as well.
Important thing is that the Spirit of God have liberty.
To use whom he will, you know, in many uh, areas of Christendom or what we call where, where the name of Christ is named.
In their public meetings, it's predetermined who is going to have the meeting and in the make sure that that's done with the Spirit of God has, uh, not been taken into account.
Sometimes the Spirit of God is hindered in opening the Scriptures like He would want us to do. So it's important to let the Spirit of God have liberty. That's why I enjoy so much, brethren, what we call our reading meetings. Scripture speaks in First Corinthians 14. Let the prophets speak to or three, and let the others.
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That's not judging people, but it's judging what is said. And so when we have our reading meetings, one or two or three for anything, give the sense of a certain, uh, amount of scriptures or certain number of verses perhaps. And perhaps there's another brother that can implement it more.
Sometimes there's need of correction and what is said and that gives liberty.
So that the truth of God is upheld. How important that is in our public meetings that the Spirit of God have liberty. Another thing that I have been impressed with, brethren, and the years I've been raised in amongst those gathered to the Lord's name, is that the Spirit of God gives testimony to the truth of God.
Remember hearing.
After a particular meeting.
As everybody was on their way out of the hall.
My sister said she was heard to say, you know, maybe it was me that the problem was with.
But I just didn't seem to get very much out of that meeting tonight.
Well, when it's the Spirit of God leading, the Spirit of God gives testimony to the truth of God. And if it's not according to the truth of God, there should be opportunity left to minister what is correct. And I've heard that done in reading meetings. I remember a reading meeting out in Walla Walla.
Years ago and a brother made.
A comment that was not correct as to the person of the Lord Jesus. I was surprised Brother Albert Hayhoe was there and he spoke right up and he corrected it. I don't know if everybody realized that it was a correction, but it was and that's what Scripture says. Because this is the place we are the Spirit of God.
Dwells in US, and His purpose is to open us.
To us the scriptures and the enjoyment of the person of the Lord Jesus. So here is what we are today in verse 22. We are build together for inhabitation of God through the Spirit. Brethren, I really don't think we lay hold on the import of these versus God the Holy Spirit.
Dwells in US.
You know Scripture exhorts us in Ephesians.
To be filled with the Spirit.
Thee not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.
You know, a person that's filled with wine, you know, and by the way he's walking around and the way he's talking to you can tell he's under the influence.
And it's the same when a person is filled with the Spirit of God. It's evident by the way he talks, by the way he walks.
So it's something to exercise our hearts. Scripture says be filled with the Spirit. Why am I not filled with the Spirit? Sometimes use the illustration, if I have a glass, I want to fill this glass with water.
But you know what? That glass is half full of dirt. Can I fill it with water the way it is? No, there's a problem. There's something impeding water to fill that I've got to empty that dirt out. And sometimes there's things in our lives that do not allow the Spirit of God to fill us.
Oh brother, And it's such a blessing to see.
The example of people who were filled with the spirit we have a number spoken of in the book of the Acts. One of the most notable perhaps, is Steven.
The first.
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Martyr for the Lord Jesus in the book of the Acts says he was filled a man full of the spirit, full of wisdom, full of power. You know, a person that's filled with the Spirit of God is not occupied with himself.
Not talking about himself. So in Chapter 7 when you have Stevens coming to his end there you're looking up into heaven. He's not working about the stones that they're thrown at him to kill him. Looking up into heaven, he says, I see heaven opened and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God, he was occupied with the Lord Jesus that's.
Characteristic of a person that's filled with the spirit Now let's go on to.
Another portion in umm.
Timothy.
Chapter 3.
Often we've heard and I think it is helpful.
To remember that when we read First Timothy, it is the House of God in its order.
How is it to be so? We have 6 chapters which give details as to our testimony as to the House of God in its order, because God's house is a kind of supporter.
Should there be anything else?
And so when you come to Second Timothy.
Does it talk about a house? Yes. What does it say?
In a great house.
Why does it say a House of God? Because there's so much that is out of order.
That the apostle Paul doesn't call it the House of God, he just says a great house. And we'll look at that in a minute. But let's look at first Timothy chapter three first. And we're going to read from verse 14, the last three verses of this chapter. These things right eye into thee. This is an individual.
Letter of Paul to Timothy, a young man.
Leaves things right under thee, hoping to come into thee shortly. But if I tarry long that thou mayest know how thou art us to behave thyself in the House of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Oh, that's beautiful.
The Church of the Living God is the House of God.
Is the pillar and ground of the truth. We have some pillars in this building. What is the purpose of these pillars Is to uphold the roof in this building?
And what is it that the House of God is to uphold?
Is the truth the pillar and ground of the truth?
The precious word of God, the Lord Jesus said.
Sanctify them by thy truth. Thy word is truth.
The Lord Jesus also said.
I am the way, the truth. And so when we talk about the truth in its absoluteness, and I think this is important to understand, we're talking about God's Word and the person of the Lord Jesus.
Absolutely, that is the truth.
Can you speak about truth when you look at me?
I hope so, but I ask you not to look at me very clearly closely, because you're gonna see some faults. And so you might say the truth is here. Subjectively, yes, I should be a manifestation of the truth, but sometimes it's not so. But let's be careful, brethren, when we speak about the truth, not to make ourselves a reference point. It's Christ, and it's His Word that is the truth.
Objectively and absolutely. Oh, how important it is to understand it when I say that it's that beyond which there is no appeal. It is the final word of the truth. Sometimes I see brethren speaking about the truth, but it they leave the impression that we are the truth.
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Brother, let's be careful not to do that because.
That is lot brought a lot of dishonor in the Lord's name sometimes. So the Lord help us, the Lord, the assembly or the church, the House of God, which is the Church of the living God, is the pillar and ground of the truth. You'll remember, brother.
Uh, Eric Smith speaking about this chapter, he said the Assembly is not the truth.
The assembly is the pillar and ground of the truth. It is that which upholds Yahweh. We've already spoken about how, When?
In a reading meeting, the truth is being ministered and perhaps some brother doesn't minister it real clearly that there are others who can come in and help to clarify it so that the truth is upheld. How important that is. That's what God's purpose is for the church as the House of God.
One other detail here in verse 15.
He speaks about behavior. Behavior is important in the church as the House of God, and when there is not the proper behavior, there is what we sometimes speak of as discipline. When I use that word discipline, I want to be careful how that is understood because sometimes people think.
That what we're talking about in discipline.
Is, uh, correction of what may be wrong that may be included, but that word discipline really comes from the same root word as disciple. Disciple is a follower and a learner, and that's the thought in discipline is to train.
Not only to teach, but to show.
The Lord Jesus had 12 disciples. They followed him. They saw not only what they heard, not only what he taught, but they saw what He did. And that's so important. Sometimes I believe, brethren, that new believers are not discipled and they need help in getting a groundwork of where we stand. Where are the foundations?
I think it's so beautiful to understand that brother, and you know how important.
Foundations are.
Some time ago, after 911, I had the opportunity to go with my two boys to.
Uh, Ground Zero, I guess they call it. And at that time they had removed all the rubble.
And we went in there and we stood on the edge and there was a huge hole. They were gonna start building the building that is I believe now complete there because I've not come back since. But but it impressed me. It was about 5 stories deep that hole. And from there they were going on down in.
To lay the foundation work, How important foundations are, you know?
Foundations are not visible. Can anybody show me the foundations of this school? Sorry, they're below the ground, but they are so very important. You know, in the Old Testament when?
The temple was destroyed. Solomon's temple was destroyed. They broke up the foundation work.
Wasn't left so when there was a restoration in the time of Ezra.
They came back and they relayed the foundation.
You know, when we come over to the New Testament, brethren, there's been a lot of ruin because of what man has interjected into the circle of the testimony of the Lord Jesus and the truth of God.
But what is such an encouragement to me is that word in Second Timothy chapter 2. Thus foundation of God stands firm. It was never broken up.
Even though there's a lot of ruin in the Christian testimony today, the the foundation stands firm. You know, sometimes you have to dig down through the rubble of your own thoughts, but there it is. The foundation is there. I find that such a consolation even in today's world where there's so much confusion in religious circles.
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The foundation there, yes.
It is and it will never be broken up. We can go back to the foundation work and we can build on the foundation. How important that is. Now look at verse 16 in this chapter. I find it very interesting without controversy. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
Justified in the spirit scene of angels preached unto the Gentiles.
Believed on in the world, received up into glory.
6 phrases.
There.
And I suppose we could say that when the Lord Jesus was here in this world, the mystery of godliness was seen in his glorious person.
The Lord Jesus is not here in this world at the present time, not visibly.
Is there a manifestation of the mystery of godliness?
In the measure that we walk according to the principles of the Word of God, the mystery of godliness is seen in the church as the House of God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And so, just to go over those six little phrases, God was manifest in the flesh.
You go to 1St Corinthians chapter 14, it says if someone unlearned.
Believer come in he is convicted of all if they're if we prophecy he's convicted of all and he will fall down and confess God is in you of the truth. In that sense, God is manifest in our pres in our midst, justified in the spirit, because the Spirit of God is the one who presses.
Home the message.
Remember the story of a man who came to a gospel meeting?
And our brother got up and preached from Romans chapter one.
And if you remember, Romans chapter one talks about a lot of shameful sins committed by the Gentile world.
He got up. That man got up after the meeting and stomped out quite annoyed.
How dare he talk about my secret sins in public. He didn't know anything about that man, but it was the Spirit of God who gave testimony as to where he was.
Scene of angels. We're not only a testimony to the world around, we're testimony to angels. Those principalities and powers in heavenly places learn in the church the manifold wisdom of God. Isn't that amazingly wonderful? That's why our sisters have head coverings on because of the angels they're watching. It's not only when we are here together in public meetings.
The scripture says whenever you pray or prophecy, the woman is to have her head covered because of the angels.
It really has bothered me sometimes I've been in public places where I see those who profess to be believers. I'm talking about men who leave their hat on when they're praying. I don't understand it, but they don't understand this part, that we are testimony to angels and as soon as it's in reference to God that we're speaking or to God.
And the man is to uncover his head. A woman is to cover her head.
Sometimes a big point is made that the woman's hair is her covering. It's two different words in that chapter, First Corinthians Chapter 11. It's not the same word. You don't take your hair off when you're done praying. No, it's speaking about something different, speaking about something you put on when you pray or prophecy. Then it says preached unto the Gentiles and when the testimony is proper.
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There is a, uh, a blessing amongst the unbelievers believed on in the world. And then the last one is received up, and it should be.
In Glory.
You know, in the case of the Lord Jesus, he was received up before he was believed on in the world. So it's not really primarily talking about the Lord Jesus here. It's primarily talking about the church as the House of God when it goes on in its proper order. Want to say a few words to in the beginning of this chapter we have the.
Bishops.
Spoken about in verse.
Eight forward we have the deacons. The Bishop is the same as an overseer or sometimes referred to in Scripture as an elder. If you look carefully at the book of the Acts, they were named by the apostles and in connection with.
Titus. Titus was an Apostolic delegate.
And Paul told him to appoint elders in every church in the Isle of Crete, and I suppose he did. But beyond that, we don't have in any place in Scripture that we have the ability or the authority to name elders. This is something that is commonly done in Christian circles, but I think it is important to see that it is not scriptural to name.
Elders.
What it does say here in verse one, this is a true saying if a man desire the office of a Bishop.
He desires a good work and then it gives the qualifications for a vision.
When you look down that list, they're not a whole lot of us that can fulfill that list.
No. In Bolivia, in the high Alta Plano, a brother came to me one time and said brother.
I'm afraid I can't fulfill the requisites that are mentioned in First Timothy Three. I really would enjoy trying to be a help to the Lord's people, but I'm afraid I don't qualify.
So I had him read verse one. This is a true saying, if a man desire the work of a Bishop, he desires a good work. So I said to him, rather you may not qualify.
Of all the requisites. But do you have that desire? He says. Yes, I do.
Know that you desire a good work, do what you can. We're not gonna be telling you're an elder, but you desire a good work. Do what you can. And I think that's what has to be recognized in today's world, brethren, that, that, uh, we don't qualify very much, very many. There might be a few.
But then we come down to verse 8 and we have the deacons. That word is a minister.
A servant.
And we have the record in Acts chapter six of the first deacons that were named. And it's interesting, one of them we've already talked about was Steven. So in the House of God, brethren, there's order.
In connection with the spiritual needs of God's people, there are those who are the elders. We don't name them, but we might recognize them as those that carry the testimony. And you younger people, if sometimes they come up to speak a word of correction, take it.
I remember when I was young, I've gotten up to speak in a particular meeting.
And maybe the Lord saw there. There was a bit of pride as I got done with my message. My brother walked up to me afterwards and said.
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Did you say such and such in the meeting?
Yes, that's what I said.
Well, if that's what you said, you better go at home and get out of your knees and ask the Lord what it means, because you're really mistaken.
Let me tell you, I was human inside. I didn't say anything to him, but I did go home and I felt so uncomfortable. I did get down on my knees.
And the Lord said, showed me, Bob, if what you said was right, why were you human? You could have just left it. The Lord showed me that, yes, there was some pride inside.
And he brought that to light through that brother. So listen to your brother. And I don't say that your brethren are always right, but learn to listen to them. They have responsibility when they see a young person that is maybe going in the wrong direction.
To say a word, to be a help in season, oh, how important that is. So there's help in connection with spiritual matters.
There's help as well in connection with material matters and that's what we have in the deacons, those that were involved in the daily ministry, in the handling of the collection and how it's distributed. There are those that should take responsibility in a responsible way, in that way. And let me just say that all times when assembly is small.
There's not very many.
But it speaks of the deacons in the plural, and so there should be at least two, because in the mouth of two or three witnesses is every word established. Now before we get to the end of our time, I'd like to go over to Hebrews chapter 3 because we have there's some more about the House of God.
Hebrews chapter 3 and verse one. Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Jesus Christ Jesus. Interesting.
Go to chapter one. Most of Paul's epistles start Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ. It's not there in chapter one of Hebrews. Why not? Because the apostle in Hebrews is Christ Jesus. He is the apostle and high priest of Our Calling, of our profession.
Perhaps we can say that in chapter one we have him as the Apostle, in chapter 2 we have him as the High Priest.
Who was faithful to him that appointed him? As also Moses was faithful in all his house, not Moses house, but the House of God. For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, in as much as he who hath builded the house hath more honor than the house. For every house is builded by some man, but he that built all things is God.
And Moses, verily, was faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken after. But Christ as a son over his own house, whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of hope, firm until the end?
So Christ is the Son over his own house.
In today's world, brethren, and later on in this book, in chapter 12, we find that.
That there is discipline in the House of God.
There is discipline. There's a discipline that God has with all his people, says if you didn't receive discipline, it might mean that you are not truly one of God's people.
But he disciplines, and we all participated in that sense of the word. We're all under discipline.
He loves us too much to let us go our own way. You know what I find, brethren? That children that are raised sometimes in homes that are just recently saved. The parents I know love those children, but they don't discipline them. You know what? Those children are very insecure because they don't know where the line is. They go across that line.
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We need discipline and I thank God that I have someone.
Who is always faithful? Am I always faithful? Was Moses always faithful? Moses was faithful, it says, in God's house as a servant. But the Lord Jesus is faithful, always faithful in his house as a son over his own house. And I know that he's not going to let me get out of line without speaking to me in one way or another.
Oh, brother, and he's speaking to us.
It's evident. I think he must be getting this ready to go home to the Father's house in heaven.
That's why he's allowing so many trials. And it's not merely that there's a fault in that particular person that's suffering that trial. No, not necessarily, because sometimes trials are allowed to.
Uh, prevent further problems. Paul was given a thorn in the flesh. We don't know exactly what it was.
So that he wouldn't be exalted.
Why did possible Paul need? Did he do something wrong? No, it wasn't that he did anything wrong.
But it was to prevent him doing something wrong. And we don't see that. The Lord sees that, and He allows things in our lives. But to realize it's Him. Brethren, I must say the Lord in my past allowed me to pass through a trial that was extremely difficult at that time, as before I was married.
And I was in a stoo.
I couldn't figure out why when I wanted to please the Lord. Why did the Lord allow that on top of all the rest?
And a brother came up to me and said brother.
Everything in the Christian's life comes directly from the throne above.
You know, it hit me just like a sledgehammer. Lord, you have something to say to me. I don't understand it, but here I am. I hope I'm listening.
And brother, and thank God, we have one who is always faithful because he's a son over his own house. What a wonderful thing to be part of the household of God.
Seven Churches Revelation 2:1-11
Reading
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I'd like to suggest, brethren, that perhaps we might consider taking up Revelation chapter two and three, the seven addresses to the churches that the Lord Jesus addressed to his Saints. And we only have three reading meetings, so maybe.
Two of those.
Assembly addresses this reading meeting maybe 2:00 tomorrow and maybe three on the last.
Via.
A little difficult, but we live my exercise and suggesting it is there's a little expression that's used in verse seven, chapter 2 verse seven. He did half an ear. Let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches.
And that's good to be here to the Word, but doers of it all as well. And we live right at the end of the church period. We're living at the end. We're witnessing the.
We're not at the beginning of the collapse of Western society. We're right at the end, just before Western society collapses and is judged of God. And we need to have a true sense of where we are in the Christian testimony. And so maybe this passage would be a help to understand those things.
So perhaps we could read chapter 2 if there's the desire to proceed with that passage.
Galatians, chapter 2.
Unto the Angel of the Church of Ephesus these things, saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil. And thou has tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and has found them liars, and as born, and as patients, and for my namesake has labored.
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And has not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the 1St works, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy Candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches.
To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.
And unto the Angel of the Church in Smyrna write these things, saith the 1St and the last, which was dead and is alive. I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, but thou art rich. And I know the blasphemy of them, which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried.
And you shall have tribulation 10 days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
And to the Angel of the Church in Pergamus right these things, saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges.
I know thy works and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is. Thou hast holdest fast my name, and has not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth.
But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Valen, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also sent them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate? Repent, or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it.
And unto the Angel of the Church in Thyatira write these things, saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire, and his feet are like fine brass. I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works, and the last to be more than the first. Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou has suffered that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess.
To teach and to seduce my servants, to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. I gave her space to repent of her fornication, and she repented not.
Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death. And all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts. And I will give unto everyone of you according to your works. But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak, I will put upon you none other burden but that which you have already.
Hold fast till I come. He that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end. To him will I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of a Potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I received of my father, and I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
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The Book of Revelation is the only book of prophecy that's given to the church. All of the other books of prophecy in the Old Testament were written to Israel and for Israel. And we can use those scriptures. We can apply them to our needs and to our situations often times, And we know that they speak of the sufferings of Christ and they present the glories that should follow. But those scriptures were written to the Jews.
They were written to Israel as a nation and to present their Messiah, and they ought to have identified him, being able to, uh, recognize him when he came because of those Old Testament Scriptures. But the last book of our Bible is the only prophetic book that is given to the church. And it's written in a very orderly fashion. And we know that the 1St chapter, it's a book of the judgment largely, but it presents the glories of Christ at the end.
And the supreme blessing of the church at the end of it all, the church is going to be seen with Christ in the glory and that glorious scene at his side in perfect subjection to him and reflecting the glory of Christ. And so we're on the winning side, you might say in that connection. But in chapter one we have, if it's a book of judgment, we have the judge presented. He's introduced in all of his judicial glories, he's produced, he's introduced.
He's the one that is the subject of prophecy and he's the one that is the that in all things, as we read on the card, that in all things he might have the preeminence. And so in chapter 2 and 3, then you have the church on earth and there's a sequential history that the Spirit of God brings before us. The Lord Jesus speaks of it. And those seven churches, those seven assemblies were in a line. You could trace them on a map. And you go north, you go from Ephesus north.
And then those first three, and then you'd start to go down, down. And the last one would be Laodicea. And so in a very sequential, orderly fashion, the Spirit of God presents to us the truth that Peter speaks of. Judgment must begin at the House of God. And so every one of these assemblies, they had something that the Lord was addressing, and he addresses the oversight in the assembly. So those that were bishops.
Umm, it's, uh, the same word, Bishop or overseer. He's a shepherd and he's one that's, uh, raised up of God in oversight in the assembly. And the God holds that one responsible or those ones responsible in the assembly for how it goes on. And so he dresses these things to the Angel or to the ones that are in oversight might just say to his introductory that these verses of scripture, these chapters are written in a symbolic style.
God has written, uh, some of the books of the Bible are historical, first and second Samuel, 1St and 2nd Kings, first, second chronicles, but this book is written in a symbolic style and, uh, he uses the same symbols in the Book of Revelation as he used the spirit of God used in the Old Testament. And so if we know what those symbols mean in the Old Testament, then we can understand the New Testament. So let's not be, uh, afraid of reading this, uh, book. There's a blessing associated with reading it.
And let's just read that in chapter one and verse three, it says, blessed is he that readeth, and that here they that hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written therein for the time is at hand. And so there's a blessing for us if we read it. It's written, as I say, in a very orderly fashion. And so as we read it, we can understand the divisions in the book.
Then we'll be able to appreciate what the Spirit of God was trying to communicate to the church.
I didn't know it was written to the Angel of each church like you say, the representative or the responsible ones? I sometimes say who is responsible in your home assembly?
Uh, there are those who are more responsible, but we all are responsible. And so it's interesting how it ends up in verse seven. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches. So it's addressed to us all, isn't it? And there's that for us all, the profit by.
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Address to each of the churches begins with I know thy works. What is the significance of that?
Go ahead, Brother John.
I I'm.
It's interesting that God in in the end of Revelation 19 it says of the wicked that they're judged every man according to his works.
Because that's the bottom line.
Not our profession, but what we actually do.
The Second Chronicles Chapter 7. Umm, in connection with that question, Brother John, it's, uh, Second Chronicles 7 and verse UH-16.
For now, have I chosen and sanctified this house that my name may be there forever?
And mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.
Now I have thought of every one of us comes perhaps from a different assembly and there's different challenges in every assembly. And the Lord allows those trials to come in those testings of our faith. And, uh, but it says there specifically in chronicles that mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually until the Lord, his heart is taken up with his people and he addresses these, uh.
Saints in these different churches, because His heart was there, He loved them deeply, and it cost him his life to make Him their own. He it says that we're redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. What a price was paid to make us His own, and then to form us into a church. Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with washing the water by the Word, that he might present it to himself. A glorious church, not having spot or wrinkles for any such thing.
And so the Lord is forming a church, and it says in Hebrews chapter 12 That whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. And so he's working with each one of us individually, that there might be fruit for himself. And He's training us. He's conforming us into the image of Christ. But he knew the works. He knew what was done for his own glory. He knew what was done in disobedience to His word. And His heart was such that he loved his people, and he sought to correct those things that were.
In disorder. So this first church, it's Ephesus means amiable or desirable, and the Lord loves the church. He desires the church.
He's going to see the fruit of the travail of his soul. He'll be satisfied when he sees you and I in that heavenly scene. You're going to be satisfied, Desirable. But there were some things here that were going on. The works were there, but the heart wasn't in it. The affections, the best love. And I think the word could be translated the best love instead of the first love, the best love, the very freshest.
Expression of affection for Christ had begun to wine and wane in the uh Church, and I believe this is just after the uh, the period is just after the Apostolic age. And so this is someone referred to it as the Second Epistle to the Ephesians, and it was written by the Lord himself. The heart was taken up with something else. The heart was distracted and the Lord was seeking to recall those Saints to Himself.
Robert that, uh, in the seven churches.
Is introduced with a characteristic of something that's mentioned in chapter one. Every one of them.
And when we look at it in chapter one, it's evidently like you say, it's a book of judgment.
Uh, John had known the Lord Jesus in life down here as the meek and lowly one, and now he sees them in a different character in a JA as a judge. And as such, he falls at his feet is dead. This is something that he had not known before. That's why it's called the revelation of Jesus Christ, because this is the way he will be made known in that coming day.
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And it's, uh, wonderful, interesting that these characteristics that he's gonna take in the judgment of the world right now he's walking in the midst of the seven assemblies. What is he doing?
He's judging, he's observing, and like you say, here in Ephesus, he sees.
There's works.
But the heart is gone. They doesn't say they lost their first love. They left it.
Something more serious, really.
Thessalonians, Chapter one.
Interesting how it speaks of the Thessalonian believers.
Uh, chapter one it says.
In verse 3, remembering without ceasing your work of faith and labor of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now you look at verse two of our chapter. I know thy works. It doesn't say work of faith.
And thy labour, but it doesn't say labor of love.
And thy patience, but it doesn't say patience of hope. Why is that? Because.
The object.
They lost sight of the object, the Lord Jesus.
That left their first love so.
It's the only Church of the Seven.
Where he threatens to remove the Candlestick.
You're not amazing.
Why is that, Brother Bill?
The Lord will take us, isn't it and this is the beginning of the decline, isn't it of the whole prophetic history here is leaving the heart of leaving in heart the Lord and to say what you said there were says nevertheless, I have somewhat we notice in our King James that's italicized. It's inserted to put somewhat in there. It minimizes it, but it was a very serious thing. I have against it because I was left. I first love Christ the first love no longer has his place in the assembly and it is a.
A warning to us, isn't it? Because we see this assembly was vigorous and dealing with evil and prosecuting what was wrong, but with all that side, the Lord Jesus did not have the preeminent place among them.
That in all of our lives is the lack of affection for Christ and the lack of belief in the goodness of God, the goodness in the heart of God. And so this I sometimes wondered if the contrast, you know, it says, I think it's in Luke chapter 15, maybe verse 22 it says it speaks of.
Bring forth the best role and put it on him. And so the Lord has given us the best robe, the robe of righteousness.
We're cleansed with the precious blood of Christ. God hath made him to be sin for us. Who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. We couldn't be better clothed. We're sons, we're heirs of God, joint heirs with Christ. He's given the best. God gave his best, the best of heaven, Christ himself. And he gave us the best robe. But now he wants the best of our lives, the 1St place.
Not the last place, not the leftovers, His real desires. We read these passages of Scripture. I trust that it will have an effect upon us that the Lord valued having the first place in that assembly. He valued the affections that they had for Him they had been saved out of.
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A wicked.
Circumstances we might turn. I think it's chapter umm in the book of the Acts.
If we turn, we'll see what kind of a a place it was that they were saved out of.
I think it's chapter, uh.
19 of acts.
And umm, maybe just to get a little bit of a connection, uh, we'll read verse 15, Acts 19, verse 15. The evil spirit answered and said, Jesus, I know all I know, but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was, was leaped on them, overcame them, prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And that this was known unto all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling.
At emphasis and fear fell on them all. In the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. Many believe that, and many that believe came and confessed and showed their deeds, and many of them also which used curious arts or the occult.
Brought their books together and burned them before all men, and they counted the price of them and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed so that it was a place that was, I believe it was the capital city of Asia Minor.
It was, umm, you might say, the heart of the enemy territory. It was the place of place of moral and spiritual darkness. And the Spirit of God said, light, let there be light. And Paul was sent into that place, and he preached Christ, and there was great light. And so they had left all of that darkness, and like the Thessalonians, had turned to God from idols to serve the living and the true God and to wait for his Son from heaven.
But now a little time had passed. Now the Apostolic age was over and now I believe it was from the Apostolic age until about 8167, something like that. So the first Church, this is representative that period of time and there was a decline. The affections had begun to grow cold. And our hearts, can't we just say it that after the recovery of the truth, we read some of the old ministry, we wonder if the devotion of the heart of those Saints of God.
Mr. Darby and, and Mr. Kelly and all others, we read their ministry, Mr. Wigram, uh, Mr. Ballet and we, we think what men of God, what affection they had for Christ. And we look at our own lives and we say we don't have that same affection. And there are things that have come in and distracted us and we're not willing to follow the Lord with purpose of heart and cleave to him in the day that we live in. We'd rather have something else.
And so the Spirit of God records this so that we can learn that these instructions. The Lord desired to have their hearts affections. And if you didn't have their hearts affections, He didn't have what he wanted.
And he didn't want, he didn't need service. He didn't want service. If he wanted more servants, he'd make more angels. He didn't need their money. He didn't need, he wanted their heart's affections. And I think this is really the point in connection with this first church. And so he said, remember therefore, from whence thou art fallen and repent.
Rethink this, turn around in the thinking and do the 1St works or else I will come under the shouldn't quickly. Shouldn't be in there. I will come into the.
And we'll remove like Candlestick out of this place, except thou repent. So we know that there isn't an assembly in Ephesus. It's a part of the Turkish Empire. And, uh, there's no assembly there and it's taken up with the Muslim, the religion. And so the Lord has had to act upon this in his governmental ways. And may the Lord give us grace to search our own hearts and that our affections might be stirred towards the Lord Jesus.
In these last days that we might not give him the leftovers, that we might give him the 1St place.
Yeah, invitations again, there's the says he that happened here. That means to take it personally. If I we talk, we talk about emphasis being fallen. The Lord uses that expression.
Do you ever look yourself on the nearest side I'm falling. We use that about when he described a person who has fallen. We we think of that person is really, uh, failed badly. And God says the Lord says this of the church. They're fallen. What was the problem there? Yes, they left their first love, but the fact is that when we cease to enjoy the Lord Jesus.
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We misrepresent him as well, and the the Saints and emphasis were very active, but they were actively misrepresenting the Lord. And that's why he was talking about taking away the Candlestick, because when we're out of communion, when we have lost our affection for Christ, we cannot properly speak or act for Him.
It's interesting that.
Five of the seven churches he uses that word repent. Sometimes we think that's the word we use in the gospel. That's true.
Medou we as Christians have to repent?
Tell me about it, brother.
Chapter 22.
And uh.
Verse 31 and 32.
Luke 22 verse 31 The Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has desired to have you that he may sift you as we but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. And when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And so his heart was turned away from the Lord in pride. He thought I can do this. All the other disciples were going to fail, but I can do this and he failed. He denied the Lord and there was deeper sentence, but uh, repentance to speaks of.
Self judgment. We all need to exercise self judgment on a daily basis. We all sin and we all have thoughts. They're wrong thoughts and so we need to repent. But here the whole assembly was responsible. He's calling to those that were in oversight, but they were responsible for the state of the assembly. And if they were in a bad state, then the rest of the assembly would be in a bad state. And so they were responsible, he says to them particularly to repent.
And so.
We all need to repent.
For that, repent means to rethink.
And it says here and do the 1St works.
Rather than there's things that are connected with first love.
Taking time to cultivate fellowship with the Lord Jesus and I find what is a real killer is the lack of time we take to read the scriptures I'm talking about individually.
And so I want to encourage young people to get into the word. Seriously, get into it. Take time. Set time aside. If you don't have enough time, make some time. Get up earlier in the morning, whatever it takes. That takes time.
Sometimes, say my wife and I.
What would happen, what would you say, if you came to our house and saw that? She talked to me every once in a while, but I really never paid much attention. Once in a while I give her a short, brief answer.
Did you say that's a good situation?
I think you shake your hand, your head and say something's not quite right there, and you'd be right.
Brethren, the Lord is with us. He's in our midst, and he's walking in the midst, and He's observing and He sees this. So occupied with our business, our houses, our cars. Nothing wrong with them in themselves, but we don't have time.
To listen specifically to him, to read His word, to pray as well. Brethren, take time to pray. Always was impressed with.
A statement that I heard that Martin Luther made, he said I have so much work to do every day. I dare not take any less than three hours to pray.
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Brother, no wonder God used that man.
Why is it that we don't have time? We rush out of the house and say a prayer and we're rushing out.
Let's take time to read the Word and to pray. Those are part of the 1St works, don't you think?
Yes, there's a word before a pen, and that's remember. I was singing back in the second chapter of Jeremiah We're called upon to remember, but.
This draws our attention to the fact that the Lord remembered. We know that Jeremiah wrote and prophesied right at the end before Judah was taken into captive and Jerusalem was plowed under by the Chaldeans, and they were taken captive to Babylon.
When the zero Maya 21 Says Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me saying, go and cry in the years of Jerusalem, saying Thus saith the Lord, I remember.
The the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou winest after me in the wilderness, in the land that was not sown. Israel was holiness unto the Lord in the first fruits of his increase. When was that?
That was right when they went out of Egypt.
It was very, for a very brief period of time, we know the wilderness was marked by failure, and as the kings of the end of the land was marked by failure. But here, right before they're taking capital, the Lord says, I remember, I remember at the very beginning when you left everything behind, the love of thine espousals. In other words, you said, I remember your first love. The Lord hadn't forgotten 40 years in the wilderness, all the history of the kings. He remembered it. It was so fresh and precious to him.
And so we have to say sometimes in our life, don't we have to remember? Remember there was a time when we were enjoying the Lord far more than we are remembering. We are enjoying Him now, but it's the second time that the Ephesians were called to remember. If we go back to the second chapter of Ephesians.
We know this great epistle that sets forth the purpose of God, our place in Christ. But in the second chapter.
When he lays out to the Ephesians how they've sat together in heavenly places of the Christ, he says in verse 11.
Wherefore remember that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision, and the flesh made by hands, that at that time year, without Christ being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world, but now in Christ Jesus, He who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ. It's as if, as we come into the Epistle to Ephesians, we're standing on a mountaintop.
And he says, look back where you were. Remember where you once were. Gentile dogs, you had nothing. You had nothing. Even a part of earthly blessing and religion with the Jews, you had nothing. Remember what you once had.
And now this church that was so greatly blessed, they've fallen from the enjoyment of first love. And there they are on the bottom of the heap. And he says, look back up, remember from where you falling.
Well, there is a possibility of the whole of the assembly, the whole of the Christian testimony being recovered at that time. And so he speaks to the whole assembly. He says, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Now to him that overcometh will I give thee to the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. And so there is a reward for the overcomer, one that wasn't overcome with the spirit of the age that was characteristic of the day that they lived in.
There were some that had real affection for Christ and that were giving Him the 1St place, the very best of what they had in life, as it were, and they gave refreshment to His heart. You know, we sometimes come to the remembrance of the Lord and we wonder maybe what we might get out of it or something like that, but really we come into the presence of the Lord to refresh the heart of the Lord Jesus. Yes, our hearts will be refreshed as we think of Him.
And of the love that was behind the great work that he did at Calvary's cross and, uh, the suffering that he went through with the price that we paid and how he glorified God as to the question of sin. And, umm, we are refreshed. But really it's the heart of the Lord Jesus that is refreshed when he has his people in his presence. And the heart of God is delighted when we, umm, give, uh, praise to him and to reflect upon the glories of his Son and the beauties of his Son. And as we pray to God, why?
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He is, he has his portion, his heart, and so he speaks and he offers this as a reward, the paradise of God, a garden of delight. And he presents to them the thought that is possible. I've thought of it in this connection as a walk in the cool of the day with the Lord and the walk in fellowship with the Lord in the garden of delight. And it's possible for you and I to walk in with a conscious sense of the approval of the Lord.
And in communion with him in this world, we might say two. I just was thinking in Matthew's Gospel chapter 13, some might wonder why he uses this little expression. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. But the Lord uses it first in Matthew's Gospel, Matthew 13 and verse nine, who have ears to hear, let him hear. Isn't it nice, the Lord Jesus?
Just call to us as individuals. You're saved by the grace of God. You come to the knowledge of the truth by the grace of God. By the grace of God, He has gathered you by His Spirit under the precious name of the Lord Jesus, and He has an individual call for your individual affection for himself.
Let him hear.
I like to think too, brother, and that the faith that we have from God.
Is characteristically.
And overcoming faith says in first John 5, this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. And faith is focused not on what we are, but on who.
He is. And it's so important to keep the focus, right? I find rather than that in the culture we're passing through here in the United States and North America that it's so centered on man and what you are. And I don't think that we can say that we're totally unaffected by it. We are affected by it. So I think the point is, is to recognize it.
And to confess it to the Lord, but to keep the focus on who He is. It's not about what you are or what I am, It's about who He is. That's so important to keep that focus, right?
Yeah, when you look at these.
Uh, these progresses to the assemblies to notice first how the Lord presents himself to that assembly. He presents himself in different ways, teach assembly according to the need. And also there's a promise to the overcomer, which is true for all believers. For example, in, in Smyrna, there he that overcomes shall not be heard of the second death. That's obviously all believers.
Why does he bring it in there? We'll get to that in due course. Because of the suffering. And they were faithful unto death. But here in the assembly and emphasis, the promise is to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. If we could just go back to the first two chapters of Genesis. I'm sure this isn't new to many here, but I believe it makes the point.
As to the need and emphasis and what was needed to correct it.
Genesis chapter 2 and verse.
9.
And out of the ground may the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But specifically says the tree of life in the midst of the garden, chapter 3 and verse three, as Eve is debating with the serpent why they shouldn't eat of it, she says, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said He shall not eat of it, neither shall he touch it lest ye die.
00:45:10
Well, we know God had not forbidden them to touch the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But that point aside, what did she do? What tree did she put in the midst of the garden? The tree of life? No, the tree of knowledge of good and evil. And it seems that's what they did in Ephesus. Christ is the center of the assembly and the focus, not our responsibility. Or are we pleading for irresponsibility? No, we failed greatly in it. But you see an emphasis. They were a very responsible assembly.
They weren't LAX when it came to matters of discipline. They were not letting things go on that needed to be stopped, bad doctrine, etcetera. They were vigorous in dealing with that. And so it's a very great warning that we don't make a play for plea for being irresponsible. But Ephesus was, we can't, uh, help but be impressed as we read that they couldn't bear them that were evil. They wouldn't put up with it. Like Paul can see the Galatians who he gave space. No, not for an hour. But even that in itself is not the main focus.
The tree of life is in the midst of the garden, not the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Oh, it's saying verse eight, it really begins this address to Smyrna. And Smyrna means sufferings and, uh, where it has the sense of murder. And so there was a, represents the period in the church history from 8167 to about 313, umm, when the, umm, Constantine made an agreement with the, or really, uh, announced that Christianity was going to be the, uh.
Religion of the Roman Empire. So there was suffering, and it speaks of a time of suffering. He speaks and addresses them. These things say he that is first and the last, which was dead and is alive. I know thy works and tribulation and poverty, but thou art rich. And I know the blasphemy of them that are say that they are Jews and are not, that are of the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison.
That you may be trying and you shall have tribulation 10 days. But be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee crown of life. And so the Lord Jesus knew that, umm, there was a need to have our hearts and the hearts of those that were in the church at that early period, to have their hearts turned back to Him and to have to be put in a place where they were dependent upon Him. They needed to depend upon Him. And he allowed ten days or 10 periods of persecution.
And so historically, there were ten different periods of persecution of the Church in that period of time, and many of our brethren were murdered. They suffered. And the Lord knew about it. He knew and He had allowed it, that they might arrest the Saints from their slide in their affections for himself. So isn't that sweet to think of how the Lord allows difficulties in our lives, Different trials.
That there might be more of a magnification of His grace in our lives and that our hearts affections might be taken up with Himself. There is a purpose of love on His part to allow the trials in our lives.
Tendency to do that, doesn't it? It sharpens the focus and uh, you hear about persecution that's taking place in the world today. I remember hearing, I forget where I read it, but uh, I think it was over in China that they asked for believers in other parts of the world to pray for them and they specifically said don't pray that the persecution ceased.
Because that's what keeps our testimony vivid. And that's the case, isn't it? It's, it's incredible how it does. And the beautiful testimonies that come from that part of the world. We have so much liberty here and we've been deadened. Oh, brother, Lord help us.
Brother in Christ in Ohio, his name is Dan Strong. He runs a, a printing operation and I used to do business with him years ago, brought up in the Roman Catholic religion and uh, the Lord was working with him And after several years of working with him and giving him the gospel, other people in his life giving him the gospel of the grace of God, he came to Christ one day sitting in his car in the rain and on Friday night.
00:50:15
He took Christ as his savior and, uh, we began to read the scriptures together at a restaurant Tuesday mornings. We would get together and read the word and, uh, he was only saved maybe for three or four weeks. And he said to me, you know, he says, Robert, he says persecution really didn't work very well for Satan in connection with the persecuting the church. He really wasn't able to stamp it out, was he? I said, yeah, you're right. He wasn't able to stamp it out, he says, but you know, he thinks, I think that prosperity is working.
Beyond his wildest expectations. I said, I think I have to agree with you that prosperity is working beyond Satan's wildest expectations. And so in the Western Christian world, we don't suffer persecution, but the Spirit of God records in the epistles to Timothy that they that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But we are able to live in such a way that we can slide in under the radar screen, so to speak.
And not suffer the way other believers suffer in other lands, But we do have the liberty of living in a country like this, that it has safety. And there are laws that protect, protect those that are believers and all citizens and so on. But these dear Saints of God paid for their affection for Christ, and they paid for their confession that they belong to Christ. And so as citizens, heavenly citizens, they identified themselves.
With the Lord Jesus, and they went forth unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach, and it cost them their lives. But remember here it says that in verse 10 He gives them an encouragement. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. So God is going to look you and I over when we get to heaven. He's not going to look us over for accomplishments.
And for all kinds of uh.
Converts and all those sorts of things. He's going to look us over to see whether we were faithful. Be thou faithful, He doesn't say. Be thou successful. He says, Be faithful unto death.
And I believe that there would be more enjoyment of the person of Christ, there would be more fruit for him, and there would be a happier spirit in the assemblies of those that are gathered to the Lord's name, if there was more faithfulness to Christ.
Thing about.
Verse 9 The blasphemy of them that say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
Chapter 3 in the Address to Philadelphia.
He mentions that again I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not.
Brother Bill, can you help us on that?
Bob, but I, I could just share a little bit what I, umm, have considered on that. And we might sound blasphemy as well. We generally think when we use that word, it's, it's uh, that which defames the person of the Son of God, blasphemous doctrine and so on. But the way it's used here is railing, isn't it? It's something that, well, you can't blasphemy me. I'm not deity. But the point is railing and it's hurtful words, things that were said against them.
And we know that under the law, and you find that Deuteronomy 2720, it's very clearly clear that.
If the Jew is walking with God, he will be blessed without word, abundance and material goods and large families and plenty of goods and, and, uh, it was a mark of God's, uh, provision for them. But that's not so for the faithful believer, is it? And so it was very difficult for the railing of those which say they are Jews, they took that place. They're not Jews, they're not, but of the synagogue of Satan. How important it is for us that we know what the Christian calling is.
And it's not earthly prosperity. That's not a that's not a true that's not a true teaching. And so if there is a going on in faithfulness to the Lord that we find even that there is they the work with the enemy behind it which on the ninth verse, the next chapter which say they are Jews and and are not but but do lie. Well, there was a time coming and then they would have to acknowledge what the truth is. But suffice to say, not only is it difficult enough when you're going through hardship and persecution.
00:55:13
But to have railing on top of it and to be treated as if you're not honoring the Lord at all. But maybe you got a little bit more on it, brother.
Uh, like you say, the principle that, uh.
Earthly prosperity and that's that's a kind of a thing that's going on in the world today. Prosperity gospel if you please God, you'll be prospered economically. Why that's not the case, Is it the fact that the Lord Jesus his life looked like a total failure.
He died as a criminal.
And there was no justification of his life.
Before he died.
God's answer is in resurrection. And so it was with the apostle Paul too. And so he tells Timothy in second Timothy, one, be not ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. Neither of me his prisoner. Paul, you're just a little bit too radical. Look, you got yourself thrown into prison. They're going to take you out and cut your head off. Wouldn't it be better to just compromise a little bit?
And things will go well for you.
And so.
I suppose there is something, too, about Judaizing. The thought of Judaizing. It's always there.
The going back to the Judaistic principles, brethren, what we've been called to in Christianity, somebody has said it's not an addition to Judaism, it's the opposite of it. So the Lord help us to keep the precious truth of.
Scripture that we have been taught vivid before us not to go, not be affected by those that say they are Jews and are not.
Would you say Jewish principles into Christian profession or the Christianity that they at the beginning of the testimony, we know that there was a mighty work of Satan to try to corrupt Christianity and Christianity as a person is the person of Christ and the work of Christ is complete. It's finished. We had nothing to it. And so we have in Acts chapter 15, just that little example that the Spirit of God gives us as to the work that was going on.
Umm, false individuals. Paul calls them false brethren. At chapter 15 of Acts verse 1. Certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren they were. They came to a Gentile assembly, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined to send that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem both.
Under the apostles and elders about this question.
And so there's really the work of the enemy is to seek to corrupt the purity of Christianity.
The Judaism was characterized by an earthly religion, and it was an earthly thing. They had physical sacrifices and it was all temporal. It was only for time. But what you and I have is eternal, and it's connected with the person of Christ, the finished work of Christ. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, and the two don't mix.
And so it's, uh, that's why brethren were gathered by the Spirit of God under the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other name that is worthy. And so we have and christened them all kinds of other names, all kinds of temples and tabernacles and everything else that are raised up and a priest priesthood, so to speak. All of those things were foreign to Christianity, but they began to make inroads very early.
In church history, and I believe this is what the Spirit of God is addressing here, that there were those that were seeking to Judaize Christianity. Well, thank the Lord that we are believers, that we do have the heavenly umm, a heavenly inheritance, promises that are eternal, and that we don't have anything in this earth.
01:00:10
Mention it, but in Ephesus one of the things he says in verse 6.
Is that this style hats that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
And that's repeated.
In uh the address to Pergamus in verse 15 he says so. Hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans? Which thing I hate?
It's been suggested that Nico means to dominate and dominate the lady. That's the beginning of the clerical system that is so common in Christian circles today. And they admit that it was taken from the Old Testament, in which of the 12 tribes of Israel, only one tribe was chosen to do the service of God. Of that one tribe, only one family could go into the very pre, into the holy place.
Now that one family, only one person could go into the holiest of all.
And so that principle of being a separated priesthood was begun. And he says, I hate that brother. And we do need to be exercised because.
In verse six it's the deeds of the Nicolaitans, whereas in verse 15 as the doctrine.
They first started practicing it, and then they came up with the doctrine later on. And it's so easy in our assemblies if we're not exercising the Lord's presence.
Who are priests? Everyone of us. Every believer is a priest.
So when they come into his presence, there should be exercise. There's no no gift needed to exercise priesthood.
It belongs to all of us, but there is the tendency, oh, there's brother so and so and brother so and so. We just kind of leave it to them. They will take the lead here.
And we do that and then later on we come up with a doctrine that kind of supports that. No, brother, and that is not Christianity. We are all priests and we need to be exercised in the Lord's presence. I I'm so enjoy it when there's liberty in giving out the hymns of praise to the Lord, those that get up and praise the Lord.
Let's say Latin America rather than sometimes they stumble over each other and doing it and we have to explain to them that there needs to be the direction of the Spirit of God and to wait on the Lord. But sometimes I feel up here we go the other extreme.
Silence. Long silences. How can we be so silent?
In the presence of someone so glorious, Lord exercise his breath.
In verse verse six in the new translation, it says He hath made us a Kingdom of priests under God and his Father. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Isn't it wonderful to be able to go into the presence of the Lord without any fear, and to offer up a sacrifice of praise, the Thanksgiving of our lips?
We know that audibly, the brothers in Christianity are the ones that give the audible praise and Thanksgiving to God, and the sisters can do it silently. And in the hymns, we oftentimes can sing a hymn that has worship and praise in it. But we stumble along, don't we, brother? We make mistakes. You know, my brother, my father-in-law, if you forgive me for just giving this little story, he umm.
Had a man working for him, his name was Rolf. And uh, he came from Finland, never got his English quite right. And he would, he was a Carpenter and he would make mistakes every now and then and he would say, well, you know, the man he works, he makes a mistake. The man he know works, he no make the mistake. And so you and I that are trying to exercise our priesthood, we're going to stumble along a little bit here and there. And why do we make a mistake? God is God.
01:05:14
Man is man and every time I make a mistake.
I quote the wrong scripture, whatever it is I think of that God is God, man is man. I thank the Lord that he revealed it, that I made a little bit of a mistake. And So what man he no work and he works. He makes a mistake. What man he no work, he no make the mistake. If you don't exercise your priesthood, brother, then you won't make that mistake and you won't have the communion with the Lord in connection with that priesthood.
Me too, don't they? Yes.
There, priestly, privileged.
The suffering Church, you know, it's something that.
Like myself, how can we even speak about what we know nothing of experientially, but I really appreciate how the Lord presents himself to the suffering assembly. These things set the 1St and the last, which was dead and is alive, or the Darby renders it that.
The 1St and the last who became dead and lived.
As he's their Saints of God went to be martyred, to suffer, and to die.
The Lord could say I've gone before I have died and lived. And so there was one that was there and was on the other side waiting for them. And what a comforting way that this was that the Lord presented himself to them. Now I just noticed it on the Darby. Didn't notice it, but in the Darby translation there's two assemblies.
Where the Lord doesn't say, I know thy works. The first one is Smyrna. And why is that? It's the suffering church is not the working church. And so the Lord takes account of it. And we know that Smyrna coming from myrrh, the sweet fragrance that comes from suffering. And isn't it a beautiful thing to see Saints of God that have suffered? And yet what God has worked in their souls is a fragrance and a beauty. That's only His work. It's not what they did, it's what He did in them.
And so it is a great fragrance to them, to him. And so I just mentioned that because the, uh, there's so much emphasis often made on activity and all, but to see the suffering Saints of God and especially those for Christ, how much the Lord values them. And it will be with them, as it says in Isaiah, uh, how's it there? When now it goes through the waters, I will be with me.
Maybe next time we can take up the.
224.
OK, OK.
The Wages of Sin
Gospel—Chuy Garza
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
I'd like to start with a song and it's gonna be #4 on your hymn sheet.
Because it's about the good news, Christ the Savior of sinners. And that's what we're going to speak about tonight. So if a brother would raise the tune, the number 4.
Her rice is, let's say.
Right is not saying I'm sorry.
Long as it ain't anything bright and nobody is great, I am free.
The world and.
All 995.
In that second verse, there's a a little phrase that says.
Happy and justified. Free happy. I was in a store the other day where they sell all these plaques and umm, have little sayings and stuff on them. I was struck by one that said it's never too late to be forever happy.
No, that's the gospel.
Because the good news is it's never too late to be saved. It's never too late to know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. And so I thought that's most appropriate.
Uh, expression to have.
So tonight we're gonna have a little bit different gospel because I'm not gonna give the gospel.
I'm going to ask my brother Joey Garza to give the gospel tonight and his native language is Spanish and he's going to be using his Spanish Bible.
And when he refers to scripture verses, I'll read them in English for the rest of us. I'm sure some of you in here wouldn't have any problem with the Spanish. And in in doing that, I think it'll it'll make things kind of go smoothly for us. So I'm going to.
Uh, ask the for the Lord's help for our brother Chewie and for each one of you out there, you might have ears to hear the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior of sinners. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
00:05:15
Thus Romans 623.
3 words I see in this verse that I would like to say a little bit about each one. The first one is wages.
Everybody who has a job, they get paid, they go to work and usually in many places you have a time card there you go in and you they have a clock in the wall. You, you put your timesheet there and tell you what time you enter. And then at the end of the day you go back and you punch again and it was your time, how many, how many hours you work so you can get paid.
At the end of the week.
They have maybe another employee that is in charge of the bookkeeping.
And they wanna make sure you get paid fairly. They don't wanna pay you less than what you work, and they don't wanna pay you more than what you wore. So in this verse, it says that these wages for send. So that's one of the worst. The second one is send. We're gonna make sure everybody understand what send means.
I went back and looked in the original on the scriptures what send means and it it it means means the mark. So in other words.
Is in this case is missing the standards of the perfection established by God. So every single person who has lived in this planet, with a SEPTA exception of one, has missed the mark. We missed the March from the first day that we are born all the way until we live in this world. It don't matter if you was born on a Christian family.
Maybe you are the 2nd, 3rd, 4th generation.
Of a Christian family, everybody has missed their mark. Everybody's a Senate.
The other word is gift.
Gift is the opposition of wages. For you to get paid you have to work. To get a gift doesn't cost you anything.
Sometimes.
It comes to my mind when I graduate from school.
My dad give me a gift.
UH back then was in 1995, the minimum wage, if I'm not wrong, was 425. My dad was a framer. He built houses and he got paid minimum wage in South Texas. We live in Mexico and Reynosa. So we was a family of nine. I was not there. I was, I went out to UH to school in Houston. Well, it was a family of seven and it was hard to, for a family to, to be able to make it for.
425 an hour is very little money. My dad make a sacrifice and he's safe because he wanted to give me a gift. That gift was worth it. Maybe like two weeks of work, hard work in the sun.
There I went to work with him a couple of times and really was very hard to do Carpenter work. I know some brothers here maybe know that that that trade and it's not easy. So he works a couple of weeks, maybe close to three weeks to give me that gift. So was his. It was a great sacrifice.
God be the great sacrifice to provide for us a gift.
He's not gonna force us to get this gift by the invitation is out today. If we read in Romans 3 I will start to would like to see what the scripture says about our position in front of God.
Romans 3 chapter verse 9 to 12. Chapter 3, verse 9:00 to 12:00.
Romans chapter 3, verses 9 through 12. What then? Are we better than they?
No, you know why. But we have before approved both Jew and Gentile, that they are all understanding. As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understand it, There is none that seek of God. They are all gone out of the way.
They are all together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good.
00:10:01
No, not once. So this is the testimony of that for human race, everybody is a celebrity. It's not even one person. Maybe it's children here. They they grow up in a Christian family.
The scripture says that everybody is a is a Sinner, so it don't matter if you grow up in a Christian home, you got a nature inside of you.
They always miss the mark. They cannot get to the standard of God. So the Scripture says that everybody is a Sinner. So it's very important for us to understand that.
The gospel, the the sacrifice that Jesus did in the cross will not be attracted to us if we don't recognize that we centers. So the scripture says that everybody is a center in Romans 323.
Romans 323 for all of sin and come short of the glory of God, so we can see each other and say I'm better.
I'm not I'm better this other person because the scripture says that everybody have sinned. We nobody is better than other persons to on God's eyes. We all are the same. We send us now it's gonna be a time if you leave this work without fixing this situation and you don't you don't come to God and fix this problem that you have of sin in your life.
The scripture says if you leave this world.
That you will leave again. God is gonna give you a body. You're gonna be in front of God and it's gonna be a second day. The scripture talks about a second death and it's gonna be a place where God is gonna open the books.
If you live 10 years, if you live it live 20 years, 30 years, everything that you have done is writing down on some books in heaven.
And God is gonna bring those books and everything that you have done against God is gonna be in there if we go to Revelation chapter 20, verse 11.
OK, OK.
Revelation 20 and verse 11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them.
Can you read a little bit to verse 15 program? Sorry.
Continuing on with verse 12. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their words, And the sea gave up the dead which were in it.
And death and hell delivered up to that which were in them. And they were judged, every man.
According to their works, and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death, and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. So if you leave this world without fiction, your problem of sin.
You will. God is gonna resurrect you one day. He's gonna give you a body. You're gonna be in front of him, he said. The the O, the one that is sitting at the throne is, oh, Lord Jesus Christ, He's gonna be there as a Josh.
And there will be some books that will be open, and everybody who goes there is gonna be George according to what is in those books.
Now let me give you an example for Josh, because I was talking to a person the other day and this person was thinking that he can go to heaven if he does some good things. He said God is gonna see that I don't kill. I'm a hard worker. I provide for my family. I don't steal. Yes, I send. I sometimes I have some bad thinking. I get mad.
I'm not maybe good with my wife.
But God is going to see the good things and he's going to save me. And I give him this example. Say, let's say you live on a small town. Everybody knows everybody.
00:15:05
You know the Josh of the town, you know the chief of police, the chief of the fire department, you guys get together and and help the town to be clean, to do some fundraisers for the fire department. And one day you are driving and you have to answer the phone or you have to return a text and you make a mistake.
And you crash your car with another car.
And they take it to court and you tell the judge.
But look, everything that I do every week, I hope, I hope this time I help the fire department. I I do some fundraises. What the judge is gonna say, you're not here for your good things. You are here for what you did wrong and you have to pay. That's justice.
So God is not gonna judge you good deeds, God, God is gonna judge the send that everything that you did that means the mark.
Now, if you pay attention over here, says thereafter everybody comes in front of this great white trunk, they will be cast to the lake of fire.
I went and looked what the cast word means because I don't, I don't use it. I don't know if you guys use it, but I don't use it. So it's a little bit hard for me and this is what I found.
Throw something forcefully or full of force in a specified direction.
Here is God.
Which is full of force. I wonder how big is the force of God? And he's gonna throw this person in a specific direction, the lake of fire.
That's not a place that you want that. You don't want that to happen to you. It's gonna be terrible the whole eternity. You cannot get out of there. You're gonna be torment day and night, forever. Forever.
And nobody in this room is free of set every single one of our centers.
But you have to think about yourself today. Don't think about somebody that you know that says that he's a Christian and maybe has a bad testimony. Think about yourself. You need to fix this situation now. God didn't create a lake of fire for you and for me. He created for Satan and for the fallen angels. So God doesn't want you to go there.
He don't want you to go there. He love you so much that he don't want you to go there.
And maybe some of you guys think if God is love, why he just don't forget everybody? Why he don't take everybody to heaven if God is love? And that's true.
God can take everybody to heaven, but it's a problem.
God is just and he cannot pass, not even one small sin that was committed in this planet from the atom all the way to the last person.
He has to judge every single cent because if he don't do it, he would not be. I, I just Josh.
So his perfection, he has to judge them. Now what is the plan of that? Let's go to Frost John chapter 4, verse 10. God love you.
And he don't want you to go there. He didn't create a place for you and for me. So he loved you.
And this is the true love.
Many people talks about love hearing the scripture we wanna read what is the true love in first John chapter 4 verse 10?
Herein is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
In Spanish this my Bible says in this love consist.
In this love consists.
Now that we love God, but he loves us and how he show that he loves us, He send his only begotten Son to take our place, to be a substitute. He don't want you to go to the lake of fire where you wanna be separate from God forever and ever. So what he did, He sang his Son.
00:20:15
To take your place in the cross. Now who is Jesus?
Who is Jesus?
He's not a man like us. He was a man 100% man, but he didn't have no sin. I cannot die for nobody. No brother here can die for anybody. If I die, I will die for my own sins, but I cannot die for nobody. So the onl, the only one that qualifies to die for you and for me, it has to be somebody.
Who didn't have no sense. So if we see in Frost John chapter 3.
Verse 5.
And you know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him was no Sinner. Excuse me? In him his no sin. So God sent his only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to come to this world, and he lived in this world.
With a, with no sin, with a perfect he always.
He never missed the mark, He always do. God will all the time. He never did nothing in his own will.
He was 100% opposite than us, so he was the only one that qualified to die for us to take our place. Now if we go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21.
2nd Corinthians 521 For He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. You see, this is the plan, this is the good news that God got today for you and for me.
He don't wanna send you to the lake of fire where you have to pay. You get your paycheck for all you did all your life.
All you sense that you commit all your life. He don't want you to get that big check for the whole eternity in the lake of fire. So what he did he sent his son and he take our place and over here says in the well the birds that we read the one The Who knew no sin was may send for us how that happened.
If he was without no sense how they got make him I'm not, I don't I don't wanna say the wrong word how he says in the English version.
Uh, it was May, No. Can you read it again, brother 521? I just don't wanna make a mistake on the translation, for he hath made him to be.
Sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. So how he was made sent for us, how that He was made sent for us.
Let's go to Mark chapter 15, verse 34.
Mark 15 verse 34 and at the 9th hour Jesus Christ with a loud voice saying hello I hello I Lama Sabachthani which is being interpreted My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? You see, God cannot have no communion with them.
So the lake of fire is a place where you will be away from God the whole eternity, separate from God forever. Now Jesus in the cross, he was made sense for you. And what happened? God cannot see no sin. So in the cross God separate from his Son Jesus Christ.
The communion, the perfect communion that Jesus have every day with the Father. When he lived here and earth every day, He didn't do nothing.
In his own accord he always was in pray, in perfect communion with God the Father. But what happened in the cross, in the cross was taking you place in my place.
00:25:10
So what God did? He brought the communion with his Son Jesus Christ in the cross.
So Jesus was separate in the cross, so you don't have to be separate forever in the lake of fire. That's love. We can see the love of Jesus there. He was willing to sacrifice his communion with God the Father. So you don't have to have to be separate for the whole eternity in the lake of fire.
If we go to John chapter 5.
So now what God wants to tell us?
What we need to be safe.
OK, he already provide a way to be safe. He already saying his Son Jesus Christ to come and die in your place. So what you have to do? What is your part?
What do you have to do today to be safe so you don't have to go to the Gray white Tron and they give you the wages of all you send and you'll be throw up?
Or cast. I'm sorry, cast to the lake of Far with Gray force? What do you have to do? What is your obligation if you never hear this before?
Pay attention. What is your obligation? What do you have to do?
God is saying that he wants to give you a gift so you don't have to do nothing. You have to accept the gift that God is giving you is for free.
If we read in John 5 verse 24.
John 524 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent Me hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life.
So those who hear His word and believe the one that sent him, that is the message that God the Father has. That is that he's saying his only beloved Son to die in your place in the cross. If you believe He says that He give you eternal life and is no more.
Condemnation.
That's the gift that God wants to give you today.
She she already provide somebody who suffer in your place, somebody who already pay the consequences of send. So you don't have to pay the consequences of send for the whole eternity. So that's the gift they got wants to give you.
Many people doesn't wanna accept that gift.
How you think somebody can feel? If you have a gift that you wanna give to somebody, that person doesn't wanna take it.
Many people hear the gospel and hear this message more than one time in their life, and they will come to Jesus one day.
He's not gonna be the savior, He's not gonna be the Lamb of God. He's gonna be a Josh.
And it's not gonna be another chance they reject the gift. Now they have to pay the consequences of sale. And what is gonna happen is gon like this bottle Right now you have maybe your own wheel.
This bottle doesn't have his own wheel. I can do whatever I want with this bottle. I can move it anywhere I want. When you if you reject the gift of God today.
You'll be in front of the the Gray white trunk and you're gonna be like this part.
The books will be open and it's gonna be every time you punch it, that timesheet, every time you send, it's gonna be there.
And after they read everything, you'll be cast with a Gray force to the Lake of fire.
Why? Because you reject the gift that God wanted to give so.
Don't go today, don't go to your house if you haven't accepted Christ. Don't leave this place without accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. That's a gift.
00:30:07
It's nothing that you can do to buy this gift. You can be the best daughter, the best son, the best father, the best husband. Nothing of that is gonna save you. God is not gonna judge you for your good deeds.
The wages of sin is the eternal death in the lake of our separate separate from God for the whole eternity.
But he wants to give you eternal life, not to live in the lake of far. It's gonna be terrible. In the lake of fire. The devil is gonna be there. All the demons, a lot of people that refuse to believe in Christ. Some people are was so good people they didn't want nothing with Jesus. And some people that is very full of evil is gonna be there. So it's gonna be terrible.
And he says that it's gonna be torment. There will be torment day and night, forever, whatever how how bad or how expensive.
Is the price of sand.
That is gonna take the whole eternity for you to pay what you did.
And if we wanna see how big his hand, we just have to see the cross. They got the sun had to become a man living this world and die in the cross. Nobody else can take that place. He was the only one that qualifies to be in the cross. God, Emmanuel, God with us had to die for you.
How big is sin? So it's now any any other way?
They can tell you. The enemy can tell you that you have to fulfill the 10 commandments. You have to do a lot of good things. That's not true. You cannot buy salvation with nothing. It's a gift. It's for free. But you have to believe.
You have to recognize in front of the US Center that you don't. You can do nothing to save yourself. And if you die today, you will go to hell and then you wanna resurrect and you'll be thrown with Gray force to the lake of fire. And it's a point on no return after you die. If you die today is a point on off return.
We even if we pray.
And ask God to save you after your death. That's it is over. It's not gonna be a second chance. So don't leave this room without recognizing the US Center and accept the gift. The only way is that Jesus died for you and the cross. That's the only way. It's no other way that you can be safe by faith in Jesus Christ.
You know we had the same problem than other than if.
Got 12 Other than if don't eat from the tree of good and evil because you will surely die.
What Satan did he say? You will not die. So now you have a problem.
You believe God or you believe the enemy Satan, and we know the story. They didn't believe that. So what are you gonna do today? You're gonna believe that.
Do you wanna come to God and ask for forgiveness? He already he's gonna forgive you because He already provide a way to forgive him His love. He wants to forgive you and what it wasn't the way he had already provide His son died so he can get close to you and save you.
Without the death of Jesus in the cross, it was impossible for God to save us.
Because God is perfect, he he he cannot he cannot get close to send he can he without without sharing of blood is not forgiveness of sin. It it was necessary that Jesus came and died in your place and shared his blood so you don't have to die eternally. So this is the invitation for you.
The young people, you could grow up in a Christian home if you're five years old.
10 years old. You need to make a decision. Your dad cannot make it for you. Your mom cannot make it for you. You have to make your own decision. You have to come to God and accept Jesus as the only way of salvation. Don't put your faith in you. Don't put your faith in your parents. Don't put your faith in the in any kind of religion. The only way that you can be saved is through the faith of Jesus Christ.
00:35:05
And the birthday we just read, it says that he give you seternal life. That's another verse that I wanna read in chapter 6.
Verse 47 If today you accept Christ, it's gonna be a big change in your life.
And you will receive something that is gonna last forever. You will go different today. John chapter 6, verse 47.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. So it says that you will have. The Scripture doesn't say if you believe in this or you will have eternal life. It doesn't say that in the Scripture. He says, if you believe in Jesus, you have not, you will have, you have now you have eternal life. So if today you accept Christ as your Lawrence ever today.
You have eternal life. You don't have to die. Live this world to know that you have eternal life.
You know why?
God accept the sacrifice of Jesus, and this is the word of God.
It's not my word, it's the word of God. And God doesn't lie. He says that you have eternal life.
It's another part of the Scriptures. Let's go to Hebrews. It's a verse there I really like in Hebrews chapter 10.
We was born centers and we'll we will die centers.
Or if the Lord comes today, we're not gonna die sinners. We're gonna go to heaven. We're gonna be transformed, and it's not gonna be no more sand in heaven.
Pero look what the scripture says.
In chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10 verse verse 10.
Hebrews 10/10 by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all in verse 14 brother verse 14 for by one offering he has perfected forever them that are sanctified. So if you accept Christ today.
With one sacrifice he has sanctified you by the dead of Jesus in the cross.
The sacrifice that Jesus did in the cross.
She sent it for you, and if you are sanctified, that means if you are a believer, if you have belief, if today you believe, you know how God sees you perfect forever.
So from today you can leave this room and the way God sees you, He don't see you as a Sinner anymore, He sees you as his son.
And perfect forever. So that's the gift. Are you gonna accept the gift they got? He's giving you today that he's offering you to take because him a lot.
Season.
It was something big.
She said His only begotten Son to this world, to die for you and for me.
That was a great.
He experimented the dead, he died for three days, was in the tomb and he resurrected.
And now he's on the right hand of that.
That's a great price. The sacrifice that my dad is is nothing.
This is a what God did is Infinity diff. The difference is it doesn't have any comparison.
That he had to separate his communion with his son in the cross because he was taking our place.
He broke his communion with his son Jesus Christ.
Love
Children—Barry Buchanan
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
One for me and one for you guys, too. So I'm gonna see if I can get you guys to say something into this microphone in a little bit. But at our Sunday school, we usually start by singing, and this is called a children's meeting. But I think we got lots of adults here, too. Let's let them sing along with us too today. All right. In fact, I'm actually gonna ask for some help with songs that someone can start them.
This is a special children's meeting.
Because we have a different handbook that we get a thing off of, so take advantage of that. The Backpage is, uh, especially children's hymns and choruses, which Rosemary seems to have one picked out already. And uh, if you know some other children's songs you'd like to sing, I borrowed some from BTP so we can use that one too.
So, Rosemary, which one do you want to see?
Number one, OK, we'll sing #1 Then and again, if someone could help start these songs I would appreciate it.
OK, another one of your children have one from this hymn sheet or the other hymn book. William, which one would you like?
Number six this time.
Life is like these other gospel hymns in this this hymn book too. Sometimes we say this is a children's song, maybe this is an adult song. But you know, they all talk about the Lord Jesus and his love. And so we can all sing all these hymns of machine #6.
OK. All right.
Thank you.
There were supposed to be 35 children here under the age of 12 and under, I should say. I know there's some that are very, very young that can't sit up here in the front rows, but if you're old enough to come sit on the front rows, uh, we still have lots of empty.
And my wife was telling me that she didn't think there was enough chairs for children up here, so come fill up the chairs if you're 12 and under.
And you know what?
So Jayden doesn't have to sit all by himself on this row. Emma and anybody else. We need a couple more children up here. Thank you, Rosemary, that's nice of you too.
All right, good. It's nice to see all your children here. We got a good group of kids. We're gonna sing another song. But before we do that, we need to talk to the Lord Jesus and ask him for some help in the Sunday school. So I'm gonna ask you to close your eyes so you're not distracted. And, uh, we'll pray to the Lord Jesus and ask him for some help, OK?
Let's sing another song and then I'm gonna get this microphone out and see if you guys can help me with memory verse that perhaps you learned. So who else has a song? What all did you have one?
#40.
We'll sing #40.
If we could, maybe we can keep the pace up. We don't have a lot of time to sing because I get kind of long winded. So we'll sing really fast. Maybe we'll get another song and not really fast. It's nice.
00:10:48
Nsnoise.
I love me. Yeah, it's getting some frustrating blah blah blah.
OK, that's another nice song. Maybe we'll sing one more and then we'll say our memory versus umm, Ian, which one do you like?
#41 OK #41 we'll sing that one.
Now there's several of you kids from Lawrenceville, and I know you thought you were done with me because I just had last week's Sunday school in Lawrenceville, but I get to ask you again to say your memory versus this time. I'm actually just going to ask for volunteers. I won't make you say it. So who would like to volunteer to say their verse?
And I have a nice microphone for you too, just to show you that it's nothing to be afraid of.
I'll say the memory verse too.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
See, that wasn't so bad, was it? All right, Tally, would you like to say it?
Greater man hath no greater love, or greater love hath no man than this, that a man put down his life for his friends. John 1513.
00:15:08
Hey, who else, Laurel?
Greater love.
Hath no man thinness that a man put down his life for his friends? John 1513. Hey, good, you want to say it, Lily?
We'll get to lots of greater love has no man than this that a that a man lay down his life for his friends.
John 1513 Yeah, well you guys are doing such good, boys and girls both. OK, greater love half no man than this that I mean shall lay down his life for his friends. John 1513 OK, you guys are good at using that microphone.
So your love has no man in this, that a man lay down his life for his friends, John thir, 1513. Good, pass it down. A greater love hath no man that missed, that a man will lay down his life for his friends, John 1513.
Great love of snowmen. The cinema lay down his life for his friends. John 1513. OK if you want to say it to Jayden.
Greater love that has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 1513. OK, good, OK, well, Greater love that is no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend, John, 1513. Say it, Rosemary.
Greater love has no one than this To lay down one's life for his friends, 10/15/13.
OK, good. Glad you learned that and we missed a few of you over here.
Greater love hath snowman than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John, 1513. Thank you, Elise. Becca, you want to say it? Hey, Annie, Anybody else?
Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
John, 1513.
OK, very good. Anybody else? Maybe I'll give you another chance if you want to say it later too, because it's a really nice verse. You know, we have a lot of nice messages in the Word of God, a lot of little notes, and a lot of them are about love. And in this verse we have love and friendship. And so I got to thinking, how am I going to talk about love and friendship to children?
And then I remember something that.
Bobby told me on the phone. Bobby Woods. He he said very. You're young. And I think maybe the children wanna hear from somebody that's young. And I didn't really think I was that young. But we're gonna try this out, OK? What we're gonna do is we're gonna go way, way back in time, OK? We're gonna close our eyes, everybody, all the children. Anyway. close your eyes. Don't fall out of your chair. close your eyes. Bear with me for a second.
And we're gonna go way, way, way, way back to the last, oh, the last century. OK OK, you can open your eyes now.
Now it doesn't look like anything has changed, but now I want you to imagine because I can see it perfectly clearly. We're in the Bridgeport grade school now. Some of you kids are in Bridgeport grade school, but not this time. Bridgeport grade school. There was a boy, his name was Barry, which happens to be my name. What a coincidence. And he was just a little skinny guy with.
A fairly short In fact, he was about two inches shorter than all the rest of his classmates.
Your blonde hair. And he was in the 5th grade. OK, so this boy was sitting in class and he looked around and he could see all his classmates. There was, oh, there was Scott Evans. He was, he always had new Nike tennis shoes. And there was Michael Gray. His, his dad was an insurance agent or something. He he always had short, a short haircut and a nice tan. And there was Jakin Clark. He was just a skinny short guy.
Do and there was a girl, I don't remember what her name was. And then there was Jacob McDaniel. He was one of my best friends. He had really spiky hair and, uh, he was a preacher's son. And uh oh, there was Eric two and Karen. Uh, I don't remember all of their names, but I can sort of remember being there. So I'm going to try to talk to you from the standpoint of what it was like when I was a kid. Go going to.
00:20:09
Cool. But before we go back to the classroom, I wanna go to my bedroom. In my bedroom there's a bunker, a bunk, a bunk bed and my brother and was in one bunk. He was in the top bunk and I was in the, the, uh, smaller bunk underneath. And then he had a dresser next to his bunk bed and I had a dresser next to my bunk bed and in that dresser.
Where of course the normal things that you would find, I had some shorts, I had some umm.
Shirts. I had some tennis shoes from Walmart and I had some socks in my sock drawer. In the far right hand corner was a little yellow box. And in that yellow box I kept all my most valuable precious things. I had a little wheat penny. Anybody seen a wheat penny? Yeah. OK, so we had a wheat. I had a wheat penny in there. I had a belt buckle from my grandfather who, uh, served in a hospital in World War 2.
I had my Piggy Bank in there, I had every wrist watch I'd worn since I was a baby, and I had a picture of myself with my Brazilian friends, especially the long haired ones. And what else did I have in there? Oh, and then right behind that box, kind of hidden as much as I could in case Mom decided to put some socks in the drawer. Sock drawer is not the best place to hide your valuables. I had this box.
And this box.
Was reserved for the most precious things, the most things that maybe I didn't want other people to see. So I'm gonna pass this around this wooden box right here. It doesn't look like much on the outside. What's important is what's inside the box. But if you can pass it around quickly, one to each other, umm, you can take a look at the box and when it gets back around here, I'll collect it again.
You can take a look at that box. Now. Let's go back to, uh, the classroom in fifth grade with this little boy.
And now when I went to school, we were supposed to bring three things to school. When we started school, one was paper.
So I have a piece of paper. Piece of white paper. OK, now you're also supposed to bring #2 yellow pencil. I accidentally forgot my #2 yellow pencil, so I don't think mom would have minded if I grabbed the permanent black marker, but it'll do the job.
And what else? Uh, yeah, if we had, it looked like it was gonna be a good harvest, we would, we would might get the, uh, 24 pack of crayons. Now, Scott Evans always had the, uh, 96 pack and Jacob, he always had the 96 pack and he was a preacher's son. So anyway, I would, I probably was more jealous of my friends than really willing to lay down my life or care about my friends.
In school, that's not what our verse says, is it?
It says greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You know, when I was in school in fifth grade, maybe it was 6th grade by then, we were out in the recess and we like to play on the swings. And Jacob and I were swinging on the swing and it was getting close to the end of recess and.
Oh, the blue. I don't know why, but there was a boy named Paul Gunzel. Yeah, that guy. He had always messy hair. He was a big guy, too, and he came.
Up along with his friend Beau and they just started punching my friend Jacob McDaniel. And so I thought well, I'm going to protect, I'm going to fight against my you didn't get it open.
Hmm, Guess you won't know what's inside then, will you? He started punching my friend Jacob McDaniel, so I thought I'm gonna get back at him. So I came up to bow when he wasn't looking, and I punched him right in the shoulder.
Oh boy, is that the right thing to do.
No, of course not. I probably should have laid down my life for my friend, but I thought I'm good in my own power. I'm just going to take over matters here and I'm going to whip him. So I gave him my little scrawniest punch that I could, and he howled. Only he didn't howl out of pain. He howled out of anger, and he started chasing me. I'm going to get you. I'm going to get you. I don't know who you are, but I'm going to get you.
Oh boy. Well, you know what? I didn't really stand up for my friend. Fact. I just ran. You know, I was little, but I could run faster than both. That was the important part. At least I thought so. In my mind, I forsook Jacob. I didn't care about Jacob. All I cared was to get away from this bow.
00:25:02
And I also had a brain, and I said I'm gonna be smart, I'm gonna go up to the teachers.
Well, that didn't stop Bo. He wanted to still get me. Well, I came up to the teachers and I start pointing fingers at Paul and that, uh, bow like this their fault. This this whole big thing is their fault. Well, I was trying to get away from Bo and I stepped back on the teachers.
Then the teacher howled, and she wasn't in pain either, but she howled that we were all gonna get in trouble now she thought Bo had stepped on her foot.
I like.
Problem is, I was associated with the whole problem there I had caused. I had caused my part in that problem. And so we were all sent to the principal's office. And you know, I think I started to learn a little lesson and I don't know if it was so much the principal's office or the love of my parents when I got home from school.
You know, my parents thought I was going to school to learn about math and science and maybe some art with this paper. The teachers thought we needed this so we could do some art, some artwork, paper and #2 Pencil.
Yeah, we use the paper. We use the number 2 Pencil too.
That's what we tended to do with those sort of things. Or maybe we learned some math. We passed notes.
Like this one.
You want to see this note Everybody watch her.
Or maybe this sort of a note?
Well, the teacher's not looking.
Who's gonna get this note?
You can have El Emma help you read that now. Yeah. We tended to pass notes. Well, my parents thought I was learning lots of important things in school, and I probably was. But one of the important things I was learning is about love and friendship and how to interact with one another. And I already told you in one way in which I failed. So we took these papers and we took these pencils and we took these things and we.
Gave them to each other and it was called passing notes.
And as I got a little older, the notes got more detailed. So the first note was, uh, what's on that one, Jesse? First of all, it was, uh, watered up piece of paper thrown at you.
A little bit of artwork.
Yeah.
And what about the other note? What was that? A little bit of math. It was a important math, wasn't it?
I would give that to somebody a little smarter than me and the question on the piece of paper was what is the answer to 2 + 2? What I was hoping is that.
Clint or maybe Jacob, one of my friends, or Eric would write the correct answer on it and turn it back to me. And then the last one that I wrote was What am I?
You have a pretty dress. Yeah. And as we got older, the notes got even more, uh, more important until when maybe I was getting into 7th, 8th grade, it was getting more like something we call love notes. Now, where do you think the love notes went?
Where do you think Elise?
Girls.
They were supposed to come from the girls and end up in the brown box. I'm glad you couldn't couldn't get this box open.
OK, well you know what, I thought those were pretty important back when I was in school. But you know, the Lord Jesus has left us some messages in the Bible. He le left left us some notes, lots of them about love and how precious we are to Him. Does anybody remember the memory verse from last week?
Oh, I always ask this question in our Sunday school. You should be prepared, Jesse. Last week, I believe.
Now I might be off. I forgot to bring my Sunday school paper but it says.
00:30:03
They shall be mine, saith the Lord, in that day when I make up my jewels. So he sees you as very precious, and he has a lot of love for you as our verse. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lays down his life for his friends. So as I was going through school, I was learning some things about how we interact with love and friends in school.
But also I went to Sunday school and through the help of my parents I was learning some of these.
Memory verses or these love notes from the Lord. Now I know you're all disappointed that you couldn't read my love note, but I have some love notes here and they have some other people's names on them.
Heaven.
You get a love note.
Now you can read that yourself. I'm not gonna make you read these out loud.
I have another 10 sitting right next to you, Laurel.
Now I'm going to confess to you that.
I'm afraid I don't have that many love notes. I've got another one here for Adam.
In fact, I don't know every child's name in this room. Probably.
It's a little different than the Lord. He knows you all by name and He has a special love note for all of you. He cares a lot for you. And so where would we find the messages that He has for us, the notes He has for us on a piece of pretty paper like this one?
Where do we find the Lord's messages, the Lord Jesus's messages of love to us?
Ian in the Bible, it's full of them.
We need to learn to take these messages personally, even as children. He's speaking to each one of you. Now. I have a couple other love notes here.
You want one? I'm glad you asked.
It's very nice to seek the love of the Lord, and in so doing, maybe not. Maybe He will show us His love. So I'm gonna put your name on this one. Give this one to you. In fact, I'm gonna put a pretty pink heart on it too.
Because the Lord really cares you more than just pretty paper and.
Parts our verse says he actually gives his life. I have one more love note here, just one left and I need a volunteer who would like to handle this love note.
OK, Isabelle, but what I want you to do this time is put somebody else's name on it.
And I'll give you a sticker to stick it and give that to somebody else because it's nice that we can say these verses out loud in the Bible that talk about the Lord Jesus's love for us and also share with others that it could be for them as well.
So can you think of somebody else's name to put on that one?
And it doesn't have to be a kid, you know, it's for adults too. And you can pick whichever heart you want and stick that one closed and go give them that, uh, love note.
So the Lord cares for you and he has all these verses about love. Now I want to move on a little bit till I'm in high school. I'm going to tell you another story. And again, things were becoming more and more important that we knew what love was and what our friends were like. OK, she's going to take it back to, oh, there we go.
Nice to be able to share these with other people.
So I got to high school and in high school there was one week, it was around Valentine's Day where they had a fundraiser and their fundraiser. You can keep those hearts. Those are for you.
There was a fundraiser and for that fundraiser they asked for volunteers and as volunteers we were to make flowers, paper flowers. Now they were a little more complex than the paper flowers I made last night.
But uh, Jayden, what's your favorite color of flower?
Hello. OK, Blue flower, you're allowed to purchase a blue flow flower. And when you purchased a blue flower, it meant that I think you are cool. So you would purchase a blue flower and you would put somebody's name on it and then it would be delivered to that person in the, uh, last class of the day, the last period, I think it was eighth period.
00:35:20
I don't know how many periods you guys have now, but something like eighth period is delivered. You really look forward to getting that blue flower because it meant I think you're cool dude. So you like a blue flower? What other flower colors are there?
Jesse Yellow. Yellow said. Best friends forever. OK, how about any pink? Well, we didn't have pink, but we had red, which means I love you.
OK, what other colors did we have, Isabel Purple. Well, we had one that had some purple in it. It was a multi colored one. It meant that you're crazy, weird and awesome in a good way. Not sure about that one. And then there was also.
William.
White flower. Why? You want a green flower or or a green flower? Yeah. Well, we didn't have any green flowers, but they did have white flowers. And white flowers meant I'm thinking, thinking of you. Hmm. And what's that supposed to mean, either? So anyway, Monday came along and each flower cost $0.50. Now, $0.50 was a lot of money back in that day. I have $0.50 right here. It's two quarters, right?
Now, $0.50 was a lot of hard work, a lot of money.
Fact, in my day I had to pick up two rotten buckets of apples to two buckets of rotten apples to get $0.50. So it was very precious. If I was gonna buy a flower, I was really gonna have to like that person really mean something to me. So here it came, beginning of the day everybody goes and it was the first day everybody wanted to be first in line to buy flowers, show that they loved and cared.
Their friends, or maybe they're.
Other people that they liked. And here comes an eighth period and I'm in class with Scott.
Scott and Jacon, we've changed a little bit. I hadn't changed much. I'd gotten a few pimples and maybe a little shorter yet than everybody else. Two inches shorter now. And Jake and he'd grown up in the like 6 feet tall and and Jacob had learned to play the drums and umm.
And, uh, Michael Gray was the quarterback of the football team and, umm, my friend Clint, he grew a goatee.
Everybody seemed to be way better off than me. You know, we don't need to compare ourselves to our other classmates. The Lord loves each one of you individually, and he knows you each by name. So along comes eighth period. And Barry's sitting in the the front row, of course. And, uh.
They start calling out names.
Scott Evans.
He had another pair of new Nike tennis shoes.
Jake and Clark.
Come on, come on, One for Barry, right? Jacob McDaniel. Oh, wait, he more got more of these kind, I think Jacob McDaniel.
Of course all the pretty girls got these.
But nobody got one for Barry. How do you think I felt?
Very good, I thought. Well, at least someone would think this about me.
Come on, Jacob, if you're getting these colors, maybe at least we can be best friends forever.
No flowers for Barry. Next day comes along Tuesday. Wednesday, same thing. That weren't quite as many flowers in the middle of the week. By the end of the week, everybody's money had run out, except for the flowers for Scott Evans.
Michael Gray, another one for Scott Evans.
Even one for Paul Gunzel. Remember the bully from 5th grade?
Finally, at the end, here comes a flower. Oh, it's not gonna be for me. I'm not gonna get a colorful one or red one. Maybe the last flower. The 2nd to last flower. Along came one of the colors and it was.
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White.
Oh, I was so happy. Where do you think that flower went?
Straight into this box.
You know, it's nice to be cared about by other people, and we need to care for other people. You know, I don't think I bought very many flowers for my friends. I didn't really care for them that much. So we start to learn, even as children, what it means to be cared for and what it means to be loved and how to treat our friends and how not to treat our friends. But what's still more important is what we what we memorize today. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life.
For his friends. And you know, you can look around a high school like this or the one that I was in, which was Red Hill High School, and they have a lot of sayings on the walls and we're all trying to understand about this love and friendship thing. And I just encourage you to read the love notes from the Bible the Lord Jesus gives us. You know, I was sitting back in my chair back there about halfway back, and there's this big pillar in the room there.
And if you look past that pillar, you see on the wall up here, a big word in white.
What's word is that, Adam?
You. That's right. And then the rest of it's kind of blocked and then I can read the last word on the end. What's that one say, Annie?
Loved. So I thought that's you love. There's gotta be something in the middle. It's called a verb.
So I looked here to the left. I kind of leaned over because the pole is in my way, and I leaned over and I read.
AM, UM, loved. I don't know what kind of English they speak down here in Kentucky, but.
I might be missing missing something over there, but I think it's supposed to be you are loved. So even in school we're learning that we're loved, but by whom? Loved by our friends? I hope so. But more importantly, we have the Lord Jesus who loves us and cares for us. I'm going to tell one more story before the time is up. This is a true story and it starts with a ship.
It's was dedicated or it was commissioned, I should say, in on March 24th of 2018. Yes, we have moved all the way to the current day. We're no longer back. I'm not a kid anymore.
It's a ship in the US Navy, and it's called the USS Ralph Johnson. Now, Ralph's a common name, or it was a common name. It's not so much now, but back when he was born, it was a common name. And Johnson is a very common last name. But Ralph Johnson is not a common man. He is one of the few.
Proud the Marines.
Now I picked up.
From the back of the room here a pamphlet from the Marines, it says Take your place among the few.
And they have a lot of important things in here and a lot of encouragement to go on one of them, it says.
Developed quality citizens. No Marine passes through our gates without gaining principles that can be called upon throughout a lifetime. So school teaches us some principles about how to live life here, but the Bible teaches us principles about how much the Lord loves us, cares for us, and things that will be useful for all of eternity.
Lord Jesus laid down his life for us.
This man, Ralph H Johnson, was a Marine during the Vietnam War and he was about 18 or 19 years old, so he was just out of high school. Now, he went out to battle and he was in Vietnam with, uh, another man named Cleve, I think was his name, or Cleave. It was his commanding officer.
This young man was just a private Ralph.
And they were, they were supposed to go out an operation called Operation Rock. And so they went out. This was a reconnaissance mentioned, uh, mission. They were supposed to go out and look for the enemy. They're binoculars and all the other tools they had. Well, the operation got canceled and what ended up happening is they were stranded out on this hill called Hill 146.
Now on Hill 146, they didn't have a lot of cover, but they could dig kind of a hole and the enemy came up to them and they were way outnumbered and surrounded. So here was Glebe and the, uh, private named Ralph Johnson. Now Ralph Johnson, he was just a member common named man, but the enemy came and they started shooting at him.
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And along came a grenade. Our grenade is a very devastating weapon.
And it's thrown and they threw it into this hole where these two men were.
Immediately.
Ralph responded. He run like I did in the playground.
No, he didn't, or else we wouldn't be talking about it. He jumped on that grenade and he died because that grenade exploded and the man cleave lived to tell the story about it. So this man was given the Medal of Honor. It's one of the most, most precious things that a friend can do for another friend in this life. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
So that was something that we can even understand from a natural level that.
This man gave up his life for maybe his best friend that says they cooked together. I guess that makes you good friends cook together. But you know what? I have a love note in this box that I'm going to open.
It's a secret box.
Where I put some very precious things, but I want to share it with you because it's very valuable to me. It should be valuable to you children as well. So I have a love note in here. It's pretty green with hearts and it says dear Berry.
God demonstrates His love to you even when you were a Sinner. How?
Christ died for you. So our verse mentions that. You know some people will give up their life because they love their friends. We were an enemy of the Lord and he still gave up his life. No man will do that. Only the Lord Jesus will do that for you kids. Now it's 10:00.
And let's sing one more song and uh, and we'll be done, Jesse.
OK. Well, sync #46 thank you, Jesse.
I am.
In my bedroom and I'm falling down the grammar in the.
OK, I'm gonna pray, but first before I do that, for those of you that didn't get a love note, didn't get a pretty piece of paper, and even if you got one, I have lots more pretty pieces of paper, so you can come get one along with the stickers to close it shut and to play with as well. But I just wanna ask you to when you write on that piece of paper, think about what the Lord's done. Maybe write a nice message to another kid or an adult, maybe a Bible verse, something like that.
I had a niece write me one yesterday, and it was for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. That was a nice note to get passed to me. So you're all welcome to have a sheet of paper to write on. So let's ask the Lord, or we'll give thanks to the Lord for Sunday school and you guys can come up and get a piece of paper and maybe Sunday School papers to learn next week's verse too.
Comfort and Encouragement
Address—Robert Boulard
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Good afternoon. I wonder if we could sing #218.
#218 I'd like to speak this afternoon a little bit.
And open up the Word of God to different passages of Scripture that might be a comfort to our hearts. We live in a day of sorrow and at the end of the day of grace, the Lord is allowing different difficulties in our lives and we long for the comfort of the Scriptures. We long for the comfort of the person of the Son, and there are many passages of Scripture that we can turn to that give us comfort in the Scriptures.
But also reveal to us the heart.
As the Lord Jesus our Savior. And so with the Lord's help, I'd like to look at that subject. So this little hymn speaks of the weeping and the grief and the suffering here, and it's just about to end. And in faith, we can sing this little hymn together this afternoon.
Soon will the moon.
Instead of singing a hymn at the end of the meeting, perhaps halfway through, Lord willing will sing another hymn. Maybe we'll stand for that one so that we won't be as sleepy as we normally are. I'd like to just turn to Romans chapter 15 first and just read a couple of scriptures there.
Romans, chapter 15.
And we'll read.
First four for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning that through patience and comfort of the scriptures.
We might have hope.
Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like minded one toward another, according to Christ Jesus, that ye may with one accord, with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then we could turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter one.
2nd Corinthians chapter one and verse 3.
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies for compassion, and the God of all comfort or in the new translation this word comfort is translated encouragement. So the God of all comfort or encouragement, who comforteth us or encourages us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort one of them which are in.
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Trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. Whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation which is effectual and the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer, or whether become we be comforted, it is for your consolation.
And salvation. And then one other passage here in Acts chapter 20.
Acts Chapter 20.
And.
1St 18.
And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you all at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations or trials, which befell me by the lying weight of the Jews.
Well, I read these portions of Scripture, you know, they're written by the Apostle Paul.
One who was saved after the thieving of Sto, the stoning of Steven, and how he suffered at the hands of the Gentiles, and he suffered at the hands of the Jews. And he knew what it was to suffer. And he speaks here in connection with himself, I believe, and he speaks to us as well. By divine inspiration God had him write these words.
And he speaks of how these stories that are written in the Old Testament and the stories that are written in the New Testament.
All the passages of Scripture that are written are written for our learning, and they were written that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope.
You know, brethren, every one of us has different trials, different difficulties, and we are, we have each one of us. If we've accepted Christ as our Savior, we've entered into the school of God and He's training each one of us.
And it's, uh, in the training, as her brother mentioned yesterday, it's not only discipline. The thought of discipline is the correction, perhaps, and to correct our thoughts, correct our actions and to discipline us, to punish us, perhaps. But the Lord Jesus, the Lord is desiring to train us and to God is desiring to mold us into the image of his well beloved Son. And he's allowing trials and he is caused and developed.
A curriculum for yourself, for myself as an individual.
In the school of God, God deals with individuals, He saves individuals, He brings individuals into the knowledge of the truth, and then He has that work within us to desire us to bow the knee and to buy the truth for ourselves. And He's willing to work with us. And he's not limited by time. He has all the time, and He's going to take the time that it needs to take to do a work in your soul.
And that you might be conformed to his image and he's willing to develop, as I say, a curriculum just for you.
That there might be fruit for himself in your life and it may cause suffering. It may may allow suffering. He may allow heartache and just disappointment. But we know that we can read the scriptures and we have an example in Scripture. The first example I'd like to look at we know very well, but.
In Luke's Gospel chapter 22, in connection with the Lord Jesus, that perfect man who always did those things that pleased his Father.
He knew what it was to suffer, and he didn't need to be in the school of God. In that way. It says that he learned obedience, but it means that he experienced obedience. He became a man so that he would be able to experience the process of being obedient to His Father.
And so he obeyed, and it says that he obeyed unto death, even the death of the cross. But in Luke's Gospel chapter 22, we'll just read, umm, verse 39. Came, came at, and he came out and went as he was born to the Mount of Olives. And his disciples also followed him. And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.
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And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me nevertheless.
Not my will, but thine be done. And there appeared an Angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him, and being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly. And his sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground. When he rose up from prayer and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping. For sorrow said unto them, Why sleepy, rise and pray.
Lest ye enter, not lest ye enter into temptation. While I read these.
Verses of Scripture because, beloved brethren.
Even our blessed Savior longed for the comfort and the encouragement of the Scriptures. He longed for encouragement and umm, there in the burden heart that He had in the Garden of Gethsemane, we find that the Father sent an Angel to comfort his Son and to strengthen him for the work that lay ahead. And we know that the Lord Jesus.
Shrunk from the thought of having our sins laid upon him and being made. The sin offering and the awfulness of sin. And if there's anyone that knows what death is.
It's the Son of God. He knows what what death is. He knows and he's he had been the one that could pronounce the soul that sinneth it shall die.
Oh, he knew what death was. We know from James that when the body is separated, the spirit is separated from the body. Why? There's death? And it speaks of separation. And so then we were going to be eternally separated from God. But the Lord intervened in your life and mine. If you know Him as your Savior, He intervened in your life one day.
And you saved your soul, but you know we have a savior.
Who knows what it is to have been comforted, to have been strengthened by his God and Father?
And he knows how to strengthen the heart of the Christian. He knows how to encourage the heart of the Christian. He knows how to give grace as we go through the trials that we have. He knows the heart of the believer and he longs to comfort the believer. Well, let's look at, I'm just reading a couple of verses, the introductory that might set the stage. As before, we look at some of these.
Passages in connection with the Old Testament Saints and New Testament Saints.
Uh, Jeremiah, Chapter one.
We'll just look at a few of these scriptures that introduce this little subject of, uh, comfort, encouragement in the face of discouragement, or perhaps disheartening circumstances that we face.
That says here in Jeremiah chapter one, verse four, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee, and before thou came us forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee.
And I ordained the a prophet unto the nations.
What a wonderful to think of how the Lord Jesus knew you before you were formed.
You know, we're in the language of, uh, the New Testament. It says that, uh, I've forgotten the train of thought, but uh, Ephesians chapter one, that delightful, very instructive passage of Scripture that tells us of the blessings that we have in Christ. It says in verse five, chapter one of, of Ephesians verse 5, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children, or should say sonship.
You were predestinated unto the Sonship by Christ Jesus.
By Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, in a past eternity, before the foundations of the world were laid, God wanted you to be a son. He wanted you to have the blessings and the nearness of relationship to be a son.
Not a save Sinner. Not even a forgiving Sinner. Yes, you have forgiveness if you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior. You're no longer guilty before God. Your sins were dealt with at the cross of Calvary. He'll never mention them ever again to you.
Not one God, blessed Savior, never one at the judgment seat of Christ. He'll delight to review your life and mine individually, and he'll reward everything that he can reward, but he'll never remind you of the sin of disobedience against himself, a sin that he paid for. Maybe there's going to be a little bit of the sense of loss, as our brother said yesterday, a sense of loss, a sense of.
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Loss that says, I think it's in first John.
It says that we be not ashamed before Him. It is coming. I think that's really a sense of loss, that the judgment seat of Christ. But here we have this little expression given to us in Jeremiah.
That before I form the in the belly, I knew thee.
You know, the Lord has been interested in your existence from before you were made and at the time that you were born, He was very interested in your birth. He was very interested in you, took a very great interest in your development as a child. And if you're still a child, he's very interested in you.
He's interested in the name that your father and mother gave you, and he's looking forward to that time. If you've received him as Savior, he's going to give you a new name, and that name will suit you better than the name that your mother and father gave you. But it will denote that you belong to Him and that you have a new authority in your life. That's the authority of the Lord Jesus and that He has.
Formed you for his own purpose.
But he says here I sanctified thee, I took you.
So the sanctification, we might say, is to be set apart by God.
Set apart by God for a holy purpose. God set you apart for himself before you knew it.
And now he's trying to work out things in your life and in mind that we might be more conformed to his image. And he's willing, as I said before, he's willing to take as much time as it will take.
But all of his work is done in love. Not nice. All of his work is done in love with the purpose of love and needs to be on our part. But a purpose of love on his part. Well, let's look at a couple of passages of scripture I wanted to look at.
The life of David very briefly in Second Samuel or First Samuel chapter 30. I'm sorry, maybe we'll read a little bit be before that, but.
Let's read just to introduce this. I'm not going to read a lot of verses, but we need to get the picture. Chapter 27.
First Samuel chapter 27, verse one. David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me.
Then I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines, and Saul will despair of me to seek me anymore in any coast of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.
Verse 7. The time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months. And David and his men went up and invaded the Gerges rights, and the Grizzlies and the Amalekites. For those nations were of old of the inhabitants of the land, as I'll go us to sure even unto the land of Egypt. And David smoked the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, took away the sheep and the oxen, and the ***** and the camels, and the apparel.
In return came to Akish. Akish said, Whither have you made a road today? David said against the South of Judah, and against the South of Jeremiah. Jeremiah lights and against the South of Kenites. And David saved neither man nor woman alive to bring tidings to God, saying, lest they should tell on us saying So did David, and so.
Will will be his manner all the while he dwelleth in the land of the country of the Philistines. And Akish believe David, saying he had made his people Israel utterly to bore him, abhor him.
Therefore, he shall be my servant forever.
You know, brother.
This is a very instructive to us. The David was anointed. We could read a little bit earlier. I think it's first Samuel chapter 16. He was anointed in the presence in the midst of his brethren. He was anointed to be the king of Israel.
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And it was never the intent of the Lord for his people to ever leave the nation of Israel, leave those boundaries, you might say, and to go out beyond those boundaries to seek to escape what he was doing in their lives. And the Lord, you know, was using David as a type of the Lord Jesus in connection with his rejection in this world. He was being chased by Saul from one place to another. It was a beautiful type of Christ.
But, you know, we got tired of the conflict. They said, you know, there's nothing better for me than I should just escape this whole thing. Saul's gonna despair if I just go to the Philistines. But, you know, he came and dwelt among the Philistines. It was a false position for him. He was serving King Akish there. And the first thing you find is he's telling lies about what he did. He went out and he slayed, slew some people. He went against the Amalekites here in verse 8.
The Girgashites and or the Joshuaites and the Guess rights and the Amalekites.
And he didn't leave anyone alive to tell the story about what he'd really done. And then he deceived King Akish. But then, you know, God loves his people. He wasn't gonna let David go with this. And you and I may seek to this to, uh, escape the hand of the Lord in some way and some difficulty. And we may seek to just compromise the truth of God that we know and just.
Try to deflect something of the trial that the Lord has allowed in our lives. And David did this, but it says in chapter 30 of First Samuel that the Lord now he's going to intervene and as it were, and he's going to restore David and he's going to bring him back into the land. It came to pass when David and his men were come to Ziklag on the third day that the Amalekites had invaded the South.
And Ziklag and smitten Ziklag, and burned it with fire, taken the women captives that were there in, and they slew not any, neither great or small.
But carried them away and went on their way. So David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters were taken captives. Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept until they had no more power to weep. David's two wives were taken captives, a Hinnuum, the Jezreelitis, and Abigail the wife of Nabel the Carmelite. And David was greatly distressed.
For the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved every man for his sons and for his daughters. But David encouraged himself in the Lord and his his God. And David said to Abiathar the priests, the Himalayas son, I pray thee, bring me hit her the ephod. And it by thar brought thither the ephod David. David inquired at the Lord, saying, Shall I pursue after this truth? Shall I overtake them? He answered them.
Answered him, Pursue, for thou shalt surely overtake them, and without fail recover all. So David went, he and the 600 men that were with him, and came to the brook Beazor, where those that were left behind stayed. But David pursued, he and 400 men for 200 bowed behind, which were so faint or so exhausted that they could not go over the brook. Be sore. Well, I'm not going to read the whole story, but in verse 18 it says David recovered all that the Amalekites had.
Straight away and David rescued his two wives that were there was nothing lacking to them, neither small nor great, neither sons nor daughters, neither spoiled nor anything that they had taken to them. David recovered all. David took the flocks and heard which they drove before those other cattle said, this is David spoil.
Well, isn't it nice to see how, even in spite of David's lack of faith, he failed in the in faith?
You know, you and I often times fail in faith. And as I say, we take perhaps a false position and we deny what the Lord is perhaps trying to do in our lives and we try to deflect something of it. And David dwelled a whole year in four months in the land of the Philistines, a whole year and four months. You know, it says that he was 30 years old, I believe, when he began to reign, and he reigned 40 years.
7 1/2 years in Hebron.
And then, uh, another 33 years in, umm, Jerusalem, but, uh, the Lord was working with him and, uh, a year and a bit, maybe not quite a year and a half, a year and four months, he loses faith. He loses his, uh, patience for the process of, uh, waiting for the Kingdom. And he leaves. He goes into the land of the Philistines. I just want to say this, beloved brethren, many of us.
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Suffering different circumstances in our lives. And let's be patient because you know, the coming of the Lord Jesus is so near. We're just about to see Him face to face in all of His glory. And umm, how He longs to have us abide in His presence, waiting for Him in the assembly in the end, as it were, in that temporary place of dwelling in His presence while we're waiting for Him to come.
He's he's wanting us to wait.
In his presence and to enjoy his companionship. But David left that one year and four months, and the Lord in his mercy brought him back into the land. But he had to use this process. And he sent this king of the Malachites. He allowed the Amalekites to come. They invaded the South and they smoked Ziklag and they burned with fire. You know, fire is very destructive.
You'll forgive me for giving a personal.
I'll illustration of it.
Jonathan lost his shop, his workshop, his wood shop and his machine shop in February, February the 17th at about 1:20 in the morning, we got a phone call and, uh, he raced out of the house and the sky was all lit up. And so, uh, I called 911 and uh, the others, uh, ran up the hill to see what could be done.
And he drove a tractor out of the burning building.
There was nothing really that could do except save some of the vehicles that were outside the buildings. And it was.
A painful for me to see him pacing in front of those that building, pacing in the front of the building while it was burning, just walking back and forth and seeing what was going up in flames. The work that he's been working on for the last seven years, setting things up and absolutely nothing he could do.
And you know, to think of these deer.
One is in David's company, come to Ziklag. They'd follow David in his rejection. And here he's gone out of, uh, the land of Israel. He'd taken those 600 men with them. You and I, if we're unfaithful to the Lord, sometimes we're going to take others with us. And, uh, they were there with him and everything that they had there, they saw the city burned with fire, and they saw their wives gone and the children that are gone.
And they wept. They wept, it says in verse 4, until they had no more power to weep.
Why did the Lord pass David through this? Why was this necessary?
God is God, man is man. God in his wisdom passed David through this process. And we know that it's a little encouragement to us as well that all that we have in this world is going to perish. It says in Timothy that for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And so it all passed under judgment and the fire.
And so David had to go through this process, but you know.
The people fake of stoning him and it says in verse 6 David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.
Are you encouraging yourself in the Lord? You're gone.
When you think of Jeremiah, chapter one of how the Lord knew before He was formed in the belly, He knew Jeremiah. He knew you before you were formed in the belly. He knew before you were born.
And He longed for you to be saved. He labored with you. And He labored to bend your knees, to bow to Him, and to receive Him as Savior. He labored with you to bring you to the knowledge of the truth. He labored with you now.
He's laboring with Hugh to have a desire to walk in the truth of God, and he may allow painful situations that we might be more dependent upon him. And so this is what we found, what we find with David in verse eight, he inquired at the Lord. We don't find him inquiring as to whether he should flee into the land of the Philistines, but we find him now after the fire.
Inquiring of God and so there are Saints of God isn't a wonderful thing to go through those trials together.
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With the Lord and I think David had a sense of the grace of God and he prayed and he asked the Lord for wisdom as to whether or not he should go after these men. And the Lord told them what the end of the matter would be, that he would recover all. And so he recovered all. But it's interesting how the Lord allowed this circumstance in his life and he was restored. And then if we turn back to turn a little more forward to.
Chapter 2. Samuel.
Let's look at.
Chapter 2 Verse One came to pass after this, that David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up to any of the cities of Judah? And the Lord said on them, Go up. David said, Whither shall I go up? And he said unto Hebron.
Put it nice that he's restored to the Lord. He's a man of prayer.
If you want to have the comfort of the Lord, the comfort of the Scriptures, oh, what a precious privilege it is for us and the day that we live in, to walk independence upon the Lord and to pray to Him. We're halfway through. Not as far as I'd like to go, but let's stand up and sing 197.
Let's turn to the New Testament, the book of the Acts, chapter 21.
Acts Chapter 21.
Let's read from verse 10. And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judea certain prophet named Agabus. And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girl, and he shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. And when we heard these things, both we and they of that place.
Besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered what meaning to weep and to break mine heart. For I am not, I'm ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. And when he would not be persuaded, we cease saying the will of the Lord be done. And after those days we took up our carriages and went up to Jerusalem. And then a little bit later on, let's read.
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Verse Chapter 21. Verse 30.
Well, let's read from verse 26 just to get connections. Then Paul took them in, and the next day, purifying himself with them, entered into the temple, signifying the accomplishment of the days of persu purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them. And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews, which are of Asia, when they saw Him in the temple, stirred up all the people.
And laid hands on him. Then verse 30 all the city was moved.
And the people ran together, and they took Paul and drew him out of the temple, and forthwith the doors were shut, and they went about to kill him. Tidings came unto the chief captain of the band at all. Jerusalem was in an uproar. And then a little bit later on, let's read chapter 23.
And verse 10.
And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing Les Paul should have been pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down, and to take him by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle. And the night following the Lord stood by him and said, Be of good cheer, Paul, for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also.
At Rome and then one other passage in Second Timothy.
The last chapter.
Second Timothy, chapter 4.
Verse 16.
At my first answer, no man stood with me, but all forsook me. I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear that I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. Well, I've read these little passages of Scripture.
Because, you know, the Apostle Paul often had tears to shed.
He shed tears. He wept because there were those that counted themselves, they were actually enemies of the cross of Christ. He wept when the Saints didn't go on. Well, he was a man of tears, but you know, he got himself into a situation where he wanted to, He loved his Jewish brethren and he wanted to go to visit those Jewish brethren, but he wasn't being directed by the Spirit of God to go down.
And but he wanted to go anyway.
And it says, you know, the Lord tried to intervene. He sent prophet to speak to him, Agabus. And it says when he would not be persuaded, we see saying the will of the Lord be done. And so Paul was arrested. He was dragged out of the place where he was trying to in the temple, trying to, he was really compromising his position.
And, umm.
The people went about to kill him and then he was arrested.
He was brought before the Romans. We have a little bit of a history there. But you know in verse 11 of chapter 23, it says the night following the Lord stood by him. Well, I sometimes wondered about that little expression, the night.
Following.
I wonder if it wasn't the first night that the Lord allowed him to be alone with his thoughts. The work of repentance and restoration of a St. is always a work of the Lord between the soul and it's a process, you know. And so the Lord appeared to the apostle Paul. I believe he appeared to him seven times. This is one of the times it's recorded that he stood by him. He didn't stand with him in his disobedience, in his going up without direction from the Spirit of God to Jerusalem.
Got himself into trouble, but he stood by him. And then wonderful beloved Saints, often times we get ourselves into trouble. We get to something happens and we ought not to have been in certain places, certain time. And uh, we did it in self will and perhaps there's consequences. And isn't it wonderful to know that the Lord will stand by you? He doesn't forsake his own. It says, umm, in Hebrews chapter 13 that umm, I will never leave thee nor.
So that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, I will not fear what man shall do unto me. And so you and I can boldly say and truthfully say, the Lord will never leave us nor forsake us. And even the mighty apostle Paul.
00:40:04
In his disobedience and striving against the work of the spirit of God went into another man's vineyard, so to speak. He knew that Peter was the one that had been given the work to do among the circumcision, and he was to go to those that were of the circumcised uncircumcised. We have that in Galatians chapter 2. But the Lord stood by him is a wonderful as we suffered different consequences of sometimes an act of disobedience. Yet the Lord.
Is with us, he stands by us but then at the end of his life the apostle Paul speaks and he says the Lord stood with me and strengthened me. You know Paul was facing death. He was facing circumstances that perhaps none of us ever will face in this room. He was facing an unjust judge. He speaks of the righteous judge in verse 8 shall give me at that day a crown.
Not to me only, but until all of them also that love his appearing, but he was facing death and he felt alone. The Saints in Rome had the first trial had didn't show up. They didn't show up to comfort them. And so here he was alone and uh, facing the Roman authorities. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me. Well, have you ever felt the Lord just standing with you?
And strengthening you as you go through a trial, as you go through circumstances that you've never been through before.
And yet you have the Lord Jesus, who is the God of all comfort, the one who wants to encourage your heart, and you know that he'll never leave you nor forsake you. And you have a sense, a special sense of his presence with you.
Now, I spoke to Jonathan a few days after the, uh, fire that had destroyed his, uh, better part of his business and, uh, I asked him a few things about it and he said, dad, he said, uh, I wouldn't like it to be the way it was before.
I wouldn't wanna have those old buildings back again. It says that the Lord has made himself more precious to me. And I feel the sense of the Lord's presence with me as I go through this trial. And that's what the Lord is doing in your life and mind. He wants us to value His presence. He wants us to have a sense of His presence. And it's not an intelligent prayer to pray. Lord be with me. He is with you. He always will be with you. But sometimes we lose the sense of His presence. And so.
It's good for us to pray and ask the Lord for a sense of his presence, and so we can just encourage one another in that way. So here we have this apostle who had this trial that he went through. Let's look at his sister, umm, a woman of faith in the Old Testament, Second Kings, right at the beginning of Second Kings. I think it's chapter 3.
Chapter 4.
Chapter 4 and verse eight It fell on a day that Elijah passed to shoot him where was a great woman.
And she constrained him to eat bread. So it was he off, as off as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. She sat under her husband. Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make him make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall. Let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a Candlestick. And it shall be when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.
Just drop down a little further on verse 14.
He said that what then is to be done for her? Gehazi answered, Verily she hath no child, and her husband is old. And he said, Call her. When he had called her, she stood in the door. He said, about this season, according to the time of life, Thou shalt embrace the sun. And she said, Nay, my Lord, thou man of God, do not lie into thy handmaid. The woman conceived there a son at that season, and that Elijah had said unto her, according to the time of life.
When the child was grown, it fell on a day that when it was when he went out unto his father to the reapers, he said unto his father, My head, my head, He said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. And when he had taken him and brought him to his mother, he sat on her knees till noon, and then died. And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, shut the door upon him, and went out. She called under her husband, said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men, one of the ***** that I may run.
00:45:04
Man of God and come again a little further on verse 27.
Well, let's read verse uh, just at the uh end of verse 26, she answered it as well. When she came to the man of God to the hill, she caught him by the feet, but the haze I came near to thrust her away. And the man said of her, uh, the man of God said, let her alone, for soulless vexed within her. And the Lord hath hid it from me and hath not told me. Then she said, did I desire a son of my Lord?
Did I not say, do not deceive me?
Then a little bit further on, let's look at, uh, verse, uh.
33 He went in there for shut the door upon twain, and prayed unto the Lord. And he went up and lay upon the child, put his mouth upon his mouth, his eyes upon his eyes, his hands upon his hands. He stretched himself upon the child, and the flesh of the child waxed worm. He returned and walked in the house to and fro, went up, stretched himself upon him. The child sneezed 7 times, and the child opened his eyes.
And he called his eye and said, Call this shunamite. So he called her.
And when she was coming unto him, he said, take up thy son. She went in and fell at his feet and bowed herself to the ground, took up her son and went out. Well, I just thought it would be an encouraging little part of the word of God to take up this, uh, just to read this little passage and comment a little bit on it. It speaks here, this woman, that Shunamite, and she was a spiritual woman. We don't have really a sense that the man was a very spiritual man and perhaps.
You know, all of our marriages are a little bit different. It's nice to be married to a spiritual girl, uh, for those of us that are men and it's nice for a sister to have a spiritual husband, but I'm afraid that it's not always that way. And so we have here this child that was given to this sister, particularly to this woman of faith. And, uh, she hadn't asked for the child, but she had the child that was from God and our children are given to us for.
Little time, a very little time, and her husband didn't enter into the life. That doesn't seem to be that he entered into the life of this child, wasn't too interested and it was just the mother's job to raise this child. So on he went out to his father to the field and appears that he had a sunstroke and then the father isn't even interested enough to bring the child to the house. He sends a servant to bring the child to the house and then the child died upon the knees of the mother.
And there was more weeping, there's more sorrow, and some of us in this room know what it is to have a child die before ourselves.
I haven't had that experience except for my wife having a couple of miscarriages when we were younger. And it was a time of sorrow. It was a time of weeping, and we'll see those two young ones in a future day. But, umm, the Lord allows death to come in in this, uh, situation.
And he was perhaps testing this woman of faith and but there was a solution to the, uh, situation that she found herself in, and that was to run to the man of God. What a wonderful to think of how you and I have the resource of running to the man of God. And she ran to him, and as she fell at his feet, and she poured out her heart to him.
And the Lord often times works out those circumstances in our lives that make us willing to run to Him.
And to lay at His feet and to grasp His feet, those blessed feet that ever walked in obedience to the Father's will and ever walked his hands that ever dispense blessing. We know that Elisha is a type of Christ and she had her son restored to her. Now, I don't want to read too many different things into it, but I just want to say this in connection with this particular story, that there are these stories in the Scriptures.
Of godly women coming into the presence of the Lord looking for that encouragement, looking for comfort in the circumstances they had. And we know that this woman received her son back to life. Now let's turn to the New Testament and we'll see in Luke's gospel.
I think it's chapter 19.
No, Mark's Gospel. I meant, uh, Chapter 9.
Let's look at a father here that.
00:50:04
Patterson.
It says.
In Chapter 9 of Mark verse 14, when he came to his disciples, he saw a great multitude about them, and the scribes questioning with them. Straightway all the people when they beheld him, were greatly amazed, and running to him, saluted him. He asked the scribes, What question you with them? One of the multitude answered, saying, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which has a dumb spirit, and where's whoever he taketh him, he teareth him.
Any Falmouth and gnashes with his teeth, and pineeth away. And I spake unto thy disciples that they should cast him out, and they could not. He answered him and said, Oh faceless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you bring him unto me. They brought him unto him. And when he saw him straightway the Spirit carry him, and fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming. He asked his father, How long is it ago since this came upon to him? He said of a trial.
Oftentimes it has cast him into the fire to destroy, and in the waters to destroy him. But if thou canst do anything, have compassion on us and help us. Jesus saith unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. And straightway the father of the child cried out with said with tears, But I believe, help thou mine unbelief. When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou.
And deaf spirit I charge, they come out of him, enter no more into him. Spirit cried in random sore, and came out of him. And he was as one dead, insomuch that they said, He is dead. But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up. He rose. When he would come into the house, His disciples asked him privately could Why could we not cast him out? He said unto them, This kind can come forth by nothing, but by prayer.
And fasting? Well, we find in another account that they were.
Striving with one another to see who was the greatest among them and they didn't have the power and to cast out this demon. And here we find at the end of the, uh, story that the Lord Jesus says that, uh, this kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting. So there was a spirit that was required. They were going through a trial, this Father.
Doesn't say anything of the mother in this story. In the the book of the Second Kings that story, the mother is involved and the father.
He's really not too interested. But here it seems that the father had more of an interest in his son, felt more of a responsibility, and he was seeking the blessing for his son. And some of us that our fathers have burdened for our sons, our daughters, and it's a good thing here to bring them into the presence of the Lord. And so it's nice to see how this father came right into the presence of the Lord with his son.
In whatever condition he was.
And he brought him for a blessing, though there must have been tears in that home. There must have been a lot of sorrow in that home. But the Lord was working with this man, and he was working with him. That he might come and that he might be exercised in faith, and that he might come and bow before the Lord and bring his son was a lack of prayer and lack of.
Really dependence upon the Lord in connection with the disciples. And so they weren't able to comfort and bring a blessing.
To this man, but the Lord Jesus was the man of prayer. He was a man of dependence. Mark's gospel, it says in chapter one verse 35, that rising great while before day he went up into a mountain to pray and he brought blessing to his people. And all through the New Testament you can read these little stories.
Beloved brethren, I believe Brother Gordon Hale used to tell us that there's a story in the Word of God that we can read, every one of us that will give us instruction for any circumstance that we might find ourselves in. And I believe that it's true too. In connection with the circumstances of life, the comfort that we desire, the encouragement that we desire, the Lord is able to use those passages of Scripture to encourage our hearts.
And so as we think of those Old Testament Saints, some of them that, like David, compromised his path, compromised the truth, the Lord stood by him. He was working with him to restore him, and he knew how to comfort David. And David was brought into the Kingdom. And you are going to be brought home safely. You're going to be a part of the church. You are a part of the church. If you know Him as Savior and you are going to have a reward, then shall every man have praise of God.
00:55:12
But if there's a a compromise in the path of faith, the Lord is seeking to draw our hearts back. And then in connection with Paul, if there's disobedience, we're not walking in obedience to the course that God has given us. And we know what the truth is. The Lord will work to restore us. And we know that the apostle Paul found himself in prison, perhaps four years. He was given liberty to write and he was under house arrest and the end of Acts chapter 28 and.
He wrote he wrote Ephesians and Colossians, Philemon, Philippians. He wrote 4 epistles I believe while he was under house arrest. And so the Lord is merciful and he gave him opportunity to.
To be used in a fruitful way, let's just close with one more verse and Job.
The Book of Job, last chapter.
I was a little boy and my father was reading the scriptures and he quoted this verse to me. I've never forgotten it. I would encourage you as fathers, mothers, to quote the Scriptures to your children. Doesn't matter how old they are, they're going to remember. I have a grandfather that quoted me one passage of Scripture in John's Gospel. I remember it to this day standing in the kitchen.
Of my father's house 50 years ago, in 1968, he quoted this verse. He said, umm, that Satan is a liar and the father of it and uh.
John's Gospel, chapter 8. I never forgot that quotation, but my father quoted this in Job chapter 42.
He says in verse 12, So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning.
The old beloved brethren were passing through this scene.
There's different sufferings that the Lord is allowing in each one of our lives, but we can be sure of this.
That the Lord is going to bless our latter end more than the beginning and so we're soon going to see him face to face and let's not do what David did leave the land, leave the assembly, leave the path of faith, obedience to the word of God to seek to deflect something of what the Lord is allowing in our lives. Let's just go on together in the presence of the Lord and encourage one another says that not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together as a manner of some is.
But encouraging one another and so much the more you see the day approaching.
Seven Churches Revelation 2:12-29
Gospel 2
Gospel—Dave Whitaker
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Good evening. Welcome to the Gospel meeting.
I'm sitting in my chair thinking about something. That man in the, uh, the woman in the 8th chapter of Luke that had received that, uh.
That healing from the Lord.
When she saw that she was not hid, she came trembling and falling down before him, and declared unto him before all the people, for what 'cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
Talk about a distressed soul.
Matthew and Luke 18, it says.
Republican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me, a Sinner. These were distressed souls. Well then, how on earth can we sing together, hymn #5?
Oh, happy day.
All right, let me see.
That's the one.
Nsnoise.
When did that was my friend go away?
We got beyond till one temporary and we're in the morning remembering everything.
1110.
Going down the road saw a sign, a simple sign like the old sign, been there a while, said Mayfield. Take a right.
That's all the gospel preacher is, he says. Heaven make it right, you might say.
00:05:03
So I found my way here quite easily, followed the directions. God has a pathway for you to take the night.
To heaven and through his dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yes, there's a man. He was.
His soul was stirred, he smote upon his breast, and he said something very interesting. God be merciful to me, the Sinner.
Tonight there may be times that were a little uncomfortable to speak the scriptures.
Just ask you to bear with me, give him an ear, because we could find out tonight that what you are what you are.
Is far worse than what you've ever done. Is that possible?
Yes, when a person may be a upstanding citizen, a good obedient child maybe I know is a brother back home that he admitted he was an obedient son. I love that man. I'll tell you his name. He was obedient son. He said that. But then he came to find out that deep down inside there was something that was basically wrong.
There was a foundation. There was against God.
And you know that's the case of your heart tonight. You may not know that.
So we have, uh, nature.
I may not be saying it all together correctly. I have to get corrected after the meeting. But we have a a nature that's so broken that you don't know how broken it is. And God, with this Searchlight, he turns that light on and he goes down into the views of the candle of man. And he is a Searchlight and he goes down into the very heart of a man's soul, the basement foundation. And you know what? There's a subtle principle down there.
Hatred against God and it's easy to prove. It's easy to prove.
Let's just say John is up on his roof. He's nailing his roof down, and he thinks about his friend Joe, hates him, just can't stand him. And he just thinks about Joe all the time and how he just did him wrong and he just couldn't be a worse enemy than Joe. And he's nailing that roof down and the hammer slips and hits his thumbs, smashes it.
Does he take Joe's name in vain?
No.
Think about that.
So we have way down deep within.
An enmity against the God who loves us. Can you picture that? Is that true? So.
First of all, I would like to start off by thanking the dear Saints here for hosting us. It's very nice. The meals have been lovely and the fellowship hasn't been very sweet. And for some of you that don't know, your visitors here tonight, only know maybe 1/3 of you in the room. I don't know who you are. I don't know if you're part of the metropolis of Mayfield.
And, uh, this little company of Christians in this town and Columbus, they're just a few of them. And, uh, you might walk up to one of them and say, uh, how many people does your fellowship represent?
And uh, they may say to you, before I answer that, I would like to ask you a question. How many people does your fellowship represent?
Well, we, we have a big church, we have two services and it's a maybe three, sometimes 4000 people attend.
And they said, now again, how many people does your assembly, your gathering represent? Well, you know.
34000 A is not enough is not enough. I saw a loaf. I saw a loaf on that table this morning, and it represented every child of God on the face of the whole earth. I don't wanna hear anything more. I don't wanna have any more than that. I don't wanna have any less than that.
That's beautiful. That's the heart of God. And so young people, you may be in an assembly where there's a dozen folks.
Maybe there's four or five. You say there's not many here. How much fellowship here?
But let's look at it through God's eyes. He sees that loaf that's on the table at 11:00 or so. Monday morning is Lord's Day morning.
00:10:04
He sees there it's a picture of the body of Christ as one, and that is dear to the heart of Christ. And so that's what God thinks about. And you know something?
He's he's comfortable with just a few. He is. He's comfortable with just a few and he's comfortable with many. Isn't that wonderful? And so tonight is.
This been invited to speak.
The gospel, because it's in the heart of these men and women in this place here, this little company. I believe I'm from far, far away.
They want us to talk about the gospel, the grace of God. You know, one man came up to me before a gospel meeting, dear friend, he said Davey says preach the gospel. That's what he put it. So with the Lord's help, we're going to preach the gospel tonight. So the word of God is what we have in our hands here. This is inspired word of God. Now it's become very precious.
Somewhat to my heart.
It's become so precious to some people.
And so, uh, important that they're willing to die for it. There's a man that works for me. His name is, uh, Vladimir. He's a Ukrainian fellow and he had a friend. He says David wants you to come with me to visit a friend of mine. OK, This was about two years ago.
He said, Now this friend of mine, let's see if I can if I can find his name here.
I will try. Yeah, I got it. Nikolai Nikovich Kravitzenko. So here's this man. He's in the near Seattle there. Went up and visited him. He's sitting on a couch there. His family gathered around him. He's a very, very old man.
He's on oxygen and he didn't know English, so it was translated to him. I said tell me about this man.
He said, umm, he spent 18 years.
In prison. So how? So? Here he's standing before.
The communist authorities uh, uh, table.
And, uh, they said that Nikolai.
Do you believe in God? Do you believe in God this much or this much? Click notice. That's the difference. That's the difference. Do you believe in God this much? You believe in him for sure. Or you're gonna sign a little paper here. Nobody will know. All you have to sign here is a little paper. Nobody's gonna see it, and you won't have to go to prison. It says there's no God. You sign your name.
Nikolai, he said.
88 Excuse me, forget the tears. 18 years.
Prison.
Hey, you, you excuse me, You and I have this book. Uh, we can sing.
Hymns. We can enjoy the scriptures together with our windows open.
And No Fear.
This young man that I'm Speaking of, the employee that took me up there, same as Vladimir, he has relatives that tell him stories about people that have suffered for the name of Christ.
Maybe you've heard about the Siberian Railroad, that one that goes, I think through nine time zones or something there, the northern part of Russia. There might be a an interesting trip to take, he says. You know who built those railroads? Political prisoners, yes, but believers on the Lord Jesus Christ, some of them, that's who built that railroad.
Terrible conditions, horrible conditions when they die.
See beside the road that.
So we have this evening.
Uh, freedom to speak.
These glorious words of life to you.
We know it's true because ungodly men hate this book.
00:15:01
And people that seeking after righteousness and God love this precious book.
It's a book of life, Life.
It tells us the deep things of God.
What's so interesting? Those deep things of God, those themes that stretch through Christ, Uh, scriptures. The Scriptures.
They sooner or later point to the cross of Christ.
You look in.
The depths of the heart of God.
You will point to the cross of Christ and sometimes we hear the gospel in this country so many times it becomes dull. But that's, that's so sad, that's so prominent in the eyes of God, the gospel of his dear Son. It's a glorious gospel of the blessed God and it not only saves your soul, but Paul's gospel takes you into heavenly places.
Puts you in Christ. So we'll look at that a little bit tonight.
Sometimes, you know, I have a train of thought, sometimes the coaches get disconnected. So I got a few bits of help here. What we want is the true bread that comes down from heaven.
So God has done that in this way. He's given us his word, and he starts it out by saying in the beginning, God. Now I would be willing to say that the folks here in their Bible studies, in this little assembly don't spend more than five or 10 minutes a year talking about evolution because none of them believe it, according to.
What's that guy that?
The North End of Australia. Help me. What's his name? The the evolutionist Darwin. Why should I forget that?
None of us believe it. It's nonsense can't be proved.
You might be asked this question young people, you go to school and they start questioning you about your religion. They say what do you think about evolution? And you could might just ask them what sin are you partaking in that you would ask a question like that.
Yes, man wants to get away from God. He doesn't want to be responsible to God.
Now an interesting thing came across my path a few years ago.
There's a man that played the organ at the funeral parlor in Tacoma, WA.
And he's seen all kinds of circumstances, but this one stood out and certainly stood out to me. A man, I suppose he was a Harley-Davidson lover.
Probably, I have to guess this one, who is probably a rough guy and he had no intention of meeting God someday. So what did he do? He had it arranged that his body would be burned. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. Rather not after he died.
And, uh, his ashes put in the urn, and his urn taped to the seat of his Harley.
And.
At the graveyard there, the record truck picked up that bike and it held it over that hole in the ground and down it went.
And then the record pulled back out of the way in a concrete truck, pulled up and filled the ground, filled the hole with concrete. Why do you think he had that done?
Does anybody guess?
Can anybody guess he was trying to keep from being resurrected and judged? The Bible says after death the judgment pointed unto man once to die and after death the judgment lady came into the shop, middle-aged lady.
Russian accent.
After the gospel was presented to her, she says, uh, I don't wanna go to heaven and I don't wanna go to hell. I just wanna be like I was.
Before I was born, just nothing. Well, lady, you don't have that choice. The Bible says it is appointed unto man once to die, and after this the judgment.
00:20:06
So God, in his mercy and His love, he looked down into my heart, in the heart of most of the folks here in this room, and He saw not just the sins that we committed and the evils that we have done and the hard feelings we've had in the things we've stolen, but he looks past that right down, and he sees a broken, fallen principle.
In the soul of man, he's an enemy of God.
Is that true?
When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son.
So there was a little boy. Now I've been talking to some kids here. I saw 7-8 and nine see 8-9 and 10 year old girls were sitting there asking their age, didn't ask them their names. Then there was a little girl, her name was Lillian. They don't get cuter than that.
Had a talk with her. She's probably about four or five, I don't know six, but there was a little boy who was seven years of age.
And he lived in the house upstairs. The people that lived downstairs, their last name was Grace.
Pretty nice name, isn't it? So they have this board. Johnny Grace. Johnny Grace and I were friends. We lived upstairs of Cincinnati, OH. I was seven years of age. He said to me, let's go over to the ballpark.
And, uh, pick up empty pop bottles.
Underneath the bleachers.
And we'll put them in a box. He was 10 years old. I think we'll put him in a box. And then the next day we'll take those bottles and we'll turn them in for two cents a piece. Now that would make see 2 * 5 five bottles. That's how much, $0.10. There may have been six in there, I don't remember. But those bottles didn't belong to me. Those bottles belong to the concession there at the ballpark.
So.
Went home with that little shoe box full of these empty pop bottles. Got near the house and I said to that boy, I said, John, I don't feel good. I don't feel good. Now there's something in each one of you. It's called a conscience.
And if I could put it in modern parlance, it's like a little monkey on your back and you go this way and it goes that way. You go this way and it goes that way, and you can't do a solitary thing about it. God has put in you a conscience.
And fit these guidance, that's true, but generally speaking, it'll tell you when you're dead wrong.
Well, this little boy, looking at him, he had a conscience. At 7 years of age, he was not doing well. And so this fellow thief, Johnny, he said, what's the matter? I don't feel good. He's aren't you saved.
No, no. Well, do you wanna get saved? I said yes, Yes I do. I wanna get saved. So there I remember. All I can remember is that the ground had no grass, which is dirt. He said. Well let's get down here on our knees. 10 year old boy telling A7 year old boy.
They need to be saved. They're gonna tell him how to do it. Uh, so I don't know how. I said, well, my dad was a preacher. I knew how, if I'd have thought about it. So I said, I don't know how, He says, will you pray after me?
Now I don't remember the prayer, but I'm sure when something like this, Dear Lord Jesus, we're sinners.
We sinned against God. We know we're sinners. We know that the Lord Jesus is the Savior. We know that the blood of Christ can cleanse us from all of our sins. So we accept you, Lord Jesus. I accept you as my Savior. And that's what took place.
Here was a boy, distressed, with his face on the ground, somewhat distressed.
Up in heaven, there's rejoicing going on. What's this all about?
Can you picture that? Here's a man in the we read 2 cases here. This man is mowed upon his breast and he cried out. God be merciful to me, the Sinner. He's in miserable shape, and heaven's rejoicing.
What God is listening for tonight, little boy, little girl. Lillian, by the way, where was she sitting? God is listening for a yes.
00:25:11
Yes, yes.
I was a pilot in my office and this has happened to other people. Very proud man by his own admission.
He was standing there telling me how he got saved.
He's a very proud man, he says. And I didn't. I knew I better get saved. I knew I better get that right, because otherwise I'm going into a lost eternity. Went into his bedroom.
And he put one knee on the ground.
And he knew if he didn't get that other knee down, if he didn't get that other knee down the ground, he was going through a lost eternity because he wasn't turning himself into God completely, 100%.
He didn't want to do so. I got to get this straight. That other knee wouldn't go down. Pride. Finally he took that other knee and he jammed it down into the floor. He was saved.
He was saved that day and he's a happy day, happy now. Well, you know, it may be the most miserable day of your life. And God reaches down into your soul, the bottom of your heart, and he digs up all that corruption that's in there that you don't even know there, that enmity against God.
And then you know what it does, he says. I have a plan. I have a way if you just simply bow your heart.
And accept me by faith, I'll take that whole thing, the root and the branch, the sin and the sins, and I'll take it all away in my sight.
Wow, isn't that a wonderful salvation? And he does it in such a way.
That.
All your transgressions and all of your sins are cleared forever.
Now I've had several folks tell me, you mean they that after you confess Christ and you take Christ as your Savior.
You can go out and do anything you want because you're saved. That is the lowest legal miserable.
Unredeemed thought I could ever imagine. Why not after you're saved.
You've been left in old nature there to exercise you. God has left it there. I can't explain all those things.
To exercise your heart and to give you to lean on him.
You have the privilege of not going out for.
Really. To go out and send you the rest of your life away and have it forgiven? No, you can sing His praises forever and ever and ever and ever, and the song can begin.
Oh Happy Day, that fixed my choice on thee, my Savior, my God will. May this glowing heart rejoice and tell its raptures all abroad. Happy day, Happy day when Jesus washed my sins away.
So God in his book here he starts it out by size. Mentioned this while ago and got sidetracked.
God in the beginning God. Oh what an amazing statement. God doesn't offer any opinions and never has offered one opinion or apologies.
He just makes facts statements that you can rest your soul on forever in the beginning. God.
It's like he reaches out. He said, no, I want to. I want to introduce myself to you. I want to introduce, introduce myself to you. I want to get to know you. I want you to get to know me because I already know you. That's better.
And so he put.
The universe together.
He put introduced time and he made those marvelous.
Orbs, stars, planets all put them in proper order.
00:30:00
And uh.
She made the whales, the fish, the sea, the trees, the animals, the cattle, and the And then it. It's almost like I forgot to tell you I made the stars also.
That's God, and if you take the italics out, it's just the stars. Also, we look out at the vast universe and Brother Bob has told us about the Milky Way since Adam's time till now.
At the speed of 196,000 miles or whatever, it's only 10% through light traveling through that Milky Way. Oh my wow. And so the Lord says, oh, I made the stars. Also, I mean to tell you that before I forget.
He doesn't forget. Oh, he does. No, he doesn't. He chooses not to remember my sins anymore.
He doesn't forget anything, but he chose not to remember my sins anymore.
God saw all these things. He saw all these things as he made them. And then you always said about it, you would stand for approval. And that's good, that's good, that's good. But now let's turn to Genesis chapter 2.
And verse 18. Let's see if it's all good.
Look at Genesis chapter 2 and verse 18.
The Lord God said is not good.
What?
I read that right and the Lord God said it's not good that man should be alone. Oh my, what a statement.
Immense consequences, that statement. Not good. That man should be alone.
And God doesn't do anything halfway. No, when he when he saves a soul, he takes him all the way to heaven forever. And when he condemns a man, he takes him into outer darkness forever and he forsakes him. He's never to be come up for parole or anything anymore. It's a serious thing to fall into the hands of a living God.
But here it says not good. That man should be alone.
What is he gonna do about that?
Well, there was a council between them both. You find that one of the minor prophets between the Father and the Son.
And the result is they're gonna be peace, the council of peace, and the Lord is gonna bear the glory. He's gonna get the glory for this council of peace. And if you turn to Isaiah chapter, I believe it's 6.
It says.
Question asked there.
Apparently there's a council going on.
Look at that eighth verse.
Whom shall I send? And I heard the voice of the Lord saying.
Whom shall I send? Who will go for us so to complete this plan of redemption, to provide a companion, an eternal companion for the Son of God?
There had to be a divine plan worked out whereby man who had been so ruined and tainted by sin and Satan to recover a man from that awful position of.
Judgment, then condemnation.
That he'd be not expelled from the presence of God forever.
To provide.
A companion, a bride for his son, He had to put.
A plan in motion.
To redeem creation, right? And so look at this, who will go for us?
Wow, what a thing to say. Who would go for us? Well, there's only one person that could.
God the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
That journey of love started in the heart of God.
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And could I put it this way? You weren't the main object.
The glorification of His Father was the main object, so in perfect obedience.
Down he came.
Downey came.
He walked among men, they could see perfection. Which of you convinced of me of sin? He said.
He walked about, doing good, healing, showing who he was.
And occasionally that great power came out when he said I am, and they fell backward to the ground when they were looking for him.
So, so much of that power and glory had to be veiled because man can't face God without being destroyed, without that precious word of called grace.
No man shall see God and live.
There was some that had the appearance of God and they said, uh, God wouldn't, he wouldn't have told us all these wonderful things if he was going to kill us. Oh, there was a concern about facing God and that's we, your concern should be tonight. How can I face God? Well, here comes the son of God. God manifested in the flesh. He came down there. It doesn't even doesn't even say it was born in a Manger. You know that.
He were laid in a Manger. Don't know where he was born. Bethlehem. Yeah.
But he had nothing. The poorest man, the poorest man that ever walked this world.
Wandering as a homeless stranger.
In the world.
His hands had made think about that.
So there that little baby was.
Holy, holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners. What's the difference between that baby and that little baby I saw a while ago over there?
That baby was born with a broken fall of nature.
The Lord Jesus was born in the human nature and a divine nature, but not a broken human nature. That seems different. Remember that that's important.
He walked among men, showing who he was with one purpose.
Two purposes, glorify His Father and to redeem your soul from hell and to bring you into a relationship that can't be broken.
Eternal favor with the Son of God a companion. That verse is going to be answered Genesis 218 Not good that man should be alone.
There, it's got an answer and we're coming up with it right here.
And so the Lord Jesus.
And his pathway?
You know it says, the lines have fallen unto me in pleasant places. I have a goodly heritage in the Psalms.
He had a mother that loved him.
He had someone that cared for him, his mother, but when he got out and about and started to do his mighty works of kindness and action, that you think that when he walked into a city and healed everybody there, that the city would rejoice and sing. Well, there was a certain amount of that. But finally when his teaching got down into the, the basement of their soul, the the bottom of the, they found out that they were enemies of God.
And then they were enemies of Christ, son of God.
And then they started right away, bothering him, pestering him, reviling him. But he set his face to go to Jerusalem. Why? To die for you, to die for me. That's what he did.
He didn't turn aside.
How many times have I turned aside from a purpose? His purpose was to give his life a ransom for many.
And you can be one of the many tonight if you just step through the door of faith and repentance.
Went to that cross.
I'm there.
He yielded up his life.
Then there needed to be a design, well I should say there needed to be a way whereby.
His love could be displayed.
We can see his glory displayed in the heavens we talked about a moment ago. They have Psalm 19. The heavens declare the glory of God. Oh my pictures from the Hubble telescope.
00:40:08
The the, the they're, they're mystical way out there. Those, those stars spinning and the colors and all.
Man has been allowed to look out there.
And see that you see the glory of God and you look at the DNA. I haven't, but they tell me about it, the DNA. You see the wisdom of God.
And then you see the patience of God when he sees men, women, and young people taking the name of Jesus Christ in vain daily. As a matter of fact, you hear him say, Jeez.
Jeez, I hear Christians saying that. Jeez. Amidst oath.
Be careful.
What we say.
And you see the power of God.
The Hurricanes. the Tornadoes.
And the wind and storm, You see the power of God, but how can we see the love of God?
God had to show He had to. He has to vent that love. He wants an object to wreck his love upon.
And so I'll make a plan. Here's the plan. I'll let this world become.
Stained with sin.
Wars. Rumors of wars. Trouble.
And then what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna step right in the middle of it and I'm gonna show you what real, what real true love is.
I'm gonna.
Take souls out of that mess.
Well, first of all, I'm gonna go to the cross and I'm gonna yield up a perfect life, the only life that has a right to live, and I'm gonna accomplish an eternal redemption. I'm gonna shed my blood. I'm gonna give my blood because that's what's required. The soul that sineth, it shall die. And the blood is what cleanses us from all sin. You're gonna shed his blood. You're gonna be buried. He told his disciples that about three times before he ever got to the cross.
And then they're gonna rise again.
And then I'm gonna go back to heaven. I'm gonna complete that loop, starts in heaven. I'm gonna come down this world, I'm gonna go to the cross and I'm gonna be buried. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna give my blood. I'm gonna be married. Then I'm gonna be raised again third day. And then I'm gonna take people back home to heaven with me.
Whoa, you one of those?
You know, he was received up in glory. He was taken up.
From a real world that rejected him. So getting on with this love story, it's a story of love.
He came down here and he made a way by going to the cross. So we read about this morning, those beautiful, beautiful scriptures, those beautiful hymns that we sang together in honor of our blessed Lord Jesus.
Sweet. Beautiful.
Song worthy, Worthy. He's to be praised. Well, that's the work that he did there at the cross. And so this plan of redemption now goes like this.
If you feel your need and the Spirit of God may be speaking to your heart.
You know that verse, John 316? We don't have to turn it up. I think we said it. I'd say 90% of the people in the world room could could quote it correctly. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
And so.
Here's a poor, guilty, lost, hell deserving center that realizes it. God has spoken to him. He dug down on the foundation. He found that principle of sin, their hatred against God and works that have proven and proven him to be a Sinner.
So let's put it this way. Here's a man. He sits down on the center's bench, the center seat right there.
And there's just room for two. Well, who's the other one?
Well, the Lord Jesus, he sits down on that sinner's bench also. How is that? He's not a Sinner. He puts his arm around you and he says I was made sin. I've tasted the bitterness of your sins, the consequences of your sins.
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And now I wanna save your soul.
So you bow your head and say yes, Lord Jesus.
Then it takes you to the mercy seat.
There's the blood, there's the blood. Now we can commune with you.
Then it takes you to the judgment seat later on.
Not to suffer for your sins, but to show you.
By is exposing the things in your life that weren't pleasing to Him so that you can really and truly praise and glorify God.
And then he takes you to the Father's home, and he sets you on that throne with him.
There's that circle of love. It starts in a past eternity, way back when, before time.
It comes down to this world.
Down to a Manger.
In life lived perfection. He went to the cross, He had some followers there and then. For the last 2000 years there have been people that have bowed their knees, the Lord Jesus.
And he's going to take him up with a rapture. First Corinthians chapter. First Thessalonians chapter 4.
There was a man, he had the tape deck and the dash of his automobile, and it was one of the Sunday schools. Somebody was preaching the gospel to the children.
And.
The guy that left his car with the mechanic with the tape sitting in the dad turn the ignition off and the and the tape sitting in there ready to go and the technician gets in the car and he turns on the ignition and it's the tape says every knee shall bow point to your knee talking to children all the Sunday school thing.
Point to your right knee. Point to your left knee. Those knees will bow.
That's what the technician in the garage heard on that tape.
I thought that was interesting. Your knee will bow.
About the Old Testament Every knee.
Should bow.
New Testament, every knee shall bow, and you find the Book of Revelation. Every knee has bowed, and it's to the glory of God. Although for some it will be too late, too late. Don't be too late.
Yes, someone said a warmer heart never beat.
Lord Jesus.
He looked at a city one time.
City of Jerusalem.
And he said.
Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem.
Thou that killest the prophets stone us, them that are sent unto thee, how often?
But I have gathered your children together.
As a hen gathered through chickens under our wings.
But you would not.
Yes, that plan took him to Calbridge Cross. And you know, they, they stripped him, as the brother mentioned earlier, they stripped the most modest man that ever lived. They stripped him of his clothing.
And he wants to clothe you tonight with robes of righteousness.
Yes, they crowned him with a crown of thorns.
He wants to crown you with loving kindness.
And tender mercies.
They take they took him to a place called the Place of a Skull.
He wants to give you the mind of Christ.
00:50:09
Most violent act, The most violent act that ever took place.
Pull out the heart of man.
And the coldest verse.
In the Bible I think is this.
Sitting down, they watched him there.
Could it be don't try to disassociate yourselves from those people there at the foot of the cross?
I hate to tell you this, maybe I it's good that I tell you this, that that same.
Uh, Principal.
That I can't quite get the right word. It's a fixed principle. You are an enemy of God.
Deep doubt in their heart. You may not realize it children, but that self same.
Result that can will put you at the foot of the cross doing the same thing.
Serious things, I have to think about that, how to work that.
So there.
They blindfolded him.
And they smoked him. He opened the eyes of the blind.
And he blessed them.
So we've had some thoughts about the.
The wisdom of God. The power of God. The patience of God.
But here at the cross, you'll find the love of God.
That's where vengeance against sin.
In righteousness and holiness.
They meet there. That's cross.
How many of your children seen a beautiful rainbow? I know you all have.
Some places you see lots of rainbows.
Where there's rain? Anyway, I want you to think about this when you see a rainbow.
You got that pure white light of the sun coming down and it hits that cloud, that dark cloud.
And the light refracts and it turns out all those beautiful colors. I work with colors every day. It's my job. Some of them are so beautiful, so beautiful.
The holy white light.
Of God's holiness.
Struck that cross of Calvary.
And it refracted such a way all the colors that are.
Come out of that white light.
God came down and he displayed Himself and all the beauties and virtues and all that those colors represent. Peace, blood, royalty, it's all there and it's a beautiful thing. Rainbow is one of the most beautiful things in nature.
And just think of that cloud that the Lord Jesus had to endure to let those glories shine.
We will go on.
That's those three hours of darkness.
Umm, there was a man, there was a he was, he was afraid, he said. Surely this was the Son of God, He was a soldier.
It became dark, 3 hours of darkness and I'm sure that there was some that thought, will the sun ever shine again?
If we made our final mistake, this is a bad one. Will the sun ever shine again? 3 hours. Sit in the dark for three hours in the middle of the day.
But you know something, after the Lord Jesus, he cried. Oh, that's a subject all of its own. Could take another hour. Talk about the cross and what went on there.
He said Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.
That's almost a contradiction.
How could that be?
They they knew what they were doing. They put them on the ground.
00:55:05
Forgivable ground, put it that way. He put him on a forgivable ground.
And uh.
Then.
He said it is finished.
The work of redemption completed.
Just as satisfied holding as satisfied love satisfied God satisfied.
He bowed his head.
And he yielded up to only life.
Yeah, right to live the only life that had a right to live. He gave it up.
And you know, he said, it is finished about his head to give up the ghost.
And the light came back on.
A brand new day.
It's called. It's called the Day of Grace.
Now young person.
If you don't know the Lord Jesus, I don't know you. So I'm not trying to point any fingers at all. I just don't know yet. If you don't know the Lord Jesus.
You have ahead of you.
The responsibility.
Of the payment of your own sins.
But if you take Christ as your Savior, you're taken off that responsibility and that responsibility.
Was placed on the Son of God, and he bore your sins on the cross. And So what do you have to do now? It's simple.
Little Lillian, I don't know where she's sitting. She's just about four years old. I was visiting with her a little bit. She can say yes, Lord Jesus.
And you know, something is not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. Oh, I saw him. I'll just read you a couple things here. It says this blesses the man. Blessed is he who Tran who's transgression is forgiven, happy. Uh, you can't generate your own happiness. You'll get a little burst of joy as you go through this world.
But that subtle piece that only comes from God? You are unable to make yourself eternally happy.
A man goes to a ball game, for example. Ball games are fun. Man goes to a ball game screaming and hollering, and half the people go home sad. You know why? They lost? Their team lost. But you know something? There's no losing here.
There's eternal happiness, it says. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. The New Testament you find out it's more than covered.
Romans chapter Is it 4?
Hi Granddad brother, I haven't had my Bible open too much tonight but I've been quoting a lot of verses.
Verse 6 Romans 4/6 As David there in the Psalms declared the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth.
Righteousness without works.
Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
Covered. The precious blood of Christ is what covers a man's sins. It puts him away as far as the east is from the West. You know it. Notice it doesn't say as far as the north is from the South of the wisdom of God. You can keep going east, keep going east, and keep going east. You'll never get the end of it.
But you go north, you're gonna get the end of it. You're gonna go South again. So God is so wise and he puts all of his sins behind his back. He puts all of them in the deepest sea, the for forgotten. He chooses. He doesn't forget anything, but he chose. He chose.
To not remember.
Anymore. Oh, it's precious.
Repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
I may have done more repenting in the last two years than I did in the previous 74.
Repentance is a worthwhile thing to get a hold of, but when I put my head down at night?
I say, Lord Jesus, thank you for saving my soul.
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Bless the Lord, O my soul. What was the matter with my soul?
All this with me, bless His holy name. What was the matter with my soul? My soul was lost. Your soul is lost.
So.
This meeting is coming to a close and we just got started. Would you care if I take another hour?
No, we're gonna stop here. We're restless. We're gonna enjoy without hindrance.
The courts of glory forever. But I wanna just say this more.
The Lord Jesus, he looks down upon his broken world, and as we talk about Africa, we talk about the Venezuelans. In such a pickle right now.
Evil men and seducers of Wai wax worse and worse, and there are dictators that take food from the people and they're starving and there's refugee camps and there's misery on every hand. This has to change.
It's gotta change. You know what the word thissa means means? Broom sweeping the beam of destruction. The janitors coming. I speak respectfully, very respectfully.
And you're gonna mop it up.
You gotta mop it up.
All taste of sin is going to be removed and all evil is going to be done away. You and I believers can dwell with God, God's eternal day.
Then what?
Psalm 72.
This is what's coming for this poor, broken world.
It says.
First two, he's gonna judge the people with righteousness.
And I pour with judgment. The mountain shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills by righteousness. I'm going to stop here for a minute and give you Isaiah Chapter 7. Verse 14 says the whole earth is at rest. In his quiet it breaks forth into singing. Is that possible?
Is that possible? Yes. He shall judge the poor of his people, who just Save the Children of the needy. He shall break in pieces the oppressor, and they shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure throughout all generations.
He shall come down like rain upon the moon grass, the showers that water the earth, and his days shall the righteous flourish and abundance of peace so long as the moon and earth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. And so on verse 12, He shall deliver the needy when he crieth. Oh, there's a cry going up tonight. This world is shaped like a great big tear.
And we're part of it.
He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence, and precious shall their blood be in His sight.
Verse 17 His name shall endure forever. His name shall be continued as long as the sun, and men shall be blessed in him. All nations shall call him blessed. Yes, he's gonna take.
With a great deal of well, there'll be some violence involved. He's gonna take away the, the NA, the nations and the religions and all that have dishonored him. He can arrest them away from Satan. He can hand these these kingdoms over to God his Father and you're gonna come forth and, and serve us. Beautiful thought, but we'll go on.
His name shall endure forever, it says. In one place. When she died and his name perished, that's the desire.
Of the unbeliever, his name shall endure forever. His name shall be continued as long as the sun, and men shall be blessed in him. All nations shall call him blessed. There will be nations, there will be kings, and there will be Lords. But he's King of king, and he's Lord of Lords, blessed and only potentate. Blessed be the Lord God. The God of Israel will only do with wondrous things, and blessed please be his glorious name forever. Let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen the prayers of David.
Son of Jess year ended.
There's no need more to pray. Why? Because God has had his way. God has established his rights.
In this earth.
But now the question is young people and children, when God has said everything right?
In earth and heaven, where will you be? Where will you be?
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Young and old, where will you be? And God sets it all right?
I'll tell you where I'm gonna be. I'm gonna be with the Lord Jesus Christ companion forever. Why? Because I'm better. Oh, no, Siri, because he's perfect. And so here tonight we have men.
Running away from God.
When they should be running into God.
Isn't a question of can I be saved, is can God get the glory?
He's gonna, he's gonna get the glory for saving your soul. And so you can hide in that rock. Just in the town of Cheddar in England, just up the Rd. Little Place ways, there's a rock, huge rock. It's got a cleft and it goes up like that. It's where that man wrote that beautiful hymn Rock of Ages left for me.
Let me hide myself in thee.
Are you hidden?
It says go out in the highways and the hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be full. The highways are people that are going away from God, the hedges are people trying to hide from God. But God says hide in me, hide in me.
You can do that tonight with one look of faith. A three letter word, yes.
Saved. You can be saved eternally blessed. We must stop.
Seven Churches Revelation 3
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God and the Lambs as well. I know that source divine of joy and love. No Tonkin tell yet know that all is mine.
I see those here in my heart and all of God, everyone. I am from here calculator.
It's not used for anything.
A Reaper of them and praying and all of us don't. Come on.
Oh, OK, there's a bit of a blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Blah, straight. Thank you. Bye.
Blood flowing on my hands right now.
And the rest of the instantiating my heart and.
Let's suggest that we start and read chapter 3 of Revelation.
Revelation chapter 3, verse one.
And unto the Angel of the Church in Sardis right these things, saith he that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars. I know thy works, that thou hast the name that thou livest, and art dead.
Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die, for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Remember, therefore, how thou has received and heard, and hold fast and repent.
If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the Book of Life, but I will confess His name before my Father and before his angels.
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He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
And to the Angel of the Church in Philadelphia, right these things, saith He that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth. And no man shut it, and shut it, and no man open it. I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. For thou hast the little string, and has kept my word, and has not denied my name.
Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved you, because thou hast kept the word of my patience. I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly, hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out. And I'll write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, And I will write upon him my new name. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
And unto the Angel of the Church of the Laodiceans write.
These things saith thee, Amen. The faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou Wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth, because thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, and knoweth not.
That thou art wretched and miserable, and poor and blind and naked.
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayst be rich and white raiment that thou mayst be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear. And anoint thine eyes with thyself, that thou mayest see as many as I love. I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock if any man hear my voice, and open the door.
I will come in to him, and we'll Sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Mm-hmm.
Well, as we have been reading in chapter 2, the Lord Jesus himself addressed the seven churches. He himself addressed those that were responsible to maintain a testimony among the in this world that would be of a true character and that which was not according to the character that they ought to have been walking in. In connection with that testimony, He addresses those different issues and so.
In Chapter 3 we begin with the Sardis, and Sardis was what came out of the Reformation. And so it means Sardis, that means the remainder means a remnant. And so they came out of Roman Catholicism and really became and began in I believe 15/27/28, something like that. And so the Reformation began.
And, uh, as soon, uh, petered out because, uh, there was such persecution of the Roman Catholic Church against the, uh, reformers that they sought the protection of the governments of Europe. And it ground down to, uh, uh, a little bit of a, a trickle, you might say. And then was really established in connection with the Protestant churches. So Protestant means Protestant means to protest. And so they were.
In a protest, perhaps you might say, against the Roman church and they were trying to reform it.
And then you have in connection with Philadelphia in, uh, I believe it is 1827 or 1828 began and it was, there was a, a recovery of the truth of God. The Spirit of God began to work. And instead of the, the, the reformers went part way and, uh, what was delivered and the responsibility of man fell down to the level of the world, you might say in the testimony was, uh, really not as clear as it should have been.
00:10:21
But the Spirit of God intervened and approximately 200 years before the Lord's coming here, you have the truth recovered, all of the truths of Christianity in their entirety, recovered in the prophetic line of things and dispensational truth. And so Philadelphia, the name means brotherly love and God has intervened. But approximately 20 years later, and Mr. Darby.
In his writings has said it, another of the old writers have, uh, commented that, uh, the strength and the power of Philadelphia, uh, continued for 20 years. And then in 1848 the Open Brethren division took place. And, uh, Mr. Darby says that was the beginning of Laodicea. And so these three churches, 4 churches, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea continue on to the end right until the Lord's coming and so.
Even you might say that the false church continues past the time of the coming of the Lord, and we know that the lazy and condition of things in the professing church will continue until that the coming of the Lord and the appearing of the Lord. Let's just look at Matthew chapter 25 and just point that out.
Matthew 25.
And, umm.
Verse 10 while he went to buy the bridegroom came that the coming of the Lord Jesus at the rapture, and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgin, saying, Lord, Lord open to us. But he answered and said, Verily, I sent you, I know ye not. And so we're called to watch and to wait for the coming of the Lord. And we know that professing Christianity will continue after the true church is raptured.
So it's, uh, instructive. The Spirit of God wanted us to know that he was not surprised. The Lord is not surprised of the history of the church and the decline. And so may the Lord give us grace and help to recognize where we are in church history just before the Lord comes. And the character of the day is the latest Sia, indifference to the glories of Christ. And here Laodicea, the name means the people's rights.
And so the democratic principle has crept in into spiritual things. And sad to say, even in the assembly, I have a right. I have, I have, umm, opinion. My opinion is just as much, uh, a part of, uh, the assembly as your opinion. Well, that's not how God has organized the assembly. And so here we have the instruction given to us to continue until he comes.
Well, to see the prophetic picture like you mentioned, Brother Robert, but uh, we can always take this too as applying to ourselves individually and there is profit in it. And so when he says thou hast the name that thou liveth in our dead, and in verse two, be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die for have not found thy works perfect, that really should be complete.
Before God.
It's so easy, brother, and to hold on to outward, uh, things that are in connection with the testimony without being real in our souls. And so there's a, a great danger of that in our Christian testimony to, we always did it this way. Why shouldn't we continue to do it this way without knowing the basis in the scriptures for doing it? And may the Lord help us and stir us, our dear young people especially, but.
Those of us who are older too, we need to know the scriptural basis. That's why we're talking the other day about the foundation work, how important it is to know where the foundation lies. Because you're not building on the foundation, it's not gonna last. Outward forms will last a little bit, but they will fall away. So it's so important to know the reason.
00:15:24
Why we do certain things is there a scriptural basis and to understand it be watchful strengthen the things which were remain is is the word because he said thy works were not complete before God and so the Reformation period was that way tremendous work of the Spirit of God in the times of Martin Luther how the truth of the justification by faith and.
Of the authority of Scripture, tremendous things, and we have to thank God for those men that God used in a marked way.
But like you say, Brother Robert, then they started depending on the protection of earthly powers and things were compromised. Lord help us.
Found a, a word of encouragement. There are some books on the, in the BTP display about some of those reformers and, umm, it's very instructive. It's very helpful to read about the history of some of those reformers. And I would encourage you if you haven't read some of those histories to read them. Umm, there are, I think there's a book there, the Heroes of the Reformation. There's one on William Farrell, one of the most faithful.
And true to the truth reformers and read some of those stories, you'll understand a little bit of what the Spirit of God, the the measure of work that the Spirit of God did at the time of the recovery of the truth. It was a miracle. It was a miracle for them to come out of the darkness of Roman Catholicism and to recognize the all sufficiency and the authority of the word of God, the word of God, the Roman Catholic Church suppressed it burned.
We refuse to allow even the priests to read it. And so it was a real work of God and recovering that, and then the Lord, as you we know, intervened and in His grace and his power.
The truth was recovered in its entirety. And so this is a very significant expression. As you mentioned in the end of verse two, I have not found my works complete before God. They went part way. And so you say we can apply it to our lives Practically, have we gone part way? Are we saved? To be saved, to know that your sins are forgiven, yet you're no longer guilty before God is the beginning of Christianity. You've just stepped inside the door, but now you need to know what all of your blessings are.
We've been blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies, in Christ. What are they? We need to know what they are. We need to enjoy them and savor them. And that's really what he's Speaking of here. They, they knew a little bit of the truth. They had fought against the tyranny of Rome, but they didn't complete the work, you might say, and come leave it in, in its entirety. So God has called us to go forth therefore unto Him.
The person of Christ, without the camp, without organized religion unto him, without the camp bearing his reproach.
And so that's a place of reproach outside of organized religion gathered to His precious name. That's what God has called us to do.
Well, to see how God used instruments, isn't it like you mentioned? And I too encourage young people to get a hold of those books and read them. They are really wonderful that William Farrell, like you say, he was from Switzerland, I think, wasn't he?
France.
They said that he had red hair and he had the boldness to go in while the priest was celebrating the Mass. And he would go into the pulpit in the Catholic Church and start preaching right when the Mass was being said. And it says that the people wondered if there's a demon because of his red hair and.
They were in they were frozen in their place in fear and they listened to the gospel being preached in clarity. It's it's amazing some of the stories, brother, and maybe you and I wouldn't do such things, but God used those men in a marked way. Thank God. And he does that, brethren, but we don't know human instrument is the measure of our faith rather than it is God's precious word. And so as it came clear and clearer with time.
00:20:27
Thank God for every, uh, truth that came in clarity.
So he mentions in verse, 4I thou hast a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. There is always in every time those who stand out that act in the simplicity of faith in the Lord based on the precious Word of God. They just don't go simply with the flow.
Like we say, Martin Luther was a man.
Tremendously used of God, but he is not the measure of our faith. Rather, and he went so far and we thank God for what he recovered was an instrument in recovering, but that is not the measure of our faith.
That he married a spiritual woman. Her name was Catherine and she was a former nun. And, uh, so there's a little story about, uh, Luther's Katie in that, uh, book rack. And it's a wonderful, uh, wonderful story for young sisters to, uh, read. I think it would be an encouragement to you to think of, uh, the, uh, way that she supported her husband and his work for the Lord and his boldness.
And uh, she had medical experience, she was able to help him in his infirmities and so on. But uh, here he says in verse three as well, we need not pass over it, but hold fast and repent. So why they didn't come go in completeness and umm, they didn't, uh, follow through and learn all of those doctrines that the Spirit of God would lead them into the knowledge of and walk in total separation to Rome. They tried to reform it.
Why? He says, hold fast what you have. And remember that word, that little expression means to seize it, to hold it fast.
Tenaciously, because the enemy is seeking to remove it from you, to rob you, and to rob Christ of your, uh, enjoyment of it. And the other is to hold it fast to the heart, to hold the truth with affection, not just with the knowledge of what it is. And so they were told to hold fast. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. So this gives us the indication that Sardis will continue until the appearing.
And so he comes at the rapture. He doesn't come as a thief. He comes for his bride, He comes for all those that were redeemed, and he'll bring us to be with himself. He'll come for the Saints, and he'll not come to the earth, but he'll come in the air. He'll meet us and we'll meet him in the air. But when he comes as a thief, he comes as one that comes to deliver the judgment and to deliver his Saints, those that are of the godly remnant in the children among the children of Israel, the Jews, He'll deliver them from their enemies.
But he will judge false professing Christianity, and so this is what is referred to when he comes as a thief.
Helpful to distinguish because sometimes that's applied to the rapture. But if you look at First Thessalonians chapter 5, it is very clearly put that it whenever it speaks of the Lord's coming as a thief, it's not the rapture that's involved, it's His coming in power and glory at the end of the tribulation. Sometimes they say you don't want a thief to come to your house and you don't wait for them.
It's for the world that doesn't want him to come and doesn't wait for him that he will come as a thief. But notice this verse First Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse two. It says yourselves, know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. The day of the Lord is the day of His coming in power and glory to establish his Kingdom in judgment.
00:25:11
Verse 4.
But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light and the children of the day. We are not of the night, nor of the darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. So when it's the coming of the Lord as a thief, it's talking about His coming at the end of the tribulation. Important.
Well, that the reformers didn't understand that distinction and so they will know that there are King James translation was translated and became available in 1611. But those that translated this Bible that we have, we're not clear on the distinction between the rapture, the Lord's coming for his Saints, and this coming as a thief at the end of the tribulation period.
They didn't know that distinction. And so even if you look at some of the hymns that we have, uh, some of them, they're not entirely clear. I know that Mister Darby clarified, some of them made them a little clearer, but umm, they didn't have that enjoyment. And they're wonderful to have the truth revealed to us, the light that it's the person of Christ that we're waiting for. And the Apostle Paul was used of God to give the distinction, to teach the distinction between the rapture, between the coming of the Lord for his Saints.
And his coming as a thief. And in the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, the 2nd Epistle of Thessalonians, he teaches it very distinctly. And so particularly if you read in the new translation, you will have those distinctions made very clear. So I very much encourage you to read the epistles, those two epistles, and be clear. It's a part of Paul's doctrine, a significant element of Paul's doctrine, the coming of the Lord Jesus for his Saints.
It's really.
My word that would bring in those Christian truths that we know and are recovered. I just say this too, that with Thyatira and Sardis and Philadelphia, in each of those assemblies, the word is address. Hold fast, or hold that fast, that which we have. And so we do realize that Thyatira went thus far, Sardis went thus far. But whatever truth of God there was, it was to be held fast, to be tenaciously clung to, and then God would give further light.
Perhaps the greatest exercise or burden we should have today is what we're giving up, letting go of the truth of God that he's revealed. Thinking you mentioned the other day, Brother Bob, and your meeting about the Church of the living, uh, the House of God, which is the Church of the living God.
Sardis had a name to live and was dead.
Empty, dead, formalism and ritual. But the Church of God should be a living, vibrant witness to God here in this world. He's a living God. And as we read in First Timothy, we see that life lives.
And so that's the characteristic of of the life of the believer. But that's what Sardis in a collective way, they had a name to live as profession, but they were dead. It's almost tougher to deal with that sometimes than that. It is open opposition.
I remember my meeting with my brother Eric. Neighbor's funeral of a prominent Protestant denomination.
Scriptures were open, the scriptures were read. It was fairly flat service, if I can put it that way. We're speaking to some of the family at the, uh, at the table. Remember my brother seeking to bring the Word out and share the simple gospel.
No response, no opposition, but I just thought of that verse. The name to live and aren't dead. So important it is that we have the truth of God and the living in a real way in our lives.
Alright brother.
They gave me a book.
And she said I should by all means read that. Don't put it away, read it all the way through. It's something that I'll never find anywhere else. So she gave me that book and I read it through.
It is a story that takes place right now.
00:30:01
A young man of is 20, from Dutch.
Of Holland.
He went through.
The recovery.
Wars in Africa.
Uh, to save the.
The country of Holland to keep his influence there, but uh, he got the real rough training there and real tough and he came out of it and he got saved.
And he preached in Holland then?
Every groom that he preached there was breaking full, but he preached only the gospel.
And that really woke me up. I said, well, what we have to do and what we are called to do today is preach the gospel. We are not preaching the gospel. It's it is any one of us among brethren.
The book is called Anne, Brother Andrew the Bible Smuggler. Did you read it?
It's really some it's R, it goes on, it still goes on. He is still preaching. He he got such an attention that the.
Governments of communism sent him an invitation to come to their Congress, which started in Poland. So he bought a ticket to Wausau. And then he started out preaching and he had an interpreter with him, very good interpreter.
And the halls where he preached. Full, always full because.
He only preached the gospel.
And that that work is still going on today among those who are capable and willing to preach the gospel anywhere. He started out in the middle of communism in Warsaw.
And.
They even gave him an invitation pages hotel.
And he started out giving out tracks and started out preaching and preaching and, and he just.
Just wouldn't quit and then it went on. So he went through all the communist little communist countries in in Europe there from 1:00 to the next to the next to the next. And we were the halls were full of breaking full and he still doing it today.
But I never heard any birds in there.
I successfully speaking with preaching the gospel.
Getting out and and I I include myself of course.
We thank God for those who preach the gospel and they stand before God and we do too. And in the measures that the Lord gives us opportunity, we too should take opportunity to preach the gospel. But I find that that it is a privilege not only to preach the gospel, but there is something further is.
What is called, we mentioned it the other day, a discipleship leading souls on, not just getting them saved, but leading them on in the truth of God. And that's what's so important.
Are really? They suffered reproach, didn't they? They they preach Christ. They preached what they knew that the Word of God was the living Word of God and it was the Word of God that had authority. They preached that.
Salvation was by grace and partly because Luther was so in instrumental in translating that epistle to the Romans and he he could preach from the epistles of the Romans, but then it, uh, they were treated as those that were criminals. And so the Spirit of God gives us encouragement. Isn't it nice in Revelation chapter, uh, three here, verse four, he says, thou has a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled our garments and they shall walk with me.
In white for they are worthy. They were treated like criminals. Some of them were murdered, but the Lord Jesus uses this a little expression. I may have mentioned it the other day with me. Would you want to walk with anyone else but with the Lord Jesus, he says they're going to walk with me. And those that were lifeless in the Roman system and that persecuted them even under death.
00:35:17
Why they had no lights, but those that were persecuted, the persecuted ones. White speaks of righteousness. It's the color of victory. And it's the color that the Lord Jesus comes on a White Horse in Revelation chapter 19. And those that come with him are garbed in white. Raiment is of color of purity and victory. So isn't it nice that the Lord recognizes them in this way?
Perhaps it doesn't need to be clarified, but we don't want to be misunderstood. I don't want to.
Must, uh, confuse anything.
The reformers in the work of God is not what is being referred to allow us to name, to live in our dead. That's empty, dead. Formal Protestantism has come out of it, not the work of God. That's not dead, that's active and living. And there's overcomers in every period of time. So just to clarify that point, this is the end result that came out of it. That was such a sad thing. But we do find that every history of the, uh, church's age, there are those that overcome, overcame.
And the conditions in which they were found. And so in all 7 assemblies there was something to overcome. Let me just say that because we do need to distinguish between what is the pref the profession at large, and that what is the work of God within.
The denominations that became deadened, uh, they might have blotted their, the names of those faithful ones out of there, umm, membership books, but the promise is in verse five, I will not blot out his name out of the book of life. And so it's a contrast. And there were those who were faithful and they were excluded.
And so they are the ones that are the overcomers in verse five. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. What a promise.
A faithful individual, faithful individuals that he had raised up and called out, umm, the result of the the Reformation, a dead system, dead religious system. But there were still individuals that had life. And so he seeks to encourage them where they are. But then when it comes to Philadelphia, it's a company of those that he calls out.
And, uh, the, it's a fresh start, you might say. And so there's a, a brand new start. There's a work of the Spirit of God and a work of power and all of the truth is recovered. And so he speaks to the Angel of the Church of Philadelphia and he doesn't, umm, uh, have anything really to, uh, criticize and to rebuke Philadelphia for the reason is that they were so weak.
And the testimony was, uh, weak. It was, uh, still weak, but it had a little power, a little strength. I believe that's the proper translation.
And uh, so they, it's, uh, it says in verse seven these things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David and that openeth no man shutteth, and shutteth no man openeth. I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it, though for thou hast a little strength, a little power, and hast kept my word, not denied my name. And so the holiness of God.
The righteousness of God and not walking in fellowship with unrighteousness was really restored to the, uh, Saints of God. And then the truth of God and the truth, the Lord Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. And so to walk in all of the truth, not just some of it was recovered. And then he that had the key of David, really the prophetic scriptures were uh, read, searched out diligently and understood. And so dispensational truth was rediscovered.
It was recovered to the church at that time and so it was given to the those and they, as the testimony was raised up of those that left those dead systems in Sardis and uh, that represented Sardis and they left those systems and they were gathered by the Spirit of God under the precious name of the Lord Jesus, and they knew something of the holiness of God, the truth and the prophetic.
00:40:09
Part of the the scriptures. They understood what was written to Israel and for Israel, and they understood the distinction of where the church, umm, what the church's part was during the day of grace, that we are not a part of Israel.
Read the, uh, beginning of the meetings that they had in the early 1800s. Their purpose primarily was to study the prophetic scriptures. And as they did so, they came to the realization that Israel is not the same as the church, that they are two distinct things, and then they realize.
The truth that the church is the body of Christ. It's not a.
Formal organized institution that men make and that's why they came out in simplicity to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus as members of one body to be exercised and led by 1 Spirit. That little expression in verse eight that you mentioned, Robert, thou hast a little strength and people sometimes despise.
The littleness of the testimony and the apparent lack of any outward power. But I have found it helpful to go back to Acts chapter 4 in the beginning of the Church's history. What was characteristic of the testimony then?
Acts chapter 4 and verse 33 it says.
With great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all tremendously beautiful in that the testimony of the church in those early days of the church's history beautiful but just to point out in our verse eight of our chapter that word strength.
Is the same word power in Acts 433? It's the same word. So it's the same power that's working in US today only because of the ruin of the testimony. And I want to explain what I mean, because sometimes people call protest against the use of the word the ruin of the church in the eyes of God.
The Church's whole there is one Body is a truth that is true just as much today as it was on the day of Pentecost.
But what has happened if I go out down the street here in Mayfield and one Christian group and then there's another Christian group and then there's another, if I ask some person on the street, where do these Christians meet?
They would never guess that there is one body. Why not? Because the testimony to that truth is in ruins. But we recognize that, brethren.
And we gather in simplicity and recognition of the truth that the body continues to be just one. But they there's not great power in manifestation to that testimony. There's a little power, yes, it's the same power. It's the power of the Spirit of God that dwells in US and it's beautiful to recognize it, brethren, even though.
It is, perhaps through the eyes of many, something that's despicable, but still it is that power.
Open door The Darby is the open door.
I remember asking Brother Chuck Hendricks on that one time. He's emphasizing it should be opened, not open. I said, well, what's the difference? He says, well, if it was opened, it was closed. Now it's open. You remember Ernie has his day. He shut up the doors of the temple and his son Hezekiah opened the doors of the temple. The doors were shut. You might say the truth of the House of God here particularly I think is the thought. But that was a shut up. It wasn't open, but now.
00:45:01
Said that in government there's two figures, there's the sword and there's the key. And to the assembly here was given the key of David. The key is what opens doors. And now the truth and light of the House of God. The Saints of God were able to walk according to the truth of what had been revealed. And it's a wonderful privilege as many days, the church's history, the full light of the truth of God, of my word, as Christ said, it wasn't known, it wasn't understood to be walked in, but God is graciously allowed that we might have the whole truth and we might be able to walk in it. It's a wonderful privilege to realize the door has been open. He sat before us an open door.
And so as such, we should be able to, uh, walk in the light and go to the whole truth of God.
Not nearly an open door, but it's a deliberately opened door. We don't realize how much God is for us. This verb here I have set before. The open door is the same verb we find in verse 9 where it says I will make them a synagogue of same same verb. It's God is deliberately given us opportunity.
So the beautiful thing about Philadelphia, thou has kept my word and not denied my name. Beautiful to connect that those two things, brethren. And Psalm 138, a verse that is sometimes read and I think it's so beautiful I'll just read it.
Psalm 138, verse 2.
He says, I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth.
For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. Imagine, brethren, His word has been magnified above all, his name, His word, if we can put it in the term that sometimes we use.
Is good as his name. It's been exalted above his name.
He's true to His word, we can count on it in that beautiful wonderful to realize. And so how important it is that His word be the norm of our thinking. So often we accommodate things according to human wishes and consideration of one individual and another brother, and it's not about us.
It's about that glorious man, the Lord Jesus, and so it's His word, and he's exalted his word above his name. So shouldn't we put importance to His word? This is the norm.
And to know the Word of God. And so it's one of the things that characterized Philadelphia was that the Spirit of God exercised these brethren, young and old alike, to diligently read the Scriptures. And so they were identified as those that were men of the book and women of the book. They were characterized by a thorough knowledge of the Word of God.
Can I just give you a little illustration of it? Uh, the, it's still possible perhaps today to have that knowledge of the scriptures, that enjoyment of the scriptures. I know, I wish all of us did, but I went to, uh, the Funeral Home of, uh, at the time of my mother-in-law's passing to go to be with the Lord and, uh, sat in the room with the funeral director and went over arrangements and so on. And he said, well, who will you have to speak at the funeral? And, uh, I could arrange somebody and so on. I said, well, we.
Won't need anyone. Uh, we have, uh, other arrangements. And he, by way of, uh, just a thought that came out of his mind and he said it. He said, well, you know, I don't know where you come from, but he says, I don't know about these brethren. You know, these brethren, it's just about anybody that knows the word of God. They come up and they, they take a funeral and it seems like they can, all those brothers, they can all come and they can all stand up and, and give the gospel and, and.
Give a funeral. Well, the man is a believer, but he's in one of these systems in Sardis, but he's a real true believer. Isn't it wonderful to be characterized by knowing the Word of God, knowing the principles of the Word of God, and enjoying the Word of God? And you and I have advantage. We have written ministry that those that were raised up at the time of the recovery of the truth were teachers, and they wrote down what they were teaching and what the Spirit of God had revealed to them.
00:50:25
And I would just encourage you that are younger.
Is to buy those books, acquire those books of ministry on each book of the New Testament, each book of the Old Testament. Have yourself a little library and get acquainted. You and I should know the word of God inside out. We should know it and enjoy it.
So that God's Word and God's name are very closely aligned, because his Word brings before us his authority.
His name brings before us His honor. If we deny His authority, we dishonor him. And as as we treat His word, so we treat him, so we find the two linked very closely together.
We need his word today more than ever because prominent today is man's opinion. Everybody has an opinion. They every man has it thinks he has a right to his own opinion. He has a right to be wrong.
There's no such thing as a right to be wrong. Uh, but we're, we're flooded the Christian markets, the so-called Christian markets are flooded with opinion, with psychology, as if God's word is not sufficient.
And, uh, God's Word is sufficient.
Unless, uh, remember that we have the Spirit of God to give us the understanding of the word, to give us the sense of the glory of God and that we should be dependent on the leading of the Spirit of God and, uh, in, in coming to a knowledge of the work Job.
Between His word and His words, Harris kept my word. If we could just read a couple verses in John 17.
John 17 and verse six, and the Lord's Prayer. I have manifested thy name, that is the Father's name, under the men which thou gave us me out of the world thine they were, and thou gave us them me, and they have kept thy word.
Verse 8 for I have given unto them the words which thou gave us me and they have received them and I've known surely that I came out from thee and they have believed that thou did send me. You probably could help on this brother John. But there's two different words here isn't there is logos and rima that the word of God would be more embracive and inclusive. That was kept my word as I understand it. It would it would include all of Christian doctrine, if you will. It's it's Christ's word. The words are more specific as a different word for commandments, but there are specific instructions.
And directions given to us. Well, we need to keep those as well. The disciples there in John 17. They have received the words and they're so there are specific instructions in Scripture that we can follow. But here it would seem to bring in and again as you mentioned that the seven churches are seen in their life bearing testimony. You don't have the truth of the one body and so on brought out. But in this expression, my word, I take it here that it would bring out the whole truth of God, all of Christian truth and this little assembly in in Philadelphia and weaken this they they clung to it. And so there are specific instructions, but there is that body of Christian doctrine of Christian truth that we are to keep.
To know too, that at that time the truth of what it was to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus was recovered. And so for where two or three are gathered together unto my name, there am I in the midst of them. And they read the Scriptures and they understood the truth that it was the Spirit of God that was gathering them in the energy of the Spirit to where Christ was in the midst. That they didn't have the intelligence to gather themselves to the name of the Lord. That's not the scriptural term at all.
And, umm, there are those that set themselves up and, uh, set an invitation up of the truth of the one body. And those are the terms that they use, uh, that, uh, we gather to the name of the Lord, but that's not a scriptural term. We are gathered by the Spirit of God unto the precious name of the Lord. And so is brother mentioned. It mentions the, the name speaks of the authority of Christ and Christ is in the midst. And when there are, umm, actions that, uh, are necessary and part of the assembly and reception or in the putting away or whatever it is, it's done in the name of the Lord, in his authority. And when we come together in the presence of the Lord to remember him in his death.
00:55:19
We come to where he is in the midst and we recognize his authority and conduct ourselves accordingly. And so they came in holiness and truth with a proper understanding of the what the key of David would speak of those prophetic scriptures and they valued his word. And then he says they understood and he encourages them in verse 10 that I will keep the from the hour of temptation which will come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth.
So we have those that, uh, today think that the church is going to go through the tribulation period. Well, it's not true at all. And here you have a verse of scripture that you can use to, uh, as assurance for your own soul and for those that you might come into contact with in the Christian testimony that are not clear. He's going to keep us from the hour of temptation. He's going to remove us and he's going to try them that dwell upon the earth. There's another expression 10 times it's used in the Book of Revelation, the earth dwellers.
It's a time when he's going to bring judgment to those that have a love of the earth. And he expresses again, he says, I come quickly. Behold, really shouldn't be there. In the text he says I come quickly, hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God. He shall go no more out, and I will write upon him the name of my God, the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem.
Which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new name.
He that had the ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. So there's a real encouragement given to those that will walk in the truth and to those that will hold fast what has been delivered to the church until the time of the rapture. And he says that there's going to be a danger, as it were in verse 11, that there are going to be those that will try to remove some of the knowledge of that truth or some of the testimony of walking in that truth. And he says, be careful.
Everyone of us is susceptible to being deceived and to have the truth released from our grasp. And if we release our grasp of it, someone can take it and our crown would not be, uh, as complete. So the Lord desires to give a reward, a complete reward to those that He has that, umm, walk in all of the truth.
Just wondering if I could share some thoughts that I've been enjoying this morning regarding verse 9. The whole level makes it down the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet and to know that I love that I have, I have loved thee. Umm, if we, if we go back to verse eight, one of the umm, umm, characteristics of this church, I mean what they were enjoying was liberty.
I have set before the open door which no man can shut, and it was a time when the Spirit of God was working and He was exalting Christ, and man, as it were, was not getting in the way. Satan's when when God set aside Judaism as a way in which man was defined blessing before God, Satan took it up, so God set it aside.
When Satan took it up as an instrument to continue to further ******* fear, and everything that man found himself under under law. And here we see that the effort of the enemy during Philadelphia was to bring back the principles.
Of Judaism.
Introducing the first man once again.
Umm, as you might say, the source of blessing and umm, it, it says umm, which say they are Jews. What I'm I'm not sure that I understand that, but I'm going to give just a thought. Umm, we don't the the the Jews were those that had set themselves up to attain under of righteousness on their own standing and on their own ground. Could we turn to 1St current the 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 we're going to find.
01:00:13
An amazing contrast.
That is characteristic of Christianity.
2nd Corinthians 3 says verse 3.
Umm, phrase.
For as much as you are manifestly declared to be the epistles of Christ.
So in our first.
Those that would try to bring Judaism influences back into the church, we're saying we are Jews. What is characteristic of the church? We are epistles of Christ.
And that's a there's, that's a, that's a wonderful contrast because it is the life of Christ in us that God is looking for. This time in the history of the church must have been characterized by the spirit of Christ, but there was an attempt here to reintroduce the principles of Judaism.
Umm by.
Straight from the synagogue of Satan. So when God set aside Judaism, Satan took it out. And we have to be very, very careful.
That our Christian lives aren't lived on the ground seeking to produce righteousness in the first man, but to realize that our righteousness is in Christ and that was just reflected from our lives would be his life.
They rejected the order of things, didn't they? That was Judaistic. And so a dedicated priesthood and the laity is really an imitation of those Jewish, that Jewish order of things. And so only an ordained priest could.
Take part in the Roman church and so on. Those things have been imitated out of Judaism and the fancy buildings.
And the Spirit of God never gives us an indication, anything other than an upper room, a little picture of those that are separated from the street level of the religious systems of this world and the moral systems of this world. Uh, the assembly is given the picture of meeting in an upper room, a large upper room. But umm, they refused because of the word of God. Anything that had to do with the Jewish order of things. I believe this is what the Spirit of God is teaching there.
But we might continue on into LA to see it. Here we have a few minutes and he speaks to the latest Ian's. And this is the day that we find ourselves in. And as we said earlier, it's a time in which we live where the rights of Christ are set aside and the personal rights of man are inserted as being of a higher caliber or a higher authority in our lives. And so the latest SIA means the rights of the people.
So we live in a de, a democratic society and it has an effect upon us all throughout Europe there's democratic societies and in the Western Christian world is characterized and it creeps into the assembly. I have rights, but no, you know, I think often times of what dear brother Norman Berry used to say to us as young people, and he said it and openly as well. He had a little expression that, uh, when you got saved, you gave up your rights.
You gave up your right to choose the day you got saved. You gave your life to Christ. You accepted Him as Savior, and you also accepted Him as Lord. And now you look to the head in glory, the one who is the Lord Jesus Christ. You look to him and you ask Him for direction, but it's not personal preferences, not personal rights. You gave up your rights the day that you got saved. Now you have the rights of Christ to uphold.
And so he speaks in this way and shows them really what, uh, how far they, they had fallen. And so after the height, the glory of those days, after the recovery of the truth, Mr. Darby said it was only for a brief 20 years that there was really that power, that little power. We know it continues on until the end. But really what characterizes the day that we live in? And we need to be honest about it, brethren.
01:05:14
Is indifference to the glory of Christ.
Desire to be as the Philadelphians.
But to qualify ourselves as Philadelphians is really led to see a in spirit. So let's be careful how we talk about these things to be exercised in view of the truth of God. Lord help us bread and.
I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. That is what characterizes the Christian profession today.
Oh, brethren.
How needy we really are, and we don't realize it. And no, it's not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, as you say. This is what goes on. Actually, there will be, like you say, the false church that will remain in the world after the rapture.
And they will go through the tribulation, but there will be a point in which they will be spewed out of his mouth.
He will. He finds that so distasteful, the indifference says to his person.
Christ is Lord of all, and when my ideas, my thoughts, brethren, I don't think we realize how much we've been affected by the spirit of the age that we're passing through. And I think it's best if we can recognize it and confess it to the Lord.
And allow the Lord to.
Uh, help us to, as it says in first John one, we confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse. You can't cleanse yourself. He does the cleansing. And I sometimes wonder if the way the Lord is passing us through trials of different sorts and everywhere I go, there's trials.
Sometimes when I go to a place and the brethren tell me about their problems, I say, can't you please tell me about somewhere where there's no problems in this world? You get so weary of it. But there is no place, brother. You can't escape His discipline, his faithful. And even though we may be like these latest ends, He is faithful and He's working with us, brethren.
Let's recognize his hand in it. It's not, uh, a particular person, but it's, it's all over the place, brother. And, and he's allowing different trials in different ways. Tell me the person that has no problems.
There, there isn't such a place. There isn't such a person. The Lord is dealing with this, he says. I rebuke and chasten those that I love.
The Luke's Gospel Chapter 9 and just some of the little expressions that are used right at the end of that chapter. Maybe you've noticed them yourself that, uh.
In verse 58, Luke 9, verse 58, Jesus said unto them, Foxes have holes, the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And he said to another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my Father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach the Kingdom of God. And another said also said, Lord, I will follow thee, but let me.
Let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. The Lord. And Jesus said unto him, No man having put his hand to the plough and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God. Well, you know, there was really a lack of the right priority on the part of the first one. He, he said it was more important to go back and and bury his Father in natural things. Natural relationships had more of a hold upon him.
01:10:05
Then really the Lord's affections. And so the, the Lord that uses this term or the, the Spirit of God records it me first. But then in the next one in verse 61, it's really a lack of commitment. He just wanted to bid them farewell. They're at home. So we have this, uh, spirit of things that has crept in, perhaps, uh, silently, you might say, and gradually, but, and it's wonderful to have the privilege of giving the Lord Jesus the first place in our lives in the day that we live in. Very shortly, it's going to be too late. We're going to be with him and like him. Our bodies, the very same bodies that we have will be glorified, will be with him and like him. But now in the day of his rejection, we have the ability and they have the.
Privilege of giving him the first place in our lives and not the second place, not the leftovers. Would be wonderful to be able to have his approval in this day. He speaks to the overcomer and he says, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will Sup with him and he with me. And so there's he uses this little expression again with me.
Nice to have communion with the Lord, to sit in fellowship with the Lord and enjoy the communion of the Son of God. It's the highest degree of fellowship can can be had a man with the Son of God.
Noticed yesterday that the word to Smyrna was, I know by poverty, but thou art rich. Hear the word delay of the sea, as thou sayest thou art rich, but I know you are poor. Poverty. You recall at the end of Colossians 4 there where Paul writes that when they uh, had received that epistle and read that epistle, they would cause that it also be read in the epistle to the Laodiceans as the antidote. Really, I take it to the issue that they had there. Maybe we could just read a couple verses or one verse in the third chapter of Colossians.
Mm-hmm. That would probably be brought to bear on the state of the Laodiceans.
Colossians, chapter 3 and verse 10, verse 9. The old man's put off. Verse 10, have put on the Newman, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, von Norfrey. But Christ is all and in all, or Christ is everything, and in all. But in Laodicea Christ was nothing, and in no one.
A esteemed Christ of he was outside the door has been mentioned. His glory was irrelevant and not a consideration for the, the uh, that that assembly. But it says here in the, uh, at the beginning, the way the Lord presents himself to the Laodiceans, verse 14. These things set the Amen. Of course, he's the one that will fulfill all the promises of God, but I just thought it very simply. He's the last word and let it see. They thought they were the last word.
They always have something to add, but no, the Lord is the last word and his word is, is the, the declaration, the final, the final answer. And he's the faithful and true witness laid as he was neither faithful nor were they true. And so the Lord answers, uh.
All that he was, they were not in the beginning of the creation of God. I'll just say this because there might be some that have encountered those of that blasphemously teach that the first creation of God was Jesus the Son of God. But the creation of God is different than the creation by God in the beginning. God created the heavens and the earth and we know from John's gospel all that that there was nothing made. Umm and without him was not anything made that was made. The Son of God is set forth as a creator. He was not a created being. The say so is blasphemy.
It's an attack upon his person, but the difference is is in the proposition. The creation by God is what God did in a in acting and bring it to to pass. But the creation of God, it is everything is according to God. It's like the House of God. Everything is according to his thoughts and his will in his mind. Reading second Peter chapter 3 about looking for incoming unto the day of God. What's the day of God? Well, that's what follows the day of the Lord not subduing evil, but the day of God is everything will be according to God's thoughts and holiness and truth and righteousness and the exaltation of Christ.
The day of God, everything is According to him. So the beginning of the creation of God, as it says in Colossians one, that the Christ is the beginning, glorified Christ. And this is the way that he presents himself. Everything is according to God's thoughts, beginning with Christ, and we belong to this new creation. And so that's an answer to these issues. And frankly, some of them can get rather petty. And you find in Colossians how, when the truth of the new creation is brought to bear there.
01:15:26
Where there is neither Greek nor Jew.
Racial considerations set aside.
Circumcision or uncircumcision ritual considers considerations irrelevant. Barbarian recipient. Well, barbarian is was one that umm was unlettered. Uh, Sisypheans been called a, a barbarian. The the Barbarians barbarian. It was the low end, you might say, of, of culture. Well, how many times? Frankly, brethren, these things can come in and get us messed up. We're not here judging one another on cultural or bond or free social status.
No, we've been brought into a sphere where Christ is everything. And so Laodicea, they needed this line of ministry that that Christ was the preeminent one. They were full of themselves and Christ was nothing. And so he has to rebuke them very sternly.
Five speaks about, uh, if any man be in Christ, there is a new creation. All things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new and all things are of God. That's the beginning of the creation of God, isn't it? Christ and resurrection is the beginning of a new creation and that's what is referred to here, isn't that right?
New creation race.
Tragic to think that at the end of the Christian testimony here he is outside of a closed door knocking and it's exercising, brethren, the way he says it here in verse 20. If any man, he doesn't say if you all inside there can hear me and open the door. No, he doesn't say that. If any man, it's individual overcoming.
And so if you hear his voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will Sup with him and with and he with me. It's it's individual, the whole verse. And so it's a individual call. And today are we individually making time to listen to the Lord? We've spoken about it before in these meetings, the importance of taking.
Time or making time to read the scriptures to listen to him. Oh how important it is to have fellowship with him. This is what is presented here in verse 20.
Here and lay to see it had forsaken him. That's why he was outside the door. But he hadn't turned his back on the door.
And we may forsake the Lord. He never forsakes us.
2IN verse 21, that he to him, the individual that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne. So the Lord Jesus right now is seated on his Father's throne, and so he's waiting till his enemies be made his footstool, but in the future day he's going to sit upon his own throne.
And he will reign in righteousness in this world after, as our brother said last night, after he mops it up and he cleans it up, he's going to clean it. It'll be so clean. He'll cleanse it with judgment. He cleanse the earth by a flood in Noah's day, but in the day at the at the appearing, he's going to cleanse it by judgment. And so he's going to have those that are with him and then having faithful and even in the day that we live in indifferent to his glory.
Always something else is more important than the Lord. The Lord's things, those that are faithful, he says he gives them as a motivation, as an encouragement. They'll sit with me in my throne. I was thinking a second Timothy in connection with this second Timothy chapter 2 and verse 12. And he says, uh, we might read verse 11. It is a faithful saying. For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If we suffer with.
01:20:05
We shall also reign with Him if we deny him. He also will deny us if we believe not. Yet he by the faithful, he cannot deny himself. Well, in this sense, in verse 12, I believe He delights to give a full reward, a crown to everyone, and the ability to sit with Him in the expression of His delight in those that have, uh, suffered with him and for His cause.
But he may have to deny us a reward if we do not associate with him in the time of his rejection. And we really shirk from that, uh, walking in truth that he would desire for us to associate ourselves with, in him, uh, with him, in fellowship with him, We may be denied that, uh, reward, that full reward. So we'll reign with him. If we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him. I believe this is a, a real encouragement the day that we live in.
Individual faithfulness, The Lord.
Values and I say, we said before, he's not going to reward results. He's not looking for results, He's looking for faithfulness. And if we're faithful to the truth of the word of God that we know he's not going to say you were legal. He's going to if the affections are right, if the heart is right, if it's taken up with Christ, he'll be very, very expressive in a future day in telling us what it meant to his heart of love.
Question about that suffering. If we suffer, we still also reign with sin. Is that suffering for righteousness sake? Is that can that be physical suffering with and enjoying Christ in spite of it? What? What's the could you expound on that suffering?
Include all of it and suffering reproach. I believe uh, we could apply that to umm.
That verse in Hebrews 1313 that we all so often think of. You know that. Let us go forth therefore unto Him, without the camp bearing his reproach. And so they're suffering the reproach of Christ for the name of Christ. And there is a tendency in the day that we live in to, umm, dull the edge of the sword, you might say, and take the sharp edge off of that reproach, and not be associated only with the name of Christ.
It's uh.
In any measure that we are following or rejected the Lord and if you follow him, there's going to be reproach, there's going to be suffering connection with it. I often think of the verse and, and, uh, Revelation one where he speaks about the Kingdom and patience. Uh, there's 33 words there that are connected.
And, uh, chapter one of Revelation, verse nine, I John, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation and in the Kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, you recognize his authority because he was rejected and cast out. There's gonna be two other words that are connected with that.
Uh, is tribulation and patience. You're not gonna see things rectified immediately. You're gonna have to wait for it. So it might mean suffering in the meantime.
Closing That is normal for a Christian to walk in all of the truth of God. It's normal for a Christian to read the scriptures and enjoy all of the truth. That's normal for a Christian to be gathered by the Spirit of God under the precious name of the Lord Jesus. That's normal Christianity. And So what he's addressing here is an abnormal state of things and those that would rise above it and overcome.
There's a reward. That's a wonderful encouragement, isn't it?
Exercise, brother.
Can we sing #77 at the appendix? O Christ, he is the fountain Jeep, sweet, well of love, The streams on earth. I've tasted more deep. I'll drink above #7 seven on the back.
Oh God.
Around.
$39.25.
48 hours. Is there anything else?
OK, I'm on my dream. Oh, I'm afraid.
To come back on your head and you're going to get it. There's aircraft around.
The Lord's Care for Us at Low Points
Address—Bill Brockmeier
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
That's open with an old favorite 318.
318 Olam was gone. Still keep us close to thy pierced side.
Pull. I'm a godsend.
And all prepared in the sand and and he sprayed it down on the floor.
Turn first, if you would please, to Proverbs chapter 14.
Thought I had something before me and uh.
I told uh, brother Robert yesterday. I said, you know, it's on occasion. I'm sure many of us have experienced it with him. That's been on our heart, perhaps in the breaking of bread or another time. And for whatever reason, we may not have given it out and someone else has. And that's fine. It's nice to be in current thoughts with our brother. We don't have to give out every him anyway. But I said Robert, I said, it's the first time I've ever had a brother speak on what I was to speak about. I said, what are the.
Of a brother speaking about David and Akish and then speaking on, on Paul. You know how the Lord stood by him and the Lord stood with him. Those are a couple of the portions that, uh, been before me of late and I don't know if we'll get to them or not. Uh, brother encouraged me to go on with, with, uh, what I have before me. I guess what it would be is the Lord's care for us in low points in our life.
Just care for us, over us and to us. And often we feel how much depends upon us. But as you get older, we realize how much it all depends upon Him.
And I have said of late that it seems like some of my greatest answers to prayer are prayers that I've never made, perhaps because of the lack of devotedness, perhaps because of a lack of confidence in God, perhaps because of lack of love and affection for others. But I haven't had, I haven't prayed these prayers. And yet I've seen, we've seen the Lord's hand work and say my, how marvelous this has been. I could take no credit for it. We just, we just rejoice in the work of God.
And so we they like to see in the Scriptures the Lord's care for his own.
And low points in their life. And I say low points in the life because not only, shall we say, external trials, when something tragic falls upon you, it's one thing to say it's the hand of God. But you know, other low points in our life are a direct result of our unfaithfulness, of our failure and our disobedience. And you know the Lord.
00:05:13
Is there for us at the low lows, low points too, so perhaps we'll consider some of those as.
Well, but Proverbs chapter 14 and verse 10.
The heart knoweth his own bitterness, and the stranger does not intermittal with his joy.
There's certain instances in life and perhaps certain scriptures that when we we know exactly where we were when we heard the news and you know the Scripture, I know where I was and I know who brought this verse before me and stuck with me for about 40 years. I was speaking to a teenage boy.
His parents had been killed as a when he was a young boy, and we were in conversation and he quoted this first to me. The heart knows its own bitterness. And as he quoted that to me, I said.
His has been a life of bitterness that I know nothing of.
The trial, the sorrow that he's gone through, I can only observe as a bystander. I often think of that passage in Luke 23. The women that looked upon the cross, they stood afar off, beholding these things.
They couldn't really enter into all that the Lord was passing through, and often we feel that way with our dear brother and when we see them going through trial.
We're whereas it says here the heart knows its own bitterness. There's things that cannot be expressed to others. It must be born and born alone before the Lord, and a stranger does not intrimental with his joy. There are joys that only the most intimate, only the closest can share.
And so our God has to do what? This has already been brought out in the meetings very, very specifically, very individually for each one of us.
And you know, isn't that the great thing of us are being preserved in the path of faith is to stay near our blessed Lord, because as the hymn writer says, prone to wander. Lord, I feel that prone to leave the God I love. Yet I bring this up to begin with the heart nose. His own bitterness in a stranger does not intermittent with his joy says in Leviticus. I think it is think I heard you mentioned that years ago, Brother Dave. Every man knows the plague of his own heart.
And you know, we all have to deal with the flesh within.
You know, a brother said to me, as mentioned to a brother, just before the meeting, an older brother came up to me along with the Lord. Godly man, very help, loving brother. He said to me one day he said, Umm, brother Bill, he says, I believe if we stay faithful, the Lord will preserve us.
It's alright for him to say, I guess, but all I could say is, brother, I trust the Lord will preserve those that are willing to confess their own unfaithfulness. Because I can do that. I cannot claim to faithfulness.
So our God has a unique path for each one of us, and there is that intimate, that strictly individual path we have before the Lord. And so I'm just going to read a few isolated scriptures with a few thoughts, and then maybe we'll get to some more examples. That trust will be for our encouragement.
Turn again to those well known scriptures in Romans chapter 8.
Brother John read before his verse 28 in these meetings. I would like to go back to verse 26, just a second line in that verse for a contrast. It says for we know not what we should pray for as we ought verse 28 And we do or we know or what we do know.
But we do know that all things work together for good to them that love God.
To them who are the called according to his purpose, for whom he did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first born among many brethren. And there's many things in life we come to him and just say, I, I, I don't know what to say. I I don't know what to do. I don't even know how to pray. And that's what we have in verse 20 says we know not what we should pray for as we ought. I know I have to pray.
I don't know how to pray. I don't know what to pray for in this situation.
You know, I'm so thankful for.
Brethren over the years have been a help. I was privileged to be back, uh, went with a brother back to, uh, maritime provinces all the way up to Newfoundland if I graduated from high school. And it was our privilege to stay for about a week with Cecil and Marjorie rousing. And as young men, we have our opinions. And, uh, the brother I was with said, you know, when we, uh, when we go to Turner meeting, we need a little more information if we're gonna pray intelligently.
00:10:15
And pray for someone we're going to pray about. You need some information so you can pray for them intelligently.
Sounds reasonable, doesn't it?
I still remember dear brother Cecil's comment, he said.
Yeah, she said. But there's something wonderful about just having your name brought before the throne of grace for having the names of your children just brought before the throne of grace. Our God doesn't need to be educated on the needs.
He doesn't need to be encouraged to love a little bit more and I have found that is a great. I just pass this on. Maybe it's something to encourage you. Younger ones help to me sometimes just to mention the names of my brethren before the throne of grace. Not praying for anything specifically. I don't know what to pray for even as we ought, but just to mention our brother's name before the throne of grace. Well here he says we know not what we should pray for as well, but we do know.
There's plenty that we don't know.
But there's things that we do know, and that's Christianity we know. And one of the things we know is that all things work together for good to them that love God. You say explain how it works. I can't explain how it works, but faith rests on what God has said. I will give an example of it.
Years ago our family was a bit younger and.
There's an older couple in the assembly and they brought this older sister, uh, to the, uh, assembly. I don't, I don't remember how it was they came in contact with the sister. She, umm, wasn't as old as she appeared. She was racked in pain from everything from crippling arthritis to a very bad heart, uh, ailments. And she lived a life of suffering.
We visited her in her very simple home, very modest abode.
But she was happy. I just say a little just briefly about this sister. She was saved and she told us one day. She said my mother never told me that she loved me. And she said my my siblings, they couldn't stand her. And she said I was the only one that had anything left to do with her. And if she lay on her death bed, she says all my siblings are out in the party boat. She says I was with my mother.
And she says I told her mom, I love you.
But even that did not proceed and did not produce rather a word of affection on the part of her mother tour.
She'd been married, husband had left her. You name the trial, it seemed that she had it. And so she had a bit of a Walker so she could get to the grocery store and it wasn't in the best part of town. And so that dear sister, she's on the way to the, the grocery store and a couple of thugs knock her to the ground, steal her purse, take her money and she's, uh, banged up real bad.
And, umm, we got there to the, uh, little Sunday school hour.
That the next large day and there was the older couple and that was sister Mary with two shiners. I've never seen someone too literal black eyes and had a beaming face and all I can say is God bless you Mary. And she said with a beaming face. He's conforming me more to his image every day.
That's when the abstract academic truth becomes.
Real and practical in the life we know that all things work together for good and what is the purpose of God here is that we will be conformed to the image of his son. It's a process that he's beginning even now. Turn over to another verse in Hebrews chapter 12. And as I say, I'm just reading a few isolated scriptures here for a few thoughts to begin with.
Sometimes my problem is to rush, and so I'm gonna seek not to rush, but to take the time.
That these scriptures should.
Should have wrote Hebrews chapter 12. We know this is the the great chapter of the Lord's chastening and the life of his own discipline for profit, but we'll just pick out one ver verse here, and that's verse 9. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits?
And live.
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Hebrews was written to Jews that believe the gospel. It doesn't give us the full light of Christian teaching. And we, uh, need to understand that when we read an epistle, all the epistles do not contain the fullness of Paul's doctrine. They have a special place in them, but they, they, they don't all embrace all of Paul's teaching, which is the essence of Christianity. And so when we come to Hebrews, there's something very interesting. We don't have the truth as God is our father brought out in Hebrews.
The only time you have reference to God is Father in Hebrews is the verse I just read, and there is connected as the father of spirits. In the Old Testament we would read, and you have that in connection with the rebellion of Korah, the God of spirits. But here is the father of spirits says in Proverbs that the spirit of a man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.
And sometimes there's things that come in among the people of God and.
You hear an argument and you just might not be able to answer it adequately and.
But you say something's not right here, and then you say.
It's the spirit that's not right here. The spirit of The thing is wrong. There's something that work here that's not right. And so we know it. Even in the raising of children, we've had fathers of the flesh that corrected us, gave them reverence. And what is it often with the raising of children, what you're looking for? Why is there this chasing? Why is there this discipline? Well, you look for generally is the change in the spirit, isn't it?
You mean yes, you want to stop bad behavior, but all ultimately and optimally you wanna see a change in spirit?
A spirit that's of a willing a cheerful response of love and obedience. And so often on this trials that are brought in, it is the spirits that the Lord would chasten us and and work towards and how often we've been so encouraged when we see the Lord's working with his people and what is brought out in the lives of his people is just beauty.
It's just Christ that's brought out in their life and that's John 15, isn't it? The fruit bearing chapter? What's fruit? It's not activity, but fruit is.
Christ produced in our life by the Spirit for the Father's pleasure. And so we see sometimes where else we go. One of the earliest memories I had when I began to visit in some hospitals, I visited an older brother. He was battling cancer and he was not a brother that took much part of the assembly. He's showing me some kindness and I wanted to go visit that brother. And I don't remember him ever opening the Scriptures or being helped to me in this way.
So I saw him, I went to see him in the hospital there and it, uh, he did that. He did come home to his daughter's house ultimately before the Lord took him home.
But I wanted to see him as I don't know what am I going to, what am I going to say? What am I going to do going to the hospital to visit this brother. But I didn't have to say anything. I just showed up and he said, Billy, he said I have perfect piece. I have perfect piece. He's submitted to the Lord And I saw a work in his spirit that was just beautiful. And so this is what our Lord is one of the another reasons why our Lord brings trials in.
Couple more verses. Let's go back to Isaiah chapter 63.
Paragraph really begins, I think in verse 7, but we'll just read verse 9.
And all their affliction he was afflicted, And the Angel of his presence saved them in his love and in his pity he redeemed them, and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old.
I was speaking to someone on the phone and a umm, a sister and umm.
Had a, had a lot of, had a lot of trials that were going on. And I, I mentioned this, this verse and all the reflections he was afflicted and now some of the problems that she had come into.
Were of her own doing. You know, you go contrary to this book, you're gonna prove the reality of what it says. I can't go to contrary to the word of God and prosper in my soul. If I go contrary to it, it'll prove itself right time and again at my expense.
But I said, isn't this beautiful, this verse and all the reflections, he was afflicted. Why were they afflicted? Why were they going through the wilderness journey? God desired to bring them into the land. They said no. And then he said no. And they said go. And so, but everything they're supposed to do, they didn't do. And they're, they're wandering to this wilderness to 40 or 38 years. But in all their afflictions he was afflicted. And I and I said to her, I said, you know, the Lord entered into the afflictions of his people that they had brought on themselves.
00:20:08
She said that just makes me feel worse.
Mm-hmm. But that's our Lord. He enters into those sorrows, even those that we've brought in ourselves. He bare them and carry them. That sounds repetitious, doesn't it? And I, I looked at the original to try to see the distinction, and even there I, I, I not, not, not sure I've got it, but perhaps one of them has the lifting one up and then just carrying us through. But in these trials and these heartaches, the Lord enters into it.
And is with us in the trial. Uh, one more verse. Let's go back to Deuteronomy now, chapter 25.
Deuteronomy 25 and verse 17 Remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way, when you were come forth out of Egypt, how he met thee by the way, and smote the hind most of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee, when thou is faint and weary. And he feared not God. Therefore it shall be, when the Lord thy God hath given the arrest from all thine enemies roundabout in the land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
Possess it that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. Thou shalt not forget it.
Remember what Amalek did?
He smote the hind most of thee, all that were feeble, when thou was faint and weary.
When I was a young man, there was an old brother that uh, I really took to and had some nice times of fellowship with him. And his name was AC Brown. And, uh, at the time I was in large assembly and he came in and I was sitting in the back row and Brother Brown came up to me, leaned down and said Amalek smoked the hindmost. I guess that was his word to get out of the back row and move up. But.
It stuck with me, but it's an app picture of the work of Satan. You know, there's different enemies.
In the Old Testament.
I didn't too intro and we're not gonna turn to it now. Moab is an example. We know there's different enemies, but they represent things and it says about Moab. Moab have been at ease from his youth.
He's not been emptied from vessel to vessel, therefore his scent remains in him. I'm not quoting that exactly, but the picture is this. The uh, is they would, would filter the wine in, in these vessels. They would pour it from 1 vessel to another, as I understand it, to purify it. And if it was not poured from vessel to vessel, the sediment that would accrue at the bottom of the with of the of the vessel would cause that that stench to remain in it would become strong.
And this is a mob he's never gone through.
Shall I put it this way and honest exercise?
They never even bothered about anything, not worked up about anything, just sits there.
He's been at ease from his youth.
Therefore a cent remains in him. You know the Lord would bring us porous from vessel to vessel that are sent. What we are naturally doesn't remain in is that again in the spirit of Romans 828 that he conforms us to the image of Christ, but Moab speaks of the lethargy of the flesh.
Eat them you remember, eat them, they eat them. I seesaw Jacob's brother eat them. And what was he known for? Well, do I need them? I killed what was it 80 men that wore the linen ephod priest personal enmity against the people of God. Herod of Ida Mia. He was a he was an Edomite. You know about the slaughter of the innocents those two years old and younger when Harris saw to it that he would in order to try to kill the baby Jesus that that uh that they killed. He was just just.
Enmity. And there's a book in the Bible. What's the book of Obadiah about? It's about the destruction of Edom.
And the reason is because their brother was down and out, and when he was down and out, they went after him with a vengeance. And God says that's unforgivable.
And they're gonna be cut off and they're gonna have no place in the millennial Kingdom, the personal enmity of the flesh. And it's a troubling thing if we should see such an attitude, a personal enmity against the people of God.
You know, Egypt's a type of the world and all its empty glory and so on. Jericho type of the world under the curse, City of palm trees, like a resort. But there's a curse connected with it. Well, we're not gonna go through all the enemies. But my point is that sometimes you say, well, speaks to the world or speaks of the flesh. I believe this. We can. We can.
Refine it a little bit better to get specific applications from these enemies. Now Amalek. And again, from that same AC Brown, I learned that Amalek speaks of Satan's operations on the flesh. Satan is opposed to us, but he also works in the flesh within to bring us down.
00:25:10
And Satan is a vicious and a vindictive foe.
Amalek came after the people of God, the hindmost, the weak, the feeble, the faint, the weary. My mind, I see the the Caribou purge going across the tundra in Alaska, and there's the wolves on the side that look to pick off the weak and the feeble, the easy Pickens. And that's the enemy to get us when we're down well. But our God has desires to come in and help us.
In these weak moments, whether it's because of the sorrow and trial we're going through.
Uh, or it's again something as a result of our own doing.
But uh.
I would like to go back to uh.
First Samuel. Now again, if you'll bear with me for touching just briefly on David and Akash, a little different passage than what Brother Robert brought out, but the same two individuals. First Samuel, chapter 21.
And as you're turning to this, you recall just a few chapters before David had the mighty victory over the giant Goliath. He ran to meet him, and he brought him down, and there was great victory for Israel.
But during the time of victory, sometimes other things come in. And Saul, it said he, he eyed David from that day forward, as we used to speak of it, is the green eyed monster Envy. Wrath is cruel and anger is outrageous. But who is able to stand before envy? And Saul could not stand to hear David's praise. A song. I suppose it wasn't so bad when they say Saul is slain thousands, that's all right.
But to hear David as saying is 10 thousands. Those are fighting words, especially when the comparison is made against you and you're on the on the wrong end of the stick. Well, we know that David runs and not to get too deep into the chapter let's or into the story, Let's, uh, this actually occurs before the passages we have the other day for first Samuel 21.
And verse 10 David arose and fled that day for fear of salt, and went to Akish the king of Gath. And the servants of Akish said unto him, Is not this David the king of the land?
Did they not shing 1 to another of him, and dances, saying, Solace slainest thousands, and David is 10 thousands. And David laid up these words in his heart, and is sore afraid of Akish the king of Gath. And he changed his behavior before them, and feigned himself mad in their hands, and scrabbled or scratched on the doors of the gate. And let us spittle fall down upon his beard, thence it ached unto his servants. Lo, you see, this man is mad.
Wherefore then, have you brought him to me? Have I need of Mad Men?
Since you have brought this fellow to play the Mad Men in my presence, so this fellow come into my house, David. Therefore depart a fence and escaped to the gate of a dull and hold your place there, please. And let's turn to Psalm 34.
I learned when I was young that the titles of the Psalms are inspired. You know, chapters and verses aren't inspired, but the titles of the Psalms are.
Psalm 34 Psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Drop down to verse six. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him. Out of all his troubles. The Angel of the Lord encamped the roundabout. Them that fear him, and delivereth them.
O taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is that man that trusteth in him. Could read the whole Psalm. We don't have time to. It's a beautiful, solemn sure. Many here probably memorized it.
But I read this passage here because.
It's interesting. David's life, of course, is so interesting to consider and his successes and also his failures.
You know, day one of David's worst sins was numbering the people at the end of his, uh, the end of his end of the end of his reign. And because he numbered the people, there's no atonement connected with it was fairly something that was based on pride. And even Joab, who, uh, who was really a mother shrewd politician and even he sized up this wasn't the thing to do. He wanted, but David went ahead and said, go ahead and do it. And the Lord sent a plague because of this. And it was.
00:30:02
Many thousand people died.
But you know, we, we, we look at things often times is, we don't look upon pride perhaps as being the evil that it really is. God hates it. He hates the proud. Look, this was read to us the other day. And then of course, we know in the, in the, uh, case of Bathsheba, when, uh, David, uh.
Committed adultery with her and set up her husband Uriah. Faithful man, loyal to David. Set him up to be killed.
That perhaps is more shocking to us and perhaps is more shame connected with it, understand it, but there's a great shame connected with it. But this chapter, it's the Psalm rather this, uh, this portion here is something that you might call it more of a, an embarrassment. And what was it that led to this failure with David? It was not pride. It was not lust.
It was fear.
None of us like to be thought of as a feckless coward, but here is David. He he was in fear. He had acted for God and God had been with him in a remarkable way. But it says in verse 10, he fled that day for fear of Saul. And now he comes to find refuge in the strangest of places down in the Philistine camp. And he's brought before a kish.
And.
The service that they can say, well, isn't, isn't this David? Isn't he the one they said Saul is playing this?
Thousands. And David is 10 thousands. You know, that passage is repeated three times in David's history. I think it's very instructive because especially not that anybody here would have our younger ones that any issue with this whatsoever. But sometimes, maybe especially when we're younger, there's a desire to want to be praised or put in a very favorable light. And that sounds like music to our ears to be likened.
Their souls laying 1000. There's David with 10,000. Do you know the first time?
That was said, it resulted in Saul's enmity being directed towards David. David, because I can do without that praise because Saul was out to kill him. And now here the second time he hears it and again, it's not something pleasant. Here are these enemies of of David. They're saying to a kiss, this is David. And So what does he do? Now I'm caught, now I'm in a jam. And So what does David do?
He's resourceful, all right? He feigns himself mad. Think of the man that ran down there against the glass. Now he's against the giant Goliath. And now he's scratching on the closet, spit running down his cheek.
It says get this lunatic out of here.
You know, there's, uh, the ways of God in restoration are wonderful, though. I so encouraged with the 34th Psalm, you know, the 51St Psalm, David's or Psalm of the Psalm of repentance from the sin of the Uriah against Orion and, and Bathsheba took a little bit longer, but here this Psalm comes out of David's mouth.
Perhaps in ours, perhaps he's as he's on the run to The Cave of the Dome, and he can say I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. David, how can you say such a thing? Remember what you're doing.
8 hours ago. But as he goes through this Psalm, he refers to himself here. And I know there's a prophetic application to our Lord as well. But this poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles. He gives thanks to the Lord for a Psalm of his of deliverance. And he can say, Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth in him, and you know one of the greatest works of the enemy.
Is when you have failed and.
You can take that from the whole spectrum, fail whatever the failure is, but the work of the enemy is to seek to get you, to restore your own soul. And it'll never happen. And it'll be to doubt the goodness of the Lord until you've earned it.
No, that's not grace. And so is he, David. The restoration that comes into his soul, he, he embarrassed himself in what he did. Yeah, we've done that, haven't we? And yet he's speaking about his confidence in the Lord. O taste and see that the Lord is good. And it's the work of the enemy to get us to doubt the goodness of the Lord.
Especially during times of failure.
We understand the grace of God being shown to us when we are wretched and undone as we sing as sinners, but how about when we stumbled and blown it as believers. Now the 34th Psalm, this wonderful Psalm is restored to the Lord. He says come children, hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord restoration. So his soul is he turns into praising the Lord despite.
00:35:21
Promptly after.
This very sad failure. Now let's go over to 1St Kings chapter.
I think it's 20.
No, in chapter 19, first Kings chapter 19 again, this is the story of Elijah we.
Marvel at this man of faith and his faithfulness to.
The people of God and faithfulness to Jehovah believe his name means whose God is Jehovah is Jehovah's their God. And the burden of Elijah was that the people of God would turn away from Baal and back to Jehovah. And it does seem in the prior chapter, in the 18th chapter, how it seemed that the people acknowledge that Jehovah's God, but it didn't stick.
Instead of Jezebel comes after him and now she's after his life.
In the first Kings chapter 19.
And they have told Jezebel versus one all that Elijah had done, and with all how he had slain all the prophets with a sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I may not, Thy life is the life of one of them by tomorrow. About this time when he saw that, he arose and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. But himself when a day's journey into the wilderness.
And came and sat down under a juniper tree. And he requested for himself that he might die and said it is enough.
Now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am not better than my father's. And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an Angel touched him, and said in him horizon he. And he looked, and behold, there was a cake bacon with the coals, and a cruise of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again. And the Angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat, because the journey is too great for thee. And he arose and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat 40 days and 40 nights into Horeb.
The mount of God. And he came thither unto a cave, enlarged there, and behold, the word of the Lord came to him. And he said in him, What doest thou here, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts, for the children of Israel. Forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with a sword, an eye even. I only am left, and they seek my life to take it away.
And he said, Go and stand upon the mount before the Lord, And behold, the Lord passed by in a great and strong wind the mountains, and break in pieces the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind.
After the wind and earthquake, but the Lord is not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake of fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, And after the fire is still small voice. And it was so. And Elijah heard that he wrapped his face in the mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering into the gate. And behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou hear, Elijah? And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord, a God of hosts, because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slaying thy prophets with a sword.
And I even I only am left, and they seek my life to take it away. And the Lord said in him, Go return on the way to the wilderness of Damascus. And thou comest anoint Hazel, Hazel to be king over Syria, and Jiu the son of Nimshi, shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel.
In the life of the Son of Shaphat, of Abel Mahola, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room. And it shall come to pass that him that escape of the sort of Hazel shall Jesus lay, and him that escapeth from the sword of Jesus shall Elijah slay. Yet I have left me 7000 in Israel all the needs which have not bowed into bail in every mouth which hath not kissed him.
We've often heard that in Romans Chapter 11, where.
Speaks about Elijah interceding the people of God that unlike the 11Th of Hebrews where we read of many of the Saints of God and who failed their failures aren't recorded their faith, their acts of faith are recorded with Elijah's just three verse he is mentioned in the 5th of James in a very positive light but in Romans Chapter 11 his failure is mentioned perhaps singular in this way of interceding against the people of God. You've heard that I've heard that for a long time but I will say going up I really struggle with that I really.
Gold without it just seemed like it really wasn't fair to Elijah for, uh, he was, he was singular and his unique in his testimony. And he's there standing alone looking Ahab in the eye. And when anybody else with him, even Obadiah was there is Obadiah. I'm, I'm not going to go in there. Yeah, you're going to hang me out to draw and then what am I going to do? And Elijah was very faithful.
00:40:15
But.
You know he likewise he steps in fear the man that had.
Look they have in the eye and it's faithfully stood up to the false prophets, the prophets of bail. Now he's on the run and now he's discouraged and the Lord ministers to him in tender care with the through the Angel, arise and eat. And uh, he says the journey is too great for they. The Lord does not pull back his grace to his discourage and his disheartened servant.
And then he comes to a cave and I think the imagery there is.
Very powerful, A dark damp.
Discouraging place and he goes into this cave. It's really a a mark, I believe of his state of soul. And then the Lord comes and says, what do us stop here, Elijah. Now what I find is very striking here.
Elijah had a little speech already rehearsed in his mind. He just lays it out there before the Lord. He he just out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. These are thoughts that he was having and and you know, self pity.
It's very, very destructive.
We need to acknowledge it. Some say throw yourself a pity party, but get over it. But self pity is very destructive. And and we see here with Elijah that this is he. He, he lays it out before the Lord, but I find so the Lord's dealings with the servants is so gracious and he he says go stand before the mount before the Lord and he has the wind.
Great strong wind, and then the earthquake, and then the fire, these mighty acts of nature, but the Lord is not in any of them. And after all that, those things that would, you might say, get His attention. Then there is the still small voice, I think similar to what we had before us this morning. The old I stand at the door and knock. If any man here, my knock. No, if any man hear my voice, I will open the door.
And come into him, and stop with him, and he with me.
You know, it's been noted. It says I stand at the door and knock. It's not if any man hear the knock, but if any man hear his voice.
The knock here is the wind and the fire and the earthquake. That'll get your attention, but it's just not a knock. We're listening for us. It's not a fire and wind and earthquake. It's that still small voice to have an ear to hear. He that hears my voice. This is where the instruction comes in. This brings back a good memory. I, uh, used to go down to my father occasionally some brothers that would go to the, uh, Theolaci Institute in Orange County and.
A prison. It wasn't a high security, but there was definite security. There was no really intermingling with the prisoners of them. He greeted them as they filed in and out.
And umm, Brother Ken Brummel spoke from this passage.
He said that the prisoners out one night, he said, you know, you might not get shaken up by the earthquake, you're blown over by the wind or be impressed with the fire. But he said, what do you do when you go back? You're a bunk at night and hear that still small voice that comes to you and says, I love you.
We're filing out and there's an old prisoner there. He leans over to me as we're walking out. He says that man knows how to reach these men. Yeah, there's still small voice that comes in the quiet of night and that appeals to your, to your, to your heart.
And so the Lord speaks to Elijah again. What doest thou hear, Elijah? I think this was the moment for recovery for Elijah. But no, he just defaults back into his prepared speech, word for word. Same thing. The Lord is working in grace. Do not, did not touch him and move him. And uh, effectively the Lord says, all right, Elijah, that's the way you want it. That's the way we'll go about doing it.
You're done knowing Hazel, king of Syrian, knowing Elijah, or Anoint Jihu and anoint, uh.
Elisha.
But I mentioned this here because maybe you've not heard it. I, I, I've heard this thought before, expressed that after this failure on a part of Elijah, the Lord couldn't use him anymore and therefore he had to know an Elijah, and Elijah becomes the prominent servant of the Lord.
Well, I believe here in this end of the chapter we find first of all we find we will find as you you, you read subsequent chapters as well, I believe. What's proof of Elijah's restoration? He'd never anointed Hazel. He did not anoint Jihu. The only one that he anointed was the prophet of grace.
00:45:08
Oh, I sure.
Elijah deferred to Elijah anointed the prophet of grace to follow him behind him. He would not anoint a man that would slaughter the people of God. And even when Jihu the king of Israel was anointed, it was one of the sons of the prophets that anointed him, not Elijah. And I believe this is the first mark of the restoration of Elijah. And you know something else, perhaps we can be discouraged. So I I just failed and lost and lost my way, so to speak.
You know, there was a great evil that happened.
Subsequently, and that's when Naboth, you remember who he went to sell his vineyard to Ahab, and through Jezebel's instrumentality, they set up Naboff and they take him out and stone him. They lie against him. He's died. He dies under a false charge and Ahab gets Naboff's vineyard, a great injustice, a travesty among the people of God. And these things, if we have a righteous bone in our body, we just, we just become indignant when we see these things.
We have a righteous God. He hates iniquity, He hates unrighteousness. And while we act in grace, we're not indifferent of these things. But I find so wonderful here that Ahab's got what he wanted. God's not going to let it pass. Who is he? Who is it that he's gonna raise up and send to Ahab with a message of judgment? Elijah.
And let's say it's Elijah I haven't worked for you to do. I'm gonna go back to that man, Ahab. And I love the dignity of the man. As one brother said, here's Elijah got nothing to lose. It's already lost. He's not a prophet anymore. He comes back. You know, it says the wicked flee when no man pursueth. But the righteous are bold as a line. And there's Elijah coming into the presence of Ahab and Ahab system. Hast thou found me, O mine enemy?
I love Elijah's response.
And he said, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. I'm not your enemy. Your own worst enemy? No, he just says, I found me.
I'm not here to explain, I'm not here to clarify I found the and this is the message that I have for you such as the honor that God would render the name off. He sent Elijah on a special mission to deliver that message to Ahab who is slain one of the Lord's faithful servants, one of the 7000 that had not found the need to bail find subsequently as well that Elijah called fire down from heaven story that the disciples were familiar with so Elijah.
Was used in a way according to the character of his his ministry. His was more the ministry of of law and recovery to the people of God under law. But if the people needed grace, but I bring this out here because it was a low point and sometimes you go into a low point and I would say this, I take it this is a low point in service.
Throw his hands up. He just said nothing. Nothing's materializing. Well, it wasn't. So maybe the outward appearances it was, but it was not.
We've got a little time left. I'm just, umm.
I would like to.
Go to another passage.
Go to Nehemiah please. Chapter 2.
And I say this, you know, it's just wonderful to go through the Word of God. It's wonderful to read the Scriptures.
Just to read the scriptures, to enjoy them for their own sake. This is my something be more of a collective way. And, and uh, we, we do feel it in the, in the day of weakness that we're in. And Nehemiah, you know, he was the King's cup bear and his burden for what he hears about the condition of Jerusalem weighs upon him and the God in a sovereign ways works and moves and sends Nehemiah back. And I just like to bring this up now.
In the sense of disheartening days among the people of God in the collective way.
And how God would raise one up to provide encouragement at this low point.
Says in I'll just jump in at verse 10 of chapter 2 when send ballot the horror night and Tobiah the servant the Ammonite heard of it. It grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of God. You can be sure of it as soon as you have a desire to serve the Lord and help his people. The enemy is going to dispute its fleece and it says here agree them exceedingly. So I came to Jerusalem and we was there three days and I rose in the night. I and some few men with me neither told I any man what.
God had put in my heart to do with Jerusalem, neither was there any beast with me save the beast that I wrote upon. And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well or the Jackal fountain, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates are over consumed with fire. Then I went on to the gate of the fountain and to the King's pool, but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.
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Then when I up in the night by the broken view of the wall, and turned back and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned.
And the rulers knew whether I went, knew not whether I went or what I did. Neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. Come, let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more or approach. Then I told them, In the hand of my God which is upon me, is also the King's words that he's spoken unto me. And they said.
Let us rise up and build so they strengthen their hands for this good work.
Can't miss verse 19 Go and send Bella the horror night, until by the servant and Ammonite and yeast from the Arabian heard it. They laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that you do? Will you rebel against the king? Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us, therefore we his servants will rise and build. But ye have no portion, no right nor memorial.
In Jerusalem.
So we've noted David and his personal failure, faith, lack of courage or Elijah disconsolate in the service for the Lord. And here we now have a collective view. Nehemiah comes back to Jerusalem. And uh, I would say it's been a great encouragement just having visits and observations here this last few days. It's.
It's such an encouragement to see younger brother that have a desire to go on for the Lord, raise your family for the Lord and to be a help in your local assemblies. I just say this bit of an encouragement.
Uh, we're in a different assembly at the time, but, umm, there is a sister that was, uh, in the assembly there. And, and this goes back a few years, there was many older sisters, many widows, they're all all now with the Lord And she would take her children up to make sure they greeted each of the, of the widows there.
And I commented on what it her cheerful spirit helped. She was there wasn't any other young children there. And my father just said to me, he said she just doesn't know the joy encouragement that she is to us. And you know, it's that way. Sometimes we don't adequately express the encouragement. The younger brother, Nora, they have a desire to please the Lord and serve the Lord. It's huge. It's a great encouragement to us even if we don't say it.
But do we find here that?
We live in days of reproach. We lives in, in days of, of, you know, small assemblies and, and there, there's many challenges and needs that we have, even some unique to this day. I was reading, uh, brother in the assembly and older brother loaned me this. I had never seen this before. It was a typed up pamphlet on something about the early days of the recovery of the truth, the first decade, the second day decade and so on, how the truth expanded.
There was a number of things I found very interesting, and one of them was this little excerpt from GV Wiggram.
He wrote to ministry and it may have been taken from I think volume three of his memorials of Ministry, but he made a comment. We think of a very large assemblies and assemblies up to 700 plus. He said the first three years he was in fellowship at the Lord's Table that was three where he was in the City of London. He said after a while there was six, then nine, then 15.
But he put in that little excerpt, he says I mentioned this.
To show that I am, paraphrase, very sympathetic with those who come from small assemblies. He understood what it was, what it was like, and so sometimes we perhaps compare and contrast with what might have been and what might have been maybe always wasn't necessarily what we think it was. Well, here we have a condition of Jerusalem and the reason it's in the state of destruction is God raised up the.
Nebuchadnezzar and the and the Babylonians, the Chaldeans to to destroy it. But what I find is interesting here.
A recognition of where we are. And he does that. He goes out to the valley gate, that little place, he observe it, he weighs it all, and then he comes back and reports it to the people, and he says, you see the distress, but he speaks of the hand of God that was upon him and the result of His ministry and we.
Would so desire, whatever our sphere might be, that the result of whatever our conversation might be, the result would be, the people said. Let us rise up and build.
He didn't say it, they said it.
In response to the hand of God that was upon him for good, he encouraged them and they responded in an initiative. Let's rise up and build. Oh yeah, the work of the enemy is there.
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Yeah, they'll they'll always be. The enemy will always be nipping at our heels or worse. But we go on in this good work.
So back in, umm, little assembly in Fullerton, we just finished First and Second Timothy, and now we're in the Epistle to Titus. And I just want to pass this on for our encouragement because we say, and rightfully so, First Timothy gives us the House of God in order when things are as they should be there Brother Gordon Hill put it once, the model home. This is what the House of God should be like.
So come to Second Timothy. It's like into a great house where there's all kinds of things.
Topsy turvy, and things are not as they should be. And we read in that epistle that evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. And we say things are gonna get weaker and weaker and weaker, and so on. 100 fold, 60 fold, 30 fold, and so on. It's a downward slide until the Lord comes. Umm, that's the testimony of Christendom. But this is the encouragement. I'd like to leave it when you turn to Titus.
Paul sent Titus to Creek. Why? For what reason? To set in order the things.
That were lacking.
Titus is gonna go there, that there might be improvement there. There can be.
Restoration in a collective way and in a local way. And I just mentioned that I believe in, as you and you look at the book of Titus, the principles that would help encourage and build up and strengthen us in these last days. Because we don't wanna communicate the thought that we take the broadview of Christendom's downward spiral and say therefore we must follow the same down recourse. No, you know, Mark, it says 3060 a hundredfold. For us individually, there can be growth.
Even after failure and collectively to in a local way, there can be improvement. There can be. We can, as our dear brother used to pray back home to give us the the garment of praise instead of the spirit of heaviness. So we just leave those few thoughts with you, but that we might be mindful of the Lord's care for us at all times, truly, but.
Even and especially at low points in our life.
After we failed or those things, the sorrows that our God has been pleased in His wisdom to bring into our life, that He is working towards a desired end and as hard as upon us.
I always think it's nice to sing him 23 before a conference ends, so maybe we could do that right now #23.
Seven Churches Rev. 2:12-29