Kentucky Conference: 2022
Table of Contents
Hebrews 12:1-2
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316 is that correct? Yes.
00:05:35
Rice.
That's described in much more detail in Hebrews chapter 12.
I suggest we take up that chapter, the rate that's set before us, that we're in the process of running, that we might learn some lessons from it and find the encouragement as well as we.
Are in that path that leads to glory.
Neighbors, Chapter 12.
Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself.
Lest she be wearied and faint in your minds.
If not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin.
And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him. For whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourge with every son whom he receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not, if he be without chastisement, Whereof all our partakers? And are ye ******** and not sons?
Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we have, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but He for our prophet, that we might be partakers of His Holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous nevertheless. Afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them.
Which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down in the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lain be turned out of the way. But let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness bringing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled, lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau.
Who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright for ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected. For he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. For you not come under the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness and darkness, and Tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they had heard and treated, that the word should not be spoken to them anymore.
But they could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart. And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. But here come on to Mount Zion, and on to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the first born which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, into the Saints of just men made perfect.
And to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel, See that you refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escape not, who refused him that spake on earth much more Shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven?
Whose voice then shook the earth, But now he have promised, saying Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word yet once more signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved.
00:10:14
Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire.
A little context to the chapter. The book in which the chapter comes was written to Jews.
It was written to those who have been brought up in Judaism and had embraced what we call Christianity had it what their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. And so they are be given, they're given instructions for putting behind them that which had been their life.
Up to that point, the life in Judaism or something?
Much, much better. The Jew had hope on earth. He looked forward to a Kingdom on earth, but he didn't have any heavenly hopes per SE, as promised to him. And yet in the Hebrews we find that he opens up to them that now they have an opportunity to draw nigh to God that they had never known before. God dwelt in thick darkness in the Tabernacle.
And man didn't come near him at all. Aaron once a year was able went in with fear and trembling that he wouldn't come out alive if he went into the very presence of God. But to the Hebrew and to us we have this wonderful joy that we cannot draw, draw near unto God. And we have that in chapters one all the way up to chapter 10, where we are brought nigh to God. And it says in chapter 10, let us draw near.
With a true heart in full assurance of faith. But we're not in the Kingdom that in its form, that's given in the last verse of the chapter that we're started with, where it says we have a Kingdom which cannot be moved. And so we're going on toward that which will be stable and be ours forever and never be moved. But what in this world today can't be moved?
As far as man's things, everything is in a constant state of change and uncertainty, and that's the day we live in and it's not going to change. It doesn't matter whether you've been on the journey a long time or just begun is the character of the world and its instability is not going to get different. And so in Chapter 11, he gives us many witnesses who live.
In their day, in a life of faith brings before us Abraham, who left his own country to go out, not knowing where he was going to end up. But God said go, and so he left his country in faith and he lived that character of life. And all the people in Chapter 11 were people brought before us as characterizing a life of faith. And that's your life and mine. We have to live the same character of life.
And so in chapter 12, it begins by giving us the perfect example of the life of faith. We can have Chapter 11 and all the worthies of faith, but then we can turn in chapter 12 to the one perfect example of the life of faith, and that's verse two, looking unto Jesus. And that verse is not about the atonement. We can make application that way.
But the intent of the verse is to show us look to the man who lived the life of faith.
Perfectly, be encouraged by it and follow his example.
Sometimes follow verse by verse, but sometimes it's also good to the jump ahead of it to see what is saying so we can look back to the verses what is implying. So if I may, I'm going to jump ahead to verse three and I trust that you can see my thought there. Verse three sets 4. Consider him that endure such contradiction of sinners against himself.
00:15:14
Now the part of my heart is the following part.
Lest ye be weary and faint in your minds. Now those two verses before that is important, but I want to state here that this is the result. I believe we can say if we don't look unto Jesus, and I'll let other comment on that in a minute. So what would happen when we don't look unto Jesus?
Well, it says less EB weary. How many of us sometimes find that this Christian pathway is a weary one? Do we feel persecution? Do we feel that we're losing our Christian right? By the way, Christians have no right in this world. But it makes us weary, doesn't it? And to make it even worse and faint, you know, when we see someone fainting.
Is a natural reaction to go help that it's I'm not trying to be funny, but I do remember seeing at least three times in my life that someone actually passed out in meetings and the reaction is often very great and you see someone is obviously will go up trying to help. In fact, you may laugh. One time I got up to speak. I was younger. I stood up. I said no more than 10 words and the brother fainted. I guess the speech was not bad, but regardless, it was it wake you up.
You want to help, but now here it doesn't talk about just fainting. It faint in your mind. How many here can even say that? You know, I was in such great distress before when nobody saw it. We're good at hiding that, don't we? So do we want to faint in our mind? I share that with a brother one time and he he lost his wife many years ago and he said to me, he said David.
I know exactly what this means because I fainted in my mind and no one really knew because I was able to cover it up. So going back to that now, do we want to fade in our mind or be weary? Now we have to pay attention to the previous verses.
I suspected that we would have a book like this before us from the hymns that were given out this morning.
They're very much what we call wilderness.
Hymns. Wilderness songs.
And by that what we mean is that.
Different portions of the Word of God look at us in a different way.
Some portions in the New Testament look at us has already arrived, already complete as to our standing. For example, the Epistle to the Ephesians were seated in the heavenlies. In Christ we possess all spiritual blessings. We're all set. And the challenge is to understand that and to enjoy it and walk in the good of it.
In the wilderness epistles, like Hebrews is in the Epistle of the Philippians, we're looked upon as out there in the wilderness without resources in ourselves. We need something or someone outside of ourselves and we need to get through, and we're not through yet. And that's what the book of Hebrews falls into that category. And so the context determines so much. We read the word salvation. What does it mean? Is it the salvation of my soul? Is it my circumstance?
The context determines eternal life. In John we possess it now in Paul it's the end. And so here in Hebrews we need to get through and these as as Don has already put before us, this mixed company of some that really had genuine faith from God and had put their trust in Christ as Messiah and they were on their way and others. The writer of this epistle was not so sure about. They had started out, they had made profession. What are they going to turn back or are they not.
00:20:16
Is it real or is it not? For example in in Hebrews 10?
A verse.
35.
Cast that away, therefore your confidence which hath great recompensive reward for you have need of patience, or really endurance.
And so all through Chapter 11 That that has been referred to, we see men and women of faith who also look for something they did not yet have, and the vision of it out in front of them as an object sustained them, motivated them, preserve them, and they are put before us as examples. And then we get to the beginning of chapter 12, and we have the example of Christ himself.
You'll often hear in Hebrews brothers refer to the Lord Jesus seated.
At the right hand of the throne of God in verse two, we have and earlier in Hebrews, he's seated there because of who he is. He's seated there because of his work and etcetera. Here he's seated there as the one who made it through, who endure. And in that sense he's our our model.
As one the author and finisher of faith. So that kind of context, I find that helpful to understand where I am and and what the what the situation is in this specific versus when I'm in an epistle that's wilderness based like the children of Israel for 40 years. They're in the wilderness, not yet in Canaan. For us as believers, we are looked upon as both in some places we're looked upon as in the land.
And other places we're looked upon is on our way through.
As you look at all the examples without witnesses of faith, I'm sure we can find a lot of failure in their lives. But the chapter doesn't focus, Chapter 11 doesn't focus on their failures. It focuses on their faith and as we go through life.
Living our lives for the Lord Jesus. We're going to have a lot of failure, but don't live with your failure. Live by faith.
Maybe you have something that you've been.
Feeling you need to do for the Lord, but you say, well, I can't because there's failure in my life. Well, there's there's a remedy for failure. We can confess our sins. He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
This first, the first verse we said have here says let us lay aside every way. Let us lay aside anything that's going to hinder our walk of faith so we can live a life that gives honor and glory to the Lord Jesus. Let us lay aside the sin which does so easily beset us. Let us run with patience the race that is set before us. So let's rather than be limited by our failures, let's confess our failure and and move on.
And and live by faith.
Every aspect of the Christian life is faith, and so if they allow failure to control me, then faith is hindered.
The examples is nice to see example of faith because as we go through this example to encourage our hearts, yes, we see how they were weak, we see yes we see failures, but we see the faithfulness. But then here too we have to also notice is each one of us is different. The Lord put us through different circumstances, we receive different gifts, we have a different life.
So here is.
Really what how are we to walk before the Lord, So it's give us some hint regardless of what it is so we find in verse one and a brother towards the other readily aside every weight. Don't look at the failures, but look toward the goal and while we are walking in the scene it says let us run Tristan gay not just walk in this case.
Let us run with patience. I don't know if this word means much to many of us. I know it doesn't mean much to me. Patience is not a good word for me because I like to have patience quickly and it doesn't work that way. It did, but here is that to run. So you got to run, not walk, but with patience.
00:25:24
The race that is set before us. What is that race?
And I know that many young people here that have various sports event. Well, every goal is different, isn't it? So I sometimes say to people jokingly, I don't do much sports. I have played a little bit of golf and I have bowl a little bit and my bowling score and golf course score is about the same. So does that mean I'm a good golfer or my lousy bowler? What You need to know what the goal is in order to be done.
So how do you know? Well, it's between you and the Lord. But then second verse give you further inning. For example, is the looking unto Jesus. That's the best example we can have. He's the beginner of faith. He's the completer of faith. And what did he do to complete his faith? All through humiliation, humbleness, willingness to follow the will of God.
That's the path that he has chosen, an obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
I wonder if you could just look for a minute at the Lord Jesus in Matthew 11.
Because he has set a perfect example for us in the path of faith. You know, if we're going to walk the path of faith, we have to have the confidence. We have to have confidence in the one that our our faith has been put in. And the Lord Jesus has set a beautiful example.
Of of faith in this chapter just to get Matthew 11 starting at verse 20, he speaks about those who had rejected His works and the blessing that had come through him. He was here to represent the Father and He had brought many works of kindness.
To these cities that he pronounces a woe on, he had actually been rejected.
Because he had brought blessing and but what I wanted to focus on in my comment is that his attitude in his path of faith was 100% confidence in God. So if we were to read verse 25, it says at that time Jesus answered and said.
I thank the old Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and has revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. So the Lord Jesus here gives us a perfect example of His absolute confidence in God His Father. He was able to take the circumstances of His.
Path of faith and receive them because he knew that they were from the.
The will of God and so even though they were extremely difficult for him to bear, the rejection, the.
Ill treatment that he received, yet he had perfect confidence in his path of faith.
That God was in control and that He could accept the difficulties of the path. And if you were to look at each one of those ones in Chapter 11, you would find the same thing, that there would be an element of confidence in God's word. Faith is always based upon the Word of God. And so the Lord Jesus here gives us a beautiful example.
Of one who has absolute confidence in his father, he could say, you know, if you come and you crawl into the yoke with me, you will find that.
00:30:08
My yoke is easy and my burden is light because he was in perfect subjection and submission to the will of God.
And so we will find that if we have that same.
If if, if we have a sense of that same confidence in the in the goodness of the heart of God, we will find that the path of faith is 1 Where are you is easy. You know the the the weights that we might have a tendency to carry.
Around with us, we will come to realize that they're just a hindrance from us enjoying the path of faith with God our Father. And as we get on into the rest of the chapter, we're going to find that the relationship to our God is so important to be able to pass through the what He allows from His hand for our blessing. We'll be able to endure that easier.
If we have that, that confidence in God our Father. So I just wanted to share an example of the Lord expressing in His path of faith complete and total dependence and confidence in what God was allowing.
So I have a question.
My question is this.
In the 11Th chapter.
If we go back there.
To first 30.
Verse 29 rather.
It says by faith they passed through the Red Sea.
As by dry land, which the Egyptians are saying to do were drought and then the next verse says by faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were compassed about seven days in between those two verses is the entire wilderness journey the entire journey. But here we have a wilderness book. I realize it's pick it up elsewhere, but.
The two verses that I've read we have half of Exodus.
Not touched on Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, part of Joshua completely eliminated which was the wilderness journey. And I realized that the wilderness journey was not because of the faith, it was because of a lack of faith. But maybe someone could help us as to the elimination of the whole wilderness journey in the previous chapter.
With with regards to what we have in this chapter.
I hope, I hope.
The chapter here is a race and even the question just asked is connected with it. The.
It's a race. A race has a goal line. A race has a character.
It's not 100 yard dash, 100 yard dash doesn't require endurance. Let's described in this race, it's a marathon and when you're going to start out with a marathon, you don't see the people that are getting ready at the starting date put on two or three extra pounds of lead to wear around their waist, their waist, their hindrances they have in view.
Not simply the journey itself, but the end of the journey. And that's what's in view before them. And so there are things that hinder the running of the race. One is weight, those things that have already been described that will hinder us. Another one equally significant. I'm going to read the new translation that it says let us lie aside every weight and.
Sin which so easily entangles us, and when sin comes into our life, it is a hindrance, a serious hindrance to making progress in the race.
00:35:03
But the Lord Jesus.
In verse two, who was running that race, ran it with something that encouraged his own soul all the way along. And what was it? Who for the joy that was set before him? He wasn't going through it as it were. Oh, I've got to endure. Someday all these problems will be over, and someday I'll get to go to heaven. That was not the character of the spirit.
On the Lord Jesus, when He ran the race, He ran it in view of the joy that was set before him when He completed the race. And we have to do the same. If we do not go through it with the end in view, then everything that comes in between will ultimately tend to defeat us. And so the children of Israel in the wilderness started out.
And almost immediately they had the opportunity of 12 of them to go into the land and see the end of the race.
Caleb and Joshua had faith and as a consequence, they made it. And Caleb, when he gets there, he says all I want that land that I saw.
And I believe in the verses in the previous chapter, it is for such that even the conquering of the land is part of the race here. It's a race. It's not precisely the wilderness as such. We tend to divide it that way. The first verse is leaving the world, but the race itself involves, yes, passing through a wilderness, but it also involves for us getting into and faith.
Enjoying the fruit of the land itself.
And so when they got in to the land, when Caleb got into the land, when Joshua got into the land, there were still those who were hindering them from entering into the fullness of what it was that was promised to them. The joy set before them was for them the land, and they needed the faith to continue to break down the opposition that was there.
So that which they was a hindrance to taking their inheritance. And so the walls of Jericho were hindrance and faith conquered them. That is, I really don't want to say faith conquered them, but the Lord conquered them in honoring their faith. The Lord is really the one that exercised the power that they went down with. But again, I just say it's, it requires endurance, patience.
The Starburst translation is endurance and one other comment about the the worthies of Chapter 11 and the fact that their failures aren't particularly mentioned, which is to give us encouragement in their faith. Brethren, sometimes we're in the race and we get into a spot in our life and we say.
I've ruined it, I've sinned and I can't go on anymore.
I don't think you'll find hardly a single soul in the word of God who ran the race who doesn't have failure recorded about them, if we know anything much about their life. In David, one of the greatest kings that ever was, we see very serious sin. In chapter 10 or Chapter 11. We have Rahab who was a harlot and so on. That is, God gives us the examples of faith.
That we might.
Learn from them, but that we might also recognize that we have to have our eye not on them, but on the goal. But they're also something that will help us when we get cast down by failure or the other side when there's a wait. Sometimes our heart says nobody understands.
Nobody realizes what I'm going through and we are discouraged or we're depressed with the circumstances of our own lives, and consequently, to help us with that in chapter 2 and verse 2, endure.
The cross. Endure the cross. Are you ever Have you ever passed through something in your life that exceeds that?
00:40:04
That would be more discouraging. They hated me without a 'cause he could say.
They rejected me.
And all I did was show love and kindness and good to man. And consequently, the perfect model of, of the, of the race is he even endured the cross. And if we stop and look at him that way, we'll realize there's never a circumstance in our lives.
That he has not passed through something rightly more difficult than we.
Suggestion to that question.
Often we look at things relating to our experience. If it's something joyful, time seems to pass by quickly. It is something terrible. It seems to drag on and on. So for example, if we were to come down here, when we come down here, someone may say to me, what did you have a good trip? Yes, it was nice. It was joyful. We look forward to be here now, if on the way here my radiator blew up, the tire blew up and the car caught on fire.
Well, that story will change a little bit, wouldn't it? Now I'm talking, I'm not trying to make light of scripture. We have to remember this is about faith. This is about endurance by looking upon Jesus. So this verse begins by saying, hey, they left Egypt. Oh, the next verse says they cross onto the promised land. It's done. Now keeping in mind too, if you go back to the first chapter of Deuteronomy.
It was only a seven days journey. What's the big deal? Oh, the rest, they got side, they got detoured, they got lessons to be learned, but it was only a seven days journey, so it's done. They have to learn what faith is. So the important part is to not look at that brother already mentioned, at the failures along the way. They went out by faith and by faith they were brought into the promised land.
There were no purchases of during those 40 years in the wilderness. They began looking at themselves instead of looking at God, and so they went into failure.
I think of Peter. Peter had faith to walk on the water, but when he started looking at himself in his own circumstances, he began to sink and he failed.
As you live your Christian life, you live by faith. As long as you keep your eyes on Christ, don't look at yourself. If you look at yourself, there will be failure. You'll begin to sing, but keep your eyes on Christ and walk by faith. Even the example you gave of Peter is a pretty good model. Nobody else got out of the boat.
Even in his failure.
He turns and reaches out. There's a hand to catch him. How many times is a hand reached out and caught you? How many times in our experience, in our Christian lives that we may be taking a step and we have failed like Peter, but there's that hand that comes out. My brother said that we should keep our eyes on Jesus. And sometimes this is even quoted that way, but it's really telling us. Look at his example.
Of something he did, that joy here is us. He saw us on the other side of what he was going through.
That little word joy is all about the redeem all of us. If that was going to be the result of what He endured, everything He endured, all the things that mankind did to Him, all the evil that was done to Him, all of that kind of thought thing. And He must needs then go to the cross and He must then take the wrath of an Almighty God against sin and suffer there. But He saw the other side, what was coming on the other side, and there was joy there. That was us, His Bride.
He saw that.
I dare say that every woman in this room who's had a child has gone through her pregnancy and had a difficult time sometimes. But I'll bet there's been encouragement in that when they thought about the joy on the other side when the child came, I'm seeing some heads nod Amen. And that's the idea is that it is worth it because on the other side, even if now it's very difficult.
00:45:05
There's joy that's coming. Why do you think groups of men?
Dare to try to become Navy SEAL. It's one of the hardest, excruciating, painful experiences they can. Now, it's personal and there's pride and all of that involved, but there's a satisfaction and a joy they have of making it when no one else can. And the only way they can get through it is by seeing on the other side of what they're going through that it will be worth it. Well, how much more is it worth it?
What we have set before us and if we get distracted, our brother was talking about this is running a race and it's talking about an athlete. I remember one brother years ago in talking about this passage said you don't see pockets on track stars, people running track, they don't have pockets. Why would they? You don't need any extra weight. And in that I believe he applied that the sin that might so easily be set as maybe a great athlete who doesn't follow the rules all the time.
And he gets disqualified.
Well, don't put extra weights on and follow the rules. Stay in the lane or whatever it is and the great athlete can can then win the prize and get to the other side. Well, we have a far better prize than any athlete ever had set in front of them and we can run this race and be reminded that there are things that are hindering us along the way and the Lord can point that out. We might even not even understand or realize what is hindering us.
They had a quick comment.
Key sauce is very important to be reminded, but in the new translation, emphasize it even more. Is that locking steadfastly unto Jesus? We look to Jesus, don't we? I can't see anyone in this room to say, no, I don't turn to him, but do we look steadfastly unto Him? And when we do, we'll find even our language change.
Have we ever find we say to the Lord with a language like this, starting with the word? Why? Why Lord? I believe that's a bad way to begin your conversation with the Lord. Even if you begin with that word. How? Lord? I don't think that is a faith neither. Or even adding on when Lord No, we need to look at Him steadfastly.
And wait patiently. And that goes together as we run that race that is set before us.
I was just thinking, we must enjoy that's in that journey too. I've mentioned about this boy, but it was on the other side of the cross. And I think also another aspect of that joy was the fact that he had joy in doing the will of the Father. And when he did the will of the Father, it included suffering and shame and pain and sorrow. He was the Man of Sorrows. Now put it. Put this into your life and my life.
You want to live a life of faith. There's going to be pain, there's going to be suffering, there's going to be disappointments. And I'd like to look at Philippians chapter one and verse 29.
Bring both the faith and the suffering together. The Lord Jesus is willing to do the will of the Father, and it brought him joy. And if we're going to do the will of the Father.
We'll find joy as well, but we also will find suffering. Philippians one verse 29 For it is given in the behalf of Christ, for unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him. That's faith, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake and so.
You can look forward to perhaps some suffering as you do the will of the Father.
But in the midst of that suffering, there will be joy.
Unbelief and why it's so important in the 11Th and 12Th chapters.
In the script in Scripture, faith and sight go together.
00:50:03
Just like the ears and the will go together, there are certain physical things where the moral teaching of them is fundamental really in many places to understand the scripture and faith and seeing. If you don't have faith, you don't see.
You're spiritually blind. To use the example again of Caleb and Joshua, they had faith and they could go 40 years of endurance.
With the joy that was set before them because of their faith, but those in the wilderness who did not have that joy set before them because they didn't see it, because of unbelief, they weren't running a race, they were wandering.
And it's possible for us as a believer to spend our life wandering in a desert without entering into the truth of the joy that God sets before us. And the root difficulty in US may be unbelief. What happens if I don't have? That is, I may be a true believer and have faith in the Lord Jesus for salvation, but I'll spend my life trying to make myself as comfortable and as happy as I can in the world in which I live.
And know that someday I'm going to leave it and go to heaven, and then I'll be even more happy. But if the focus of my life is trying to have joy here.
Then there's a problem in the matter of faith. And so the Lord Jesus, who perfectly understood and saw what was ahead of him, because there was no lack of faith, could enter into that joy.
And in the measure in which we enter into it, we also will.
Endure in the race, go back for one more verse in Philippians, which as is similarities to Hebrews, it's already brought out if you go back to Philippians chapter 2.
You see an example in the Apostle Paul.
Of what motivated him and his life.
Individual if I can get the Philippians too.
No Philippians chapter 3. I'm wrong. Philippians chapter 3.
What verse seven? What things were gain to me? Gain where? Gain here or gain in the race?
These I counted loss for Christ.
Yeah, doubtless, without a doubt, I count all things but loss. Why? What was his joy that kept him going in the path? It was, he says, the Excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.
That for whom I have suffered the endurance, the pain and suffered the loss of all things. And to count them but dung you counted them as useless, wasted, not valuable to him. Why that I might have when Christ, that's that's the goal line.
The end result of winning the race, individually winning the race. What did he want to win? He wanted to have Christ. He wanted to have him completely.
As the overriding joy at the end of the race of his own soul. And in the measure in which that's true of us is the measure in which we will run the race with faith and endurance.
There's 14.
Apostle Paul says I press toward the mark for the prize at the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
What's the prize? I believe it's Christ himself.
And so the Apostle Paul, he had his eye on the prize.
On Christ himself.
At the end.
Of the race, if I could put it that way.
The high calling of God in Christ Jesus. But the thought of pressing toward the mark is the thought of energy.
00:55:03
Of purpose. Purpose of heart.
And it just makes me think of.
You know the fish that swim upstream. We live close, in fact, right across the road from a river, the Saint Croix River. And I know the young people at school, they would raise these salmon fries. And when the salmon arrived at a certain age, they take them out into the woods.
And let him go into a stream.
And he would apparently swim all the way out into the ocean, even all the way to Greenland, and then make their way back and actually swim up the Saint Croix River. But they had to swim against the current. And you can imagine what that must have been for a salmon to swim all that way against the current. And there's this fish way right beside the dam.
Across the road from where we live and these damn fish, they jump up through the dam into the river or I should say the lake. But the thought of pressing toward the mark, This is, I believe, what God looks for in you and me and.
I was thinking too in Proverbs it speaks about how a jest man fallout. Now this is proverbs 24 and verse 16 it says for a just man.
Falling seven times.
But does he stay down after he falls?
No, it says. He rises up again.
And so I believe this is so important to realize that even though we may fall.
Failure isn't fatal. Failure is when we don't rise up again and keep on going.
And there was failure in the Apostle Paul's life. He didn't do everything perfectly.
But somebody has said he did fall down in the path, but he stayed in the path.
And how important, though, to keep our eye on the board and to realize that.
He is the God at the end of the race.
And as we look to him.
Day by day and the challenges of life, He empowers us. I think that's what we have here in in Hebrews 12, looking unto Jesus. It's that which empowers us to continue on in the race.
And this is thinking of the proportion that the job.
That empowering you know I think it's kind of encouraging how it starts out here in verse one look at this is the Lord speaking to Joshua after Moses is dead and this is what he says after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord he came to pass that the Lord spake into Joshua the son of nun Moses minister and you know he says if you know it's not really said here but it makes you wonder if.
Here is Joshua getting ready to take on something that would be.
Great, a great task and it's as if the Lord is going to give him a word of encouragement. And this is what he says here in verse six or in verse five. Look at how it says there shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life, as I was with Moses.
So I will be with thee, I will not fail thee nor forsake thee. Be strong and of good courage, for under this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance, for the land which I swear unto their fathers to give them. And again, it's a reiterated only be thou strong and very courageous. It's as if you know if you were in Joshua's shoes and you were thinking about the task, and you think.
You wouldn't. You feel very weak, wouldn't you?
But the Lord is giving him this encouragement to empower him and look at what it says.
01:00:01
In verse nine, this has really been an encouragement. It's as if the Lord is saying, have not I commanded thee be strong and of good courage, Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee. Wither, surrender thy voice.
Gone over multiple times, I think endured the cross. But it also says despising the shame.
Sometimes when we're in a difficult circumstance in life, perhaps there's sickness in the family or even death. There are others that come around and our real health and comfort and the circumstance we're in and the pressure that it brings to our soul of being in that circumstance.
But here is an example of the path of faith taken to its ultimate extreme.
He endured the cross.
Did he have comfort?
And what he had to endure.
All men forsook me and fled. I'm alone.
He hung on that cross.
Despised and he didn't even have the comfort of those that truly did love him but were afraid at that point until after.
The atonement was made. Some of them did come up to him and his mother and Mary and so on, After the three hours of darkness were with him briefly, but his.
He had to endure the shame.
As it were, he had to go through it without any human assist or comfort for what he was passing through.
And I believe it's it's put here to give us to understand the one whose faith we are to follow, endure the ultimate extreme hindrances to walking through that path of faith. And it's here for us to find encouragement. And even if we fail, to at least learn to worship him for what we see in his life. That was such a wonderful example to us, even though it's a contrast perhaps to our own lives.
To be able to see the one that endured, despising the shame.
Boss is the picture across is very different to different people. So for many of us here perhaps can sing and say the cross of Christ all glorious tree. But yet to many in this world the cross stand for something else at the cross. That's when man in the sands were fully united, but they will not want they will not want this man to reign over him.
Away with Him, crucify him, I believe, when we present Christ.
When we present the cross, when we tell others that we believe in the cross, that's the cross that's going to give you this despising effect from the world. If you're going to be a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, they are going to give you the same treatment they gave our Lord, unless you compromise and turn that cross to many people, symbol of joy.
But here it is the cross where one who was despised and rejected of man, he became a man of sorrows and acquainted with griefs. We as follower would expect that. And what we even have the same honor? Do we acknowledge the despise and rejection as an honor that this world look at us as a follower of Christ?
Possible Paul could say at the end of Galatians verse 14, God forbid that I should glory saving the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says from henceforth, let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. He could say I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Well, you know, I'm sure many of us, perhaps most of us in this room.
Very marks.
From things that have happened, sorrows, troubles, difficulties, and they leave a mark.
01:05:06
Their difficulties, it says in our chapter. So great a cloud of witnesses. So great a cloud of witnesses in Exodus chapter 13. Just read a few verses in Exodus 13.
Verse 15.
Verse 17, Exodus 13, Verse 17. And it came to pass when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God LED them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near, for God said less per adventure. The people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt. But God led the people about through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea, and the children of Israel went up harnessed.
Out of the land of Egypt, and Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had straightly swore that children of Israel saying, God will surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones away hence with you. And they took their journey in verse 21. And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud to lead them in the way, and by night.
In a pillar of fire to give them light to go by day and night. He took not away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night from before the people. So there was a cloud there that they had to follow. There was a cloud. It was the presence of the Lord, and He wanted to lead them. And they took the bones of Joseph and those I'm sure in this room who've lost a loved one, they know the only way they will ever see that loved one.
Is in the very presence of the Lord.
So there is a day when we will be reunited with that one. There's a day when He will change our vile bodies, that they may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, when we are with and like our Savior. So when we have the loss of a loved one, our eyes are pressed forward. We're looking to Jesus, and there's a day when we will be with him. We will as John fell at his feet, as dead Mary was at the feet of Jesus, and throughout the gospels, whenever somebody was found.
At the feet of Jesus.
There is a blessing, there are sorrows, But the thickest clouds, a brother once said, will have the heaviest, the greatest showers of blessing, the thickest clouds will carry with them the greatest showers of blessing. So God may take something to grab our hearts and to turn our eyes to look to Him.
So in the wilderness, there I was on that pillar of fire in the cloud, but now our eye is on the one who's already entered the end of the sixth chapter.
Our forerunners already entered. He's already there. And so our eyes look forward to where he already is. And there's three throw at least three Thrones in this book. There's a throne in Chapter 4, there's a throne in Chapter 8, and there's the throne here in our verse two. And in each case, that's where the object of our faith already is.
But I was often struggled a little bit with the Thrones in this book, because to me a throne was always the one you hear in the gospel meeting. It's the one in Revelation chapter 20, and it's a great white throne and its administration and its righteousness and its justice. But in the book of Daniel, I believe Daniel had meditated thoroughly on the book of Deuteronomy and his life there in captivity, and he suddenly gets a chance in chapter 4 to speak to Nebuchadnezzar.
I mean, he speaks to Nebuchadnezzar and helping Nebuchadnezzar is he's about to understand his place as the now the one administering here on the earth. Daniel suddenly gives him some spontaneous advice that I think actually really helps with our chapter. And since I can't quote it, I'm trying to turn to it. Daniel chapter 4, and I believe it's verse 27.
It gives a clue, but I think is very helpful. And Daniel chapter 4 and verse 27 is really the spirit of the book of Deuteronomy. But in verse 27 he says to Nebuchadnezzar, Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee. He just brought him a word from the Lord, an interpretation of his dream. And here he gives him his spiritual wisdom, gathered and believed in the book of Deuteronomy. Be acceptable unto thee, and break off the sins by thy sins by righteousness.
01:10:12
That was one important characteristic of the throne and the iniquities, by showing mercy to the poor.
There's the other aspect. It's mercy. Both of those things were what were to be administered in the land. And so in this book of Hebrews, our forerunners already entered. He's there, he's at the throne, and what does he do? There's mercy that he dispenses in chapter 4, and he's there as already entered the harbor. And it's like this throne here in chapter 12, he finishes the race.
He turns around and then from his place there in the glory, he winches us into where he is. He reaches back to give us his hand, if you will, to pull us over that goal line to be with him. It's a throne, but it's a throne where mercy is being dispensed to the ones that he loves and he's he's acting for. And so it comes up three times in Chapter 8. It's related to character on the throne of the majesty, the beginning of Chapter 8, the throne of grace in Chapter 4, and hear the throne where our object sits to reach back and help us across the goal line at the end of the race.
Our objects already there.
I.
Perhaps we've absorbed as much as we can absorb in one session. I'm going to suggest we stop at this point.
290.
And.
Him but the second verse says gold ashore we hope to land on.
Only by reporters known.
Yet we freely all abandoned.
Led by that report of all.
As of Jesus.
Through the track of speed.
#219.
Wah.
Ephesians 4
Open—David So
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.
#18 in the back.
Yeah.
No.
Turned with me to Ephesians chapter 4.
Ephesians chapter 4 beginning at verse one.
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you and ye walk worthy of the vocation, wherewith ye are called with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit.
In the bond of peace there is one body, one Spirit, even as he are called in one whole of your calling, 1 Lord, 1 faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all, and in you all.
00:05:19
It's not my desire to expand on these verses, nor do I profess and know what well enough to do so.
But to share a few thoughts.
This morning we enjoy the thought that we have one that we can look steadfastly upon.
We talk about him as the One. Perhaps show us how he got your trials and tribulations for our sake.
This portion that came to my attention is that the apostle Paul brought out or opened the statement an interesting, interesting statement. He did not say I the apostle for the Gentiles.
He said I therefore.
The prisoner.
Interesting, isn't it?
We take a lowly place.
That God put us into a lowly place.
Now the previous chapter chapter three opened similarly as some know that chapter 3 in a sense is like a parenthesis. If you have the Darby translation you see the bracket after verse two and then at the end of the chapter. But it begins that by saying for this cause.
I Paul, the prisoner.
It's difficult for us to say what circumstances that the Lord put us into a tougher perhaps than our brethren. I'm not sure if there's such thing because each trial have its own problems and the Lord tests us, strengthened us differently, doesn't he? I was thinking the Apostle Paul, we know that he travel and visits, doesn't he to encourage things.
And be a help wherever he can be. Can you imagine a man like the Apostle Paul?
Had to stop doing what he's doing because he's now a prisoner.
How can God allow that?
On a wonderful man and perhaps in our eyes, doing great work.
He did.
He became prisoner.
But did Paul say, Oh well, I guess now I have to stop doing whatever I wanted to do.
And I suppose depending on who, what your personality is, I can pick you some off. And I used to work us, we'll say, well, the Lord stopped the work.
But what we found was Paul used what was available to him.
During this time as prisoner, he wrote two wonderful books, didn't he? The book of Ephesians that we have before us and the book of Colossians. These two complementary epistle has become great help to many of us throughout the ages. We don't know how God changed plan, why he changed plans and what the purpose really are behind those plans. Do we So if we.
Fully Paul didn't say I Paul the prisoner of Rome. No, let's go back to verse one. Therefore the prisoner of the Lord. Oh, the circumstance he was put into.
He acknowledged is from the Lord, the prisoner of the Lord, and as a prisoner of the Lord, he's beseeching you and I to walk.
Doing what worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. The 1St 3 chapters talk about Our Calling. It's not my thought to go through that in this precious for us to be able to go through those callings. But then verse 2 is what came to my heart. Part of the reason is I have heard Christians complaining that we're losing our rights.
There are many things we can do that we wanted to do.
Do prisoners have right?
I suppose here in the United States and the supposing Canada too, that prisoners claim they have rights and they can demand for things and grilled cheese sandwich from what they understand is not a thing that is suitable for prisoner entity sometimes demand for better food. Well, I'll leave those thoughts aside, but do prisoners really have rights? I don't think so.
00:10:07
But here the apostle exhort us as prisoner of the Lord. We have things that there are ways we ought to walk. Verse 2.
With all lowliness, I'm not very good at explaining these words, and I'm sure some of you can explain and expound it much more than I can lowliness.
Can you think of an example one who took on the lowly place?
Loneliness.
Meekness.
Moses was the.
Nicest man on earth, but I do not believe meekness is equated with a word pushover. I don't believe Moses was a pushover. He was me. He didn't take any offence. Have you been upset because someone or you thought you heard someone say things that offended you? If you say no, then you're different than most of us.
Do you get offended easily? Do you take offense and do you give offense?
We're long-suffering.
Forbearing one another.
These are pretty true order, isn't it, for us to walk in forbearing one another in love.
Then it goes on, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the new translation set in the United bond of peace.
Keeping that spirit, that one spirit, that one body.
Is precious before God and then they are reminded is following few verses to be reminded that the Trinity is at work to help us, even though we by our own strength may have problem and difficulties doing so. So he reminds us that there is one body.
There is no other way to explain or expound on that. There is one body in the book of Ephesians.
We find in the second chapter.
The apostle mentioned the mystery of the secret, the mystery of God. What is that? You can go back to it and find that it is about that. There is one body and there is a head who is in heaven right now which will be united with the body. That's the mystery of God. That was not expanded to the sayings of all for you and I have the privilege to understand this mystery of God.
And then the third chapter in that parentheses, you go on to expound on the fact that there is another mystery called the mystery of Christ.
History of God that there is one body that we as gentiles.
When we are saved, we are put into that body. But the mystery of Christ? What? Let's just look at that real quick.
Verse Beginning of verse 4. Whereby when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, verse 5. Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto the holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that.
The Gentiles. I believe that most of us here, if not all.
That the Gentiles should be fallow heirs.
Of the same body, and particulars of his promise in Christ by the gospel, and so on.
That's more precious than knowing that we are going to be part of that body and that we will be fellow heir with Christ. Now we'll go back to our our portion there in chapter 4, but there is not just one body in verse four that tells us there is one body and one spirit. The Spirit of God is at work with this body.
Even as you are called in one whole.
Of Our Calling, do you have more than one hope? We have that hope, that blessed hope don't win that one hope. Verse five One Lord not divided. 1 Spirit helping the body now, one Lord, 1 faith, one baptism.
00:15:03
So we see the Spirit at work now we see the Lord Jesus at work. Verse 6 and I'm sorry, there's no end. 11 God and Father.
Of all. Oh, we see now the Trinity at work for our good, don't we? That one Spirit, that one Lord, now one God.
And a father of all who is.
Above all and through all, it is the precious part. And in some of you.
No, I don't think that's what he said.
In you. Oh, oh, precious thoughts. But it begins here.
With lowliness, What right is that for lowliness?
No, I had a brother said to me a number of months ago now, he said, you know, Christians are not doormat that people can just walk over. We have our rights and we can do things. And I'm ashamed to say that I'm one that when someone fired a question at me, I'm not good at coming up with an answer. And I have a lot of answers afterwards when the need of time is over. But this portion came to me afterwards.
That.
We as Christian begins with loneliness of mind.
Loneliness.
Meekness. long-suffering.
Forbearing one another.
I won't expand too much further on that. Now I'm going to introduce another portion that on the surface doesn't seem to be connected. And I trust that I can connect it together, but such is my thought that often is not good connecting. But I'll share with what I have in my heart. Revelation chapter 20.
I will have to confess another portion that I don't know well.
I don't know about you often. We know Revelation chapter one, two and three quite well.
And maybe 4:00 and 5:00.
And maybe 6-7 and eight as we look at the first of those CEOs.
And then we sort of, I'm sorry, let me use that And I sort of fall off from that and we jump to the end. I don't know how many can relate to that. But you know, there is an interesting about sometimes jumping to the end because when you know how it ends, if you know how it begins and how it ends.
Often is easier to go back and fill in the information.
Now I know it's not always good. I see a young man here. You don't go.
Videotape a football game, knowing who won, and then you go watch the videotape. That's no fun anymore because you know who won. But here we are told how it ends and what is going to happen because I found today that often Christians.
Are so confounded by what's going on out in the world.
There are so many worldly teaching quoting the word of God, but miss applying it and come up with certain doctrine for you to follow and it's sad. So whatever is said, you need to apply it with the word of God. So let's just read a few verses, see if we can connect and see what happened at the end. Verse 20 And I saw an Angel come down from heaven having the key of the bottomless pit.
Gray chain in his hand, and he laid hole on the dragon, that old serpent which is the devil and Satan, and bound him 1000 years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him that they should deceive the nations no more.
Till the 1000 years should be fulfilled.
And after that, he must be lose a little season. Let's just stop there.
Interesting portion.
Here's something that's going to happen, he said. I saw an Angel, a mighty Angel, come down. He held that key not to hell, but to the bottomless pit.
00:20:14
And what a great change to bound someone and cast that into the bottomless pit. And then he said he laid hold off, not the chain now, but a few names are given about this one individual. Let's look at verse two again. He said he laid hold on the dragon. Why is he called a dragon?
I'm not sure some of you have visited a Chinese restaurant.
And when you go in there, you often see Dragons under war. It speaks of power to the Chinese, the scripture look at it as power too. Well, that dragon is that fearful one, that ruthless one that are out to devour and to destroy. So here's one is a dragon. He's the one that would be out to destroy.
And then we find that.
That old serpent, oh, his name is not just a dragon, it's an old serpent.
Dragon speaks of cruelty. Serpent, I believe, would speak of subtlety.
The one that if he knows he can come to you with full force like a roaring lion, he's going to come as the subtle serpent. So we see one character as a cruel dragon and another character of the same person or same being as a subtle serpent and.
Oh, and he has a name and his name. Oh, I'm sorry, I missed one there. Which is the devil.
So $1.00 Wicked, cruel, subtle, wicked one, and his name is Satan. Satan is the accuser of brethren.
He's being OK and he's going to be bound for 1000 years.
For the thousand years to come, man can no longer use the excuse for the devil made me do it. Have you ever used that? Have you ever said that the devil may be do it? Don't blame just the devil. Yes, often he's there, as we mentioned already, that as a dragon or as a serpent or as the devil coming in. But he will be bound for 1000 years. He'll be locked up in the bottomless pit.
He can get out so that he cannot deceive the nations anymore.
That's all part of God's scheme of things.
Does Satan have any control over this? No. Does man have any control over this? No.
Does any Angel of God have any control over this?
This is all his work and as part of his plan at the end of the thousand years, what happened, he's gonna let him lose for a season. And he can reach down in the chapter, which I don't want to take too much more time because I'd like to make room for others to comment on it and just to prove that man's heart hasn't changed after 1000 years.
Where men will live without Satan's influence. Where righteousness.
Would rule but as soon as that constraint is removed, man's heart remained the same. Now imagine God and Magog and other can expand on it more. I don't believe this portion of God and Magog is the same God in Magog at the end of the tribulation. So here God is in great control of our time, of things that's to come, of all the events.
We know from the beginning, we're told, live for Christ.
With loneliness of mind, meekness, temperance and so on and so on and at the end he's going to win. Now perhaps just one more in the end of this chapter. We often use this in Gospel verse 11 There toward the end and I saw a great white throne. Someone mentioned that about a throne earlier on. This is the great white throne hymn that sat on it from.
From whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them, And I saw the dead.
00:25:06
That word was in my heart too. Who did John see? How many living soul did he found at that point? None.
Because all that we've been one have been taken out. But he saw the dead. This is the second resurrection. He saw the dead, small and great. So often we think about all this little one, all these big ones, but they are.
The dead without Christ and the book. We know the rest of the pastor which is open in verse 13. Man thinks that if someone die and disintegrated the body, God will never find them again.
The threat of nuclear war with total nation, well, there will be nothing left but here tells us. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell.
Deliver up the dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to the works, and then and death and hell were tossed into the lake of fire. This is the second dead. We know this assure things is it? God has told us at the very end before it goes into the eternal state.
And brethren, you and I.
Have the privilege of the Word of God filling in the blanks as if it were for us to see, not for us, so we know what's going to happen tomorrow afternoon, but to know of God's plan, what He has in store for mankind, what He has installed for you and I, and that the blessing is already being given to us.
We've been blessed already in with all blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
So with a little time that is left in this world, we're exalted to walk. We exalted to be a testimony for his namesake. As some of you were here this morning when I made the remark of the prayer meeting, I said it's been my on my heart that I really feel we need to pray one for another because this world has hindered our hearts.
And I'm not looking at anyone or condemning anyone.
But I trust your heart would work. You would exercise these thoughts that the assembly meetings are being missed. The prayer meeting, I heard a brother said use the phrase. He said that's the temperature gauge of the assembly.
I don't know about your assembly, brethren. I don't know about you. Are you attending the assembly meeting? It's so easy to have many here to encourage one another.
It's so difficult to go back and say there are only a handful of us.
But remain faithful.
We need the word of God, we need His help, we need to be at the assembly meeting and we need to encourage one another to be there.
Nehemiah 8:8
Open—Sam Ludvicek
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Turn with me to Nehemiah chapter 8, verse 8.
I.
Brother exhorted me to sometimes tell stories that make me look bad.
When I was in my 20s in the work that was going on at Harnischfeger and there were people starting to visit Bible studies we had at the time.
I have returned to Lords Day morning to break bread.
In one Lord's Day morning, Brother Carl McCoy said to me. Brother Sam, why don't you come Wednesday night?
And I said to him.
You really want to know.
Says yeah, be honest with me, I say, because the prayers here don't get answered.
Brother Carl McCoy was pretty wise on that moment.
And he says, what do you mean?
And I said there's brothers at work I pray with and prayers get answered that day, next day, next week. They get answered, a lot of them quickly.
Here we pray and we pray and we pray, and nothing gets answered.
And the reading meetings are boring.
Quite a conversation to have a 20 year old to be having with a older brother.
But he had asked me and I told him honestly how I felt.
He was very wise.
In what he said next, he said, well, brother.
I guess I had also said something's hindering things here.
And I said, well, he said, well, brother, I guess then that's what our prayer meeting should be about next Wednesday. Would you come? I said, I'll be here.
And Brother Carl McCoy opened that prayer meeting with that prayer Lord.
What's hindering the prayers in our prayer meeting? What's hindering things here?
Turned out it was a brother.
Next prayer meeting, this brother stood up and said.
This place is a sinking ship. I'm leaving. And he left, but he had developed in his spirit.
A bitter spirit and it was troubling people. It was causing problems.
Kind of unknown. I wasn't aware of it, and others weren't either. On any given Lord's Day, there were six people there, and then seven sometimes, and when visitors would come, we'd have the extra and so forth.
But that prayer went on at prayer meeting and the reading meetings got better and the prayers started getting answered like people started being gathered.
Wow.
Prayers being answered. Imagine that. And we had a lot more prayer meetings where we were thanking God for the prayers that had been answered.
Encouragement like that.
I got before the Lord.
In my own exercise about what I was doing learning as a young man in my 20s and I had an exercise about souls that I was seeking to win to Christ, not only being accurate with the gospel and clear.
But how do I disciple somebody or teach them? And this is something that I think this verse everyone here should pay attention to, everyone here should think about, everyone here should seek to develop in their life. And I know that many already have.
But let me read this verse.
So they read in the book of the Law distinctly.
And gave the sense and caused him to understand the reading.
00:05:05
The background is, is that they hadn't had the word of God for a long time and this was fresh to them now this morning in our reading meeting, John.
Read distinctly from this book.
Now the next thing many, many people do. Many brethren do it. Many Christians do the next part. They give the sense.
Of the reading.
But the last part.
Too often we fall short.
And caused them to understand the reading. I heard somebody say there are different stages of people in this room, different down the path of faith, the race that's being run. Some people are way down the road. Different levels of understanding, different levels of maturity. Yes, that's true. I remember being in a conference where brother Ron Reeves and Brother Lundeen were there and brother Ron I remember saying, brethren, we need.
Well, he said, he said two different things at two different times. One get the get the branches down where they they can nibble on the leaves and another one was bring the hay down to a lower shelf. And Brother Landin says, well this she need to stretch their necks a little bit and reach. I think both things are true.
But if you cause the people to understand the reading.
There is something there that even a younger child will get.
So if I'm in a Bible study or something and there's different ages there, my desire before the Lord should be that a young kid.
Whatever subject it is is going to have something from that that they get, that they understand, that they enjoy and can go away with and not just leave there. Well, I didn't get anything.
A sister was just talking about it at lunch that she likes to ask her children on the way home from a conference or a meeting. What did you get?
She says the girls take notes and they have a lot they can look at. Her boys are alive, enjoyed it all.
But if you really think about it, there should be something that got through to you because somebody took the time to cause them to understand the reading.
The Spirit of God is the one that takes and nails those things down right deep inside. But the ability to speak clearly and read the word of God don't just make sure they understand it, understand the words and then give this sense, you know, that's expository kind of teaching the sense of things and and kind of stitching them together, unpacking things.
But causing the people to understand the reading might actually you might have to tell a story.
Are an illustration, and maybe it's even personal.
And sometimes, maybe you should tell stories that make you look bad.
And if it makes you look good when you tell a story, give God the glory, because it's really Him.
Any story that I've ever told where I look good, you know who really did it, who really looks good? It's my savior. We talked earlier about faith.
If you really believe the things that we teach and talk about.
Like, for instance, that the Lord himself is in the midst.
Of any assembly meeting like this one.
Then I should think about that. And he really is. He did. He showed up here. He's here.
Lord's Day morning.
That he's there. He really is. It's not just some doctrine. The Lord himself has showed up.
And the Spirit of God, do we really believe it?
Well then, our words, our actions and how we express ourselves should show that.
I was sharing a story with a brother earlier when my dear wife was sick with cancer. I couldn't go too far away from home and I couldn't work. But I did go and volunteer at homeless shelter to sit there and talk to people that came in for the meal in the evening.
And I found some Christians that were there.
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And we began to sit at the same table. There were eight of us.
And we would talk. An alert taught me something there that was very interesting. Over on a neighboring table on the corner, there was a young man that would always plant himself there. And I could tell he was listening and we were talking about all matter of Christian topics. Questions would come up.
One day one of the fellows lost his, Temperance said. You always have to be right.
Later he apologized and said I'm sorry about that because usually.
But this young man, after weeks and weeks of listening, this is what the Lord taught me in this. He came over, he squatted down next to my chair and he said, you know, you don't speak like anybody I've ever heard.
He said I've been listening to your table there talk about the Bible, about Jesus.
And spiritual things.
And he said you don't talk like anybody else. I said, what do you mean? He said. You speak with authority.
You speak like you really believe what you're saying, yes.
And I started paying attention to what some of the others were doing and how they talked. They would say things like.
In my opinion.
Well, I feel.
Well, OK, you feel. I don't care how you feel when we're talking about this. I do care how you feel if you're hurting or suffering. I do care, but not when it comes to talking about the truth and this book.
Please don't bore me with this book, My dad told me. When I was a young boy. I would say sometimes that was a boring or that somebody spoke and they were boring or this or that.
My father was wise.
He said the Spirit of God is there. Pay close attention and you'll get something. It's the word of God. But let's let's consider how we handle this book and these words and these things.
Let's not treat it lightly when we have conversations.
I'll be 70 next year. I still get excited about talking about these things. I mean excited.
In a conversation, because they're precious things. And we've been talking in our little assembly at home about Bernie Brecht, who's recently restored about a year ago, and what are dramatic things going on in the little town where he lives. Old men and old women in their 70s, eighties are getting saved.
Isn't that wonderful?
And the town Little Marengo, Iowa, is starting to think about Bernie as being the pastor of that little town.
And he has preached 2 funerals recently because the people asked him to.
Because he handles the word of God like he really believes it.
And here's a little repair shop in that town that he's had for 37 years, and people are coming there.
Because they heard that Bernie Breck will pray for you if you go and ask him.
Isn't that marvelous that someone would come to your place of business and say, will you pray for me? It's funny. They'll come in and they'll look around and I need a quote on tires or I'm going to need a battery sooner When when nobody's nearby, Then they'll say, will you pray?
And he talks about the word of God. Bernie's been saved a long time, but for 17 years.
He attracts there and if somebody asked he would witness them to him, but not like this.
Now the conversations are different. This is a treasure. So we've been talking back home about how much treasure we have. And as this world we talked about, we're in a wilderness and how starving it is out there and how dry, and there's a lack of food and people are starving to death. They're lost in their sins. Many of them, even real believers, are just starving. They're not getting anything. They may go to church.
But boy, do we have a treasure. We know stuff.
Thank God we know some things because we've been raised.
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Among godly believers who have shared these things with us and have taught us to study this book for ourselves, shouldn't we act like it is a treasure when we talk about it and share it? And I'll tell you what, if we were a little more like that in our reading meetings at home and our prayer meetings at home, maybe sometimes people would be encouraged to compensate. You know what?
That was kind of exciting. That was very interesting. We can pray about that. We can have that. There have been days in our history where people really look forward to going to the reading meetings and the prayer meetings because there was some excitement there. I don't mean like emotional nonsense. I mean because real things were happening. Don't you want to be at a prayer meeting where the next prayer meeting somebody's telling you about a prayer that God answered?
And you're thanking God for that thing, and you're praying another prayer and that God answered that God answered the next day.
Yeah.
There's some excitement that comes with that. Not frivolous stuff, real thrilling things that have to do with real Christianity being lived out.
One brother cautioned me in a meeting that I had spoken about that one of the leading things among young people that are leaving evangelical churches is because what they see often in their parents is inauthenticity.
And a boringness. And the last thing was that their Christianity didn't cost anything.
Well, he said. Be careful that you don't encourage somebody to use that as an excuse. Don't you dare use that as an excuse.
Let's older ones, all of us younger ones too, seek the Lord's help. You have life.
You have life, you have a new life. Live it out in its fullness, in liberty.
Before your brethren and before the world, as this darkness encroaches around us, as we see it and you can see it. I don't care how old you are, You can see the darkest closing in. Any light you shine out looks all the brighter, doesn't it? Let it shine, Let it shine The Sunday School song, this little light of mine.
Let it shine, let it shine. Let people see it. Let your family see it.
Let your brothers and sisters see it. Let your young people see it. Young people let each other see it.
It's real. It's the only real thing in this world. Nothing will leave this world that is around us. Not one thing. You know what you get to take with you when you leave here?
From this room lead a soul to Christ.
Prisoners
Open—Don DeGraff
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Turn with me into Genesis 39.
Like to quote a verse, God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power.
And of the love, and of a sound mind.
Sometimes.
God has to take us to very hard places to reach us. Our brother spoke to us from Ephesians 4A prisoner of the Lord.
Would any of us like to be a prisoner?
Chuck Colson said that God had to take him to the thing he feared the worst. He was imprisoned and he founded prison Fellowship. Will hear Joseph in chapter 39 and verse 20, it says. And Joseph's master took him and put him in the prison, a place where the King's prisoners were bound.
And he was there in the prison.
But the Lord was with Joseph.
And showed him mercy. And gave him favor. I'm going to read a few more verses of Jeremiah 32.
It's the topic, not the passage. I'd like to focus on the topic. Jeremiah 32.
In verse one, the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the 10th year of Zedekiah, king of Judah.
Which was the 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar. Then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison.
Daniel, Chapter 6.
Daniel 6.
Verse 16 Then the king commanded and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. Doesn't say prison there, but maybe even scarier than.
Acts Chapter 12.
Acts Chapter 12.
Verse 4.
X12 and four and Winnie had apprehended him. He put him in prison.
And delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him, intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people. Peter therefore, was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the Church of God for him. Acts 16.
X16.
In verse 22.
And the multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the the jailer to keep them safely. Verse 25. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them.
The prisoners heard them.
Why did God allow those people? There's something wrong with Joseph.
Is there something wrong with Jeremiah? Is there something wrong with Daniel?
Mark chapter 6.
Mark 6 and verse 17. For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in a prison. Ferocious sake. So Joseph, Jeremiah, Daniel, John the Baptist, is there something wrong with them?
They're in prison.
They're in prison.
Isaiah 61.
I.
Maybe what needs to happen in our culture, in our society, is a few people need to be.
Able to face prison. There was a pastor in Western Canada who might have been Saskatchewan, I'm not sure. I'm not going to go into the story, but he was willing to go to prison for his beliefs.
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The Lord judges all, and knows the motives, the purposes of all these things. Isaiah 61 and verse one. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He has set me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord in the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourns.
Jesus, read this passage.
He read through these verses, but then when he got to the part of the day of vengeance of our God, it says he closed.
The book.
We need to realize our God does not want to have to do that. But it says he must have the day of vengeance of our God. Our brother David read to us from Revelation 20. It's going to come to pass. All the things that were written in the book will be fulfilled perfectly, exactly, precisely according to the thoughts and purposes in mind of Almighty God.
But that time is not yet. He closed the book.
The Spirit of the Lord was upon him. There was to be a blessing. We need to be strong and of good courage.
And numbers 13.
People have asked the question why? Why is all this going on in our world today?
It's quite a world we live in today. It's something that even I could never have imagined.
In younger years.
Try to find the verse I'm searching for and it's in Numbers 13.
Verse 17 And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them, Go you up to this way southward, and go into the mountain, and see the land what it is. And the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, or few, or many, and what the land is that they dwell in, and whether it be good or bad. And what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents or strongholds, and what the land is, whether it's fat or lean, whether they're wood they're in or not.
And be of a good courage, and bring the fruit of the land. Now the time was come, the time of the first ripe grapes. And they went up and searched the land, and then after they came back.
They reported on the land.
Says in verse 30 Numbers 13 and 30.
And Caleb spilled the people before Moses and said let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said we be not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.
Do we serve a big and grand and glorious and wonderful and majestic God? God our Savior? He has given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness.
Sometimes God has to take us to the hardest and the scariest and the most frightened places.
To show us how real he is. Psalm 107. I'm not going to read the whole chapter. There's 43 verses. I'll just read some.
Psalm 107.
In verse 22, and let them sacrifice the sacrifices of Thanksgiving and declare his works with rejoicing. They that go down to the sea and ships that do business in great waters. These see the works of the Lord. Our brothers spoke of people praying and prayers being answered.
They that go down to the sea, and ships that do business in great waters, These see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep, for he commandeth.
He commanded, He commandeth, and raises the stormy wind which lifted up the ways thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths. Their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits and.
Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.
He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet. So we bringeth them unto their desired haven. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.
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We need to have that praise and that Thanksgiving and that worship.
To God.
It wasn't until they crossed the Red Sea that they could sing.
They finally sang when they stared on the other side. They crossed the Red Sea and they sing. And in the New Testament, when did they sing? We're told, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.
Jesus and his disciples, they sang to him, and they went to the Mount of Olives.
Paul and Silas, they were beaten, thrown into prison and they prayed and saying praises to God.
We want more wonderful things to happen.
Maybe whether really, or at least metaphorically in a manner of speaking, we need more prison experiences, we need more hard times so that we see the goodness of our Lord. We have a day coming soon. We will all be home in the father's house. But as a brother, I remember coming from, I think he lived in Newfoundland and he came to our assembly in Cuyahoga Falls and he said.
There are only a few hours before sunset. We will have all eternity to celebrate our victories, but only a few hours before sunset to win them. There are battles, Caleb stilled. The people he said we're well able to overcome. Do we doubt that? Do we doubt the authority of his word? There was a brother who said when he died, he said the book, the book, the book, and then he went.
And he met the author of that book. That day is soon coming, very soon coming.
We have work to do, may he help us to do it.
210.
210.
Hebrews 12:3-7
Reading
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.
Perhaps we can start reverse 3?
Hebrews chapter 12, verse 3.
For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself. Bless you, be wearied and faint in your minds, if not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin, and yet forgotten. The extrication which speaketh unto you is unto children. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him for whom the Lord loveth, and chasteneth, and scourge with every son whom he receiveth. If you endure chastening, God dealeth with you as His sons.
For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not?
But if you be without chastisement, where of all our partakers then are you ******** and not sons? 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 for they barely for a few days chasing us after their own pleasure, but He for a prophet, that we might be partakers of His Holiness? Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous.
Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceful fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down in the feeble knees, and make straight pause for your feet last night, which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness bringing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled, lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one more morsel of meat sold his birthright.
We know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, so he sought it carefully with tears. We are not come under the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and earned the blackness and darkness and Tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they that heard and treated that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. But they could not endure that which was commanded.
And if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with the dirt. And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. But year come on to Mount Zion, and under the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels the General Assembly and Church of the first born, which are written in heaven. And to God the Judge of all, into the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling.
That speaketh better things than that of Abel. See that you refuse, not him that speaketh.
For if they escape not who refused him that spake on earth much more? Shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven, Whose voice then shook the earth? But now he hath promised, saying yet once more, I shape not the earth only, but also having it.
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And this word yet once more signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receive a Kingdom which cannot be moved. Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire.
Verses three and four continue to give us instruction as to the perfect leader.
Of faith and the race of faith, and we find in considering him.
Instruction and understanding and that can be applied in our own personal lives for the race by it says here consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself.
We would like to think that when we do right, when we're righteous, when we're loving, when we're caring, that those to whom we show this are going to respond properly and appreciatively and so on. The Lord Jesus perfectly showed these things. And what was the result? They hated Him. They hated Him, and it's not that we.
Necessarily need to go into the details of all of why they hated him.
But he endured that contradiction of sinners against himself. And as another has said, can you expect better treatment than your master? If you walk in obedience to Him and His will, then you expect a better treatment than He got, knowing that He was perfect. And we're often imperfect in the way that we do it.
And so it helps us if we consider him in that way.
Because two things. Because again, it's in a marathon race. Two things that are difficult is.
Weariness and faint. We we get weary, we run out of energy, if you will, spiritual energy sometimes to keep going when there's the constant negative response to that which is pleasing to God and seeking the blessing and good of others.
And walking in obedience to the Word. But if we consider Him, we have one that teaches us how to be.
One that could resist the weariness and the faintness of mind that often comes when day after day after day, unrelenting trial can come, perhaps at work or wherever it may be that is against the path of faith. And then in verse 4.
You've not resisted on the blood.
Pretty obvious you wouldn't be in the room if you had. This is talking about the Lord Jesus and the Lord Jesus striving against the working of sin against him, gave up his life. That's what's meant here when it says you have not resisted under blood. He resisted on the blood He resisted and it cost him his life and we haven't done that.
There are many we appreciate their lives who have done it often in their in missionary service. We or something like it. We call them martyrs. They often have resisted unto blood and they'll have the martyrs crown. They'll have the coming joy of the Lord's well done for having done so. And so it is with the continued teaching of part of having your eye on the Lord Jesus as having him as an object.
But also we need to consider his life and study it that we might learn from it. One final comment in that direction. They're talking about loneliness and meekness.
And the Lord said to those that needed help in that direction in Matthew 11 Comes on to me and I, I can just add my own word, come down to me either weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. When there is loneliness and meekness, that's a low place. And we often have to go down in order to get the help that we need in a matter of loneliness and weakness.
00:10:05
There's a, there's a process that takes place.
With what we have here with ourselves and I'm.
Like to perhaps an illustration that we have in the book of Deuteronomy, if you could turn there for a moment.
Look at Deuteronomy.
The 25th chapter.
What Moses is doing here?
Is he's referring back?
To an instance that took place in the book of Exodus in Exodus 6 to 17. And there's a detail here that we don't see an Exodus going in Deuteronomy 25.
The reference is in verse 17.
He says remember.
But Amalek said unto me, by the way, when you're come forth at Ephesians, how he met me, by the way. Now here's here's the detail. It says he smoked behind most.
I'll be even all that work behind these. So if you can picture what happened in in Exodus 17, the details are not there, but they are here. So what was happening in Exodus 17 when Joshua was there with Moses and her Amalak was was focusing on those that were lagging behind. We see that here it says all that were feeble behind thee, those that were lying behind and then notice the next statement it says.
When now us Here's the same words that we have in the verse that we've just been looking at in Hebrews, but now was faint and weary.
And what happens when we're faint and weary, We start to lag behind, and that puts us in a position where we're a focus for the enemy. And So what he says here in Hebrews, this has been a struggle with me, maybe not anybody else here, but in Hebrews it says here in our verse.
A considered hammock, as Mr. Arby says. Consider well him that endures such contradiction of sinners against himself. Yes, he be worried and faint, but then it adds here.
In your minds.
In your minds a few weeks ago I was having a.
I'm having a a wrestling match with the Lord. I don't know if you've ever experienced that.
I'm not we're not in the same weight class. I never knew very well and it was over the this very thought that we have of getting weary and in in Corinthians, there's a challenge that the that the apostle Paul puts with the Corinthians, he says bringing into captivity.
Every thought to the obedience of Christ.
That's a real challenge to me. When we think of our brothers, is bringing before us the thought of prison experience, our thoughts. They don't want to be taken captive, they don't want to be in prison. They have a tendency to go various different directions that are not good, especially when we get faint.
And once we get weary.
And that's what our thoughts they.
Just get crowded out with with things that are not good and.
The apostle brings before the Corinthians that they need to take these thoughts and they need to be brought into captivity.
Well, what happens, I think it is as we have seen in Deuteronomy, that when there's faintness, when there's weariness, there's a lagging behind, and it puts us in a position where we're an object of the enemy of our souls.
Tim has mentioned that aspect of the joy.
00:15:00
That the Lord had was the joy He had with his Father going through it, if I understood you right, not just what was in front.
And there is a joy and to illustrate that many of you know that the famous missionary Eric Liddell that went to China before he did, he was a runner and he ended up running in the Olympics.
As he became well known in Scotland.
He began to win races and England started looking at him and seeing this strange kind of fellow who won all the races. He ran and he ran with his face lifted up. Normally you look ahead and it was not good form and he had a smile on his face in a conversation with his sister.
She was concerned that he was getting too involved in sports.
That maybe he was taking his mind off of the fact that he had told his family and his parents and others that he felt a call to go to China as a missionary. And he said, oh, no, no, no, I'm going. But he said, God has given me a heart to preach the gospel and go to China. But he made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure and I'm smiling because I'm looking up.
Literally as he ran his races.
He was in the joy of his Lord.
Well, that would apply to day-to-day things. I think your job or school or whatever that you're participating in. He had learned to take pleasure in that as he ran.
I found that quite interesting. You said I feel his pleasure. So when the news people ask him about it, he shared the gospel. He often shared the gospel. When the news people gathered around and the crowd came, they didn't like it much, but he preached the gospel nonetheless. But he felt the Lord's pleasure and he hurt, got out of breath, his legs got tired, just like anybody else. There's one.
Particular moment as he began to be famous many of the top runners.
In the I guess the British Empire were at a race and he fell.
And everybody passed.
He got up and he ran them all down.
And a reporter watching it said I've never seen heart like that in my life.
Well, even in the thing he did, this sport he was involved in, he wasn't running for himself. He had his eyes on something else. And I find that remarkable. You know, we may have a job or be involved in something that is pretty weary and maybe it's not a lot of fun, but we can actually learn to lift up our eyes and have some joy in the middle of that experience along the way.
And it's true. I know for a fact that.
Brother Doug Buchanan, right, his tractor across the field has joy.
And enjoys the Lord as he goes across.
Last time I was visiting, he invited me to come up and ride with him. I wasn't up for that.
You can do whatever you're doing and experience some of that joy during the process you're going through.
Back in Isaiah for those that.
Our faint and weary.
And it's all about waiting upon the Lord. And this is what it says. I'm looking at Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 28, Isaiah 4028. I know it's been an encouragement to my own heart. We all know what it is to get tired and get weary and faint.
But we find here in verse 28 says, hast thou not known?
Hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainted not He doesn't faint, neither is He weary. There is no searching of His understanding. He gives power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increases strength. Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and young men shall utterly fall.
00:20:16
But he that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.
And I noticed the margin in my Bible for Renew. It says, Change their strength. They shall mount up with wings as Eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.
I wonder when it says renew the margin says change.
Sometimes we are going in our own strength.
But we look to the Lord in the situation and He can change our strength into His strength. And you know His strength is made perfect in our weakness.
And I just found encouragement in this because sometimes we find ourselves in situations where we just don't feel perhaps that we can take another step.
But then we find the Lord comes in in a remarkable way, and he gives us the strength we need to keep on keep an eye.
But it's all about looking to Him in this chapter, looking unto Jesus.
Here in Isaiah, waiting upon the Lord.
There are two important principles, and I think they're reflected a number of other places in Scripture, and perhaps other brethren can find a few that that is established here in Hebrews 12 and 2nd Corinthians chapter 4.
2nd Corinthians 4 and verse 7. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the Excellency of the power may be of God, not of us. We are troubled in every side, and not distressed. We are perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken, cast down but not destroyed, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus.
That the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus sake. That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. That's God's purpose. That the life also of Jesus may be made manifest in our mortal flesh. And then in chapter 6.
Verse.
For Second Corinthians 6:00 and 4:00 But in all things, approving ourselves as the ministers, God wants each one of us, not just someone with a degree, or an advanced degree, or some letters, or some position. God wants us to be ministers as the ministers of God. And much patience, and affliction, and necessities, and distresses, and stripes and imprisonments in tumults, and laborers, and watchings and fastings, by pureness, by knowledge, by long-suffering, by kindness.
By the Holy Ghost, by love and fame, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report. As deceivers and yet true, as unknown and yet well known as dying. And behold, we live as chastened and not killed, as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor, yet making many rich as having nothing.
And yet possessing all things, but you know, there's a cost. Nothing is free. There's a cost to things. So what are we called for? It says.
In verse 17, wherefore come out from among them and be separate. Set the Lord and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. There's a lot of unclean things and they're so accessible today, more accessible than they've ever been. It used to be you'd have to go to the dregs of a of a big city to find some of the unclean things, and now they can be in a person's home.
We need, says in touch, not the unclean, and I will receive you, and I will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, said the Lord Almighty, having therefore these promises. Dearly beloved, let us, this is so, so, so important. Let us cleanse ourselves from all the filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. There is a path, there is a way, but there's a cause.
00:25:26
Every 2nd 105 You have forgotten. The exhortation which speaketh unto you is unto children. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor fame. There's that word again, when thou art rebuked of him.
When you think about an athlete who is going to have a race.
He trains for it, goes through a lot of practice sessions and so on, and then comes the day of the race.
Stop since the race we're in the same.
We get to have a lot of practice sessions before it started.
No.
We're learning to run at the same time we're in the race, and that's pretty important to understand because God has a purpose not only in the end and view of the race, but what He's going to teach us in the race that is going to be for our eternal benefit.
We learn about ourselves, the children of Israel when they started across the desert.
Lord told him ahead of time what was going to happen. He said yes, you're going to go in the wilderness, and I'm going to humble you and prove you and see what's in your heart.
They passed that test very well. No they didn't. They were humbled because the Lord put them to test that would prove what was in their hearts, was their belief, was their faith, was their unbelief.
Sadly, even in the wilderness there was some that turned side to idolatry, the worst of all sins really. And so it was a humbling experience and life and what we have in this chapter is going to prove to be a humbling experience. But the blessing of it is is in the end we'll know his heart better and will also be thankful that he exposed our hearts.
In that process. And so he takes up in verse 6.
The Chastening.
I thought we were running a race.
The race involves chastening. The Lord is going to put His hand on your life and mine. Because as we see in the chapter, God always acts in perfect consistency with what He is and who He is. He never lowers the standard of His own character to accommodate us. And so the race of faith, He expects holiness, He expects our life, and He shows that in the verses that follow. He expects us to run that race in a holy way.
And if we don't, he's going to chasten us.
He's going to chasten us, to teach us.
And why does he do it?
If you go over to a little later on.
I don't know if I can quickly find it, but it says the grace of God.
In the chapter he he acts because it's grace of God.
To chasten us, if needed, for our blessing and benefit.
We would not like naturally this side of it. We like all the verses that give us encouragement.
But there are more verses in this chapter that are teaching us the lessons that we need to learn in order to, at the end of the race, enter into the blessing and full enjoyment. Your capacity and mine to enjoy the Lord in eternity is being formed right now.
Right now, in the path of life, your heart is being enlarged. In the trials of life, that is enlarging your capacity to enter in in fullness of joy when you get to the end.
00:30:02
Like just bring up you don't have this.
This the Lord dealing with his children without a sense of relationship.
And several times in this portion where we have the training, we have the relationship, it's sons. So that implies.
Father and so, yes, we are.
Going to endure the training and the the pain of having to learn things and sometimes we have to learn it the hard way, but we we don't want to lose sight of the fact that we are in a relationship with God.
As our Father and our Lord there is there is authority there, but I think sometimes we we go into this without a sense of how much we love.
Whom the Lord loveth, he chases and encourages every son that he received.
So the Christian life is the life constant correction.
You can learn a fair amount about a person when you see them corrected, say in school or in the workplace.
And the professor, the teacher, the boss correct something when when the people come together to review what has been done and you see all different responses.
Some people, they seem rather humbling, but when they get corrected they they kind of flare up.
And the correction isn't well received. Some people go the other extreme and you, you, you give somebody doing doing a good job and you say, well, we can make this even better. And they hear the correction and they just you can see literally the hands cough and the head drops and Oh no. And both of those two sides of things and plus one other good one are in this chapter to despise chastisement.
Which is a privilege that we have. As the brother was saying, chastisement is a family privilege. You're not in the family. You don't have that privilege from God as your father. You're just allowed to run.
And and so to despise it, it is just to think that the circumstances of our life are just random and just just, you know, things happen, stuff happens to people, you know, it's just a chance. No, it's not that way for us as believers. It's our intelligence. One of the aspects of it to be exercised. We'll get to that, Lord willing, later. But the the exercise by what is allowed in our life. The other thing, of course.
Not to fame and now our abuse of him, but I have found it helpful and I've heard this from older brothers years past. The Christian life is a life of cost of correction. You drive your car, your truck down the road and you don't even realize you're doing it, but you're constantly tweaking the steering wheel to keep it right where it's supposed to be. The car is not complaining about that. It it keeps it going properly. And this is a part of Christian life that is an inward part.
That is, it is very, very important. In Psalm 16, we read that expression. My reigns also instruct me in the night seasons, in the quiet times when we lay down or we're just doing something routine in our work or driving along, and the Lord speaks to us in those times. Those are important times because it's important to receive correction.
A rebuke entereth more into a wise man than 100 stripes into a fool.
And correction is something we should value, as painful as it can be, and appreciate it, as a brother was saying. It comes, as we see further on in the chapter, from the Father of spirits preparing us not just for tomorrow, or not just for the next year, but for, but for our destiny to be with and like Christ throughout all eternity. Very.
Quite a privilege.
Quite a bit about a person too, by the way. They respond to persecution and reproach, and we might wonder why is it that?
00:35:12
You're the apostle. He's speaking about the contradiction of sinners and the persecution, and the next thing is we're talking about chastisement.
And chastening. Do these two go together well? I always recall one time when.
I went to an individual.
While I was three or four sitting at a table and I passed the gospel track to this person sitting at the table.
And he said buzz off.
That's what his reaction was. And you know, within my own soul, there was a reaction that wasn't good. I felt like saying the same thing to him. But I'm thankful I held my tongue and I just backed off. But you see, that sort of thing can show us what we are. God had something to shoot. Tell me.
And so I think it's very important to realize that we don't meet the flesh with the flesh. It's not going to work out. And the apostle Paul in writing to Timothy, and he was in the prison there, you know, and all those in Asia had turned away from him. He could say to Timothy, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
And we really need to keep in mind the grace of God that's been shown to you and to me. It's undeserved favor. None of us deserve any good treatment, really. But the grace of God has reached out to us, and we ought to be demonstrating that grace to others too.
So bad things happen in our lives.
How do we do we consider every bad thing to be a chastening of the Lord?
I can think of some other.
They asked the Lord and move about the tower that fell those people, which would probably be something like a massive disaster.
Something like the situation of Joe, where it wasn't something he'd done individually, but it was the Lord received speech, several different reasons why something bad may happen in their lives. Is there a way, or maybe I'm thinking about that wrong? Is there a way we can kind of figure that out?
I still copy what you have this meeting. Am I supposed to consider that like there's different ways besides the natural consequences to our actions. If I don't study for a test and I fail, I can't see them towards chasing me. So how can we kind of look at these situations and get the clarity of what's happening in our lives?
I just would like to say thank you for the question.
I'd like to just offer this, which is in the full answer to your good question, down in verse.
Down in verse.
11.
No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous with grievous, nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which understand why the chastening was given.
Right. So I read that totally wrong and to me it's been very encouraging that it says unto them which are exercised thereby.
Something untoward happens. A wrinkle happens in your life, a speed bump. Or maybe it's things are totally, totally turned upside down.
How many sorrows there are in life, and you see them in your life, you see them in others Disappointments of life.
We can be exercised about it and we get the after years. There's an old brother where I was first saved and gathered to the Lord's name. He had leukemia when I met him.
And he was in constant fever and headache and all that. He had been a woodsman and he was reduced to a small stature and just but we all went to his house all the time because we just wanted to absorb his his spirit really. And he said to me at different times, she says, brother, I'm just looking for the actor yield. He didn't know why the Lord had allowed that leukemia in his life, but he was exercised about it and he got the blessing.
00:40:26
So I find that comforting because there are things that happen in life.
And just shake your head.
Why now? Why with him, or why with her?
And those are hidden things. And it's going to be wonderful at the judgment seat of Christ when the Lord explains the love and wisdom behind all these things. But meanwhile, even without the answer.
Exercise the body, take it to heart. The Lord is allowed this. He's speaking to me, to us somehow, and I want to hear. And that's the exercise file. I don't know if that helps or not, but it has helped me.
Telling us what the brother was looking for. I just missed the last word on it. Be after you.
Yes, it's from the verse.
No chastening for the present statement to be joyous, but grievous.
His disease was grievous, nevertheless afterward it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. And he said, I'm looking for the after you. That's the way he often put it, the after yield. He wanted the spiritual fruit out of the affliction that he was going through. You probably met him, Wally. It was like Whitney.
Hear the word. That's all. Thank you.
We need to realize that often there's a chastening and it's it's got a preventative aspect to it.
We don't even see. So I think it's good for us to realize that that not all chastening is it has a punishment major.
Well, we have the man that was healed of his blindness. Who? The disciples asked. Well, what's the reason? It ends up being that the reason was for that very moment.
So Jesus could come along and heal him and God would be glorified.
That guy wasn't. How old was he when he got healed?
20 Something like that. He waited 20 years for the purpose, for his blindness to be revealed. And it was that God might be glorified in that moment when the Lord Jesus would come along and heal him. And he had this experience and he came to know the Messiah and his his story is written down in the Word of God for eternity.
There was a purpose in that. One of the things that I like what's been said very much, but one of the things is generally if it's chasing where we have.
We've made a misstep. Generally you will on. You will know it before long.
But that doesn't mean that God always tells us all of those things.
The experience of Joseph and the experience of Jacob, we we experience both those things well. What happened with Joseph?
Why did that all happen? Was that chasing?
God is preparing to save the nation of Israel and the brothers. You know, He says later that all of this was intended for evil, but God intended it for good. The whole pathway. Do you think he was crying when he was down in the pit? He was a rich man, spoiled kid probably. What am I doing down here? But he did not throw away his faith. He had learned enough from his Father to have faith through all of those steps.
And he believed what he had been told in the vision, that one day he would be raised up and that his family, including his father, would bow down before him. He believed that and through all of his experience, that none of that could have been fought. And being accused of trying to rape Potiphar's wife and then later in prison, you know, I mean, he, the Lord, raises them up to positions, but that couldn't have been fun or enjoyable.
00:45:09
But his faith endured through it all. That little track or whatever it is that BP has that says this thing is from me.
That has been a great help to my soul. I know many others as well. That no matter what it is, whether it's chastening or not.
Understanding that the Lord has brought it takes the sting out of it. And generally, like I said, if you've done something and you need to be corrected where you're off, you've taken a misstep. You've missed the bar. You asked the Lord and He'll tell you.
But it might be, as our brother was saying, what does a coach do when he's training somebody? You make a mistake or you do something and he'll say run 10 laps, do do 20 push-ups or whatever. But why does he do that? The guy, the, the, the athlete may think it's punishment, but actually he's trying to get the the athlete ready for the game. So that, as you said, preventative or preparing for the future. Sometimes the difficulties we go through are preparing us for down the road.
Not just Brother Don was talking about even the capacity for eternity, the enjoyment we will have down the road. But down the road you go through a difficult experience now and you make it through and you've learned from it and you you get the after and then down the road you face something that you're prepared for because you went through that.
And that happens with time. If you're 10 years old, you probably haven't had a lot of that in your life. If you're 15, you probably haven't had a lot of that, but you probably have begun to experience some of that. And you'll look back and go, what happened to me over here has helped me today to face what I'm facing today. There's a lot of that going on. But what Bruce said about the steering wheel, Have you ever watched a father and a son work on a project that has a good relationship, as brother Phil was talking about, maybe.
Building something or doing something, there's little suggestions. If you hold it this way son, it works better.
You know, if you hold the hammer, choke it up a little bit and you'll get a better, you'll hit the nail better. All you watch that. You watch dad the son work together, that has a good relationship that's going on all the time.
And if they misbehave then maybe there's a Willow switch. That's what I used to get or develop.
My father took me into the bedroom.
And he said take your belt off and takedown your pants.
And I got the rod of correction.
Was it joyous? No, not at the time.
But when I look back at my father, it's one of the areas that I most appreciate about my upbringing was that he, as my father, recognized the consequences down the road if I didn't get the correction I needed. And he even emphasized it by using the very belt that I wore so that.
When I put it back on, I'd have it to remember when I was doing other things. And that to me is a little example. There's no question that there was chastening. It was very obvious, the apostle Paul.
In Acts 16 was not being chastened at all. His reaction to his circumstances. He didn't say, What am I imprisoned for? How did this ever happen?
To us he was singing and praising the Lord and the Lord was going to use it, but when the apostle Paul and another part of his life went to Jerusalem after he had been told several times not to go, he went and he ended up in prison.
And he did not have at that point immediately the sense of the Lord with him in his circumstance. And that exercised him. And he could say at first he, he was using all the skill that he had as a man to deal with the authorities. You don't have a right to do what you're doing to me right now and so on. But then he could say later, the Lord stood by me.
00:50:04
And he learned that the Lord's hand was upon him. And the bigger point of it is to use the Lord Jesus as the perfect example when he was facing all these things. His response proved the state of his heart. And the response often in US is what we have to sometimes deal with, as chasing the Lord could say to those who hated him.
Father forgive them, for they know not what they do. That was a perfect response of his heart. Not words but a response of his heart. Here in the chapter it says if any man fail of the grace of God.
And if I fail the grace of God, what's there going to be the root of bitterness? And if there is the root of bitterness, then I realize that the Lord has put His hand on me. And if we cannot go through a trial with the sense of the Lord with us in it, and if we can, we can say thanks for it, then there may be something specifically that we have to consider as to why.
Is my reaction not what it should be? And it's if the war doesn't hold His hand back from us, then we may have to consider if the Lord's put His hand on us in some way, that there's something that has to be corrected and we need to be exercised as to what it is and why it is. But a lot of us would find we find enough things in our life that we do understand. We don't have much time left over to try to figure out the ones we don't understand.
Question. We've been Speaking of chastening in the individual sense primarily. Is there an aspect of chastening of the Lord that is corporate or is that more the thought of judgment or government as far as in a corporate sense?
I don't know if you can call it specifically chasing, but there are 7 assemblies.
In Revelation 2 and three and the Lord puts his hand on all the seven with the words, and he says if you don't respond correctly, this is going to be the consequence. And those seven are all corporate.
When I was saving maybe a year, I was delighting, of course, in the Lord. I was in my early 20s and I had laid hold of all kinds of verses that basically were on the lines of all things are made new.
And I felt like brand new start, clean slate, everything. I'm on my way to heaven. I could die tomorrow and my life would be a success.
Then I was in Otter Lake and Gordon Pearl, who many in here would know were kind of like parents to my sister and me and and I must have said something along those lines in the kitchen there. And and Gordon and his in his way that you that, you know, he kind of he kind of tilted his head to one side and smiled and he says, well, there is such a thing as the government of God. And I think my jaw must have dropped open because I was horrified.
At that thought that you mean there's actually going to be some some issues with how I live like a prodigal. And the answer was yes, but he made this comment that I that I remembered over 40 years or 45, whatever it is, he said yes, but he said there is this wonderful fact that there is the grace of God to shore us up.
And to comfort us while we experience the government of God.
And I thought that was a wonderful sight of it to also remember, because this is his brother was speaking about Joseph, how these things and Jacob, they're so woven together. What's of faith? What's God's counsel from the very beginning? And what's chastisement in the government of God? It's it's all woven together. And in the account that Dawn was recalling with Paul when he goes to Jerusalem, it said, I just looked it up and it says there that.
He's thrown into the into the castle. He's he's rescued. But then it says the night following the Lord stood by him. He let him Stew in his juices for a night. He must have felt terrible. As if, you know, I just used the flesh, you know, hitting these guys against those guys. And, you know, it's just what am I doing here? I should you can imagine all the the story, the tape that would have run in his mind.
00:55:21
And the Lord just let him Stew in that. And then it says, The night following the Lord stood by him beautiful, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul, And notice this, as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must out bear witness unto also at Rome.
He could have thought I made a mess of things. What a horrible example I was. I haven't listened to the Lord here I am the Lord says you testified of me in Jerusalem and he says you're going to bear witness to me in Rome too. And we we see the fruit of that in some of his epistles where as the brother was saying today on the prisoner of the Lord, I'm not the prisoner of Rome, I'm the prisoner of the Lord. So it's wonderful that as as.
The brother was saying about the relationship. We're chastened by our father. He's the father of spirits and he has a deep, deep interest in us and he's going to make it happen. And it's fatherly chastisement. I had a wonderful father and.
It's just easy to read these passages and to just think of occasion after occasion, some of the some of the belt type and some of the other type. But but what a wonderful thing that he has higher aspirations of us indeed than we have for ourselves and he's going to make it happen.
We'll have to look at a different portion, Mr. John, I've lived that we're very familiar with.
Up in what you're saying, you know what happens here.
Lazarus gets sick and Mary and Martha send word to the Lord what has happened and he delays purposely, doesn't he? And you know, it gives us a hint at the very beginning.
There it gives us a hint of the story, John 11 and verse four, when Jesus heard that this this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. So we get the real reason of the story before we read it, don't we?
But look at what happens. Just look at Martha in verse 21. Then said, Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hast been here, my brother had not died. And then look at Mary in verse 32. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hast been here, my brother did not die. But look at what the Lord answered.
Both of them there in verse 40, you know, it's really what he's trying to prove and to teach him. And Jesus said unto her, said, I'm not unto thee, that if thou wouldst believe, thou should see the glory of God. And can't we say that a lot that God is doing is for this very purpose, isn't it? The end is in view, isn't it? And if we knew ahead of time that this was going to be for the glory of God, we'd say.
Lord immediately, wouldn't we? But it's the part that we have to trust Him, don't we? And that's another thing that He's teaching us, isn't it? Is that in every circumstance we can trust Him.
I want to say that there's two things here in verse 6 chastening his instructions. Perhaps a difficult time would be instruction, but chastening is in more instruction. The scourging is the the actual application of of the punishment. And so chastening could be.
It could be. It could be the.
Could be any part of that, that instruction that God gives to us and if there you look in First Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 13.
It says 1 Corinthians 10/13 there has no temptation taken you.
But such as is common to man, but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above what ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that she may be able to bear it. And so there's a way. There's a way to escape. I think that goes back to what Bruce was saying in verse 11.
01:00:19
Then which are exercised thereby. And so there's a way of escape when we're exercised by those things that happen to us.
Are we exercised by it? Do we learn from it? There is a way of escape sometimes the Lord. I like the example of the Apostle Paul also in another setting here in Second Corinthians chapter 12.
Apostle full head, what he calls a thorn in the flesh. There could be any sort of thing that would affect us. We could call it chastening if you would, but it's not. It's not punitive. But he says here.
We're scanning lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations. There was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan, to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure for this thing. I besought the Lord three times that it might depart from me. He's like so he's, he's praying. Lord have mercy on me. Lord said, no, I'm not going to have mercy, but I'm going to give you grace. I'm not going to take it away from you, but I'll give you the grace.
To go through it, he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee. My grace is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure and infirmities and reproaches and necessities and persecutions and distresses for Christ sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong. And so the apostle Paul.
This may be part of the chastening of the Lord and guiding him and directing him and keeping him and protecting him. It's all part of God's working with us to guide us, to instruct us, to teach us. And so sometimes we're not going to get over our affliction that the Lord has allowed us to have, but He'll give us the grace to go through it, grace to be able to serve him in spite of our affliction and our difficulties.
Think about.
You have a thought I'd like for you. You go ahead.
I enjoy the thought about the father of spirits. I, I, to me, this takes care of the whole question of understanding why you're being corrected, which part of discipline that is. And there are different kinds of discipline for different reasons. And this is another one that you mentioned, Paul. So Paul to bring more fruit and you see him, his attitude and the end that bought him glorying in those things.
Whether he understood it at all, not the right reaction came out of him, and I think that's the point.
You know, most of us have grown up and and received this kind of chase me. Hi, I don't think I want to mention what my dad did to me sometimes, but it's very humbling to think what had to be done. But we all probably have questioned the reasons why.
As.
To the chastening, sometimes thinking it was unrighteous or unjust.
Also.
Those of us have parents. I think most of us have probably come to the point to realize our inability to know how to be chasing when we need to.
It's difficult. What do you do in this kind of a situation? The father of spirits?
He never makes a mistake. He understands us through and through. We've heard about Joseph and the complicated life of Jacob.
It was perfect. The story is perfect.
Sorry.
The chastening that we have in this passage seems to be.
Rather short, short lived experience of God teaching us lessons. I can't think of a father who would chasing his child for very long.
01:05:04
And it's a it's, it's, it's, it's an action that takes place because a lesson needs to be learned. And we see the process here of of the spirit in which we experience chase. What are we, what is our attitude we have? We can despise it in verse 6.
And in verse five, we can despise it. We can faint.
But we in verse seven speaks of we should we should endure it. So there's blessing in it.
We should be in subjection to it in verse nine, should be exercised about it in verse 11.
But I I want to caution us in thinking that all of our tribulations that God chooses in our lives.
Would be considered chastening.
I think we kind of lose the sense of relationship. Let's say someone, let's say the Lord allows us to have to go through years of pain. He doesn't want us to.
Be thinking through those years of pain that this is a constant correction of our Father.
And it is it is a tribulation and he's going to teach us how to be able to rejoice in it. I just bring out those thoughts are rather disjointed, but.
I think of the instance that our brother Bruce brought out of the apostle Paul, the Lord allowing him to sue for a day. The next day he brought him comfort. But if you look throughout the rest of the book of the Acts, that failure of the apostle Paul never comes up again. God never reminds him that he made a misstep, never rubbed it in. It's never recorded or.
It was a lesson he needed to learn and God was screwed and he was done teaching him.
I just think of this verse is probably something you do. I think, you know, it just comes to mind when we think of the chastening.
Proverbs 22 and verse 6.
Says to train up a child in the way he should go when he is old. We will not depart from it. I believe a lot of this chastening we're Speaking of is training us up so that we can go on in a way that's pleasing with Him. And as we had in verse eleven of our chapter, that afterward it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness, that we might walk in the fruit of righteousness before him while we're here waiting for Him to come to take us home, where we'll still enjoy those things, as Mr. Rule pointed out.
And so also I think when you speak of Paul in that aspect that you brought up there is the part that, you know, he is training us up to serve him too. And I don't think that's necessarily a part of this chapter, but it is that we might be vessels fit for the masters use. So we can keep that in mind as well.
It's the suggestion that correcting is how painful.
There is a correction that isn't. We're just trying to keep us on like you said with the steering wheel. God does correct this a lot, but it's not all painful.
You know, if we listen to his voice, a son can say, dad, I know how to do it. Leave me alone. I've seen that, too. Well, if you just have a good relationship and you're listening and you're learning how to do carpentry or use a chainsaw, something dangerous, you listen and you learn how to do it. And there's little corrections. There's no pain in it. But a faithful, loving father corrects his children. And if it needs pain, like our brother Don said or Doug.
Then he brings that to because he loves us.
That's a good note to end on the expression Father of spirits occurs here. We father glory, we know Father of lights. We know that the prodigal son returned to his father and says they began to be married and then in John 1724, Father I will that they who now has given me, be with me where I am. Our Heavenly Father wants us to be with and like his well beloved Son for all eternity. Can we sing him 209?
209.
Gospel 1
Gospel—Wally Dear
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We'd like to begin the gospel reading tonight. Good news.
We've had a wonderful day. The truth of God unfolded to us throughout the day.
And the word of God says that you shall know the truth. The truth shall make you free.
The liberating effect of the truth of God. It's wonderful. And now we're here to preach the gospel of the grace of God.
God offering sinners perishing eternal life.
God is the only savior.
Is a savior God?
And He has made us in such a way that we can only find true satisfaction in Him, in God. So we're going to talk about this.
And tonight I'm going to sing. We're going to sing about the Lord Jesus as the Savior.
And we're also going to sing about him as the satisfier.
So the first hymn is number 4. Many hymns on this hymn sheet, of course, speak of the Lord Jesus as.
God's salvation. This number four comes before 1. So let's sing #4 And perhaps as we sing, we can stand and sing.
Christ is thus hidden thus.
Taken for a beginning.
Of a strange episode.
Forgive.
Me.
Is my glory my God?
00:05:14
Christ is the Savior of sinners.
Here in this hall tonight as I look around the hall.
I like to think that each and everyone is.
A Sinner saved, saved by the grace of God.
But I don't know.
Perhaps there's one here tonight.
Who is still in your sins?
Other than being a Sinner saved, you are a lost Sinner on the road.
The Broadway that leads to destruction.
Hell. And that's why tonight, we're here.
As a signpost to point you to Christ, who is the Savior of sinners. He wants to save your soul. He wants to cleanse your heart. He wants to make you whole. Why? Because He loves you, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners. With arms extended wide, He says, Come unto me.
Why did he say that?
What does that little word come actually mean? It means he wants me.
And he wants you. And this is the gospel of the grace of God. It originated in the heart of God.
He designed the gospel. Sometimes we sing. Oh, the love that drew salvation's plan. Oh the grace that brought it down to man. Oh the mighty golf with God. To stand at Calvary there once tonight we have the most wonderful message.
In this whole wide world, in the whole wide universe. And we're here tonight to proclaim it.
It just throws my soul.
Yeah, we can come and we can in a world.
That's characterized by fears and tears.
And sorrows and woes and wars we can come, and we can cheer your heart with the good news of the gospel, the hymn writer put it. One time a message came from heaven to cheer my heart one day it said that joy, bells ringing, it chased my gloom away.
It was in the good old Bible. John's Gospel chapter 3 verse 16 I discovered was written there for me.
For me, we want to make this personal.
We sang It is hymn tonight.
Christ is the Savior for me. Did you sing that from your heart? I looked around the room tonight and I saw joy in the faces of many that were singing. But I saw some faces.
Downcast.
Gloomy.
Why?
Is it because?
Perhaps you're not.
Saved. You don't have the assurance of salvation.
Well, I can understand if that's the case.
You wouldn't have a happy expression because you cannot be happy unless you know.
Beyond a shadow of a doubt that you are saved.
And on the road to glory.
Can't be happy if you have doubts.
You know that's the work of the enemy though, to introduce thoughts. Even those who have accepted Christ, I believe, can have doubts.
As to their salvation.
And so.
It's hard to sing when we have doubts, but salvation tonight.
Is God offering sinners perishing eternal life? That's the gospel.
00:10:04
The Gospel of the grace of God.
But you know what?
I don't believe salvation is an end in itself. It's a means to an end.
And what I mean by that is that God saves us in order that he might take possession of you and I, and that we might take possession of Him and find satisfaction in God.
Find contentment in God. That's why I say tonight we're going to talk about not only salvation, but we want to talk about satisfaction because we all want to be satisfied.
You know, he had a lovely meal here today.
Well, we had more than one.
Actually we had about 3 meals.
I mean.
It's just.
The mercy of our God is rich.
And he provides for us in so many ways.
And he's providing force in a physical way.
And we've enjoyed meals throughout this day and there is no reason.
Why anybody had to walk away from one of these meals not satisfied?
Because there was plenty.
For all to enjoy. And so we'll talk more about that.
God's desire is to fill.
He doesn't.
Give, if I could put it that way, He's he's just.
An abundant giver.
And so we find that.
Our hunger.
Has been satisfied. But what about the hunger in your soul, in your heart? Are you content?
Well, I want to give out of him and to him Writer in this hymn.
He looked for satisfaction in all the wrong places.
Until he found it.
I'm not going to say in the right place he found it in the right person.
So let's see.
#19.
#19 Oh Christ indeed my soul hath found, and found in Thee alone the peace, the joy I saw so long, the bliss still now unknown, now none but Christ can satisfy.
Another name for me. There's love and life and lasting joy. Lord Jesus found indeed #19 we can remain seated as we sing.
00:15:40
The water scale, even as I stooped breathing, fled. Modeling as I last first.
Day and heart.
Your life for me.
This summer we've had opportunity to hold a Bible hour and several areas.
Three areas in.
Main one in New Brunswick has been encouraging to see those who would come.
We've in the past couple of years we've had some restrictions because of COVID, but thankfully the restrictions for the most part have been lifted. And so we had children and young people come who had we'd seen before, but we also had those who had never seen before and it was an encouragement.
To see.
Those who came and they listened and we had opportunity to present God's way of salvation. Now we always have a memory project, and this summer it was the IMS that we find in the Gospel according to John and the first I am.
I want to read it is found in John chapter 10 and verse 9.
So if we could turn to John chapter 10 and verse 9.
Here we have salvation.
These are the very words of the Lord Jesus.
He says I am the door.
By me if any man or anyone enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture.
What simple words?
Starting the verse.
I am the daughter.
The first word is one letter, the second word is 2 letters, third words 3 letters. The 4th words 4 letters 1234. Can you get any simpler than that? But this is profound. Here we find the Lord Jesus is trying to make the message so very simple that even a child.
Can understand.
And be saved, as we often sing, a little child of seven or even three or four may enter into heaven through Christ the open door.
00:20:03
And so Christ is the door, not a door. The door. The door to what?
Well, I do believe He is the door to salvation. That's what it tells us here.
He says.
I am the doer by me. If any anonymous Mr. Darby has anyone entered in ** *** shall be saved. And so my question to you is this, have you come to the door and entered in? Because if you have.
You have salvation.
But there are those that have come very close.
And come right up to the door but have never entered in.
In fact, what about Judas?
Judas Iscariot. He kissed the door.
But he never entered in.
And Judas.
Is in a lost eternity.
Without Christ.
And I'm thinking there are those perhaps even in this hall tonight.
You've come so very close to the door and you sat in these meetings and you've heard the gospel.
Week after week.
Year after year, you've heard God's way of salvation, but you're still outside the door.
What is it that keeps you from entering in? You have no good excuse.
To remain outside the door. The door is wide open.
You sing that little song, Jesus.
Loves me.
He who died, Heavens gate to open wide.
He will wash away my sin. Let a little child come in.
The door is wide open.
But how long is it going to be that way?
The door.
Will shut.
We seek another hymn here. God's house is filling fast.
But some guests will be the last.
And then grace no more will say, yet there is room.
There's still room inside.
What keeps you from coming and going through the door?
What keeps you from accepting Christ?
Is it your friends What your friends are going to say about you?
You don't have the right kind of friends if they're trying to keep you from Christ.
Those aren't friends.
You're afraid of what perhaps your friends are going to say about you.
But you know the fear of man who brings a snare.
Maybe it's.
Money. Pleasure.
Entertainment.
Trust it's not immorality. I know I was presenting the gospel to a man who runs a service station in Callas. This is years ago.
And he said I can't accept that because I I enjoy the good stuff.
And I find out what he's talking about. Sexual sins.
Yeah, that was his Forte. He was.
Living an immoral life.
Well, I trust it's not drugs. Sometimes drugs are a big problem. Sometimes it's alcohol.
But dear one, tonight I want to impress on you the importance of coming to Christ and receiving Him now while you have the opportunity, because tomorrow may be too late. None of us know how long our time is. And if that door swings shut, and it will at the coming of Christ, the Lord Himself is going to descend from heaven with a shout.
00:25:05
With the voice of the Archangel, the trump of God, the dead in Christ are going to rise.
And then we would share alive and remain are caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord?
And when that event takes place, the door is shut.
Never to be opened.
There's no second chance.
This is sobering. You know, in the art.
And there's a replica of the arc not too far from here.
And it's really worth the person's while to go through that.
Replica of the Ark.
My brother gave me a photo.
And he's with the Lord.
Present time. His name is Enos Mccaven.
And so he and his brother that be.
Philip Alan's father. They visited the Ark and so.
There's a bench out in front of this huge ship. They were sitting on that bench and they're in the background. Is that art?
And all you can see is just a big broad side of wood, except over on this side.
There was a door. One door.
And that was impressive.
Inside, right by that door.
There's a verse, and I believe it's this verse right here.
That we just read John 10 and nine now that door.
To the arch.
At one time, not that particular replica, but we know that in Noah's day, God told him how to.
Be sheltered from the judgment.
And told no. It built an arc and Noah built the art.
And he told him to make the door in the side of it. You don't have time to turn to it right now, but the door make it in the side of the ark. And it tells us Noah did as he was commanded because he believed God.
While everybody else mocked.
They thought nor was a fool building a boat out in a field. No water anywhere to be seen. No rain had ever occurred. They didn't even know what rain is. And here Noah's out there building this big boat.
I suppose people came and they said no, what are you doing? Well, are you building a house?
Are you building?
A shed.
What are you building? Building a boat.
And I suppose it would just break out in laughter building a boat. What is wrong with your head?
But no one knew what he was doing because he was following the word of God, and God told Noah that judgment was ahead.
In God always tells the truth.
And Noah believed God.
And you know, no, I went in, God said to come in.
Found all their house. No, it went in. He went in and his family and of course all these animals came in.
And I believe that door was opened for a time others could have entered in.
However, no one else.
Went in no one.
Accepted Noah's preaching.
And so finally it tells us that the Lord shut him in. The Lord shut the door.
And the rain started coming down.
And the people.
They realized that.
Noah, he wasn't such a fool after all.
He apparently knew what he was talking about because.
00:30:03
He tells us the fountains of the great deep were broken up. The windows of heaven are open, waters just rising up, and they're going up into the mountains, trying to find refuge in the mountains. The tallest mountain, I don't know which mountain it was today, Mount Everest, but they get up at the top of that mountain.
And here comes the water following them.
And I think the water went up like 15 cubits.
Above the tallest mountain.
Imagine there'd be over 20 feet above the tallest mountain and everyone perished.
Outside the door.
There was only one door.
On this planet Earth.
That was the door to go through.
Well, we learn a lot from the Old Testament portions. These Old Testament accounts help us to understand the New Testament.
You know, it's been said that the New Testament is.
Concealed in the old, and the old is revealed in the new.
And then?
We don't read that that door or that arc was ever opened again.
I've often wondered, well, how do they get out of the Ark? Well, it's that the covering that was taken off the covering was removed.
And that speaks to my heart to realize that when the door of salvation is shut.
It's not going to be reopened and that's why it's important that you enter in now and you don't wait.
Of course there was a rainbow set in the heavens. God put it there.
In it, I think many perhaps noticed the rain go out here tonight as we were coming from the prayer meeting.
Saw the rainbow. Beautiful.
And you know, based on what we read in Genesis, that was an indication of God's goodness to mankind, that He was not going to judge this world again with a flood.
However, judgment is ahead for this world, but not by water.
Fire.
And it tells us that God has appointed a day in which he will judge this world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained.
Wherein he is given assurance unto all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.
And that man is Jesus. Jesus, salvation.
Is of the Lord.
And.
The door is open.
Seeing a little song goes something like this.
The Bible's greatest message? Salvation, which God planned.
I'll tell you in the five phrases on the fingers of one hand, I have sinned.
But God loves me and in love Christ died for me, and if I but receive him, I know that I am.
Saved.
The first phrase I have sinned. This is repentance. There once the night God looks for repentance, a willingness for you to take sides against yourself and acknowledge that you are a Sinner.
It's perhaps the three most difficult words in the English language.
To speak, to say I have sinned.
But, you know, I believe God's blessing comes when we're willing to acknowledge.
Our scene and people don't realize, though, how bad they really are. You know, they think, well, yeah, I've committed a few sins, but that doesn't make me a Sinner.
Yes it does.
One sin makes a person a Sinner, because one sin will keep you two out of glory.
00:35:05
Keep you out of heaven. God cannot tolerate sin, not even one sin. I might have a beautiful.
Pane of glass up here.
And I think this Little Rock, you say, well, that Little Rock.
Can't do any damage. I take that Little Rock and I throw it at that pane of glass. Might be quite a size and what happens? It shatters the glass.
Say, well, it was just a Little Rock, Yeah, but the Little Rock spoiled everything.
There once the night.
We read in Genes that even if you keep the whole law, you offend in one point, you're guilty of all.
So serious look back to the Garden of Eden. How many sins?
Did it take to drive Adam and Eve out of the garden?
I believe it was only one act of disobedience.
And.
That separated God.
From man.
Because sin always separates.
It's a sad.
Statement, but it's true.
Sin separates.
God comes looking for Adam in the cool of the day. He desires Adam's fellowship. Adam was made in the image of God because God desired companionship, his fellowship. But now Adam's hiding and Eve.
Hiding from God.
We're reading Isaiah. Your sins or your iniquities have separated you.
Between you and your God.
And as a result, we find it. Adam and Eve are driven from the garden.
Why did God allow that to happen? Why did he allow?
Eve to be deceived by the enemy, by Satan. Why did he allow Adam to eat of that fruit?
I believe.
That were sin abounds, grace does much more abound, and this now gives God the opportunity to display his love for you and for me by removing the separation the sin how through.
Through the sacrifice of himself.
Isn't that marvelous to realize that God loves you and me so very much?
That he is, rather than abandoning a human.
Race.
He designs.
Plans salvation.
At no cost to yourself or to me. All cost.
To him.
You know.
Abraham told Isaac. He said God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering.
And that's exactly what took place. We turn back, we read about it in Genesis, about when we turn over to the New Testament, we find John the Baptist pointing to Jesus. Behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. Who's the Lamb of God? God the Son.
He is the Lamb of God. He went to the cross of Calvary. That little song it goes, I have sinned, but God loves me.
That nice? That's wonderful. God loves me. What first comes to mind?
John, 316.
We listened to a message and perhaps others have heard it. It was by our brother Danny Gallon. I believe it was at the Michigan camp.
But he was speaking.
And he gave me something to think about and never thought about it before.
John, 316.
00:40:01
Was spoken.
In John chapter 3.
We read about Nicodemus there. I believe it was spoken to Nicodemus, but he said this was at the beginning of the Lord's ministry.
His 3 1/2 years of ministry, you might say, was begun with this wonderful proclamation.
That God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him.
Should not perish, but have everlasting.
Life. It's as though the Lord Jesus who couldn't wait.
To proclaim this message concerning what was in the heart of his father.
He delighted in his father's will.
He spoke what his father said to say. The father gave him subjects to speak on. He spoke on those subjects. The father gave him the very words in order to explain those subjects. He used those very words that were given to him and he could say I and my father are one, but at the outset of his ministry he proclaims.
The love that's in the Father's heart.
What greater love is there then, that God would not spare his Son?
Cinnamon in this world and the third line on that.
I have sinned, but God loves me, and in love Christ died for me. And so we think of the cross. No greater love has a man in this than that a man lay down his life for his friends. God commends. His love taught us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He went at the Father's bidding.
He went, he accomplished the mission upon which he was sent, and we think of what he suffered.
At the hands of wicked men who would spit in his face if I were to walk up to you tonight and I spit in your face.
What would you say? What would you do? You'd be horrified.
I think there's enough here that you know.
They're under the influence of the power of the Spirit of God walking.
As a new creature in Christ, they just accept it but the Lord Jesus.
He was brutalized, he spit in his face, he took and fashioned the crown of thorns and beat it down into his skull with a stick. They mocked him with a purple robe, a stick in his hand as a scepter, and he submitted because he had come into this world not to save himself, but he had come to save others.
You could say.
I came not to be.
Ministered unto or to be served. But I came to serve and to give my life a ransom for many. And thank God for each one here tonight. Who's part of the many?
Jesus paid the price himself, the sacrifice on the cross for me and for you.
He was let out, He was crucified, He was hung up to die.
And during those hours of darkness, the Lord Jesus.
Suffered for sins.
Just for the unjust, your sins, you trust Him, Your sins were put upon Him. Now let me ask you.
How many sins?
Well, how many seats?
I see, Don de Bath. You mind me asking the question, Don? How many sins?
That you have committed were put on Jesus when he suffered during those dark hours. How many sins?
00:45:00
All of them.
Are you sure about that? Absolutely sure. Very good.
How about you, John?
How many sins did he take on your behalf?
All of them. Can you give me a number?
No, that's too hard of a question.
I took all mine too. And he answered to God for each and everyone of those sins.
And one sin in the sight of God is worse than 10,000 sins put together.
Are in your sight or mine. This is how holy God is. He's a thrice holy God.
And during those dark hours, the Lord Jesus.
He bowed under stroke after stroke after stroke of God's holy wrath. His fierce anger He exhausted the wrath, the judgment, what I deserve to suffer in health for eternity, He exhausted it.
You did that for Don. You did that for John. He did that for you. If you trust him, trust him now.
If you're still in your sins.
You know.
Christ died for our sins. He was.
Buried.
But he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures.
And now Jesus lives, and he's coming back.
But you know, while he was there on the cross, something else happened.
Very significant.
And without it there would be no salvation for you or for me. And that is a soldier with the spear took, and he pierced his side. And it tells us with immediately there came out blood and water.
Yes, that was an act of man's hatred.
But when man had done his worst, you might say God has done his best because it's that very blood that cleanses from sin that removes the separation between you and your God, so that God can now enjoy your fellowship and we can enjoy His fellowship. And what a happy relationship this is. God's desire is to have a relationship with you, dear one. He wants to bring you into His family.
He wants to.
Make you one of his sons daughters.
And.
The position that the believers in.
Is just we can hardly begin to describe the wonderful position that we are in, because in the person of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, we are as near and dear to God the Father as his own Son Jesus.
This is our standing before God. It's perfect. By one offering, He is perfected forever.
Them that are sanctified.
Well, I have seen, but God loves me.
And in love Christ died for me. And if I but receive him, receive him, how do I do this? Accept him. Put your trust in Him. Put your confidence in Him. Believe that He died for you, you know?
The Philippian jailer in Acts chapter 16, he springs into the inner jail. There's been an earthquake. The foundations of the jail are broken up, but there's been an earthquake in the soul of that man too. And I believe the foundations of his soul are all broken up. And he's he's trembling and he just throws himself in there. But he says, sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And without hesitation, Paul.
Silas, they give the answer Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. How simple. It's so simple that many don't accept it. They think you got to do something.
The disciples, or at least Jews, they want to What can we do to do the works of God? This is the work of God that you believe on him who he has sent. You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
We quoted that first whosoever.
Believeth in him shall not perish, and to perish means to pass.
00:50:00
Eternally ruined into Satan's hell. That's what the PE R is H stands for. I trust tonight there's nobody in this hall that's perishing.
If you sit in that seat in your sins, you're perishing. You need to call upon the Lord and call upon Him now. Romans chapter 10.
I believe it's verse 13. It says whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
I did that many, many years ago. I can't tell you when it was that I first put my trust in the Lord because I was raised in a Christian home, but I know there was a time when I was under conviction and.
I got out of bed one night and got down on my knees and I told the Lord I'm a Sinner and I asked him to save me. I didn't want to go to hell. And you know, it was a short time after that I confessed him. I told my parents what I had done.
It's not difficult. It's all about faith.
But to call upon the Lord, I believe it shows faith.
In him.
And the work he's accomplished when he was on the cross, it is finished. That's what he said. There's nothing left to do. OK, Cast your deadly doing down, down at Jesus feet. Stand in him and him alone gloriously complete. The work that he did was done to God's satisfaction. You can't improve on it. It's finished. And here it is that we can find rest for our souls.
Well, the last.
Phrase That little song goes like this.
I have seen what God loves me and love Christ died for me and if I but receive Him I know that I am saved. Know it, enjoy it. If you don't know that you say you can't be happy. God wants you to be happy. That's why the verse that comes to mind is in first John chapter 513. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have.
Eternal life.
And a sheep of Christ will never perish.
The Lord takes his sheep home to glory. He'll never let them down. Well, I see our time is almost gone.
I just want to turn over to the last I am.
And just touch on this because this is satisfaction. This I am in John 10/9 is salvation. But let's go over to John chapter 6.
John chapter 6 and verse 35.
And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst, never ever hunger, never ever thirst.
This is what Jesus?
Wants to do. He wants to satisfy your heart. This world has many things to offer.
But they don't last, and there is pleasures in sin for a season. But when we come to Christ, he gives us a fountain.
That keeps bubbling up, bubbling up, the Lord Jesus told that woman in John 4.
Whosoever drinks of this water is going to thirst again, but whoso drinks of the water that I give him shall never thirst.
But in him shall be.
A well.
Or water flight. Let me just quote from scripture.
John 4.
Verse 14. Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. And so.
And the bread. Oh my.
I think it was Spurgeon, he said.
Unbelievers and believers, they have something in common.
And that is both of them are seeking bread, but the difference is.
00:55:05
The believers have found the bakery.
And Christ has so much there for us to enjoy. You satisfy your hunger for time and for eternity and that satisfaction.
I'm just going to read a verse here now I'm reading out of the Jay and Darby Bible.
And we made reference this morning to Psalm 62.
You can look up this on your own. You don't have to take time now. But Psalm 62 is salvation and Psalm 63 is satisfaction. And what stands out in Psalm 62 is only if you're not listening, Mr. Darby's translation. Six, Only two onlys expose the folly of man, but the other four are respecting what God is.
And here it says in verse one, upon God alone doth my soul rest peacefully from Him is my salvation. Is your soul resting peacefully on God tonight?
You see, that's a beautiful verse. The Lord Jesus has made peace by the blood of His cross.
And don't wait. You know time is racing by. None of us know how long the time is that a young man, 45 years old and community next to us.
He was going to go out into the woods and pick what we call fiddleheads, like little firms that when they're furled up, they make a vegetable. They're they're really good. You find them in the northeast New Brunswick. So anyway, he's going out to get fiddleheads, but he never got the fiddleheads.
He was found.
Lying on his driveway, there was a freak incident.
That took his life. He's suddenly gone, had a happy, you know, as far as the world standard is concerned, happy.
Family relationship, right? He's gone. Nobody expected it. It was so solemn, very sobering. But you know.
Souls are passing out of this world.
At about two a minute.
So that means during the course of this meeting tonight, there's been about 7200.
Souls.
The purpose world into eternity. It's a sobering number.
So now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. We're going to pray.
And if you're still in your sins as you sit on your seat, call out to the Lord.
And just tell the Lord I want to get saved. And you'll hear your cry. His arm is not shortened that it cannot save, neither is his ear heavy that it cannot hear. He'll reach out to you. And tonight you can be saved. You can have your sins cleansed in his precious blood. You can go out of that door rejoicing on your way to heaven to glory, because.
You put your faith, your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hymnsing 1
A Desire to Please the Lord
Talk—Jonathan Grinton
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.
Now our brother Jonathan Grinton will have words. Well, it's kind of nice to hear everybody laughing and doing the hymns thing and smiling, and I thought it'd be nice to come up here and just continue with that a little bit.
As I'm up here and looking out, I don't know if I'm smiling and laughing anymore. A little bit more stressful than I thought, but I think it's OK to tell this story, you know?
Mr. Woods called me up and.
He said, Jonathan, would you speak to the young people Saturday night? I said sure.
That's fine, because I think the Lord would have me do that.
Great, he said. It's probably only going to be about 55 to 65 young people there. That's that's pretty good.
That would be fun and then Mr. Lyle get up at supper and he said the insane will be at the hotel and everyone is welcome. And so 55 to 65 went to.
More than that, I don't know how much time I have and to speak, so I don't want to take too long. But you know, I was thinking.
That gospel message that when I was saying.
How? Most assuredly it was clear.
And I thought it was pretty amazing that the statistic that was given, I can't quite duplicate it, but it was mentioned that so many people died.
In a period of time.
So in that time of the gospel meeting, 7200 people or something that passed away.
And it was not my heart to speak of this tonight, but I look out and I wonder how many more people since that gospel meeting have passed away, have died, and if you haven't, asked the Lord Jesus to save you.
Possibly thinking.
To miss out on such an opportunity, at any moment you can be taken out of this world to be gone at any moment.
And you haven't asked them to save you yet.
I'm gonna tell you about time quickly, and I hope that Peter won't mind. But you know, I thought maybe on Friday I would have a little bit of time and laughing at him already. I thought maybe on Friday I had a little bit of time to just sit down and be prayed and.
Consider this little meeting tonight.
But I know we've had the plans. It's exciting to have plans. It was Alan's birthday, and you were gonna do a few things together, but we're a little bit late getting started on me, Allen. We had gone and we did one thing and then we did another thing. And, you know, before long we were rushing back to the house to get our bags and to load up and drive. Maybe you'll be driving.
So the time has gone.
It was gone that quick and so if you think that you have until the end of this meeting.
To come to the Lord and be saved.
We just might not because it's going to go that quick and that might be too late. It was too late for me on Friday at that point. The Word did give us time to but pray and certainly we seek His mind in these things. But I just tell you that don't wait. Time goes by far too quickly and it might be too late. So what I was thinking about tonight is if you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.
What is your desire as a believer?
What is your desire as a believer?
And I wonder if it might be. Well, I know what it should be. It should be to please him.
And maybe each one of us here in this room could ask ourselves, is it my desire to please him?
You know, I was reading the other day in First Kings chapter 22 and there's a prophet there, Makaya, and I was just going along and better look at it because we won't be able to quote it.
First Kings.
The story they have, I'm not going to read the whole story to you because I'm particularly thinking about what Papaya said.
First Kings 22 and verse 14 and Makai said, as the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me that full my speed.
00:05:03
You know that Little Pony purse, just monster agent years old. You got to read it yourself. There's a lot there. My wife just said speak up. There's a lot there in that chapter. But that little verse jumped off the pages and I thought, you know, there is a man that is willing.
To do the will of thought and to please him.
No matter what.
He could have been put to death on the spot that he was willing to do it. He said, As the Lord liveth, what the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak, or that will I do?
And so it got me to thinking about whether or not in my life.
I want to please the order.
You know, in Hebrews.
Chapter 11.
The first there and we just took this up in our midnight reading meeting.
These are all little tidbits that I like to see.
Speaks of Enoch in Hebrews 11 and it says.
By faith Enoch was translated that he should not seek death, and was not found because God had translated him. Now look at this for before his translation he had this testimony.
That he pleased God.
What is your destiny?
Enoch's testimonies that he pleased God. That means he did it.
God looked at what he did and it pleased him, because God looked at what you want to do. Is he pleased with the result?
Well.
You know we can only be here tonight because of His Son, Lord Jesus Christ.
So you know the story that came into the world. He was born as the baby, the Manger often say.
John chapter 6 I believe it says that he came to do the will of the Father.
He came to do the will of Father.
So he was born and then we see, I think it's in Matthew chapter 3. At the end he was baptized.
And said about spirit sending down upon it like so.
Well, you and I know that when we get saved.
Holy post.
All of us.
Filled with the Spirit of God.
Same the same example.
I.
In John chapter 8.
John, Chapter 8.
Jesus said at the end of verse 29. For I do always those things that please him.
I do always those things that please.
Well.
You know, we've been taken up quite a bit today in Hebrews 12 and it said there about looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher. He's the example for us. First Peter two, it says I left an example that you should follow in my steps.
In John 16, the Holy Ghost.
Says it will teach us.
It will guide us in the way.
Matthew 28, sorry. Matthew 11 and 29 says take my yoke upon you and learn of me.
Is it your desire and my desire tonight to learn of him, to be like him?
And to please the Father.
You know in Romans 8 says that we might be conformed to his image, be conformed to him.
I got my wife to look it up to me when you're singing song 100.
I have to think about the answer.
00:10:01
Says to be similar in type.
Be similar in type to conform to be like him.
Well, you know.
David, he did the will of the father. He already heard of Enoch this morning. Somebody mentioned Caleb and I had Caleb on my heart. You can turn to it for a moment. And Joshua 14.
Ostwatch Chapter 14.
Safety of this part.
Joshua 14, verse 8.
You can read the whole story of this yourself. And he says, my, my holy followed the Lord my God.
Verse 9 Moses square in the day, saying, Surely the land where on thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children's forever, because as holy follow the Lord my God.
Well, you know me saying that I'm just looking for it.
Verse 91 or mid 1991, it says they who trust Him wholly on him holy truth, Caleb wholly followed the Lord.
You know the other here is voice. You listen. We talk about that spirit that we're in dwelling.
You read the Bible.
You read God's word.
You pay attention to what he's saying to you. Is it important to you?
Sometimes.
If we don't have a good relationship with the board.
It really hinders the spirit and being able to help us understand.
There was a few comments of that today.
In the meeting, but I would suggest that if you really want to understand God's word.
Then you need to have a good relationship with him.
To Lord Jesus.
I'm sure everyone here has a good friend.
You can think of conversations that you've had with this good friend. Do you have conversations like that with the Lord?
Saying that his tonight every left your room this morning did you think depressed?
Well, I like to tell my boys that they need to pray every day when they get up before they go out the door. Get on their knees before you leave your bedroom.
I'm thankful that nearly every day my son and I get to read together and pray because a lot of days I find that I've gone out the door and I've gotten in my car and I forgot to pray.
But that's how we talked to him, that's how we know it.
That we have a relationship with him. That's how we can tell him all these things.
And the Spirit of it is right. The Spirit can work within us. And so you can read His Word and you can understand it.
And then you can walk in these things.
And then you can be like the Lord Jesus.
There is only the things which please follow.
A lot of things in this world that can occupy our minds, our minds can be overwrought with the things in this world we've had about painting, we've had about being weary.
We can be overcome by a lot of things if we're not walking close with the Lord, if we don't give Him place in our heart, if we don't give Him time in our life.
You know, really he wants all the time.
He really does.
00:15:03
He doesn't like us to share it.
With things that might get in the way.
I think it is him quite often and probably you've heard me say it before, but it's little children's him I talk to the trouble pull and running over. You probably know that one right, you know.
He wants your heart to be filled up with Him so that nothing else can get in the way.
I think it'd be OK. I was thinking.
As the Holy Ghost instead it comes upon us and was filled with the Holy Ghost. You know it's in first First Corinthians 6 it says that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost.
And I read this morning, Mr. Norm Hebert sends out a little bit of Jenna's, and I read it this morning and it talked about in Jesus Went into the Temple.
Continuous John 3.
Chapter 3.
Nobody sees the purse.
Chapter 2.
And.
Well, I don't see it.
Yes, thank you, John 214 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep, and doves, and the changes of money city. And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers money, and overthrew the tables, and said unto them, That soul does take these things. Hence make not my father's house, and House of merchandise.
It's not my father's house emergency. I was thinking that all of those things that he listed there were really quite a defilement to the temple.
And he removed them all.
You got rid of all of it.
You don't have to break each one down. You can do that. Maybe some practice on your own, but he got rid of all of those things that were defilement.
In the temple which he calls and says is my father's house.
And now you and I.
Have been awarded the privilege and the honor to be the Temple of the Holy Ghost.
And he wants us only to be filled up with Him, nothing else.
Nothing else that might defile us, that might interrupt that relationship with our friend the Lord Jesus.
With our Lord the King, with the one who died for us, with the one who rose again.
The one who went to prepare a place.
He doesn't want anything to get in the way.
So.
No, I was just thinking about.
All those things in this world, we spoke of our mind and how easily we can be overcome through the verse I thought of this morning, and then we could read it in Isaiah chapter 26.
Data Chapter 26.
Verse 3.
Since that will keep him in perfect pieces. Mind the state on date because he trusted him.
So we put our trust in him. Are we at peace?
As our mind stayed on him again, it's just having our eyes fixed upon that one who loved us.
And gave himself for us, and walking in the same path that he laid out for human eye.
Is that our desire?
I won't go on any further really, the thought that I had.
This is your desire and mine. Please the Father, to walk in the example of the Lord Jesus Christ when he is here. I just leave that with you to consider on your own that you might be exercised there by the duty. So let's pray and very good thanks for the food too. Our God and Father, we thank you now for this time together, and we thank you again for thy Son and the work of California. We thank you, Lord Jesus, for that.
00:20:17
Example of those left forest when I didn't walk here. Do only the things which please the Father we think of.
All those things that that didn't do in kindness and love.
Or we think too, of how that would remove all those things out of the temple, the Lord, that we might follow in thy steps.
Do we?
Five things and caring for one another and helping each other along until the end. And Lord, that we might come to thee and.
Ask You for help not being overcome by this world, to not be overcome by defiling things that might interrupt our relationship with Thee, that we might keep our minds stayed on Thee, Lord, that our hearts might be full of Thee, and that it might be really our desire to be like me and like it tells us in first John Three that we too, but due to only those things that are pleasing in Thy sight.
And so, Lord, we pray that that would help us with all these things to let us come.
And we thank you to now for providing this food for us, and Lord, the happy fellowship that we can have together over it. We would just ask you and thank you for these things in my name, Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
I Am the Door
Children—Titus Buchanan
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Well, while you're thinking about it, we'll start singing, OK. And anybody can come up. There's plenty of room. We'll make more room if we need to. OK. All right. I am so glad to see you kids here. You've got your hand up already. That's great. What do you want to sing?
42 All right, let's find 42, you know, at home, back in where we have the assembly, our local assembly. I'd like to go through and help everybody find the spot. If they can't find it, we find it so that when we're ready to sing, everybody can sing and we don't have to be trying to figure out where we're at. So if you can't find it, you raise your hand up and I'll help you find it. OK, Then we'll all be ready to sing. All right.
You did. That's great. All right. OK. Everybody find it? Anybody need help?
Need help.
And that's great. I like when people help each other out, too. OK, everybody get it. Let's see 42.
That's a good one. We're going to sing a lot of them off the back of here maybe. OK, And if you want to pick a different one, that's fine too. But out of the middle, that's fine. Or the front, Let's sing #42.
A little child of.
Oh, you wanted one door and only one? Okay.
No worries, let's do that one next.
That's great. All right, let's do you want 43? Maybe I said the wrong number. All right, let's do 43. OK, let's say #43.
1.
That was perfect. All right. Who else? OK, Lincoln, what do you want to say?
You can just say the name of it.
White little donkey. All right? I don't think, I don't know.
I don't think that one's in here. We'll sing about a wild little donkey. Everybody know that song? I don't think we need our books for it, either. Doing all right. OK, there once was.
Big time to relax me and continue to come to my mistake in my house again. Please say well I can bring him to the beginning.
00:05:02
You need to run considering I have a non considerable.
And free.
OK. That's a good one. All right. Let's see. It's kind of kind of early, right? How about somebody think of one, It doesn't have to be on this sheet that we have some hand motions to.
I like to sing some of those ones. And Ricky's thing, Annie, if you have it, everyone, that's just fine. What do you think? What do you want to sing? Jesus loves me. Oh, that's perfect. All right, let's sing Jesus loves me. You know what? That one's on here. And you know what? I've heard a lot of little kids singing this morning, and that is wonderful. OK, so I would like to see if we can sing this. We'll sing maybe the 1St and the last verse, and when we sing the chorus, maybe all the kids could sing. OK, just the kids.
Right, because you guys are special, right? So if there's other kids that think they might want to come up, we can make a little U shape here. So it's not so scary if we want to, if we want to make a little spot here, then it can be just the kids. All right, So anybody else wants to come up and join, we can move the chairs around, right? Real thing. Jesus loves me. And when we come to the chorus that says, let's see, says Jesus, yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves Titus.
You can throw your name in there if you want because it's important that it's, we heard last night. It's a personal thing, OK with the Lord Jesus, the Bible tells me Titus. So OK, so all right, when we sing the chorus, you kids can all sing. All right, I might throw in a few words, try to help you keep going right? Well, saying the 1St and the last verse, of course.
Jesus loves me, it is not.
Yeah.
You doing emotions and I forgot those even incidents. OK, so that's great. Now did everybody see what was happening when?
All right, Does everybody see what was happening in Lilies did this? You know what that means?
The male male male Warren's.
That's excellent. Let's see that. Think about.
So the kids I might have to have. No, I don't know if I know you guys don't, right?
Yes.
But it's me, yes?
Another 1.
OK, we got two right here. What's your number? What number do you or what? What's the mean?
1St and then we'll see what he's up.
You might have to mind.
Our estimate 13.
I was very, very good.
The Savior Christ Jesus, the one who paid for my sins. OK, all right, 47 right, All right, 47 We'll see that one, and then we'll.
Ask the Lord for His help. See the verses. Okay? 47 all the way to the very back so you can just flip it over the backside and find it that way, OK?
Don't start this one.
When sorry somebody else started for me, please I got.
You're going to take this off so.
00:15:02
All right, excellent. I love that Those first 2 words of the last verse, anybody recognize what it said? Remember what it said? Those last, let's see the last verse three, the 1St 2 words say what? Somebody look at it that maybe can read.
Little children, You know what The Lord Jesus, He loves little children, not only the ones up in the front row.
All the little children, the Lord Jesus loves you, OK? And in fact, he loves you so much you had the perfect answer earlier. You said those nails went into his hands on the cross, right? He hung up on that cross. Did you know he hung up there for.
Children, little children, He hung up there for anyone who would believe the Lord Jesus died for that. OK, we'll talk about that a little bit. But you know what this little meeting is especially for the little children, OK? So we're going to ask the Lord for His help, and then whoever wants to can say the verse. All right? You don't have to, but if you'd like to, you can say your verse. All right, the one for this.
Regard for today, OK.
OK, now I know there's lots of people here, but you know what? Does anybody want to say the verse? OK, first of all, I'm going to see kind of interesting.
I usually say the verse and I have somebody to stand up here and have Sunday school. I like to say the verse so that it kind of triggers your memory as to what the verse actually is. OK. Because sometimes I remember sitting in a chair of like this and you think, oh boy, I don't remember what it was. It's going to come to me and you count the number down there. If they're coming, don't worry. All right, It's no big deal.
All right, if you don't, you don't have to say it, but I think it's really nice to say it. All right, it's no worries. We'll think of it just like us up here, OK. And, you know, all the other kids are welcome to come up here as well. But when we say it, we'll kind of say it like right here. We're just saying it to each other, OK? That's the way I like to think because if I look at all these people, all right, So I think when I I like to think of us. All right, So anybody want to tell? We'll have a say, a verse up here. Remember what it is. Now. I'm going to give you a clue. Was anybody listening last night?
Meeting were that's great anybody else I hope everybody can go like this OK all right good job all right so I usually tell the verse but somebody that might have been listening last night in the gospel meeting very interesting because we're going to talk about the same thing all again all right something very similar because who remembers the verse anybody All right what is the verse Can you can you tell us what the verse that you know what let me grab.
That little thing over here that kind of helps.
Microphone. Thank you, See if I can. Oops, forgot I didn't have to turn it on.
Makes noise. I'm in the door by me. If any man enter and he shall be saved. And go in and out and find pastures. John 10-9 Absolutely. That was great. OK, Anybody else want to say it? OK, I am the door by me. If any man enter in shall be saved. John 10-9 Perfect. All right. Who else? Oh, I turned it off, I guess.
Arkansas. Can't anybody else want to do it? Yeah, absolutely. Let's go over here.
910 Nine I am the door every man enter any shall we set and so, and it shall go in and out and fly faster. John 10-9 Very good, very good.
Sorry, a little lacking in the technical skills. Thanks, Tom. All right, who else you want to see it?
Make he will come in and go. He'll go in and out and find Pastor John 1090 Very good. OK, Evan, I'm the door by Nathaniel and enter and he shall be set. John 10-9 Excellent. Who else?
OK, on the door by me. If any man enters, he shall be saved. John 10. Nine. All right. Who else? Hop down here. Everybody can have a chance.
I am the door.
By me if anyone in there and.
He shall be saved. He shall be saved.
John chapter 10, verse nine. Excellent. All right. Who else? All right, you got your hand up. We'll come back over on this side here in just a second. On the door. My knee is any man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find. Pastor John 10 Nine. All right. Very good. That's good. Who else did I miss that wants to sit? You want to say it?
00:20:11
In the door by me, find me.
I would come out and.
Great.
Who else got your hand up?
Ayatollah.
And find me. I'm any man. And come in. I was. He shall be safe. John 10-9 Very good, very good. Who else? I don't want to miss somebody. If they want to say it, you want to say it? Absolutely.
I am the door by me if anyone.
Be safe, John 10-9 Very good. You're welcome. Come up with us if you want to. You don't have to. Anybody is welcome to anybody else. Want to say it? You want to miss somebody?
Look at Daddy. Look at Daddy.
Said John 10, nine. All right, very good. That was excellent. All right, well, I don't want to miss anybody. If somebody wants to say it, you're welcome to.
To get everybody up here that wanted to say it. Oh.
I am by me if any minute enter and he shall be saved and go in and out and find Pastor John 10 mines excellent.
Our right eyes. There's a hand hiding back here. Let's go back here.
Here all slide behind you. How about that? Can you tell me what it is?
By me.
Any man and so on and so he says.
Doesn't really read it out if I faster tomorrow to mine. Excellent, excellent. Thank you.
That was very good. That was very good. You want to say it?
By me, if any man, I am the door.
By me, if any man shall enter in.
Shavi Savdhaan, Tennine, thank you. Very good, great man. I've got lots of helpers today.
I would like to call my sister. We don't. Not everybody has to if they don't want to, but if they want to, they're welcome to.
That's great. That's great. All right, everybody get it. I wanted to say it. All right, very good. And if you want to say it later, that's perfectly fine too. OK, we'll put that back here for a little bit now, you know.
I thought it was so interesting when Mr. Wally stood up here last night and he started talking about the same thing that our verse is about. It was beautiful. You know who remembers? Who can remember how the first part of the verse started?
Said I am the door, right? Very good. Now when you go home from here or anytime you're you go to your home, how do you get in your house?
Go in the door. Anybody else going the other way? Not usually. I've gone on the other way a few times and when my door was locked, I couldn't get in. But normally you what? You go in the door, right? Everybody else go in the door. Usually you go home and you open the door and you go in. OK, now why? Why do you go in the door?
That is an excellent answer, you know.
The window is too small. Some people have big windows. We don't have very big windows at my place. That's a good.
That's nice. You know what? I want to read a verse and I thought it was so neat that Mister Wally talked about all the some of the different ways or different verses that talked about I am, I am.
OK, now.
I want to read another verse that is another I am, OK, I am. And this one is kind of the reason I want to say it reverently. This is the reason you go in the door, OK, because.
00:25:00
The Lord Jesus said here he told us and you don't have to turn to him, but it is in John 14, OK, John 14 and verse six says.
Jesus said unto him, this I am the way, because that's the way in the house, in the home right here. The Lord Jesus said, I am the way. I, I don't know if everybody can see this. Very good. This is kind of something I made when I was a kind of a kid. I figured it kind of went along with it. So if anybody can't see it, it's a, it's kind of a little door, but it's got something inside too. It's kind of like a home, all right.
And you'll see here in a little bit, we'll open it up. Can everybody see that? All right, OK now.
The Lord Jesus said I am the way. The way to what? The way to what?
The Lord, the Lord, he is the way right now. You know, it says Jesus said I am the way. We're talking about the door here. Jesus is the door, right? Remember. So you know what? I don't want to forget while we're talking about this, I'm going to need a helper real quick who can help me? Anybody. All right, Can you come up here and help me? I've got a marker here. This is permanent. OK? This is the way. So be careful, my wife said.
Do you need anything to wipe this off so in case somebody gets it on? I said no, it's permanent. It won't help. OK, so be careful. We're going to. I want you to write in big letters so everyone can say, see, I don't care where you write it. Maybe down here it doesn't matter. I want you to put Jesus, okay? Jesus, because he's the door. All right, You can write it anywhere. I'll let you decide. You can write it wherever you want. Just make it nice and big so everyone can see it. All right?
You're not going to mess it up. You can put it however you want.
Thank you.
Thank you. That's excellent. All right, you can just throw the marker down there. That's fine. So here as we talk about this, we're going to talk about something similar to what Mr. Wally talked about. But we can see now that this door.
When we talk about this door, we're talking about Jesus. OK, now how many doors do you have to go into your house?
Three. All right, that's good.
That's great. Excellent. 223. A lot of people don't just have one, right? Or maybe we do. Some people might, but a lot of times there's at least 2 doors, 2. All right, perfect. But we're going to talk about this home right here, what this represents. And guess what?
There's only this is kind of a different home, represents a different home than what we're talking about a little bit, OK. But there's only one door on this, OK. If you look at the back door on the backside, OK.
And this is for this is a very little house, OK, little home. But I want to show you inside of here. If you open up this door, OK, you can see it's kind of wired like a home, all right? But there's only one way in only one way, OK, And.
We'll get here, but we're going to put a little light in this House, all right?
There's only.
Boy, we're going around. There's only one way in. OK, Now remember, Jesus is the door. OK, so we're going to read another verse. Let's go to a verse that shows.
What are we talking about here? The way to what we didn't? We didn't never say exactly. Way too. We said something about.
Heaven that's excellent that is yes, absolutely he's the way to get to heaven, right he's way to eternal life he's a way to eternal joy and happiness and peace but heaven that's great OK, so let's read a verse that everyone knows I love reading this verse interesting we talked about it last night again, I told you this is going to be very similar to what we talked about last night because.
It's very, very important.
OK so John chapter 3 and I bet you can guess what verse, What verse do you think it is?
What is it, 16? Right? John 316? Now I'm not going to read this verse, OK, because I would like someone else to. OK? So I do all the talking here. You want to read? You want to tell me what John 316 is?
00:30:11
Absolutely. That's perfect. OK. I love having helpers. OK? God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. Who was it? Who? Who is?
God's only begotten Son. Who is that? Jesus? We rolled it on the front of here, remember?
Interesting. He's the door, he's away, right, Jesus? What does that mean? Name mean to us, Jesus?
He is the only way for God so loved the world. Now why did why did God have to do that?
God, well, I'll tell you what, because of sin. Thank you. Because of sin. Because you know what? Without that, without God sending his only son, the Lord Jesus, to die on the cross for us.
You're on our way to hell.
We're on our way to a lake of fire. But you know what? God, in his mercy, sent his only Son, the Lord Jesus, to die, to die, to make a way that way. You were talking about the way the door so he could be the door to everlasting life. I love those two words. I talk about that a lot. But everlasting life, the way to heaven.
OK and you know there's another 2 words that I just absolutely love and we're going to read that. We're going to go back. Let's see here back to.
Sean 14 somebody holler at me if we run whatever. Oh 10:00 we better move here. OK, so John 14 and we're going to read real quick here. I'll just skip that. We'll just read. I'll read about 3 verses. You don't need to turn to it says in verse one, let not your heart be troubled. Do you believe in God? Believe also in me. That word believe is so important.
In my these two words, Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you I'd go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you?
I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also OK now.
Anybody else want to help me? We're going to have to do this fairly quickly.
In the role I do for work, I usually go overtime anyways, too, so I'll try not to this time. But who can be my helper? We're going to write this really quick. All right? Let's you want to come up here and just. I'm going to keep talking while you're writing. I want you to write Father's house right in here. OK? Father's house. It doesn't matter if it's spelled right. Do the best you can, all right?
Whatever, we know what it means. If you can spell it right, that's perfect. I I wouldn't spell it right. Probably I'm not a very good speller, right. But we're going to talk about the father's house just really quick, OK, In my father's house. You know what I think of what did we say? What did it, What was it talking about? When it says, when it says in my father's house. Who's saying that?
The Lord Jesus, right? The Lord Jesus is saying in my Father's house there are many mansions.
Where is that? We said it earlier. It's heaven. Right? All right. And heaven is a wonderful place. You know what? How many of you like to be out in the dark night in a storm? No, I don't either. OK. What about a nice sunshiny day? Right? Yeah. Most people like a nice, sunshiny day. And you know that in heaven it's going to be light.
Always. It's going to be beautiful. Always.
Did you know that? You know what? This is a very poor example. But you know what? I'm going to need one more helper. Who else wants to help me? Perfect. OK, Can you come up here? You know what? In heaven. Why is it going to be light always? There's a verse in Revelation that says the Lamb is the light thereof. What does that mean?
Hmm. The Lord Jesus, right? He's going to lighten it. All right. Can you? I know a lot of little kids that like to flip light switches. Can you flip that light switch?
Amazing, huh? You know what? It's not going to be a light bulb, OK? And I don't want to say that irreverently. The Lord Jesus is going to lighten heaven forever, OK?
Kind of, yes.
Yes, all right, so he's going to be beautiful there. All right, And there's lots of verses. We're going to have to move ahead here. OK, but let's go to Ephesians real quick and look at a few verses. Verse chapter 2 and verse 8 says.
00:35:11
For by grace are you saved through faith, and not not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. We talked about one door. There's only one way. Who is it? The Lord Jesus, right?
The Lord Jesus is the only way to heaven.
And here it says not of works, lest any man should vote. There is nothing we could do, nothing. Absolutely nothing of ourselves to get to the Father's house. Nothing. OK. Only through that one door. You know, I thought it was so interesting and I appreciate it so much what Mr. Wally said last night. Very solemn.
He said Judas.
Kiss the door.
That is very, very solemn. Judas kissed the door. Here was the Lord Jesus his Creator, standing there.
He was right there.
That he did not go in. He did not go through that door. He did not. He is not in heaven now. He's in hell. He's in torment.
Oh please.
Come here is the way, the Lord Jesus is the way, the truth and the life you want, everlasting life got to go through that door. It's the only way. OK, let's read a couple more verses here real quick.
All right, there's little birds, you don't need to turn to it. And Luke chapter 13, Luke 13 and we're going to read, let's see, 20.
Four, says another verse we read last night, Strive to enter in at the Strait gate for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the house is risen up and has shut the door, shut through the door, and ye began to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us, and he shall answer and say unto you.
Listen to this, I know you not.
When CR OK?
I'm going to take this bulb out here.
All right, we're going to close this up.
OK, now.
There's coming a day, you know, for those of us who know the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, it's exciting, it's wonderful. He's coming very soon. But if there's one boy, one girl, one young person, one person in this room of any age that doesn't know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, the Lord Jesus died for you, his precious blood.
Was shed for you. There's more verses I would have liked to read more about the blood of the Lord Jesus. Oh it's so important that blood is what washes our sins away. It's the way through the door. You know there's coming at the moment very shortly when the Lord Jesus is going to come and he's going to take. I hope everyone in this room, everyone who has come to the Savior.
We'll be gone.
Will there anybody left? Only if they haven't gone.
Through the door, through the man Christ Jesus, the one who paid for your sins. If you haven't believed in him, we talked about that word, believe you'll be left sitting in this room wherever we are at that moment. So please come to the Lord Jesus. There's another verse that we often read in You don't need to turn to it. Second Corinthians chapter 6.
Verse 2 The end of the verse says Behold, now is accepted time. Behold, now is a day of salvation.
Right now Does now mean tomorrow? No. What does it mean?
Right now, absolutely right now, we don't know how much time there is. You know, something might happen.
Maybe something bad will happen, maybe the accident will happen, whatever it might be, but we don't know. So behold, now is accepted time, not tomorrow. All right, We have to trust in the Lord Jesus while there is yet time. He is the way, still the door. I also love the way that Mister Wally put it. The door is wide open.
Wide open right now, OK, wide open. The Lord Jesus stands there with open arms saying, come unto me, all you that labor are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. That rest is wonderful, that rest, that peace, that joy. If you know the Lord Jesus, if you've come to the Lord Jesus. Lord Jesus, I'm a Sinner. I want to be saved.
00:40:08
He will not turn you away.
If you come right now. OK, when that door is shut, when that door is shut, what did I do with it? Here we go. I've got to. I've got to. I'm going to represent this by a little lock, OK? I want to put a lock in here.
OK.
No way in.
Doesn't help, does it?
No way in.
The Lord of heaven is going to be shot before long if you stand there so solemn.
No way in because you know what our chance, our time is right now while there is yet time come to Savior, okay?
All it's awful if you don't because what lies ahead for those who don't believe in the Lord Jesus is the lake of fire punishment, eternal death, eternal death. But on the flip side, if you come now and go through that door, joy.
Peace, happiness, eternal light, eternally with the man Christ Jesus. What makes home home? When you go home, why do you call it home instead of some other house?
Is it 'cause that's, that's where your, your dad and your mom and all your siblings, whoever might be in your family, they're there, right? That's what makes home, home. You know what makes heaven home? What makes heaven home?
What makes heaven that wonderful place?
I should word that a little different. Who makes heaven All. Who makes heaven home? Anybody. Jesus. I heard Jesus over here. Jesus, the way that's what makes heaven home, right? And I can't wait to be there. The Lord Jesus is coming, and when he comes, I hope all of you go up to be with him because you put your faith and trust in Him.
2 Timothy 1
Open—Tim Roach
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.
#212.
We are but strangers here.
We do not crave a home on earth which gave us the butter grave.
My crosses sever ties, which found us here, myself, our treasure and brighter spear.
Good afternoon. We've sung about the fact that we are pilgrims and strangers here on earth.
We're strangers because we're we don't belong to this world. We're foreigners.
Were pilgrims because we don't get settled down here on Earth. We're here for a purpose.
As servants of God. Everyone who knows the Lord as their savior in this room is a servant of God. And I like to go to Second Timothy chapter one. And I want to look at various points that we have for a Pilgrim and a stranger here on earth as servants of God. And I want us to pick out a few points here that.
Apply to a servant of God.
I'm not going to go through every verse. I want to pick out a few verses, few points in some of the verses. In verse two, we have to Timothy, my dearly beloved Son. Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father in Christ Jesus our Lord, Grace as a servant of God, you need to have grace because as you interact with people in your service.
Things aren't always going to go smoothly, and you'll need grace to interact with people, and you'll have situations. You'll need to have grace to interact with problems and perhaps persecution. And the Lord gives grace.
And when I am weak, then am I then am I strong when we have the grace of God? In verse 4, verse three, it talks about a pure conscience.
So as a servant of God.
You need to have a pure conscience if you're going to, if you're going to talk to someone about the Lord and you have a guilty conscience, it's going to affect your ability to to fully explain those things to your friend, because.
You'll be condemning yourself and your friend will say, well, look what you do in your life. How can that, how can that be possible? So we need to keep Yes, there's failure, but we need to be able to confess our failure and not let our failure hold us back. When you're looking for Second in First Corinthians Chapter 11, the verse there about 2627 and there it says, examine yourself, Let a man examine himself. And so let him eat. It doesn't say let him sit aside.
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No. We examine ourselves, we confess, we judge ourselves, and then we can eat. And so the same thing as a servant, as we as we have things to share with other people, we need to examine ourselves, keep our conscience pure, so we can serve the Lord in a way without guilt, and so that others will listen to what we have to say. Then in verse 4, Paul's talking to Timothy in these verses.
And he's instructing him as a servant of God. And he says, I'm mindful of your tears. Timothy had a tender conscience, a tender heart towards other people. And when when Timothy looked around at the people that the apostle Paul had visited and given his life for, and Timothy had traveled with with Paul, and Timothy saw that.
There was hardships in people's lives.
And he had tears about that. People were giving up some of the truth. They weren't following the teachings of the Apostle Paul. He had tears about that. He had a tender conscience. And if you're going to be a servant of God, it's good for us to have a tender conscience towards the folks that we are working with.
Then in verse five it talks about Timothy's unfeigned faith. When I call to remember the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and thy mother Eunice, and I am persuaded that in thee also. And so Timothy had faith he wasn't coming to the conference and pretending to be like everybody else. No, he had a true, strong faith in his own heart, and he could stand on his own, and he could stand with the Lord.
And be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. He didn't depend on being with everybody else to help carry him through. He had unfeigned faith. And where? Where did his? Where did he learn this faith? He learned it from his mother and his grandmother. And this speaks to us at all generations.
As we speak to our children, as we live our lives before our children, they can see what you value. They can see what what is real in your life. They can see that you live by faith.
Or if you live by fear, they can see if you're trusting the Lord or if you're trusting yourself.
And Timothy recognized in his grandmother that she had faith.
His mother had faith, and this life of faith was evident.
In Timothy as well, faith doesn't just pass down from one generation to another, but we learn to live by faith.
Timothy learned to live by faith in his mother and grandmother. Were a big part of that verse. 6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. We don't have Apostolic authority today for someone to come to you, a brother, and put their hands on you, So you can have the gift of an evangelist, or the gift of a teacher, or a gift of being a helper.
No, the Spirit of God is the one who gives out the gifts.
Today and each one in this room.
You have a gift. You have a gift of the from the Spirit of God to enable you to be a servant of Christ.
Sometimes we're afraid to use our gift. Maybe we're a little shy. Maybe we're afraid of what other people will say. Maybe we think we're not capable enough and we just don't know how we're going to accomplish something. No, we need to.
Allow God to stir up that gift that's in US, and maybe you don't know what your gift is.
I wouldn't worry too much about that. When God gives you something to do, He gives you the the grace to be able to do that, whatever it is that service to talk to somebody, to do something for somebody to help somebody.
And as you, as the Lord gives you things to do, just do it. Don't think well. I don't have a gift for this. Just do it. And as you do those things that are presented to you and you're, you are able to do those things. God gives you the strength and ability to do that. And your gift can be developed as you serve the Lord. And so don't just sit and do nothing.
Ask the Lord how can I be a help to the people of God?
Verse 8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his servant, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. Anybody who is going out to to serve the Lord, especially in the gospel, especially to be able to go out and help the Saints or to help the sinners. If you are serving the Lord, you are going to find that Satan is going to be there to attack you.
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There's going to be afflictions of the gospel, There's going to be difficult times, and it's going to be easy just to give up. But no.
Be a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. He's going to give you the power and the strength and the grace to go through whatever those afflictions might be as you serve the Lord. Verse 9.
Who has saved us?
And called us within holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and hath brought to life and immortality to light through the gospel.
These two verses, they go from eternity past to eternity future, eternity past. God had an eternal purpose. He had an eternal purpose, and He gave us a calling. He had a with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace. He has a purpose for you. He's made you part of the of the Body of Christ, part of the Church, part of the Bride of Christ, and he's given you a work as a servant of God.
A ministry of reconciliation, if you would. Maybe it's a different gift, but he's given you a purpose in this world. And God's purpose, his purposes went from all the way. In turns he passed, and he says he has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel and so.
Immortality goes on and on into eternity future. And so he brings these two together for us. The Lord Jesus he had abolished death and has brought life and so God has given you life, eternal life, so that you can not just live forever but to live the life of Christ. Because eternal life is the life of Christ and he's given you a message to share with other people about the life, about life and immortality.
And you can do that through sharing the gospel. And so then, if we go to verse 11 and 12, Whereunto I am appointed A preacher and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles, for the which 'cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
As a servant of God, Paul understood what it was like and he was explaining these things to Timothy. He says, I am appointed A preacher, an apostle and a teacher. He knew what it was to go out and serve the Lord in a certain way. He was the servant of God. And he's telling Timothy all these different things, that it's good you're going to have afflictions, there's going to be difficulties in the pathway. And he says, I suffer these things, but I know whom I have believed there's going to come up things in your Christian life.
And you're going to wonder, where is God in my life?
We don't trust our feelings.
In this world, in this life, in this Christian path of service.
We trust the Lord Jesus. We trust His word. And when we look at the word of God, He will give us instruction and we can. We can have assurance that we're saved. We can have assurance that the Lord has a service for us. We can have assurance that He's coming back soon to take us to be with him in heaven. And we can commit these various things to the Lord, knowing that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day as you serve the Lord Jesus.
He knows what you're doing for him. He knows your heart. He knows your motives.
And why you're doing what you're doing and he's reserving for you.
A. A A reward for that day at the judgment seat of Christ. It says that which I have, he's able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. And so that day is the day when you will receive the the manifestation of the gift or of the rewards that God will be giving to you.
00:20:17
You will be able to start using them in that day for his honor and his glory during the Millennium and verse 13.
Hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus as a servant of God. Especially if you're going to be sharing the message of of the word of God with other people, you need to have a message and you need to have a message that is, that is guided by the word of God and and according to truth from the word of God. And it's always good to have an understanding of what message you're teaching.
And you can go. You can use some of the various.
Bible helps in dictionaries and commentaries and and and other concordances and things. And Look up verses on certain subjects and try to read through those verses. Get an understanding of them and have an outline of whatever that subject is. And maybe you can have a sheet of a page with the outline of one subject of propitiation, another outline of service, another outline of obedience, another outline of faith, another outline of of baptism, another outline of predestination.
And you can have all of these outlines, and maybe you keep them on your paper or your or your iPad, or some people can even keep these things in their head. And the the spirit of God is able to bring to your remembrance those things that you have. But you need to have an outline of these things, the hold fast of form of sound words. So if you have an outline of these teachings that you can refer to, that you can read them, you can memorize them, you can make them part of who you are.
So when you're discussing an issue or a topic with a friend, you are able to.
To present the truth in sound words.
In verse 14.
That good thing which was committed unto thee, keep by the Holy Ghost, which dwelleth in US a servant of God. Like Timothy. Paul had committed to him that good thing. But what is that good thing? What's the same good thing that you have been committed to you? You have the words of the Apostle Paul, the doctrines of the apostles. And so you can read them, learn them, memorize them, practice them, understand why you're practicing the way you do, and understand what you.
Being able to help teach others about those things.
And that good thing that was committed unto thee by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in US. And the Spirit of God will help you to be able to share that good thing with others. Don't give up the teachings of the Apostle Paul. There's a.
A verse in Second Timothy.
Chapter 2.
Just find this verse.
I'm sorry, I can't can't think of that one, but.
That good thing which was committed to the keep, unto key, uncommitted unto thee, keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in US. And so the teachings of the Apostle Paul. I know where it was. It was in Second Second Corinthian or First Corinthians chapter 14. Let's go to 1St Corinthians chapter 14.
If you're going to keep the doctrines that the apostle Paul has taught, he tells us here in in chapter 14 of First Corinthians and verse 37, If any man think himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant, if you ignore or disregard the Apostle Paul's teachings and the doctrines.
You should be ignorant. The Bible says you are ignorant.
And you should be silent. You should not be trying to teach anything about the word of God if you cannot.
00:25:05
Practice and believe and understand the the teachings of the Apostle Paul. And if you know somebody is trying to teach, and they don't understand or able to teach the teachings of the Apostle Paul, you shouldn't listen to them. Let them be ignorant. The Bible warns us that they are ignorant, and verse 15 of our chapter this thou knowest that all they which are in age should be turned away from me of whom are FA jealous and homogeneous.
And so he's encouraging Timothy to keep those doctrines. But here, the people in Asia, many of the ones in Asia, they were turning away from the person of the apostle Paul. Paul was in prison, and they didn't want to have anything to do with him, so they're turning away from him. And when you turn away from the person, you'll eventually turn away from their teachings. And so if you don't like the teachings of the apostle Paul, you will start turning away from them. And Paul's encouraging Timothy to hold fast.
That which got what she had been given. And then he says, in verse 16, the Lord give mercy into the House of Omniscience, For he OFT refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain. He he points out to Timothy, a man who really cared about the things of God, really cared about the apostle Paul. This man, I believe, is from Asia, but he was looking for the apostle Paul to identify himself.
With a man who is in prison, and that could be dangerous for him, you may need to identify yourself with Christians and put yourself into danger for the name of the Lord's sake as a servant of God.
We need to continue on without, without fear.
Verse 17 When Anissa forest was in Rome, he sought me out very diligently and found him the Lord. Grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day. And how many things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well. So I just want to encourage you today to be strong in the Lord and the power of his might, as you are a servant for the Lord. We have these few points in this chapter. You can read them over on your own, these few points.
About a servant of God.
And and our responsibilities before the Lord.
Daily Interaction with Christ
Open—Don Rule
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There's something I covered for myself and.
I covered for you as well, and it's illustrated nicely in the hymn we started with.
Going to go back to that him which is 212, you don't have to go to it, but.
It starts out called from above and heavenly men by birth. We once were about the citizens of worth. As pilgrims here we seek a heavenly home. That's enough.
That him starts out about us, and it's as if we were.
Having a conversation together.
About things that are common to us. That's character of the lunch hour, talking together and enjoying together. You sat at a table and undoubtedly had interactions with others of conversation and enjoying the opportunity perhaps to be together for the weekend and those individual conversations.
Are important encouragements.
Along the way.
Verse 2 where all the Saints continues as verse one ended.
All the Saints of every clime shall meet, and each with all the ransomed, all the ransom greed.
But to him at this point?
In my view changes dramatically.
There's something introduced here, I don't know, and if you didn't notice it, if you didn't consciously make this transition, that's what I covered for you.
That you'll learn, and I will learn to enjoy.
And enter into what's illustrated in this next line.
But oh, the height of bliss.
My Lord.
My Lord.
There is a conscious change of who you're talking with and who you're talking to.
And I covet for you that we are very conscious.
Of talking to the Lord.
No, it wasn't a prayer. We were all very well aware that when this meeting began and a brother got up on our behalf that he was, and we in spirit with him, we're talking to the Lord.
And a few moments later when the hymn was given out and we started to sing it.
There came that point when in spirit.
And desire we would be conscious of, O Lord.
And then saying to him, thou lust the image.
It's not doctrine being presented, although there's doctrine in it. But it was a conscious talking to him. Oh, Lord, thou lust the image in man's lowly guise, thy lips the Father's name revealed.
Very nice number of the hymns of that character, but it illustrates the point turn with me to further make a few more comments on the point turn to Mark's Gospel. It brings it out in connection with what Tim has just said.
In service to the Lord.
Mark chapter 3.
Adverse 14.
And he ordained 12.
That they should be with him.
And that he might send them for.
You want to be a servant of the Lord.
Something that goes right along with it.
His companionship.
Was the one you serve.
That individual daily enjoyment of fellowship with himself not and I'm not talking about when you got down on your knees, that's part in the morning, which I assume you did at some point you got in prayer and you talked to the Lord.
00:05:08
But this is if I want to use an expression to try to illustrate the point, it may. We'll call it informal.
It's quite all right. It's a wonderful thing. The Lord, I think, enjoys it when you are doing something and spontaneously, without further thought, you say something to the Lord about it.
That they might be with him.
And that he might send them forth to serve. How did they learn some of the things that Timothy was learning through the apostle Paul?
How did they get to see those things?
That were the spirit and character of their service.
The disciples were with the Lord.
They saw his character by being with him as he went forth every day, and the manner in which he interacted with souls in daily life was a place where they learned his heart, and they learned what was important and valuable in seeking the blessing of others.
Turnover to Luke 22.
Luke's Gospel, chapter 22.
And.
Verse 4. Verse 15.
And he said unto them, with desire, I have desired to eat this Passover with you.
Before I suffer.
Not only were they with him.
But here, in the last day of his life, the last evening of his life, he likewise valued their companionship.
Ye are they which have continued with me.
And that value of that interaction between himself over those times when they were with him and when they went out in service and then came back to him was valuable to him.
To his heart.
He was an encouragement to them.
But they were an encouragement to him.
Covet the relationship in which you may be an encouragement.
To the Lord Jesus even today.
John 17.
There's a man that valued.
Those who walked with him.
And he interacted with on a daily basis.
And so here is one of his last recorded prayers of his life before he departs from this earth. And he says in verse 24, Father, I will, but they also whom thou hast given me.
Be with me.
He valued that companionship and he wasn't going to lose it either indefinitely. He was going to be separated from them for a little while. But his heart and his value of the companionship that he had had with them was such that he said, Father, I will that they who else given me be with me.
Where I am.
With me.
Hope those words stay in your heart and mind. Be with me.
Where I am, it's very personal. It's not doctrinal in the sense of knowing accurately things that are true and but I'm talking about the personal side of it. And so he's saying that they might be with me.
That's where he wants and he won't be satisfied fully.
00:10:04
Until that's true.
He wants you with him to the extent that this morning when we remembered him in his death.
We saw Him presented to us in hymns and in the Word, and we trust in our hearts in the supremacy of His glory.
Father I will, that they may be with me where I am, that they may behold.
My glory.
Not only does he want us to behold it, but not to take the time and Colossians chapter three I think it is.
That when He is manifested to this world, we will be.
With him.
In that glory we will.
He will have us, if you will, figuratively speaking, right there at his side.
To demonstrate the importance to him, to his heart, of what we have together.
One more thought and then I'll I'm done in Luke's Gospel chapter 15.
Luke's Gospel, chapter 15.
And verse six, I'm assuming we all know the story here, the man that goes out to find the lost sheep, and he found it and he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing in verse five. And then he says, And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors, and saith unto them, Rejoice with me.
This is the Lord's heart expressing itself and.
What would give him joy?
Is when your heart and my heart.
Find our joy in the very same things that he finds his joy.
How do I know what he finds his joy in? I have a.
Wonderful source to be occupied with that enables me to enter in to the knowledge of what brings joy to his heart. And so he says here as the sun in this figure, the sun is saying rejoice with me. Later on in the chapter it's the Father and it's God the Father that's in picture and he says rejoice.
Any halls of feast that those who would enter into what he enjoyed would rejoice with him in that same thing. And so he says, rejoice, rejoice with me.
May we find and cultivate that working daily interaction with himself.
That will satisfy his heart, I'm sure. It satisfies ours and also brings joy to himself each day.
Joy
Open—Bruce Conrad
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First Epistle of John.
1St chapter.
Verse 3.
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you.
That you also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father.
And with his Son Jesus Christ, and these things rightly unto you, that your joy might be full.
And back in John's Gospel chapter 15 for a few verses as well.
John 15 and verse 8.
Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in My love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and I abide and abide in His love. These things have I written unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
Perhaps we have the tendency to think.
That joy is sort of.
Like if you buy a car you need.
You need a steering wheel, gas, you know, accelerator, pedal, brake, tire. You need basics, the core of it. Or you buy a computer, you have these are the basics. And we think, well, at least in the old days it used to be maybe I'll maybe I'll splurge, get power windows or on a computer. Maybe I'll get this bell or this whistle. And I think sometimes we look at joy that our joy that way.
After all, if I'm unhappy, what does it matter to you?
I think we see in those verses, and we could look at others, it matters a great deal.
To our Father and to the Lord Jesus himself, because John isn't going in a lot of different places when he writes that first epistle and right off the get go, I think it was verse three we read. He describes the present.
Unspeakable position we have as believers.
You know they're the young brother.
And he's starting to take public part, which is nice.
In worship and prayer. But you know, a lot of the times he'd have the Father dying on the cross.
And etc. And if you in a large assembly, we know. Or if you're a brother, you know how that works.
And so we eat together routinely and, and this was happening, you know, a lot. And so I took the salt shaker and another salt shaker, and I took a pepper shaker. And I said, here's you, you're the pepper shaker. And here's I made a triangle on the table and here's the father and here's the son. And you know what's amazing?
Is that here's you, but you have a divine person inside you. Think of what this triangle is.
The Father and the Son and you and me, men and women of mortal flesh. I said you can give thanks to the Father, you can pray to Him. You can give thanks to the Lord Jesus and pray to Him. You can switch back and forth. But I said it might be helpful just to think of that triangle.
And the amazing thing is that the Holy Spirit entwells the believer is the power.
For that new life that we have been given by grace.
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Joy matters.
Joy really matters.
Our brother Tim spoke about service. It matters in service.
And Brother Don spoke about the essence of things that.
The Lord Jesus himself wants us and as we read in these verses to enter into his joy. Now I got probably wouldn't have gotten up here if he hadn't spoken on this, but I've been just ruminating on what we had in the readings. We didn't spend much time on it in Hebrews 12 in the passage that says for the joy that was set before him.
In Matthew 13, in one of the similitudes, the Kingdom of heaven is like.
A man who.
Let me turn to it. I'm getting the two of them mixed up in my my little brain here.
In the 40s, Matthew 13 and verse 44, the Kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in the field, which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof he goes and sells all that he has.
Again, the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls.
Finds 1 Pearl of great price, sells all that he has and bought it.
The Lord Jesus had joy before him.
Could say prophetically in the Psalms, in Psalm 16, in Thy presence His fullness of joy. And what a reception he received, when he was raised out by the glory of the Father from among all the rest of the dead. One man is now not only raised, but ascended. What joy seated righteously, rewarded righteously.
The right hand of the Majesty on high.
So there was joy before him in accomplishing the great work of redemption. He sold everything.
He sold everything.
Everything.
That a man's heart.
Only man's heart could want sold it.
To the Treasurer, that's you.
I know sometimes when you interact with Christians out here and there.
They look upon, well, I'm the merchant man and I know you didn't sell anything. You didn't have anything of value. You weren't, you weren't the man looking for a treasure.
You say, well, I found the Lord. No, you didn't. He found you.
But he was looking, and he found, and for joy thereof. So there is that future joy now present that the Lord has, and there are joys before him and joys before us. But there was a joy he had here.
As a perfect man, as what God delighted for a man to be.
Father could look down, and even as we know, broke the silence of heaven.
As if he just couldn't not say it.
Heaven's silence is broken, and it's opened.
This is my beloved son in whom I have found my delight.
And prophetically, it speaks of the Lord Jesus as man in the 40th Psalm.
I delight to do thy will. Oh my God, what an arrangement.
What an arrangement.
Father delighting in the son, and the Son delighting in doing always those things that pleased him.
And so I was kind of struck by the comments because we're used, at least I'm used to thinking of the Lord as the Man of Sorrows.
And acquainted with grief as a man here.
But here he speaks of my joy, and I think one of the brothers made a comment on it about the Lord's joy when he was here.
He rejoiced in spirit, and I think a brother read that he rejoiced in spirit.
Even at that time of great disappointment, because he came to do a work and it pertained to the privileged nation of Israel.
And it was now patently clear that it was going to be a rejection of him by them who he came to save.
And what does he do? Does he grumble? No.
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Is he?
Since at that time, at that time Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said Even so far or so it seemed good in my sight, there were other glories at going to unfold. There were other aspects of his work that was soon to be unfolded, other glories that we'll see in that coming day.
We see perfect submission in that which would have been so close to his heart.
When he came later on to Jerusalem.
And stood looking over it. He wept.
The Lord's joy.
We've been reading, some of us in a reading meeting in Galatians.
And so it says there, let's open, there be a clock on that wall, but it's just here.
It says in Galatians five well known verse.
Gives you a long list. In case you didn't know, these are the works of the flesh.
You Galatians.
Is so infatuated with man, so infatuated with the flesh. Here's what the flesh is. Big long list of ugly things. But the fruit of the Spirit is and gives you nine things, 3 threes.
Lovejoy, Peace.
Your joy matters because as we sometimes say, and this is dating me or dating the construction business, but it's like the the Canary in the mine. I've never worked in mines, but I've worked in tunnels. I don't like working in tunnels.
Kind of spooky there underground before you work in a tunnel Nowadays they send in a.
Technician with a what we call a sniffer. It's probably got a more technical name.
But basically the guy goes in with this electronic device to measure the air quality, to make sure there's the right gases in there, so when the humans get in there, they can breathe and not tip over. So I guess in the old days they'd use a Canary or a bird in the mine and take the Canary in and the Canary died. You can get out of there. It's a test.
And so I, I have thought sometimes, well, oftentimes in my Christian life.
If I'm not enjoy, if I'm not experiencing or displaying joy and the Canary is gasping for air or the Canary is dead.
It's an indicator.
Years ago when my wife and I were in Halifax Conference decades ago.
There was a brother there.
Who some in this room know far better than I and I don't know how he got on this subject, but but he he.
He comes home from work.
And he wants to put some trash in the trash can in the kitchen. And a lot of people like my mom used to, the trash can is right under the kitchen sink and like open the little doors and this is where the trash is. So he opens the door and he goes to put the trash in and it's overflowing. And he has a little bit about it or something. I don't know what he did.
Had a little little.
A little fit about it.
And his wife, who was working in the kitchen, she turns to him and she has honey, What's really the matter?
Oh well, my wife, I've told that story a few times and so when I act like him.
And it's painful. My wife will say, honey, what's really the matter?
You can ask her.
The Canary is gasping for air.
Because the fruit of the Spirit is love.
Joy. Peace.
Tidying up around the house the other day and.
One of my boys bought this fancy new hose.
But they think just like the old UN fancy old hoses and I'm saying you know, you turn that it's not going to work. So you turn the water on, nothing comes out so.
As simple as it just came. It's so simple.
And Jan Kinkin and off you go.
00:15:02
And so it is. We learn. And the older brothers, when I was your guys's age-old brothers used to talk all the time about communion.
One brother used to call communion. He says it's like a spider's web.
He says it's so fragile it could be easily destroyed, but they can be built quickly to. I like that expression.
Communion with the Lord is with brother Don was speaking about partially is vital. That's Christianity.
That's an unknown holes.
That's the liberty of the Holy Spirit to reproduce Christ in our life, whether it's for service or for interaction with anybody or just sitting quietly by ourselves.
In communion with the Lord.
And what impedes it, we know we read in Ephesians. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. I learned at a very young age that though I could grieve the Spirit by my carelessness, I couldn't grieve him away. And that's a wonderful thing. But how beautiful it is when the Spirit has liberty in our lives.
That we might be able to walk along in joy.
Now some of us let's turn in closing to 2nd Corinthians.
I want to address some disclaimers.
2nd Corinthians 6.
When we speak about joy and and I brother on a reading the other night, he said joy and happiness are different.
But he said I don't have time to go into it now, but they're different. And I thought what a great subject to go into, study out. And if I had known I was going to be speaking about this, I would have studied it out. But there are different words in the original language, so they must be different. And I'm not qualified to even speak to that except to say that they are so related, different.
But I'm not speaking about Pat on the back and and.
You know what is it? Hail fellow well met just my dad used to call it. Some folks have a personality like that, though underneath they may be screaming and miserable because.
Says in Ecclesiastes, for the unbeliever, even in birth the heart is sorrowful.
But a believer has a joy that is not perhaps very noisy and not so much displayed.
And it can be quiet and it can exist, and only a believer can understand this. And that's why I turned to 2nd Corinthians 6, because there the apostle.
In a passage starting in verse 4, approving ourselves as the ministers of God.
And then he gives a list of aspects of that. And then in verse 10 as sorrowful.
Yet always rejoicing. I've had joy in my heart.
In some pretty sorrowful times and probably sold you.
Tears run down your face.
Are you sad? Yes. Are you happy? Yes. A believer understands that it's sorrowful. And yet always rejoice because you can say I get the I'm in the circumstance that you don't fully understand. And perhaps I don't. Probably I don't. The Lord does.
But our circumstances, as the old brothers used to say, do not determine our joy, our happiness, Our state of soul does.
That's a good thing. I remembered that a long time, I guess.
Our circumstances don't determine our joy, our state of soul. It's do we have an ungrieved spirit? Are we walking in the liberty of sons? And so sorrow and rejoicing can go hand in hand. They did with the Apostle Paul in the next chapter, chapter seven, I think there's a similar verse.
If I can spot it quickly verse 4.
Great is my boldness of speech to you, 2nd Corinthians 7 and four. Great is my boldness of speech toward you. Great is my glorying of you. I am filled with comfort. I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation.
Tribulation and he had a lot of it. We have a partial list in the Word of God. He had a lot of it.
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But it didn't hinder his joy. We were speaking the other night on a reading.
In Acts 16, where the apostle Paul and they've been, they were grabbed, they were stripped publicly and flogged, whipped, taken, put in the inner prison feet in the stalks about midnight. They prayed and sang and the set and the Spirit of God says the prisoners heard them. And I think the jailer heard them too, because when the earthquake came.
He went for them. They saved his life.
In chapter eight of Two Corinthians, there's another one here, verse two, how that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. So here we have poverty and joy.
Some in this room are probably fairly wealthy. We live in a wealthy country. Some of you may be you're poor.
We've been a little to both in our lives, my wife and me, and you notice about poor people when you live amongst the poor, as I did in Maine.
They're pretty generous. I think they just sympathize more with one another and they're they're generous people that have a problem sometimes with generosity or the wealthier people. It's kind of unusual.
But here, the trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty, these are all circumstances we can find ourselves in. The Lord orders our circumstances as we've had before us in Hebrews 12. But it doesn't have to affect our joy. It can enhance it. It can display it like a black velvet behind it, behind a jewel. It can display that you have something that nobody can quite understand why you have it.
And it's joy.
Nobody came.
From such a high place as the Lord Jesus, I think Doug mentioned this morning in his worship of prayer. He came down from heaven and nobody went so low.
Down to the bottom of the sea, weeds wrapped about his head.
Fall. The joy, the writer writes, is fierce. The wrath.
Maybe it's the other way around.
And so nobody can speak about these things like he could.
When still here as a man about to walk out of an upper room.
Across the city, be taken all night and nailed.
To a tree the next day.
And he could speak of his joy.
What a savior.
In the book of Jude we read at the end of that little epistle.
I'll sit down. I didn't realize we were over the magic hour here.
Verse 24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling or stumbling, really.
And to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.
I believe his joy will exceed ours. His patience exceeds ours.
Is waiting for us, waiting for the marriage, for the marriage day.
He's waiting patiently. His joy surely is going to exceed ours. The psalmist could say in my presence his fullness of joy. But this is exceeding joy. Well may the Lord encourage us not to be careless about our own state of soul.
But that we might walk in His steps, and that we might answer to His desire now to have His joy fulfilled in ourselves.
Hebrews 12:8-11
Reading
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243.
Hymn #243.
Perhaps we can start with first aid.
Hebrews chapter 12, verse 8.
But if you be without chastisement, where of all our partakers then are ye ******** and not sons? 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? For they barely for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but He for our profit, that we might be partakers of His Holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous nevertheless afterward.
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It yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down in the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, unless that which is lain be turned out of the way. But let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up, trouble you, and thereby many be defiled.
Lest there be any fornicator or propane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
For you know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected. We found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully, with tears.
Free or not, come under the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, and are unto blackness, and darkness, and Tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they that heard and treated, that the word should not be spoken to them anymore, For they could not endure that which was commanded.
And if so much has a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust shrew with the dart. And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly feared Quake. But ye are come on to Mount Sion, And under the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, into an innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the first born, which are written in heaven, And to God the Judge of all, into the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
See that you refuse, not him that speaketh.
For if they escape not who refused him that spake on earth much more Shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven, Whose voice then shook the earth? But now he hath promised, saying yet once more, I shape not the earth only, but also heaven.
And this word yet once more signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as if things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire.
We talked a lot about the chastisement, but I was thinking just one more aspect, not trying to drag it on is how we take it when we are being corrected. I'm thinking here mentioned about the earthly fathers. While many here are fathers, we know that correction for each child is different and they respond differently. I remember one of ours thought you were so smart that when it got spanked he stuck a book under his pants.
And he thought it was funny. So you might think, well, he was corrected with spanking, but that anger the parents even more so his punishment became more severe. So I was thinking, what is our proper response? It would be the the verse. I I think it's at the end of Second Thessalonians where he said in all things give thanks because it is the will of God concerning us.
So do we give thanks now? It's difficult. It's easy to say, how do you give things? I'm looking at many young people here. How many of you actually look at your mom and dad and say thank you for this? Thank you. At the time of being corrected, it was not easy. But many of us now can look back and perhaps, and we hear, we heard many said indirectly, they thank the parents for the correction because without that, we are probably not in the same position we're in today.
So do we give thanks for it? And it's easy to mention things when you're not in the circumstances. We don't go to a child after he was corrected and say did you give thanks for it? No, but it's good to learn the principle that we got to give thanks because afterwards we may see the wisdom why we will correct it.
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They have a wonderful father that fell as exactly how discipline to apply, not too much and not too little.
Before it was commented in verse six about chastening and scourging. I think scourging is more severe and, and so.
God, it's, it's wonderful to learn, or it's a good thing to learn.
How to apply?
Neither too little nor too too much.
Our God does that a good job of that.
And I think most of us have felt that afterward.
I don't think children usually thank their fathers for how they discipline until they've had children of their own.
We're on our way at the end of the race, as we have later in the chapter, to the city of the living God, to the Father's house. And here we have a work of the Father and maybe a little give perspective as to the importance of learning the lessons through the discipline that we are exposed to now is this.
Did the Lord Jesus?
When he finished the race.
And entered heaven. Did he have to make a whole lot of changes in his lifestyle?
They have to change the things that were important to him.
And what his heart was set on, well, we all know the answer. He had to change absolutely nothing.
So part of the Father's work presently with us is he would have us in her home at the end without having to change.
You don't want to get there and suddenly hardly have any idea of the place because the way you live life had nothing in consistency with the Father's house.
And so here it brings before us the character of the Father in several different ways, and the verses read, but one of them is He's righteous.
And he's holy.
And so he would have our life now consistent in practical righteousness and practical holiness. I say practical because the use of the word holy here is bearing out in the everyday life the nature that has been given to us, a holy nature that we receive when we put our trust in the Lord Jesus. But we have to learn to live it out.
In practice, in daily life, and the desire of the work of God with us and in US is to conform us to the Father's house that we're going to and that we learn now to live in a way that is consistent with the character of our Father as holy and righteous.
Yeah, the thought Jason was one more time with that. It reminds us too of the love of the Father.
It reminds us of the position that we have been put into. We, I believe we look at the verse in Ephesians a couple of times today, how we as Gentiles were without God, without hope in this world, being alienated from the Commonwealth of Israel, but yet now in Christ, the two thoughts, we have been born into the family of God, so we are sons or another thought it tells us is that we've been adopted into the family either way.
00:15:05
We are His and when we are hiss, we are, as already mentioned by Brother Don, that we're being trained, we're being taught. Perhaps it needs to be through correction so that we would be fit to be the sons of God.
It is interesting.
Sometimes we see children misbehave. And here's the example. Isn't it perhaps in a shopping mall? And I don't know, children voice. I love children's voice. And I find that as you get a little bit older, the screeching sometimes make you jump. You hear that in the shopping mall and we don't stop and say, OK, let me calm this child down or perhaps give this child some correction.
No, we don't do that because this child is not ours. But if it's on the other hand, this happened to be your child and then we want that child to behave the way we expected in according to our family standard.
Sometimes people doubt their salvation, and this is can be one encouragement that that a person is saved is that the father does deal with them and chastens them. So it's something we can be thankful for. Like Dave was just saying, if if you weren't his child, he wouldn't, he'd just leave you alone. But yeah, works with us.
Jeremiah, chapter 48.
The Prophet speaks about Mole Ave.
I think I recall Moab. The name Moab means what father?
And so in verse 11 we read something characteristic of Moab, Jeremiah 4811. Moab had been at ease from his youth, yet settled on his leaves, and have not been emptied from vessel to vessel. And so on. Moab is exceeding proud, it goes on to say in that chapter. Well, the opposite is true for the believer. He is poured from vessel to vessel.
When Joe was was allowed to be.
Chastened or if you if that's the right word or or Satan.
His first response was why don't you let me alone? I think it's in the 7th chapter of Joe. He says am IA whale, am I something big and something important? Why don't you just leave me alone until I swallow down my spittle as I try to escape by sleeping and then you trouble me with dreams says leave me alone.
Well, the the unsafe person we sometimes forget.
That except a man be born again, born anew, he cannot see the Kingdom of God, let alone enter it, can't even see it.
An unbeliever has no consciousness of what you and I go through and being poured from vessel to vessel, they may see that your cars broke down, or they may see that you're going back and forth to the doctor or something, but they're not aware of this. But we have the privilege of being in the family of these kinds of experiences being poured from vessel to vessel.
Intelligently so.
Because the father of spirits has got everything, as Doug was saying, just perfect.
The last verse of that verse was live.
That's verse nine of our chapter, that you don't really live with God until you've been through this and come to the end.
The discipline and it's worth it to get to that point.
00:20:02
Good to see a perspective here as well.
As it says of use the example of fathers that the type of fathers that are in this room and they discipline their children. It has a scope to it. That is in the sense that it's given, it says for a few days.
For in verse 10 for barely for a few days and.
Yet it's good for us to recognize that God our Father.
And when we're real, there's the question of reality and.
Verse eight, I might take a position as being something in before God that I'm not and there's no reality in the soul. But when it's real, then it is from God's perspective that He doesn't work and His perspective that started in this life is in view of what His end result is going to be.
That will last for eternity and so He has a longer term perspective than we will have in the natural things of this life. And yet it is that we might be partakers of His Holiness in that we will.
In eternity, be perfect, obedient, holy children, not only in our nature, but in our moral character. And that's God's perspective and so.
In that way.
It the present verse 11 That might not be fun. It's not. It's painful many times, but that peaceable fruit of righteousness.
As God works in us is going to be there forever.
That's his intent, that what that peaceable fruit that comes from the work he's doing through chastening will have its eternal, lasting character, and we will be forever thankful when we can see his perspective and glory.
I could just like to.
Read this verse as it's written in our King James translation in the verse 10.
For they fairly for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure.
And.
The Arby's translation reads for they indeed chasing for a few days as seemed good to them.
So and if if there was ever a thought that.
Enacting discipline on a child naturally brings a father pleasure. That would be a father who really doesn't understand.
Discipline. What the father is doing is he's looking at the the the character in a child that needs correction. He's considering.
What would be the proper action in order to correct what is is needed in the child and it's there's no pleasure in the process of disciplining. So it's as it seems good to the father and the father is weighing what kind of action is necessary in order to correct.
It's good to see. It's good to see here that.
Holiness, sometimes I can see your point there too. That. Well, is there any pleasure from the father? Or pleasure? Perhaps a different thought than I have. Sometimes it's our pride. Can you imagine your little child here is embarrassing you by doing something silly in front of all these people? Well, as a father, you're embarrassed. So what do you do? You chasing the child because he embarrassed you?
But here it tells us that God does so not because of any of the thinking that we would have, but with the end result that we may learn what holiness is.
I would just like to say that a father should never discipline his child because he is embarrassed by their behavior. That's not seeking the blessing of the child. It's really considering your own glory. Now, we may be guilty of that.
00:25:03
But it's inexcusable that we would.
Act toward our children.
To defend our own glory. And I, I just say that not to be.
Not to contradict what you said, but I I have had to judge that as as I've had the responsibility of raising children, that the focus of my dealings with the children should never be with the thought of sparing my own reputation.
I believe what you see here when it says seemed good or meat to them.
As a father, I cannot compare myself to God the Father and how He looks at things. I might have an opinion or I might have a way in which I was taught that I think it is good to train my child up in, and I might discipline them in that way, thinking that it will keep them in line with that good route or that good way. But God the Father disciplines us to bring us to perfection, to holiness, and I think that's the point.
And so you see that maybe a little bit in first Peter chapter one.
Does mention there our perfection, or being brought to that in the coming day? Verse 13 it says, Wherefore first Peter one and 13. Gurneth the loins of your mind. Be sober, and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought onto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts and your ignorance, but as he which hath called you is holy, so be holy in all manner of conversation or or conduct.
The way we behave ourselves because it is written, be holy, for I am holy.
So I can never train up my child to become perfect or to even understand that path. It's only God the Father that can chase him and do that.
Would just like to say that I believe that there is construction here for child rearing.
There is there is there is certainly deeper lessons that got as as we take up this chapter to learn the heart of God and his dealings with us, but there is also very practical, very helpful.
Lessons here to learn with regard to raising our children.
It's important to recognize in verse 11 This process is a process that goes on to bear fruit.
We often think of discipline or chastising is to stop something that's.
Bad or undesirable in behavior, but when God does it, he has a different objective than, and it's well for a parent to learn that the same principle that what God is doing is to produce a fruit.
Feasible fruit of righteousness. That's a very positive purpose and a very positive end result.
I think.
A brother that mentioned one time in this chapter that he had a father that.
Disciplined him in a way that.
While if they were making a lot of noise in the house, he sent the kids outside.
And that was for his, his pleasure, so to speak. It was so that he could enjoy the peace in the house and he didn't have to listen to the noise anymore. And as Mr. Rules brought out is for the peaceable fruit of righteousness. So I didn't send my child outside so I could enjoy the peace in the house.
There's not going to be a result of peaceful fruit of righteousness in that, is there?
Maybe just the thought as to.
Us to exercise thereby.
One of the.
00:30:02
Hardest sources.
Of chastening for us.
Is our brethren.
I decided to say.
I think one of the hardest sources for my brother.
Of chastening is myself.
And that's really difficult.
Because there's all kinds of chasing that comes into our lives.
When we when we look at fathers here.
There is such a thing as fathers in the assemblies.
And.
It becomes really difficult in our lives when the Lord chooses a source of of chastening.
Ask those that we really love.
Those that love us and we have a hard time putting it together.
And yet the Lord would have us to be exercised regardless of what transpires, regardless of what it said, to be able to weigh it and recognizing it's the voice of the Lord.
I've been thinking a little bit connection with this portion of some of the experiences that David had.
And one of them, we have a message that was given to David by two different people and it was the same message.
So you remember when David was being chased out of the land by Absalom?
As he was leaving, there's a man from the House of Saul that that comes along and he curses David and he throws dirt and stones at him and he calls him a bloody man.
It was difficult and David's men are listening to this and they said, look, let's go and take his head off.
Now before we finish that, let's let's Fast forward.
With time and David's life.
When he wanted to build the temple.
He has this discussion with Nathan and Nathan says you don't do whatever is in your heart.
But the Lord speaks to Nathan that night.
Says to Nathan, you know David is not going to be able to build the temple, and he gives the reason. And it's exactly the same message that shimmy ideas to me. He was a bloody man. He was a man of blood.
Now in our own lives, we like it when a Nathan comes along and he puts his arm around us and he gives us a message like he gave to David. You know you're a man of blood, you can't build a temple. But what a shimmy eye comes along and has exactly the same message and throws dirt and stones.
It has the tendency to have us to rise up in our flesh and defend ourselves and react much differently than when it's amazing.
I thought of that in connection with often.
The Lord chooses a source of chastening, and it's our brethren.
And that that's the that's one of the hardest things because right after this, what do we read? We read here the tendency is to lift up the hand which hand down.
And the feeble knees, The tendency is the opposite of that. It's just a throw in the towel. And when it's our brethren, what's the use? Let's just throw in the towel. There's no use going on.
And actually what the Lord is seeking to do.
Is seeking to see what kind of a spirit I have which was what exactly what the Lord was doing with regards to David when shimmy I was throwing dirt and stones at him and you look at that at at such a beautiful spirit. You see what David when David said let's go take his head off David says no.
The Lord has bid him.
And sometimes that's really difficult in our own lives.
When it's our brother that are the source of chastening.
00:35:04
But it's a real opportunity.
For us to realize the Lord is seeking to produce something in our hearts.
It's going to be a beautiful thing.
If it's the end result.
I'd like to make a comment to get on.
About the father's verily for a few days chasing us after their own pleasure it's not necessarily just raising our children for our own happiness, but maybe from the sense of we have our reasons for the rules we make in our own home and.
There's leeway for a father. You may you may raise your family in a little different way than I do, and I may be a little different from the way another brother would raise his family.
But there's a little leeway. But there are guidelines in Scripture for that too, if you look in Ephesians chapter 6.
We see the ultimately the father is responsible for the for the family and the raising of the children, the discipline and the instruction and the admonition and so forth.
And in verse four of Ephesians 6, he fathers provoked not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. And so the father is creating this the the atmosphere in the home for the for the raising of the children. We know that children are perhaps raised mostly by the mother, and so the father needs to provide a sphere where the mother can.
Can teach the children.
In a proper way if you look in First Timothy chapter 2.
I know our chapter is about the fathers, but the fathers, the fathers are responsible in the home and the women, the women have responsibility of the children as well. And if you look at verse 15.
Of second of First Timothy, chapter 2.
Notwithstanding she shall be saved, that's the mother shall be saved in childbearing.
If they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.
The father can support the mother in these things and and he's talking about the position of the woman in the church here and she shall be saved. That's not her salvation or return of salvation, but her position, her place in her position. She's saved by raising children for the Lord now.
There's a saying that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. Well, the woman is rocking the cradle. She's teaching the children the the, the Sunday school songs and the Bible verses and the Bible stories and, and applying them to daily life and.
This, the product of each person we have here, is mostly the product of the work of the mother in the home. And the father has a responsibility to to have a sphere in which the mother can raise the children in that way. And so you might look at it as a big responsibility for the women for raising the next generation of the assembly.
And if you and we had earlier about Timothy.
His mother raised him in faith.
In a sphere of faith and his grandmother also is in that sphere of faith and it affected and Timothy learned how to live by faith perhaps from his mother and grandmother. And so there the whole the family is involved here. The father needs to provide that sphere where the mother can act in her her responsibilities.
That went on for the commentation about Mother's.
When you go through the record in the Old Testament of the Kings, two things are brought very generally right beside each other. One is who the mother was, and the 2nd is whether the king was a good king or a bad king. And I believe they're put together to as a an example and a reinforcement of what Tim just said. The mother is a huge role.
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Even though in this chapter.
We call the father the one of the discipline to recognize that Scripture shows that the role of the mother in how a child turns out, especially when it's a place of responsibility, is almost inevitably it says whether the king is good or bad. At the same time, it tells us who the mother was.
Perhaps somebody can help me on this question. I hope I'm not the only one that has it, but.
At the end of verse 10, it's that we might be partakers of His Holiness.
But then at the end of verse 11, the after yield is the peaceable fruit of righteousness.
Is righteousness more the outward action and conduct and holiness is more than nature and internal side that would produce it? Or am I tipped over here?
Connected, but they are can be differentiated in the sense that.
God's character is holy. That is the very nature and character of God as holy, and he wants his children to be just like him.
We manifest that holy character in the way in which we act, and we should act what's doing what's right.
However, I say they can be distinguished but not.
Separated because.
Quite a few in this room, I assume. I've heard multiple times the statement, if you get everything right, nothing is right unless the motive is right. So I might do something that is, we'll say righteous in as far as the action itself.
But it's unacceptable to God unless the motive that's behind that action is right. So I think they're they're a little different aspect of something. But the way you expressed it, I think it's correct.
It says at the verse 11.
Unto them which are exercised thereby. I'm wondering about this word.
Exercise. How are we exercised? Would this be the opposite of what we have in verse 5?
Where the exhortation is my son despise not.
Thou the chastening of the Lord.
I suppose to despise the chastening would be just to pass it off as though.
Well, this is something that could happen to anybody, but would you say to be exercised is to ask the Lord, why is this happening to me?
You know what is the lesson that I have to learn in this circumstance?
This chasing and it might be difficult.
But to be exercised.
It seems to me it's a very important word and sometimes.
Maybe it has to be defined a little further as to how to be exercised.
I'm wondering if.
Do we always know the reason for the chasing that takes place?
In our experience, does the Lord always show us what the reason is?
00:45:05
Or is it that we may ask why is this happening to me? We're exercised about it, but perhaps?
We never know exactly the reason.
And yet there is the after yield. There's the peaceable food of righteousness.
How do I know what's changed? I don't know why.
Have you ever disciplined your son? And he said, dad, what's that for? And you said, never mind.
Or did you tell it because you throw a rock at the window or whatever it was?
I think if we ask, we'll find out.
As far as the other matter that we've talked about, where trials come, we talk about those. We may never know why the trials come and, and maybe only partially here, someday we'll know all that. But the whole idea of correcting is so if if you went this way, you know, to go back here and go this way, if we don't know, it would seem like.
Capriciousness and God is not capricious.
I would like to think that we may not always know the reason why we have felt the hand of the Lord in our lives, but if we are exercised by whatever we're going through, we will always be drawn closer to the Lord in the circumstance. And that might be just what God is looking for in drawing us into nearness with Himself.
I just want to remind us here.
That all discipline comes from a heart of love. So as we are talking about this correction, we never want to lose the length of the relationship of love that we have with our Father.
Back to the question, I'm holding the righteousness I.
I hadn't thought of this before, but I like to connect this with Ephesians where you have these two things in chapter one, verse four, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. I think that's the same thing as our chapter and God has to work to get produce that in them. And I I'm going to take a little exception, brother, and.
My experience.
When the Lord dealt with me was I wanted to know the reason and then put it right and the Lord told me it had to be the other way around. I had to subject myself and then the reason came was obvious. It's not the process, it's the end result that's important. And I don't think in glory we're going to be talking about the process. We're going to be in the enjoyment of the end result of it.
And that's discipline. Yeah, we it's nice to know the reason sometimes because we might not want not do it again. But I found that I don't get there by knowing the reason first.
But God knows that that's the Father of spirits, and he knows how to produce that. If I might just go on a little bit, take Job, for example.
Lord had to work pretty hard with him.
I'm in that same boat.
And it took a long time.
Until Jobs attitude was right and then when he got the attitude, when he got when it became known to him what the real problem was.
Then the chapter the book pretty ends pretty soon after that. I had a brother tell me once that the Lord had to hit him over the head with a 2 by 4 and then he said to him are you listening now?
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Thinking about your question.
Thinking of verse 75, but I'd like to go back to verse 67, verse of Psalm 119.
There we read before I was afflicted, or people could use more cases before I was reflected. I missed the stray.
Then no further on in this exercise, verse 71. It is good for me that I have been afflicted.
That I might learn thy statues. And then finally in verse 75, the verse of after, I know, oh Lord, that thy judgments are right, and then righteousness. I know, oh Lord, that thy judgments are right. He's been exercised as to the righteousness of his tasting. I know, Lord, that that judgments are right, and that and Thy faithfulness.
Thou hast be quickened.
Believe that's very helpful. I appreciate the.
Thoughts have been expressed on this.
Giving the answer.
I think any trial that comes into our lives creates.
A situation where.
As our brother Phil pointed out, we look to the Lord, and if it's that which brings us closer to the Lord.
And we begin to change our ways and we walk in a manner that's pleasing to him, and perhaps we give up something or this or that.
We're not maybe all together aware that it's.
Contrary to the will of God, but.
We want to please the Lord and we.
Our exercise about why this is happening in my life.
And if it draws me closer to the Lord?
Certainly this is a good outcome.
But I do believe the Lord can show us those things that are not consistent with this word.
In job we find.
It says there that which.
I know not.
Teach thou me.
And.
If I've done wrong, let me just read that. I believe it's in joke.
I'm sorry, it's Job chapter 34 and verse.
32 That which I see not teach thou me. If I have done iniquity, I will do no more.
We're not here. We've asked them to rely on our own human judgment. With respect to Sam's comment about how do I know what to fix, remember, we have the Holy Spirit in dwelling.
His happy function is to take the things of Christ and show them unto us, to give us discernment.
And produce the fruit of the Spirit in us. But if we get careless.
Then the Holy Spirit brings that before us faithfully, and so we have the Word of God coupled with with enlightened consciences now because of the Word of God.
To to correct ourselves so we we have that but there.
This is broader than just chastisement, but there are things that happen that are extremely.
Striking and and sobering.
And we look to the Lord why? And we don't have an immediate answer and we don't need one. As Doug was saying, I think the Lord could show us if he wanted. I think of when the Lord went to wash the disciples feet, he said.
00:55:09
What I do, thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.
And so I like Doug's comment. We just, we submit and then if it pleases the Lord, he'll open up our understanding because it's by faith. We understand anything really ultimately. And I so much look forward to that time First Corinthians four. I think it is a little bit off subject here.
In First Corinthians 4/4.
Fall in combating the carnality of the Corinthians, if I could put it that way. Verse three says it's a very small thing that I should be judged of you or of man's judgment. Yeah. I judge not my own self, for I know nothing by myself. That is, my conscience is good. I don't know any. I'm not aware of anything that I really need to jump on right now. I have a good conscience. Doesn't mean that there weren't things, but he wasn't aware of anything, so he had a good conscience.
He that judges me as the Lord. But notice verse five. Therefore judge nothing before the time until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts. So why? So that we'll know that we were right and the other brother was wrong, so that we'll know how badly we messed up the first says, and then shall every man have praise of God. It's just remarkable. I so look forward to the judgment seat of Christ. Even if I'm reduced to a thimble full, I just think it'll be wonderful to have the Lord bring out his view.
Of everything, it'll be everything weighed, according to the shekel of the sanctuary. It'll be weighed right.
Sorry for the digression, but.
Again, what Doug said. Submit first.
Then you'll find out.
Zancorp, Joseph, I think he did. Repeating again, I think that was a wonderful story. Do you think Joseph knew when he was put into the pit that he was sitting there and go, I'm going to rule over Egypt? Not at that time. And then you look at Joseph's circumstance, it seems to go from back to worse.
And it got even worse. He was sold, he became a slave, he was accused in Potiphar's house, and that wasn't enough, was it? Then he was put into Pharaoh's jail and in the jails looked like he was almost ready to get out.
But the Butler forgot about him, Have we? Do we have a few? That is like a sin from bad to worse.
But what did he have going for him? I believe he had the faith of the Lord will deliver him now. Brother reminded us we have a lot more than Joseph had and knew at that time. You and I have more. We have a Savior. You have Jesus as your Savior. You have the Holy Spirit indwelling in your hearts to help you understand these things. And now we can even.
Call. Call God as our Father.
And the word of God would say that my grace is sufficient for you, Joseph. I don't believe that much. But yet at the end, of course, it's always easy to look back at the story after you know, what happened. You can say, well, yeah, he was there so they can save his brethren. Well, that's easy looking back, isn't it? But we too will be in that position looking back. And I don't think you'll be long and we'll be looking down from above when we're with the Lord.
And there we'll find that it was the grace that has brought us along. It was the grace that saved us. Now just one more quick comment. I don't know if I'm correct. I'm going to go back to our brothers question about about the holiness first ten. I didn't have a lot of thought before that, but I noticed the phrase used here is that that we might be partakers of His Holiness. It doesn't say that by doing so, by being corrected, we will become immediately holy.
You know we would become Partaker because he is the Holy One. We partake of that.
And then the next verse about righteousness is that when we partake of the holiness of our Lord, then it says afterward you did the you did the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
01:00:15
By exit, by participating, by being partaker of holiness, What's the result of our walk? It would yield the Spirit. What the fruit of the Spirit would have us to yield.
To exhibit to the world that we are is.
And then?
So there are troubles that come, One of the things that's in common between chastening that comes and the troubles that are common to men and the difficulties that come that the Lord sends into our lives. One thing that's common with both of them is God's desire is for us to draw close.
When a father disciplines his child and afterwards maybe has a conversation and there's a arm around the neck and it appears, and then maybe they dry up and there's a closeness between a father and his son, yeah, that's a pretty good thing.
And when a child is going through something and the same thing happens where they come to daddy up in his lap and he can hug him and or mom and they kiss the Boo Boo and whatever and they deal with that, There's a closeness. Lorde desire is for us to draw close to him. He wants that.
That closeness to that relationship, and we feel it too. If we reverence him, we accept it. We submit.
And then we enjoy that improvement when the worst day of my life took place when we got the news that my wife had stage 4 cancer. It was pretty bad for both of us and early on the devil attacked my wife with I'm being punished for suffering. When she got past that. My wife will tell you this.
She never grew.
As close to the Lord or grew in her path as much as she did during that experience.
That she got past the idea that somehow God was punishing her by allowing the cancer. But she grew. I watched in amazement and her closeness with her Lord.
You know, she got closer and closer and I know that that in the middle of all of these kinds of things, that's one of the that's the heart of our Lord. It was pointed out that love is behind this always, always, always there, his love for us.
To see us corrected, to see that produce in our lives. The man in First Corinthians chapter 5, who Paul is saying you need to put this guy out. What do we have there that the Spirit might be saved in the day of the Lord? The desire was restoration. The desire was that correction would be made and that there would be something there our brother just pointed out. Then shall every man have praise of God?
That guy you bet we find in Second Corinthians. Bring it back.
Then corrected practice has been changed and he drew closer to the Lord but I just think that's something that we should keep in mind no matter what comes the Lord wants us to draw close closer to him and as it were we talk about crying ABBA father that that intimate term of.
Like a child crawling up into his daddy's lap and leaning his head on his bosom boy. In both circumstances, that's a good place to run.
If I could add a word to the younger ones if you look in the gospels.
Whenever somebody fell at Jesus feet, there was always a blessing.
A number of the songs have been quoted here at the conference and in this meeting. Because David knew his shepherd. At the end of Psalm 23, he said, thou art with me. It became very personal. And if something difficult comes in your life, it's because God wants to increase and enhance his relationship with his son or his daughter. Just to read a few verses from Psalm 31.
Psalm 31 and I could read more, but just a few. Verse 9 Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am in trouble. Mine eye is consumed with grief. Verse 10 For my life is spent with grief, and my years with sighing. My strength fails.
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That's good because God's strength is made perfect and our weakness. That's a good point. Verse 10. My strength fails. I'm forgotten as a dead man out of mind. That sounds pretty difficult, but what is the result? What is the response in verse 14? But I trusted in thee, O Lord, I said, thou art my God. My times are in thy hand.
When people fell at the feet of Jesus, something good happened and that's what we need. We need to fall at the feet of Jesus. And then it says in verse 20, thou shalt hide them.
In the secret of thy presence.
Is there as anything more wonderful? Is there anything more precious? Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence. Verse 21 Blessed be the Lord, for He has shown me His marvelous kindness, and sometimes these things are just to get our attention so He can show us is marvelous kindness.
I've experienced the 2 by 4 alongside the head.
Moment I call it God's remedial boot camps. The best way to not to have that happen is to learn the first time but we kind of chuckle about that but in adding to what our brother just said for the young people for anybody. I don't know why but that last part of Galatians 220 has been in my mind a lot for almost a year now but no matter what you're going through.
No matter how difficult or you don't understand and there are times where you're going to say, Lord, I don't get this, I don't like this, I don't understand this.
But I trust you, and I choose you. I don't know what else to say or do here but quote that back to you.
The last part of glaciers 220 The son of God who loved me.
And gave himself. For me, it's so personal, that means so much.
In the midst of that, I am loved deeply by the Son of God who gave himself for me.
Not just the world, but for me, you remind yourself of that in a dark moment and remind yourself even if you don't understand, you can cry out and say Lord is not going to be insulted or hurt if you say I don't understand this, I don't like this, I don't get this.
But I choose you, and with tears running down your face, as our brother said, anybody who fell before his feet.
What it says, bow your head under his mighty hand. What comes now? Uplift.
You bow and you there, and your tears and your pain and sorrow. And then remind yourself that He loves you deeply. He loves you deeply, personally.
My brother mentioned the Psalms. I was thinking how Psalm 23 it says the correction is with it. It says thigh rod and thy stop comfortably. The rod and staff goes together.
No more wandering sheep. And I love to be controlled. I love my tender shepherd's voice. I love the peaceful pull. No more a wandering child. I seek no more to Rome. I love my Heavenly Father's voice. I love, I love his voice.
No.
I see no more to grow.
Gospel 2
Gospel—Stephen Rule
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Evening welcome.
Someone could start for us number six. I would appreciate that.
It contains the message that's on my heart to share with you this evening, number six.
00:05:23
Word used multiple times between last night and throughout the day today, and it's the one that was kind of on my heart and meditating on these things that I want to share with you tonight. That was the word personal.
I'm going to speak to you this evening from God's word, the Bible, but I want to present to you my Savior, the Lord Jesus. I want to present to you the Son of God, and I'm going to present him to you from his Word and.
You're not responsible for what I say, but you are accountable for what God says to you. And His Spirit is present tonight to take His word and to bring it to your heart to present Himself. I don't have a message tonight to make you feel bad. I don't have a message tonight to cause you pain or anxiety. I have a message tonight from God.
To present to you his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
For your belief and faith, I want to turn some of the verses we'll touch on have already been touched on have been on my heart for the week. Apparently God wants to bring them home to each of us. So if you turn to 1St John chapter one.
It's going to introduce the subject of coming to know the Lord Jesus personally. We need to know Him as the God of light and the God of love. So first John chapter one and verse 3.
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you. The Apostle John is writing. Apostle John had spent 3 1/2 years in the presence of this person and he wanted to express it to everyone in this letter as guided by the Spirit of God, so that every single one of us that are seated here tonight are in the room tonight or listening to this message.
Would come No, the one that John loved.
And that's the desire of the heart of every single person in this room that knows the Lord Jesus because they know him and to bow before him, to know Him as your Savior is to love that one. To know his character, to know who he is, to know Him as lights and to know Him as love is to want to share that message. And then Joe John wanted to share the message.
They declare we unto you, he and all the other apostles, that ye also may have fellowship with us.
And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things right we unto you, that your joy.
May be full and then this.
This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.
There's not the slightest shade of darkness in his presence. There's not a slightest shade of darkness in him. He knows absolutely everything, down to the motive and the thought of every single person in this room. He knows far more about me than I know about me.
There are many here in this room that know something about me. There's nobody here that knows everything about me except God, and there's nobody that loves me more than my Savior. There's nobody that loves me despite knowing me more than Him. And I want you to know Him tonight. I want you to know the One who wants to have everything out in the lights where it's completely clear between you and Him.
And loves you anyway. And brought his son to bring that message to you.
So the message starts with light second part of the message.
We'll just we'll come back here, Lord willing at the end, but just to read the expression in first John chapter 4, the end of verse eight. He that loveth not knoweth not God.
For God is love. God is love. I want to present to you those two.
As they come together, and we'll come to it later where we'll discuss the light, we'll discuss the love, and we'll look at the two as they come together. But that's our God. That's the one who has His heart toward you. This evening has brought you the message in His Word. One more thing by way of introduction and Psalm 85.
00:10:14
Psalm 85.
Lord Jesus, God is speaking to his earthly people and he's bringing them back. They've been separated from Him. In fact, the people that have these thoughts and feelings were separated from them their whole lives, and he's bringing them back to himself. And they're coming and they're realizing something that they've never seen before. You know, I had the privilege.
Teaching high school for 14 years.
Eight in the United States and six in Ecuador. In those fourteen years I had many students who were Jewish students. The district where I taught in the United States was better than 40% Jewish and almost half many of my students served. Significant minority in Ecuador were also Jewish.
Think of them. When I read these verses, I spoke to quite a number of them over the years. I don't know a single one of them that knows Christ as their Savior. But I look at the heart of love toward them. I see it here in this song, and I know it's that same heart of love toward you that would wait in patience for thousands of years.
And wait. Impatience. And then.
They wake up, they're drawn back, they're wakened up, they're drawn back. In verse 10, it says mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
The desire of my heart that you wouldn't be able to step out of this room this evening without knowing how righteousness and peace have kissed each other at the cross.
But more than that, that you wouldn't be able to step out of this room knowing that it was for you and that it was from God and His fountain of love for you.
I want to turn to John, if you'll turn with me, to John's Gospel Chapter 8.
Going to look at a God of light.
John chapter 8 verse one. Jesus went on to the Mount of Olives.
Outside the city of Jerusalem, and early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him. And he sat down and taught them. That's beautiful. Sat down and taught them. It was there in their presence.
You know, I'm standing here. Perhaps makes a little easier to see and focus. But he was seated with them. I was in a more intimate setting. And he sat down and He's here as a teacher. And what does he teach? Verse 2, Verse three. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery.
When they had set her in the midst they send him master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act. Now Moses and the law commanded us that they should that such should be stoned. But what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him.
There were ones that knew God's word. They were, in the presence of God, become man and the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And they brought someone to him with the purpose of.
Shaming the woman.
She'd already been shamed. They brought this person to him. They brought their question to him in order to catch him.
Now just burden on my heart, perhaps because it was has been my heart.
To address perhaps someone here tonight, and you've grown up in the presence of God's Word, you've heard it spoken, it's been read to you at the breakfast table or read in the evening at the dinner table. You have a Bible in your room and you've been in gospel meetings like this before and.
Being in the presence of God, you say, What about them?
The scribes and the Pharisees came into the presence of God, and they said, what about her?
00:15:01
They didn't bring the hymn of the situation. The only brought the herb, the situation, but more importantly, they didn't bring themselves. They didn't realize that they brought themselves to be in the presence of God. And it may be that you've looked on your parents for many years.
And you see them open up the word of God, and they read it to you, and they speak to you from this book. And you say, ah, but your life, I don't know.
I want you to understand before we exit this chapter that God's person and God's word, if you have His word, you're held the council accountable for His person. And we'll look at the verse before we leave this chapter. You know, I sat as a teenager and I knew the Lord is my Savior, but I had this attitude. I sat in the assembly reading meetings.
I looked out across the room and I thought a bunch of sheep.
But I can influence them.
And so for several weeks, I looked out at the audience around me and at the right moment, when I thought the moment was ripe, I would yawn. And I would count the number of people that would yawn in the next minute. And you could get a lot of them.
The attitude of my heart was, ha, I'm better than you. In fact, you're my puppet. Look at that. Ha, got your mouth open. And maybe that's all that's happened to you in the presence of the Word of God up to this point. And you've been in the presence of the Word of God and you think another set of voices, another set of words, another set of hypocrites.
These scribes and Pharisees had had their arguments. You can read about their attitude that the when people heard the Lord Jesus speak, they said.
No man ever spake like this man.
I'll apologize now only once if I misquote. You'll have to correct it for me or ask me to look it up for you later. But no man has ever spoken like this one. Why? Because the others, they just argued back and forth. They had discussions. They had discussions about the law and these laws and scribes and Pharisees. Had it been the word of God in their presence, had it been His word reaching down into the conscience, it would have opened up their eyes to who they were and who God was. But you know the kinds.
Discussions These people, these scribes and Pharisees had said, oh, you're not supposed to reap on the Saturday. OK, what does it mean to reap on the Saturday? Well, that means to break off something that's living from its stock. So what does that mean? Well, that means.
Well, let's not climb a tree. If you climb a tree and you put your foot out and you catch that little branch and it snaps, you're breaking a living thing off the stock and you're reaping. And so if we don't climb that tree, we're good.
Sounds kind of funny, right? Because we don't worry about keeping the Sabbath.
But if you looked on your parents or your brothers and sisters and you've applied that same standard, and the standard is just looking out at man irrespective of God, not in the presence of God, and said, well, they do that, but they told me not to do it. So the whole thing's out the window. And that was really the attitude of these scribes and Pharisees. We're going to catch this person and we've got the law of Moses to do it.
And what does the answer?
But Jesus stooped down. He was seated right. So he Stoops down from where he's seated. He goes down even lower in their presence.
And with his finger rode on the ground.
I'll stop there with his finger rode on the ground. I'm not going to speculate what he wrote on the ground, but I'm going to tell you what that finger that they were looking at did.
In Psalm chapter 8. Let's read it. So I'll misquote it. So let's read it.
Psalm 8.
Verse 3.
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, that finger that wrote on the ground in the presence of the woman, taking an adultery in the presence of the scribes and Pharisees, that finger made the heavens.
And you can point your finger at your parents tonight, and you can point your finger at me when I'm done. You can point your finger at me now. But there's a finger that you're accountable to. And it made the heavens.
The heavens are the work of his fingers. That finger wrote on the ground. You can argue with me and you could probably win. You could discuss evolution with me. You could probably win. You're not going to win arguing with that finger that made the heavens. And that finger that made the heavens took tables of stone, and the finger that made the heavens wrote on those tables of stone. That same finger wrote Thou shalt.
00:20:28
Commit adultery and that's what they brought to him. But that very same finger wrote, thou shalt not covet. And after a list of it, finish the list with or anything that is thy neighbors. And if you want to take your finger tonight in the presence of a holy God and point it at your parents or point it at your friends, it's going to come.
You're going to see the finger of God.
To you, thou shalt not covet anything.
What will you say to that finger? God is light. He's light, and it's important to know Him as light. It's important to come out into the light, completely into the light, into His presence because you're already known. It's important to recognize that and to be known because God wants fellowship with you. He doesn't want to bring you out into the light to condemn you. He wants to bring you out in the light so you can see that He's made provision for everything that He knows.
That's there in your heart. But if you're busy pointing your finger at your friends, at your parents, you're not looking at the finger writing on the ground that made the heavens and that wrote his unalterable standard on those tables of stone, that same finger wrote.
On the wall of Belshazzar's palace, that same finger wrote to Belshazzar. And Belshazzar had everything. Perhaps he has everything that you want. He had wealth. He had, despite the siege of his city. He had plenty to eat and plenty to drink, and he was showing it off before his nobleman. He had power. And as he showed it off, the finger.
Wrote on the wall. Meany meanie tickle your person.
You're weighed in the balances and you're found wanting that same finger that made you, that same finger that established the holiness of God as expressed in the law. That same finger wrote the judgment for Belshazzar. And if you ignore it, writing on the ground of your heart, writing right there in front of you and don't allow it to touch your heart, you're going to face that person.
There's more to those fingers. They're connected to hands that were nailed to a cross, and we're going to come there. But I want you to see that you have to deal with a God of light who knows absolutely everything about you.
There were no more words for a moment. He wrote on the ground and it says verse 7. So when they continued asking him how long did he remain silent, I have no idea.
And perhaps you've brought to him the contradictions of this person and that person and the other person, but you've never been in his personal presence.
You can look at everybody else, but you've never been personally in his presence. And you say he's never spoken to me. His finger is written in your presence, a testimony in his creation. His finger has written for you the testimony of his character in this book that you have in your hands. He sent his Son to be in this world, to be that perfect expression of who God is, and to do the work to bring you into his family. And you say, I don't see.
I don't hear, I don't believe, and so there's silence. But what's the purpose of the silence?
The purpose of the silence is to cause you to hear the voice that's already spoken and so.
He does that a little bit more.
Verse 7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
And again he stooped and rode on the ground. Again he's silent. And that question echoed in the conscience of those people. And one by one, from the oldest to the youngest, they go out. They went out of his presence. That wasn't the ultimate desire of his heart. We're going to look at more than that. We're going to look at where he called to come.
00:25:09
But here where it's just the light presented.
Stand in the presence not of a man with a Halo showing, not of a man seated on a throne, but of the perfect Son of God. Become man in their presence, shining with the beauty of what that holiness was to God. And it was too much for them. They had to go out one by one until there's one left and it's the woman. And he says to her.
Verse 10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her woman.
Where are those thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more.
This isn't the fullness of the gospel message. Don't get from this message that.
God is going to just.
Pass by your sin and do nothing about it. Well, you've been exposed. Go and sin no more and that's the end of the story. It's not the end of the story. It is not the end of what God had for this woman.
I trust she learned so much more, Batista says in verse 12. Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world.
Let me just pause there. There's so much more, but I am the light of the world.
I'm going to turn to adverse a little further down in this chapter.
It's very precious. I'm going to read the verse before verse 24. Verse 25 is the one on my heart.
I said, verse 24 I said therefore unto you, the Lord Jesus, speaking to that same crowd of Pharisees, that ye shall die in your sins, for if you believe not that I am, you shall die in your sins. Then said they unto him, Who art thou?
And Jesus saith unto them.
Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning.
Going to read that to you in a different translation, slightly clearer. Who art thou? Jesus said to them altogether. That which I also say to you, Who are you?
I'm what I've said, if you go through this book and if you want the proof of it, it was mentioned this afternoon. Some store things in their minds and some store them on paper. Mines stored on paper. I'd have to come to me afterwards and I'll give it to you. I'll send it to you. I'll print it for you. I have a list of going through this book and highlighting in one color who the person is.
And what he said, and how the two come perfectly in agreement. This is the person that we begin the book with.
That speaks of himself as the word.
And here he says I am.
Everything that I say to you, everything that I say to you, that's who I am. You have in your hands, you have in front of you. You could gain access to it if you didn't have it. You have the word of God, You have the word of God. You have the perfect testimony that's going to be given to you of God's Son. He is everything that he says in this book. There is nothing that he says He is that he isn't.
And there's nothing more that you would gain if he were to walk into this room this evening.
Than you already have in this book because his spirit is here this evening to take this book and to speak to your heart with it. You have everything you need to respond and have belief in this one. Don't say, well, I can argue with this, that or the other.
There's a finger that's written and there's a finger, there's fingers whose hands were nailed to a cross for you. And the record of it is here in this book. And I want to turn then to that aspect of it. But there's light in everything that that light reveals.
Is dealt with.
I just want to illustrate a point. It's going to come up in the story we're going to go through.
Some of you know me better than others.
I'm not entirely sure there's a single person in this room that knows me well enough to tell me the address, street address down to the house number where I lived when I was nine years old.
00:30:10
You know the street number of my house, Jonathan.
I'm not sure if my wife does, so I'm not going to put her on the spot.
397 Arden Rd. So who cares?
When I was 9:00-ish years old, in fact might have been 8-8 or nine, I was waiting for the carpool and I was waiting for that carpool so that it could be picked up. The neighbor ladies along with my mom, and it wasn't her day. They traded off and drove us to school in the morning and we walked home and was waiting and.
My friend across the street now nobody knows this name, so you don't know much about me.
I've forgotten more than there is the no, and I never did know some of it, but God knows absolutely everything to the thought, to the motive, to the action, to exactly what happened. And it's recorded before I tell you what I did.
I want to tell you that within, well in the late 1800s, there was a discovery made in Egypt and about central Egypt and the place called perhaps here, some of you are familiar with it. They began to dig up and they dug into the early 1900s about 500,000 documents, papyrus documents. There are documents that were thrown away, tossed on a rubbish heap.
And they were dug up. And in fact, in November of last year they published another volume of them. They have to piece them back together, then they have to transcribe them, then they have to translate them, then they have to check them.
And the process apparently so far has taken around 125 years and it's still ongoing. And they finished about 1 to 2% of that record from the trash heap.
But one of those documents had a record, and that record was of two wrestlers and they're making a contract with one another. They were in a championship, and in that championship they made this contract where one of them agreed to lose to the other one. I guess there was only first prize.
And there was number, second, third, there was number. Honorable mention or thanks for trying. There was one prize. And so they made a contract, and I don't know what all the details were. Their contract of their illegal action went into a trash heap. And now you can read that on the Internet. You can go read the contracts. And it's kind of funny, right? Demetrius agreed that he was going to lose 2. And I can't remember the other guy's name, Antonius or something.
Demetrius agrees. He's going to lose to Antonius. That's kind of funny.
Except it's not. When it's in the presence of a holy God. It might be amusing to us and just in the story sense of it, but the fact is everything's recorded. And on that particular day, you didn't know it. But I went down waiting for the mom to come out and take us in her car, and I decided we should have a snowball fight. So my friend Mickey, he didn't want to have a snowball fight, but I thought he should have a snowball fight. So I started it anyway.
And Mickey didn't throw any snowballs back, so I figured, well, I would aggressively go after the enemy and I did. And I watched his face in the snow.
And Mickey wasn't very happy about it. He went across the street to his house, which was across the street and.
Mickey didn't come to school that day. And I got home. My mother told me Mickey, Mickey's mom called and she described to me what she knew about the incident. And Mickey threw up when he got home, and that's why he couldn't go to school. And we're having hobby class in the basement this week, and you just did in the neighborhood. I don't think she used those words.
But I got the message.
I had to go down to the door and I had to knock on the door and I had to say I'm here to apologize to Mickey and I had to apologize to Mickey.
I remember that because of the consequences, but I've forgotten an awful lot.
There's a person who didn't forget a single thing, and I want to come to the record of that person and he knew everything. And it's in John Chapter 4. And we're going to look a little later in John chapter 19, but in John Chapter 4, I just want to touch a few highlights of this story.
Of the woman with the Lord Jesus men.
00:35:01
Remember He's both light and He's love. So he comes verse 4, John 4, verse 4, you must needs go through Samaria and he cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. He's tired. He sits on the edge of the well. The woman comes out in verse 7, the end of the verse. Jesus saith unto her.
Give me.
To drink, give me to drink.
He asked for a drink from her.
What did he get from her?
To get a string. You know the story speaking. The one on my heart this evening is one who has heard these words before. She left her water pot behind. She left it. He never got his drink from her, but he had something to give to her. And you know what she said? He said, give me the drink. She got his message. She and I might not. But Samaritans, and we're told here so we don't have to be left guessing. Samaritans didn't have dealings with Jews.
Jews didn't have dealings with Samaritans, I should say. They didn't have respect for the Samaritan. And the mere fact that he would speak to her was a message. Isn't that an amazing thing? The mere fact that God loved you so much that he would send a son, that he would give you his word, that he would perhaps give to you parents or friends?
Or someone that would speak to you his word.
The mere fact that he would acknowledge your presence is an amazing thing in itself. It was an amazing thing to her, and so she says.
In verse.
Nine then saith the woman of Sumerian, Them How is it then? How is it that thou being a Jew, ask us, Drink of me, which I'm a woman of Samaria, for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knowest. And I want you to notice two things, and they're precious.
So I want to speak to you now of a God of love, a God that came not to take from you, not to shine his light on you because he wanted to expose you for shame. He wants to shine his light because everything that the light shines on, he wants to take away and give to you a new heart, a new life, a new home, a new relationship, new desires. He wants to give everything. And so here he is. And he says, if thou knewest notice.
Things the gift of God and who it is that saith to thee, Give me the drink. Who and what he's come with a gift and it's a person. If you knew this person, not if you just heard about him, if you know this person, you know that he came to give.
We know people by their actions, we know them by how they act. And here he is. And he said, if you only knew, I'm here to give. And the woman says to him, verse 11, Sir, it was nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From whence then hast thou that living water? She doesn't understand what she wants to know. She asks a question.
And if in your thoughts, if you've grown up and you don't come to this person with questions.
You come to this person with conclusions, you come to the Lord, and you say I've judged you through the other, everyone else, but you don't know Him personally, you haven't been in His presence. In that sense He would take you by His Spirit tonight and say, I'm here, ask me the question. And this woman asked the question, From whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our Father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank there of himself?
And his children and his cattle pause there.
A man in the flesh with only the power.
Of that son of God would have said, Well greater than our Father Jacob.
I made him.
Greater than the well, I created the universe. But he wasn't there to bring before her those answers. He was there to collect a worshiper for his father. And so he doesn't say. I made Jacob, he doesn't say.
I was long before there ever was a will. The fact that there's water is because I created it. He could have said all kinds of things.
But He had a single minded focus and that focus was to bring worshippers for the Father. And He has a single minded focus tonight, if I can put it that way, if I can put those words in His mouth, because I am the Lord, I change not He wants you in His presence forever worshiping together.
00:40:17
Him and to worship the Father.
So when he answers, what does he answer? Verse.
So 13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him. A well of water springing up in everlasting life. At approximately, maybe just a little later than this last night you heard that same verse, and now you're hearing it again.
God wants to give to you.
The spirit and the spirit that's a figure of a spirit that's springing well that will bring what it says springing up into everlasting life. He wants to bring to you life. He wants to give it to you. The woman says to him, verse 15. The woman saith on them, Sir, give me this water that I thirst not neither come hit her to draw.
The light and the love are so beautifully blended in this gospel. So Jesus says verse 16, Go call thy husband and come hit her. Go call thy husband and come hit her.
If a moment ago I had said.
To Jonathan.
Do you know my street address? And he said to me, oh, yes, you lived at 397 Arden Rd. There's a little bit of stone on the front. There's paneling just above that. You walk in the front door just to your left up those stairs. There's a small landing up the next set of stairs. You'll come to the upper floor, turn right and enter the bedroom That's in the right that looks out over the front door. In that bedroom, you'll find a closet. And in that closet, you'll find access to the attic.
That would have been incredibly shocked.
I would have said, what is this person? Who, who? And the woman, the Lord says go call thy husband. She doesn't, he doesn't. She doesn't know yet who this person is. So she's going to answer to paper over. She doesn't know who she's standing in front of, so she's going to paper over it and keep it, you know, keep it comfortable.
And so she papers over and she keeps it comfortable.
And she says the end of verse 17, I have no husband. I'm sorry. A verse started verse 17. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband.
For thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband, and that sets thou truly.
I don't mean to be flip on what I'm about to say, I want you to really consider what this means.
This woman was in the presence of the Lord Jesus. She didn't stop and think, well did I put that on my blog?
Because she knew in her heart, intuitively knew that here's a man that knows me. She didn't sit and argue, and she didn't say, now wait a minute, did you? Were you here before? Did you talk to the neighbors? She didn't start to ask those kinds of questions.
Could she have? Sure. She could have said, I saw your disciples go into the city. Did one of them come back out? I don't know what all she could have said. She could have reasoned is my point. She didn't.
There was. She does, she reasons part way. But I mean, she didn't go back and question the facts she recognized. Now I am in the presence of a person who knows me to the core. And so she responds and that to that person.
She says, Sir, verse 19, I perceive that thou art a prophet. She does make it religious. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain. She seated on site cars. Well, she's between Mount Ebel and Mount Gerizim. On Mount Gerizim there's the Samaritan Temple. That's where the Jews were to pronounce blessings when they entered into the land. She had no access to those blessings. She was a Sinner. She had no access. But she brings it up at least.
In his presence, now that she knows that she's with one who knows her, and I can almost see her seated on the well. I don't know if she did it figured literally, but I believe she doesn't. Figuratively at least. It's as though she points to that Mount Gerizim and says, well, there, there, there. There's the temporal our fathers worshiped there, and that's my place of blessing. No, it wasn't.
00:45:15
He was seated in front of her. Don't turn to anything but this person because he's the one that loves you. Don't turn to any religion. Don't turn to anything else that you can look at. There's a person present this evening by a spirit in his words, speaking to your heart. He's seated next to you, He's speaking to you. He knows everything down to the core. Don't get in an argument. Well, how could he know?
She says.
Speaking just a little further, verse 21 Jesus saith unto a woman, Believe me, the hour cometh.
When you shall neither in this mountain nor yet a Jerusalem worship the Father, you worship. Ye know not what we know, what we worship for salvation as of the Jews. But the hour cometh now He is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
You notice this. The same pattern is followed in the third chapter when her questions get a little in the third chapter. Nicodemus. The less he says, the more the Lord says.
This is the opposite really in this chapter, the more her questions get a little bit more real, the more the Lord says Nicodemus already knew the law, he was a Jew, the less he said the better because that let God speak to him. Here's a woman who's a Samaritan. She didn't know as much, so she converses with him. She interacted. He interacts with her to bring out his heart to her, his heart of love to her, and as he speaks to her, she.
He he opens up, and he gives to her so much more. The woman said unto him, verse 25 I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ. When he has come, He will tell us all things. Jesus saith under eye that speak unto the AM.
I am that one. She leaves, she goes into the city and she says come see a man who told me all things that ever I did. She said come see a man. Where's their light driving her away? The light brought everything out. He knew everything about her. And what does she want? She wants everybody to be with this man.
That's because he's not just light, he's love, and the two are perfect in his person.
If you hide behind the failure of others, you're cutting yourself off from this heart of love. Let's turn to John 19.
John 19.
I'll just ask you to read for yourself. Well, I'll read it.
John 19. I'm going to read from verse.
23.
And the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments and made four parts to every soldier apart, and also his coach. Now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said, Therefore, among themselves, let us not rend it, the cast lots for it whose it shall be, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. This is Psalm 22 That's fulfilled, which saith.
Do they pardon Mike raiment among them? And for my vesture they did cast lots these things, therefore the soldiers did.
And then another beautiful detail is given, and from verse 25 to verse 27, the Lord commends his mother to John, who had spent 3 1/2 years preparing for this job. Fulfill Psalm 22 presents his mother.
To.
Presents his mother to John the disciple that he prepared for this job, and so he passes her on. Then after this verse 28, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saith the Scripture Psalm 69 needed to be fulfilled. Part of it saith Thy thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon hyssop, and put it on his mouth and put it up to his mouth.
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said it is finished.
00:50:04
He bowed his head and gave up the ghost. You know I've learned something from my son.
And that is you watch people, you can learn a lot about them.
It's funny that I had to learn it from him after all those years, but he showed me how when a person reads a menu, you can learn all kinds of things about him. The way a person walks through a room, you can learn all kinds of things about him. The way a person talks and interacts with others, you can learn a lot of things about him. I knew that one. I didn't know a lot of the other ones.
I want you to notice we've just read 3 details.
This man fulfilled Psalm 22. This man took care of his mother. This man fulfilled Psalm 69. And then he says after the three hours of darkness that aren't here in this gospel, it is finished.
Back to central Egypt, in that trash heap in central Egypt, there are all kinds of administrative documents, the kind of papers you throw out. You have to save your, your IRS documents for whatever it is five years or something. And after those five, they just accumulate. And that's why I don't know, because they don't vanish when they should, but after your five years, they can go in the trash heap, right? And into that trash sheep. There were all kinds of tax documents, There were all kinds of paid bills.
Somebody cleaned out their metaphorical filing cabinet. They dumped it in the trash heap. And on those documents, those tax documents and those paid bills, one after the other, on those papyri that have been recovered, are written this word to tell us thy one after another of them has that word written in it. In that same trash dump there are fragments of this word of God.
One of those fragments is John chapter 18.
And 19 and it's written in the Greek and in this verse 30 it says he said, he said to tell us thy that same word. It's finished. It has been finished. The goal has been reached. The job is done. Who wrote, who said those words? It's the one whose love who just finished in the three hours of darkness, paying the full debt to take away.
Everything that is light revealed for me, the full depth of everything that is.
Light revealed for so many more in this room and I just I just love it. It's beautiful because right here. What does he do right before he writes these words in this gospel. He shows you, if I can put it this way without being flipped. He's a detailed person. He takes care of every last thing he sees every last thing he knows every last motive and when that son of God.
Become man went into that darkness.
I want to show you that personal thing from that darkness.
In Psalm 22.
In Psalm 22 you could.
My electronic Bible. You can click on any word and I'll highlight that same word across the page so you can see it easily. If you can do that, try it. Try the word me in this song. Try the word my in the song. This is a deeply personal moment.
If you look, there are four my gods, verse one, Psalm 21, verse one, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me and from the words of my roaring? Oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not, and in the night season, and I'm not silent.
In verse 10 he says, I always cast upon thee from the womb.
God, from my mother's belly, here's that perfect dependent man. And throughout those hours of darkness, when he had laid on him and when he took away sin, when he had laid on him my sins, and when He made propitiation and finished there in a moment, throughout that time, at the end of the time, what does he say? Does he throw any finger? Does He point to anyone else?
He speaks and he doesn't say anything but my.
He says, my God, in those hours of darkness, if I can put it this way.
00:55:04
It's as though.
A God, that's love.
On the light until both were satisfied.
The love and the light were met together there until both were satisfied. God's love can now be satisfied in proclaiming pardon to you, and a debt paid, a work that's finished. And the light was satisfied because nothing was missed, nothing was left behind, nothing was forgotten. Let's finish in first John chapter 4 again.
First John, chapter 4.
Verse 10.
I'll read verse 9 read from verse nine and this was manifested the love of God toward us because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him here in his love. Not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Appreciation means.
God satisfied with what he's done.
And he can look out toward you in satisfaction and say.
Believe on my son and I'll receive you all. My Holiness has been satisfied at that cross.
The work was done by my son so my heart can be expressed to you and I can hold out to you and again quote the words from right at the end last night.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Simple. It's not difficult.
It's not for argument.
The finger that wrote the law is unchanged, but since it's written the law, the hands that were on it have been nailed to a cross, so that God could express to you both his love and his light, and He calls on you to believe the testimony of His Son.
Perhaps it was marred, an expression of your parents, perhaps it was marred and an expression of mine this evening. But the Spirit of God takes His word and presents it with power to you. And if you say no to God's Son, God has nothing better to give you. Say yes to Him.
And simply receive the Son as your Savior.
Hymnsing 2
Faith and Works
Talk—Radu Nicoara
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.
Our brother.
Woods asked me to have a few words of encouragement and he said something to the effect, giving you a background.
And the.
Sure enough, most of you that know me like come from Canada, Romania, came here when I was 11, so we worked a lot of hardships.
Before we have the Lord for help.
I just finished the book of Hebrews and it was very nice. Should be able to go where the past few days and then I finished the book with James.
And there's one verse that living reminded you and reverted me.
James, Chapter 218.
He talks about faith and words.
But the last phrase is, I will show these by faith, by my words.
It was so our God, our Father would be. Thanks for this opportunity.
Should have so many young people.
Here and be able to have the freedom.
To cooperate, proclaim my love to those that have never heard it. But this place hotel that allowed us to be able together the way we do, we ask for the speaker for the clear message.
And the belt is hard, all the young people here.
And the only place.
That's a notes.
And we gotta get off track too much.
The too long but.
I kind of wanted to look.
That the word faith and works. And of course I assume all of you.
Our believers.
And if you're not, I don't know your heart. The Lord Jesus knows your heart.
If you're not a believer.
Just a big.
You can have older, older degrees. You can have gone from a very wealthy family.
In the.
Back in Romania, your grade A would be a number 10.
The five will be a passing and the thwarts have failed.
And before we got saved, before we were saved with just a bunch of zeros, and the Lord is #1.
With the number one and the zero mix and #10 which is a.
So the faith that I was going to talk about tonight is not the saving faith. Very important that you are saved.
The professing faith.
Our faith.
Is professing Christians and peace 1000 words?
They underlined some very important questions.
The secular world.
Looked it up since the definitions.
At what? Google or?
Different.
Definition that the secret world will put out. And it's so sad that they have.
As a result.
Belief without evidence.
Believe without evidence or what? The street people on the street call it blind faith.
All set is that.
I looked up.
And the Romanian translation speaks of unshakable reliance.
She will be left. You can rely on something that is unshakable.
Doesn't.
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Then the word works.
I'll say that it speaks of our testimony.
Or evidence being believers.
What is your words? What is my words?
Matthew 11/3.
Jesus brings out the evidence.
Force me.
John the Baptist is asking.
Art thou he that should come? We live for another. Of course Jesus is not saying of course. I am just bringing up the evidence, remember?
Sexual world. The people that don't know Christ.
They reported faith as you read without evidence, and the Lord Jesus says in verse 4, go and show John again those things which ye do hear and see the blind with either side in the lame water. The lepers are the ones and the dead. Here the dead arrives up and the poor as the gospel preached to them.
And this are all things that were not possible till the Lord came here.
This is the evidence.
Faith works.
March 9/23.
If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believe.
I.
You know, a lot of times we think.
What if I don't have enough faith?
What if I don't understand the word faith to the concept of the principle of what is?
How can I rely on something that I don't understand?
Again, we're not talking about the saving profession.
I have a big note in my paper here.
It's not how much faith you have, but in whom you have it. It's not the amount of faith. Sometimes we think in order to go on for the Lord we have to have a certain amount of faith.
And I'll just share an experience. There's a lot of experiences, but one that recently I went through with and I'm going to call Christopher on the spot with Christopher because I really believe that if exercise me and him at the same time and encourage this.
Almost about a year ago, Christopher was working in Seattle, WA.
And he wanted to come over and move here because we just moved here.
Washington State, my wife and I.
And he said, well, what am I supposed to do there, dad? I don't have a license.
How about you open up your business? Because I was just studying for my test and I got more for you. I'm like, no, no, that can be. You got to come over, take your own test and open your own business at the age of 21. Yeah, that's insane. I can't.
Do that.
What? And he says, which is a logical question. What if I can't do it? And perhaps tonight you're thinking about going into a career or, or a relationship or a job or whatever it might be.
00:10:03
Grown up with my parents, I couldn't work or they work for a little bit till they retire for very low wages. I would go to my mom or dad and they're like bend the knee and pray, rely on the Lord, have faith in the Lord Jesus.
That's all they could do, but that was the best advice they could give me.
That's what I have to share with Christopher because in the end, I could probably help him more than what my friends helped me. But he had his own life that he had to deal with his own path. You know, my, my mom used to say, I can pray for you for this example, this or that job. And ultimately you have to walk with the Lord on your own path. You can't follow me.
With Bible.
And I kind of didn't like that because I had to fully grow my trust in the Lord.
That you have that faith that the Lord will provide. And I believe most of us would rather I look at the way we kind of look at this God's side.
There's the worst I'll handle that I think I can handle the works.
I'll just show up to meeting, I'll make sure I show up to work and I'll just act nice, read my Bible and I'm sick. I don't have to rely too much on the unknown or have to really get on my knees before the Lord. So a lot of us will probably.
For more in the works category, not the same category.
It's a lot easier. You can be speaking. We're more independent and we don't want to be my anybody. But that's not what the Lord wants. He wants you to walk with us and just step away.
And what I was telling Christopher is like, don't worry about it if you don't know what you're doing, I'll be there for you.
And then?
You know what you mean. Might have not liked that answer but at least he has something to fall on. Hey my dad would be on the outcome.
And the first few jobs I had you but.
But it was started because he had to go on an unknown at a young age. And I told him, you know what, you have to trust the Lord and the Lord will help you. You don't know if the Lord Jesus is able to catch you till you jump. And that's the same with us.
With our.
Certain parents.
You know, we think maybe they'll help us out or maybe they'll fail. There's no failure with the Lord Jesus.
And a lot of people might say, oh, you're just crazy. You're buying them. You have that faith in them, in the Lord.
Gibrissions might be just.
You know, back in the communist Romania, they told us poor people because they important jobs. And if you have faith, they'll laugh at you, they'll mock you.
And.
In Romans 10/9.
1St Romans 10, verse 11.
The scripture said whosoever believe on him shall not be a she.
The world would make fun of us.
Because they think we're weak.
That's why we're relying on Christ, Heavenly Father. We don't have what it takes.
00:15:01
With the Lord Jesus the same year.
We should not. We should not be ashamed.
It's very important to have that assurance.
I.
There's an example of a.
A ruler, said ruler.
That is trying to do everything on his own.
With these needs in the Senate rule, we're asking, saying, Master, what should I do? That you inherited eternal life and we know the story.
But it's interesting, how implicit? What should I do? A lot of times it's young people, and I've been there.
And people less, you know.
I don't know what you do when I'm finished with high school.
Or college. And I didn't know what to do either when I finish in high school or college. And I pray and pray and I applied on different jobs and different careers and finally I got in the electrical.
And it was about 2000 applicants. It was about 20 people per spot with a lot of experience. And that was just the guy in high school. I was supposed to be 18 years old. And I went on the interview.
And I was 70 home safety and I had one more month, but that's when the schedule before the interview and they asked me to polarize. Are you 18? No.
But you know the word, the Lord work, and I got fired. I finally got in and He provided for me.
Last holidays asked for the business in local mountain electrical shop and now when Christopher started also him, if he had, if he helped me, he'll help me.
To a child of God and give Heavenly Father as the King.
And you know if.
People might say whatever they might say, and a lot of times we get a lot of opposition, probably even from our relatives, but if you put your faith in the Lord Jesus and God our Father.
It doesn't matter if you have any education. Doesn't matter.
How you look when country marriages, when you have your jobs?
Housing, whatever it may be.
You know the Lord wants to supply all needs.
And he takes pleasure when we rely on it. You know, I never I, I never experience such a great pleasure and rewarding to be able to help out Christopher in this business And and I'm just.
And for me, it's the greatest thing when Christopher asked for help and I helped him out with the knowledge of physical health.
And I was thinking, you know, while I was reading this.
Back to.
18.
It just jumped at me.
Show me your say.
Show me thy faith without thy voice, and I'll show you. I'll show you my faith by my words. That's a testimony in evidence. I will show you how much.
I have my faith in in the Lord that I'm going to grow out and pursue it. Pursue that reliance. If if other kids were supposed to or colleagues of Christopher. Are you crazy to go by and pay so much money in a van and you study and pay so much fun into that so you can open your business at 21 when you don't have the experience necessary. You must be lazy. But you know, for one thing you have no other choice.
And another thing is that.
He put his trust in the Lord, and I really appreciate that because it's a start. You know, we can do anything in life. We can study, we can advertise for a business. And I'm sorry if I actually bring up the business. That's what I do. But let's say I advertise everything and I find the best tools and everything. Ultimately, what makes a customer pick up their phone and call me? You're not.
00:20:12
As the base of God, as the mercy of our Father, He provides. And the sooner you learn this at a young age, the better off you're going to be. I have to learn it from a very young age, when I was 18.
Community 20.
And you know, no matter.
Failures and Satan will constantly try to trip the young believers because in reality.
The novel, the non believers, they're condemned already. So all Satan's efforts is you and us. We're trying to attack the believers and when they're younger, when they're most vulnerable.
So if if there's any encouragement that I can give you in the day that we're living in.
I mean, everything is just upside down.
Well, you don't know which way is North and South. It should rely on fully putting your trust in the Lord, because that's not shape.
Raw and your words will be evidence of your faith and your faith of your words. There is such a thing as men's responsibility. In God's solemnity. We have to do our part, but don't forget.
Full trust in your faith in the Lord every day you start another week today.
And I know, you know, a lot of times as employees, we think, well, the boss is going to give me work and I wonder why I'm going to district the next week. A lot of times I'll tell you that if there's weeks where I start a work week and I have no work for that week, but somehow the Lord provides by the end of the week, come Friday, your needs, how much money you make for the work you put in.
And it's it's God's blessing how he provides. What do we give him the glory for it?
So a lot of times you may think, well, I'm not. I can't really go to my parents because I don't want to be an engineer, I don't want to be a.
Bus driver or truck driver or?
That the Lord wants what you what you want to be at least there to provide them.
So let's let's put our full, confining, unshakable faith in him and then our words, which is our testimony and evidence.
Will follow. I can always share the blessings.
That we've been blessed with, with others. Very important to encourage each other.
Hebrews 12:12-29
Reading
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Lord, now we wait for me to come and take us to Thy Father's home. And what ecstatic choice will be to spend eternity with these?
We also.
Just the first verse of 214.
214 just the first verse.
How blessed is?
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Our.
President.
Just yet in verse 12.
Hebrews 12 and verse 12.
Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way. But let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up, trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. Lest there be any fornicator or propane person, or as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
We know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. We are not come under the mount that which might be touched.
Sorry for your not come under the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor under blackness and darkness and Tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they that heard and treated, that the word should not be spoken to them anymore.
They could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart. And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake.
But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, into innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the first born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling. That speaketh better things than that of Abel. See that you refuse not him that speaketh.
For if they escape not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven? Whose voice then shook the earth? But now he hath promised, saying Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word yet once more signifying the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved.
Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire.
This is the last reading of this time together, and we're not going to be able to get through the chapter at the same pace we've had at the previous ones. And the desire has been expressed that we please try to get to heavenly Jerusalem, which is verse 22. So I think the character of this reading meeting will be in some respects, more of an overview.
That we will be able to get the big picture and the encouragement of what's at the end of the journey, what's going to produce that, the joys that are ahead of us. And when we get to heavenly Jerusalem, we're going to find we're not the only ones that are there.
00:10:04
That is we who are the Church.
There's it's going to be a wonderful large company. And when we get there to the heavenly Jerusalem, we'll find God's people from every generation from Adam onward who will be there collected with us to the honor of the Lord Jesus and the eternal joy which is ahead. And so while we may start in verse 12, we'll hopefully be able to pace ourselves.
In a way that we do have a little view at least of what's ahead at the end of the journey of the race.
I have a question. Our hands are others hands.
That we are to lift up.
That again so well, it says, lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees. Is that speaking to us about lifting up our hands and our feeble needs, or is that?
Others we are to lift up.
Where the answer I would give to that is that we're not in the journey alone.
We're on a journey together.
And at sometimes our hands and our circumstances of life may hang down.
But we're encouraged to help one another in the race, and so when hands hang down or the knees are feeble, we need to be careful that our own walk is such. That will be an encouragement to others and as it says in that verse.
Make straight paths.
For in the next verse, make straight paths for your feet.
And so how I walk is going to be a help or encouragement to you in the walk of faith. And likewise, how you walk is going to be either a help or a discouragement to me in the path of faith. And So what he's saying here is we're on the journey together. We're on the race together.
And how we live it affects one another. And so we have to not only be thoughtful for ourselves.
But we also need to walk in a way that is a help and encouragement to each other.
I wonder if we could maybe see it as a thought of prayer Paul could say to the Son in the faith. Timothy. I would not. Men everywhere lift up holy hands in prayer without fear and doubting. I'm not quoting that exactly right, but we can add in some of the hymns too. We can be intercessors for one another. And isn't it encouraging to hear the prayers of our brother to?
Strengthen.
One another lift one another up.
Of course there's a beautiful picture.
Who are holding up the hands of Moses in the war with Amalek?
I was thinking that, brother, why don't you elaborate a little more how that might apply?
Well, they have elect in the war against the pledge sometimes.
We've gotten easily discouraged.
And don't seem to be able to lift ourselves out of the situation.
And the suggestion is that those that are alongside.
They see that and recognize it can come in and.
Well, help.
Restoration involves more than this interior in your soul being restored, but it involves our whole body. And if we do, and we we've often in the discipline of our children's.
Had to proceed with the discipline until they not only submit, but they do it and willingly.
00:15:07
And.
And serve or become back to their submissive self and working or acting normally.
Job wasn't blessed until he prayed for his friends, and so it must. The peaceable fruit of righteousness is in display in our actions, what we do with our hands.
Commission Area.
Was speaking to Moody.
Students at Moody Bible institute and people who.
Had expressed their desire to go on an emission field themselves and he made a statement, he said.
Often you're going to be alone, and he says never get too tired.
Too hungry?
Are too lonely since those things.
And he used scripture to speak to each one of those things. He said that that's when the enemy can more easily come in. And I was thinking of an example of of lifting up somebody's hands.
Just in life.
When we see someone, a brother, a sister who's becoming overwhelmed me with the just the daily things of life.
Whatever they do and you look and you see and you said you know what, they need help. Not necessarily any advice from Scripture. They just literally need help, somebody to come and help them finish.
The job or do some of the work or help them with the work on their a farmer who's behind in his work, a Carpenter or a busy dad who's trying to, to build a garden shed. And I have things come to mind of people I've known that come alongside somebody who's trying to remodel their bathroom and, and it's been a mess and they're not able to use it and somebody comes and they help them and they get it done.
I don't know how many times someone has been helped in that way where it's had a very meaningful.
Uplift in their life, not only literally that they have got the job done, but if a brother or sister comes alongside and does that, how much that means that communication of love to that person to lift them up in that way.
Sometimes.
Saw the sign language. We look at someone without saying things we can tell. So often the sign of someone who sad or sorrow. We see the eyes look down. When eyes are looking up is often a sign of happiness. Eyes looking down, hands are down, feet are down. As in this case here that's mentioned is the sign of defeat. You can try to lift someone's hands. I'll give you an example.
That is not of any help. When my father-in-law was in his later days in the nursing home, the nursing home tried to do things to to perk up the the patients there so they would have parties and he wanted no part of it. And I can tell we visited one day we didn't know we were halfway through the party and I saw that nurse so energetically try to have him dance like the rest. He just sat there. He wouldn't get up. And she grabbed his hand and he can see that ragged doll as if it were just following the motion, but.
Lifting up his hand, often in the sign of joy.
Didn't help him at all. It has to be inward, doesn't it, as the other day we have a young brother that's focused Sunday school. We see his hands lifted up all the time. Now some people will say well that's not a good thing when you speak well, no, I look at it and say he shows the energy and his joy for the Lord. So sometimes we see that. So we see here. I think we have to connect that with the previous verse. How do you act after correction? Do you look so mopey that?
So defeated at that, as he sets you as if you were.
That you were a street party that's you were laying. Do we act like we're lame because we were corrected? So that's about ourselves as our brother turn out. But let it rather be healed. We need to learn from that and through the grace of God that we should be corrected and move toward more.
00:20:19
As it mentioned in the previous chapter, to show to be particular of the holiness and be able to exhibit the fruit of righteousness, then I believe verse 14 would be.
What? What can we do to help others? How do we do it? Follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. I believe that verse speaks of our outward walk to help others.
Just like to make a suggestion with regards to the comment.
With regards to Moses hands Moses, there is a picture to us of the Lord and His high priestly service and His advocacy. If you look at the portion, only one hand came down.
It says Moses hands were heavy, but when you look at the portion only one hand came down.
And that would suggest to us that the Lord's high priestly service is always available to us. And when there's failure, it's on our part. And I suggest it was the her hand that came down for just that comment in connection with what our bill mentioned. I didn't want to stall us from from going further in the chapter.
The summary of voters.
Need to be that in chapter 10 we read that these believers were.
Enduring a great flight of afflictions, and they had lost their possessions, their goods were spoiled, and so on. And so they are encouraged to look beyond. Lift up, be encouraged, because you have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. Two things.
And then faith is needed. So we have that whole beautiful chapter. And then in chapter 12, how helpful it is as believers to have our difficulties, our our trials that are brought intelligent to us by our father to have context to say, hey, there's a reason behind this. And that's to me, part of what we've just covered last time in chapter 12, how we there's a reason for the chastening.
And it's done intelligently and it's for your blessing. And then verse 12, wherefore. And so the lift up the hand seems to be a quote from back in Job. If you have a cross reference in your Bible, you see that where one of Job's friends said to him, you've lifted up the hands, which hang down, you've strengthened the feeble knees, but now it's coming your way and and you're having a difficulty. That's another subject. But but anyway, I think that's where the quote comes from, which supports the the.
The the interpretation that it's that it's something done to help others in the past, it was very much done, has been reminding us in all these readings that we're in a race, a path, we're moving ahead, we're moving through and and this is part of that. So help your brethren lift up the hands which hang down on the feeble knees and in verse 13, make a path for yourself as a believer that somebody that's not as able as you are.
Can walk it too, you know.
I've done the wrong. I remember when I worked in Colorado and taken taking Southerners on on people from Georgia and taking them on and I thought, well, we need to get so, so far before nightfall and taking them away if they were not up to taking and it. It's been a reminder in my life, Christy, somebody's following us before the days of GPS.
You know, the lights about turn yellow don't press through it. And every you know, it's there's a way to drive away, to walk away, to live our lives that we won't stumble others because yes, we feel weak, but there's others weaker. And I believe that's the force of making straight paths for your feet that you're there, I think is plural for our collective feet so that the weaker ones can walk it too. And the ones that are still that are healing up from various things.
00:25:01
That as they go along, it's it's it's not stressing them that they can heal. And in every assembly we we experience this, we see this. Maybe it's us, maybe it's another. And then of course, verse 14 follow peace again with all it's collective that we press on so.
Hopefully we can press on through this chapter.
The hands and the knees is a quotation from Isaiah 35 and Isaiah. These were Hebrew believers and I'm sure that some of them had Isaiah 35 and recognized it. And it's a picture of our chapter. It's literally.
Parallels what is brought out in the what chapter 12 is about for the believer, but he draws on the knowledge of the Hebrew.
And it takes them on beyond where you can go in chapter 35 because it doesn't take you to heavenly Jerusalem as the journey we are on takes us. But the path itself and the character of the path is brought out in Isaiah 35. Again, we're going to have to stay to the sort of the overview side of things we could spend to the rest of the hour on on Isaiah 35 in contrast to Hebrews 12, but just to pick up a couple of verses to show it and then.
Leave it for your personal enjoyment or meditation if you haven't before done it. Isaiah 35 one the wilderness, the solitary place shall be glad for them and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the Rose. The journey we're on we yesterday or day before were commenting it's through a wilderness, but it also can be a journey that has the refreshment that.
Can be found in the desert and was found for the children of God and so it was for them and yet to encourage them in verse 3, strengthen the weak hands and confirm the feeble knaves how say to them that are of a fearful heart, be strong, fear not. Behold your God will come with vengeance. Even God with a recompense he will come and save you. And so there was that encouragement that we are to give to one another.
Along the way to help one another in that path and we're not I can do it for you brother, but it's be strong fear not for your God will come and it's turning the soul to God that brings them and what does it help another verse five the eyes of the blind shall be opened years of the death shall be unstopped then the lame help that which is.
The next verse you know, the lame be healed, the lame man shall leap as in heart, and the tongue of the dumb shall say, for the wilderness shall waters break forth, and streams in the desert. And so it's a picture of our chapter, and he's drawing from this particular.
Chapter of Isaiah to illustrate what he's saying as to the blind man and so on, we say, oh, if everything's parks, there's no provision, there's no nothing.
But he said, no, it's not that way. The ground will become a pool. The Lord will provide for it, and then verse 8A, highway shall be there. That's what it is. It's a highway that's been provided for us. We're not having to try to struggle to get the end of the race alone or without provision. But God has given us a highway that we want to have straight paths to walk in that highway.
Provided for us and what is that way in our chapter? The way of holiness, Exactly what the chapter is giving to us, that it is the path, the highway our God has provided for us. Is that way of practical?
Walk of holiness, without which we cannot walk in fellowship with God.
And so the unclean shall not pass over it.
But it shall be for those, the wayfaring men, even though fools shall not err therein, even if there's no spiritual intelligence involved. If we walk on the King's Hwy. the provision is made, there is a path that will take one safely. And so it says, though fools shall not air therein, there's protection. No lions shall be there, no ravenous beasts, and so on. And.
00:30:13
Where does it end for them? Verse 10 come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy. And so that's the end of that particular of Isaiah is to Zion in this case. That would be earthly Zion in this chapter, but for us it's heavenly Zion that the end of the journey takes us to.
Suggest to me.
The sense that I lose, I lose the sense that God is forming.
When we lose the sense that God is for us and He's ordering our circumstances for our blessing.
It can have an effect upon our hearts.
And.
Discouragement, disappointment can lead to bitterness. One of the worst roots, one of the worst weeds in the human heart is bitterness. So it's very important that.
We seek to have spiritual intelligence from the Word of God and be able to put our circumstances that we all go through into context that God gives us in His Word.
Think that's pressed in the word of God. Knowledge is not for knowledge sake, but to be fruitful and and to enable me to interpret my circumstances, not the other way around. We go through life just interpreting the word according to our circumstances. We're going to be lost at sea. And so I learned to process the disappointments of my life through the word of God and it helps me continue on in the grace of God.
I worked with a brother years ago when I was first saved and he wasn't a very good Carpenter. He was the boss. And he said, oh, I don't want to use my hammer because I might hit my thumb and, and, and fall from the grace of God. You know, in other words, I might hit my thumb and say a bad word. That's not it. It's to lose the sense in our souls that God is for us. We need that in order to press along. And so you may see someone processing their circumstances in a way that's just pulling them down.
And chronic discouragement can end and can lead to bitterness. And bitterness is a rough, rough weed to pull out of a heart.
I feel that's very helpful, especially considering we've had here in case in the Lord and I feel oftentimes chasing our lives isn't just God blessing. It's for those who might be further down the road or not as far down the road. They would say that. How often have we been in that situation you described in someone that's older that has had that same vacation in their life? They're the ones that come along and can encourage it. And so it's such an encouragement to see right after the chasing is where it says to lift up the hands.
And often times, after we've been chasing in our lives, we see someone else who might need the same help that we receive and so we can pass it along.
That's how we can help to keep others from failing of the grace of God.
Look at what it says there.
321032 Look at what it says there at the end. He endured a great fight of afflictions, partly while she were made a gazing stock, both by reproaches and afflictions.
And partly while you became companions of them that were so used for you had compassion of me and my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that you have in heaven a better and enduring substance. Look at Isn't it important that He was again showing them the end is in view. Don't be discouraged and look at. Cast not away, therefore your confidence, which is.
Great recompense of reward. So naturally speaking, we look at our circumstances and say God is against us, but what he's saying is God is for us. There's an end in view. Don't be discouraged. Cast not a great, not a way there for your confidence which has great recompense of reward for you if needed. Patience that after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.
00:35:26
For yet a little while, and he that shall come, will come, and will not tarry. So it's nice, isn't it, to have the end in view, and to know that God is for us.
One bitter soul.
Can affect.
Many whole group.
And God's desire is that we might be a happy and praising people because of who we are. We belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are part of God's family. God is for us. How can we question this? He's feared not his own Son, but delivered him up for his wall. We think about it and it ought to cause us to rejoice, to realize that God loves you and me to that extent that he would send his own dear Son.
Into this world.
On our behalf in order to accomplish redemption. Well, it just brings to mind Judas Iscariot and how, you know, there was Mary that came and she anointed the feet of the Lord Jesus.
He really meant something to Mary, and she was willing to take a stand.
Knowing that he was about to go into death, he was about to be crucified, and she was willing to show her honor and respect and love for the Lord Jesus by anointing his feet. She had Jesus on her mind. He was everything to her. But what do we find in that incident? Here's Judas Iscariot.
His finding fault with Mary, he says, could not this ointment, it could have been sold for 300 pence and the money given to the poor.
Did Judas care about the poor?
Of course he didn't care about the poor. He didn't care about Jesus, he didn't care about the poor, tells us that he had begged. But you see, here's a soul that's very discontent, unhappy. He's bitter.
And what do we find? I believe it's in Mark's Gospel. It tells us there that they all they murmured at what had been done, so even the rest of the disciples were affected by.
Judas miserable most despicable attitude. It just rubbed off on on the rest.
And sometimes it only takes one, you know, one bad apple can spoil a lot of good apples. And we have to be careful about our attitude.
And I speak to myself, you know, even though I be sing to him, we come here. And I must say, the singing in this conference has been so uplifting. It's I, I don't know if it's the acoustics too, but it's, I think coming out of the hearts of the individuals that are here. You're singing from your heart. And it's more than joyful noise. It's a beautiful melody.
But you know, sometimes you go someplace and somebody is kind of dragging along with him so on, and it seems to affect everybody but.
We got so much to think about, don't we? And I believe that.
Our actions, whether it be in what we do, how we sing, or whatever, it has an effect on others and I really enjoy what's being said about the fact that God is for me.
That's what David said in the Psalms. This I know God is for me, and so if He is for you and me, everything that occurs in your life or mine is designed for our happiness in the end. It's often been said that He has our best interests at heart 24/7.
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So may we keep that in mind and not become discouraged because of the difficulties, the troubles, chastening has to do with troubles, but they're all designed for good. And maybe with the Lord's help, be able to rise above the circumstances, find our joy in Christ. And I believe this can rub off on others as well, but to get unhappy in our souls.
It's a bitterness develops. It's a root that grows and you know, the roots are underground and it can go on for a while before it's perhaps evident, but it tells us here.
Eventually it springs up.
And it comes out and it says here many are defiled. So we have to really be careful about this route.
That we look diligently.
Lest any man fail of the grace of God, we lose sight of the Lord's goodness.
To us.
And we become unhappy and discontent.
Roots could you included that?
Those who've lost a sense of grace, maybe instead of losing fully that God is for them, they've lost a sense of it, or they're adding something to it.
You know, recognizing God's unmerited favor and being able to say that that something's happened and they've, they're adding to that grace plus something, this loss of a sense of grace that people can fall into.
Or maybe even start out with.
It was pretty striking that it says, looking diligently.
We've been in one of the readings going through Galatians, and you see there the effect of a loss of the sense of the grace that saves being, the grace that leads us all in our Christian life. And the Galatians had fallen back into the principle of performance or legality, and the result of it was they weren't helpful, they weren't generous. They were picking at each other. And so the apostle has to say, if he bite and devour one another, seeing that you're not going to.
You're not consumed of one another.
And so they were diligent, but they were diligent at eyeballing one another like Saul, I, David. And an assembly that gets taken over with this legal spirit is a rough place to be. And it's it's, you know, people all kind of socks Does he wear? He's got flip flops on over there or all that kind of stuff.
Is not helpful, but the diligence should be put into place of. How is that brother?
You know, he just lost his job or he just laid off and you just kind of was just laid off. How does he processing that and and those are the kind of things that a father's.
Somebody pointed out recently in Corinthians that Paul had to say you have 10,000 instructors in Christ, but not many fathers and I have begotten you by the gospel and I'm still your father. And some Nick Simon pointed out the other night that instructors is not like a professor. It's a literature. You look it up in your concordance. It's literally a boy mind somebody that takes the kids to school. And so he's taking these high minded Corinthians and saying you're like little, you're like little nanny people like you're a nanny of boys.
Literally in the Greek language. So, so it was a rebuke. And Lord help us to be to have discernment in a way that's helpful for people and not just picking at people. You can read in the book of Leviticus, you have all this description of animals. You see chameleons, you see moles, you see all these animals that just Burrow in the ground. You know, like in Philippians minding earthly things, you see chameleons.
You see lizards, you know, we got lizards around our property there in the hot, hot Texas sun and they go after the ticket things and we, you know, those are pictures for us and, and we need to use the discernment the Lord has given us to be helpful and.
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And grace over and over again is pressed before us because our hearts are naturally legal. Well, that would be a red flag. If someone you previously known seems to be less gracious towards others, there's something going on. If they're losing the ability to be gracious, they're having a problem underneath that. Maybe, as our brother said, has been going on for some time. I don't know where the quote is.
Amongst Mr. Darby's writings, but years ago, someone said that that he he was expressing fear of what he saw coming down the road. And he said when practice declines, practices press when what's needed is grace to be pressed. And that would be the cure. If you notice that if we're going to help somebody, we sense something's going on. Like you said, somebody lost their job, is going through something and we we get maybe they're having trouble processing.
For they need to be.
Lathered with grace.
Themselves and reminded.
And to be treated with grace before anything happens. It becomes a root of bitterness that springs up and troubles many. Because I'm sure.
Those of us who are older have experienced that and our assembly amongst people, we know where that's happened to somebody and you just down the road, you just shake your head at what's become of them.
I.
Pray for Kurt, Tony out and Walla Walla.
He's in a very dark place.
And that's what's happened to him.
And he's not even sure he's saved anymore.
How could that be? How could that be from someone who has so much and known so much to come there? Well, something happened where there's a root of bitterness that has taken him to a place in his own soul where he's in a dark, dark place.
Do I want this year in the King James translation we read lest any man fail of the grace of God and some of you who have the Darby translation will see the word uses slightly different. I'll just read it and I'll make one more reference and let you meditate on that. It says watching, lest there be anyone who now here's the word.
Locks.
The grace of God not fail, but lacks the grace of God. And if you look in the footnote just for property, he stressed, he said the emphasis on the word black is more like it would be in in Ecclesiastes chapter 6 verse, verse one and two. And I'll let you meditate on that. There is an evil which I have seen under the sun and is common among men.
A man to whom God hath given riches.
Wealth and honor, so that he wanted nothing for his soul of all that desireth.
There are parallel lines of truth on the highway. One is holiness and the other is grace. And if one lacks either one, there's going to be difficulty. They have to have both in order to stay on the highway. And so we find a person like Esau.
Who lacks in holiness, but I want to give an example that connects with yesterday of the failure of grace.
And that's Joe, first book of the Bible written takes up a very, very fundamental matter. And it has to do with what we had yesterday of the Lord putting his hand on our lives and admonishing us and teaching us something and probably the number one.
Person that the scriptures have given to us to teach us that lesson is Job. We don't have time to go over the book of Joan, but I'm just going to give a couple of comments about it and it the book starts out with the words there was a man in the land of Oz whose name was Joe. Now listen to how God, not man, but how God characterizes him and you see a picture of holiness and that man was perfect.
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And upright, and one that feared God and eschewed evil. He was a holy man among men, and God put that statement upon him as to what he was.
The root problem in Job was far beneath anything he understood or was aware of, but God saw it and was going to work in his life in the matter of grace.
And so God allows Satan to start to work with him, put his hand on his life.
All ten of his children he loses, all of his property and wealth is gone. And it's just almost immediately before 1 message comes to him, he gets another message and another message and like in the period of a day, he's lost everything.
What's the result?
That holy man God could record of him that in spite of losing everything in a day, none of us have ever experienced anything close to what he lost in a day. It says he sinned not but worship God, an incredible expression of how he was holy.
But then the Lord says to Satan. Now Satan says, But you won't let me touch him.
His body. And so Lord says, OK, you can put your hand on his body and he gets the boils.
And he's miserable when it affects him personally, physically, his own being.
And his wife talks to him and she says.
First, you know.
Just tell God what you think and he somewhat rebukes her.
But underneath the word of God says he sinned, not with his lips.
Descend not powerly he acted just why you should, but inside.
There was a response that was sinful, even though no one else could see it.
And so the whole book goes on to.
Bring him to see the root.
And ultimately Elihu is used of the Lord and says to him, Job, you haven't been speaking right to your friends.
You are standing up to God like you had a right to question what he does.
And so on, but just shorten the comments to the time we have.
The route.
Of bitterness. He was angry. He became bitter.
Don't get better. He did the very thing we have in our chapter. There was bitterness in Job and he spoke with bitterness and he was rebuked in the sense by logging for it.
But as another, as very wisely said in summarizing the whole subject, he said God made Job a holy, righteous man, and Joe took credit for it.
He did not ascribe to God that he was what grace had made him.
And another word for that is pride.
And it's the most difficult perhaps of all routes that easily takes place in every one of our lives, and we're totally unaware of it unless God puts his hand upon our lives in a way that brings out through circumstances and manifests that deep down I'm look at somebody else and I'm kind of glad I'm not like him.
You know, I, I've kind of walked in the right way. Man compares man to himself in a way that he can look at himself as better.
I can be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and look at somebody who's not and think of myself as a little better.
And what's that? That's prime. That's price. And so the grace of God.
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Is that which recognizes that anything that is of God and Christ in me is a work from God. It's not something I produce by my diligence, my faithfulness and my whatever. And it if there is that working in us, then in the root of the matter.
We will find ourselves ultimately if God puts His hand on our lives, finding a response in US, whether vocalized or not. Which is why did God allow this to happen to me?
So they're they're, they're not, unless we have a sense of our own merit.
I cannot be.
I cannot be angry about a situation in my soul if I have a sense that I don't deserve anything to begin with.
But when I.
When I entertain.
Any thought that I deserve something, that's when I become bitter, when that which I deserve doesn't happen.
Then it produces bitterness. But the root of the reason why the bitterness is there is because there is merit present. I feel that I deserve something because I have lived up to a certain standard. I have I have produced something.
That God needs to recognize, and that is not the principle of Christianity.
Principle of Christianity is God's giving everything. Everything that we enjoy is because of who God is. It has nothing to do with what we have produced. So there cannot be bitterness if there's not a sense of the fact that we deserve something because of our own area or that we didn't get something.
Or we've got something we think we don't deserve.
The other side of that.
I find a problem.
I don't even realize I have that root of bitterness or anger within me until certain certain circumstances arise and those anger comes out. I remember story an older brother told. He said this young man came to him and they were talking about this subject and they said I've learned. I learned to just not letting anything bother me. There is no root of bitterness. There's nothing.
And this brother picked up the glass of water that happened to be on the table and he splashed it right on his face. And this young man got up and said, and this I just want to prove a point that we don't even know our own heart. That you laugh at that. I look across the room that many of you who are driving.
I don't know about you. I get very angry when somebody cut me off. Where did that come from? And I believe the sisters included. Now, yes, we are a little bit better. We yell and scream with the windows up, where some people will do that with the windows down. But it showed what's in our heart and we have to acknowledge that before the Lord too.
Just a preview of becoming attractions the fullest through the last 25 minutes.
Verses 16 and 17 esau was so consumed with his stomach, the immediate things of this life that.
That he gave up what he had ahead. And so verses 18 through 21, what was in the past, the law is brought out 18 to 21 or first two. And the law was given at Mount Sinai. So there's the law of the past and then in verses 22.
Through 24, it's contrasted with Mount Zion, which represents grace. And then verses 22 to 24, there are 8 beautiful things that will enjoy here at the end of the meeting. And there's eight beautiful things that it says here come unto. They're all things that chronologically lie in the future for us. But our forerunners already there, the object of our faith is finished, that race of faith. So if our heart and our object is there, we're come to them by faith now.
Even though chronologically those eight things lie ahead. And then verses 25 to 29 give us an exhortation as we come to the end of this doctrinal part of the book, to go in and recognize the character of our God and fully take advantage of all that grace that's that's held out to us to go all the way through to the conclusion of the journey.
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Can't take us.
Man in responsibility can't get himself to that place of permanent.
And happy joy.
All the law was was a schoolmaster to teach us.
And when man is under the principle of law with God, there's always going to be fear.
And there will be fear as well if there is a lack of grace in us both as to walking under law, Job admitted later in his laments. He said I was afraid of what might happen.
And to me, and now it's happened. And so there is always that lingering sense in the soul that's not established in the relationship with God as to where the end of the journey is going to take them. They can go along the way with.
Inside unstable fear of what might happen.
Rather than the confidence that the God of grace is in control of every circumstance of the life. And so here it was under law. Man did not have the revelation of the true heart of God. He didn't know God is a God of grace. God was gracious.
In practice with the children of Israel all the way through the wilderness.
He showed him over and over again His grace, but they didn't know him in that relationship.
They saw more of His Majesty and they were afraid. They Moses, you go talk to God, but we don't want to get near Aaron when you have to go into the Tabernacle, into that place of darkness once a year.
He was airing himself who went in, was afraid he might not come out alive.
Showing that the way into the holiness and presence of God had not been opened yet. But as it says, we're come to Mount Zion. We're come to the very home of grace. We're come to that place that God purposed for us before he created the world. And he wants us to have the anticipation, as just said, of the joy of being there with him.
Lord, and with all those that likewise are gathered there along with us.
And it will be for every single soul that is there, the result not of law, not of being a good person. Every single soul will be there as a result of the work of the grace of God.
Wide mouths not having considered erase the picture of grace, why is Mount Zion consider a picture of brace?
Why is Mount Zion considered a picture of grace?
It's gonna have to fail after the priesthood, Shiloh, the tabernacles that Shiloh and God called David to institute the Kingdom and to establish Mount Zion right beside the temple, and it was a fortress and so the Zion.
Was an emblem of God's grace in reviving Israel under new principles where they had failed.
And so three figures, the Millennium as well, the new principal under which Israel could be gathered and be brought into a happy relationship with Jehovah. And it will happen.
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The children of Israel be the center of government on the earth, and Zion will be the center of the whole world.
Jerusalem will be the center of government of the whole world, and there will be peace.
That will.
Be here.
But it's then goes on for us to beyond earthly Zion, takes us in our expectation to the heavenly Zion.
And ultimately even the earthly Zion and the whole order of things will be replaced by the new creation. And only when sin. There will still be sin in the Millennium, even though it'll be a time of righteous government and grace. Then there will be when the shaking is all done. That's described in the end of the chapter, when that shaking is finished.
There will be a new creation, that in which righteousness dwells and God rests in His love, and nothing will ever be shaken again.
Played on nicely in some 132.
Well sounds good in that connection, but says in verse 11.
So I'm 132 eleven.
The Lord has sworn in truth unto David. He will not turn from it. So this is something dependent on what God said again on performance.
Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. And so in that coming day there will be, of course, there's the Messiah, the great David's greater son, the root and offspring of David. But there also be a Prince of the family of David on the throne and the millennial day. And it says in verse 13, For the Lord hath chosen not Sinai.
But Zion, he has desired it for his habitation.
They have to fight really hard to get that. David had to fight really hard to get that fortress.
The enemy.
Would seek to hinder us from laying hold of grace. He would point us to going back to law or going back to your own righteousness is the best standing.
Well, it's a wonderful thing to be free from that or beyond that and.
Stand on the goodness of the grace of God that gives us a platform because of Christ that's eternal secure.
Lord Jesus had to fight really hard for us.
To secure for us that which is ahead.
Oh God, City.
The city of the living God.
Cities are where people come together to live together, to share together.
Enjoy common things and God has purpose that will be part of that that we will be You live in your home, your town, I live in mine and so on here but we look forward to that time when there won't be any. This is the last meeting and we'll all get on the road and go somewhere but when we come to the.
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Arrest above.
We go in to go out no more and so we look forward to that and when we are there.
It's going to be a place of innumerable company of angels to share in the enjoyment of it, to minister to the needs of those who are present.
And so on. It'll be a general assembling the children of Israel once a year came to Jerusalem.
Are actually 3 * a year they but they would come to Jerusalem and assemble there for the one of the important times was the keeping of the Passover and they assembled. But then when it was done, they went home. They went back to where they came from. But this assembly will be brought together and remain together. That's home. It's home for each and for all.
And the enjoyment of it will be persistent. It's.
Includes the Church of the first born. That's where you and I fit in to the collection. We're part of the Church of the first born, the preeminent one, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's his church, it's God's church, and it the first one of first place in it is the sun.
Of the Lord Jesus Christ.
When it says.
Also.
The spirits of just men made perfect. That includes all the Saints of God, those who have their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ from Adam onward, who are not part of the church. They many of them will be there and they won't even have known the name of Jesus, but they had faith in the revelation that God gave to them and so.
The work of Christ was applied to them. They died and passed on from this earth. And yet when that day comes, they'll be gathered up and be part of the General Assembly of those who.
Enjoy forever.
Heavenly Jerusalem, that which God has brought them into.
Why does it say the spirits of justice are made perfect?
At the end of Chapter 11, they're not yet made perfect because God has provided some better thing for us.
But it seems like by the time we get there they will be resurrected. But it says the spirits of just man made perfect.
Have an Antigua for suggestion in the new translation. Man is in bracket so we could read it. Actually it says and to the and the word there is in bracket too, so it's true spirit of just made perfect.