Kentucky YP Camp: 2017
Table of Contents
The Word of God Part 1
Address—Jim Hyland
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.
Nsnoise.
Nsnoise.
Nsnoise.
Garcanter.
That was a thrilled to hear the young brothers pray, and I know it was a thrill to the heart of the Lord Jesus.
So thank you very much.
We're going to, in these talks we share together this weekend, take up the importance of God's Word in a very practical way in our lives. We'll give it a little outline of what the Word of God presents, but I want to present it as to how the Word of God applies to every aspect of our Christian life. I appreciated some of the prayers in connection with the Bereans and how they studied the Word of God, read the Word of God, and searched it out for themselves.
And so on. And so we're going to take it up in a very, very, I trust, practical way. And what I want to impress upon our souls this weekend is the importance of God's Word in our in our lives. It's a vital part of our life. And if there's going to be Christian growth and fruit in our lives as believers, we must read God's Word. God has given it to us. God has preserved it for us, and we need to open it and we need to read it. We need to value it.
So we're going to begin then in.
Second Timothy Chapter 3.
One time before a young people's meeting at a conference, I asked an older brother. I said, what do young people need today? And he said to me they need to read their Bibles. And that's true for all of us, young and old. We need to read our Bibles. But even more than that, it's not just casual reading of the word of God that's important, but we're going to notice how we need to really take it in, digestive meditate on it, and quite a number of things I hope we can cover.
In these talks together, but let me begin in Second Timothy chapter 3.
And verse 15.
And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, or in other words, the word of God, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Now we're gonna stop there for now, because what I want to impress upon us first of all is.
That it is the word of God that shows us the way of salvation. You know, none of us in this room would know how to be saved if it wasn't for the word of God. Before I comment further on that, Timothy was a young man who had got saved and he was serving the Lord with the apostle Paul and so on. And we're going to notice some other things about Timothy in connection with the word of God later. But.
Paul is reminding Timothy here in this epistle that Timothy had had the privilege of knowing the word of God, hearing the word of God from the very early days of his youth. Now, of course, it was the Old Testament Scriptures that he would have heard when he was young, when he was a child, because the New Testament hadn't been written yet, and so it was the Old Testament Scriptures. Now I realized that I look into the faces of some here today.
00:05:21
Who were not brought up in Christian homes. And you didn't hear the word of God from the time you were a young child. And the Lord has worked in some way. You heard the word of God, You've gotten saved, and we're thankful that you're here to further go over the word of God this weekend. But I also realized that many of us, like myself, have heard the word of God from the time we were very young children. I don't remember the first time that I heard the word of God read either in the home or the first time I came to meeting.
Because from the time I was adopted by my parents at two years of age, I was exposed to the word of God both around the dinner table and brought to the meetings and Sunday school and so on, and it's a great privilege. I'm thankful that I look back and I didn't always appreciate Dad or Mom opening the Bible twice a day in the home. I didn't always appreciate being brought to Bible meetings, but I look back and I'm thankful for parents who were consistent and persistent in bringing the word of God.
Before us, and I want to encourage you, I know sometimes when even as young people we don't always appreciate the godly heritage we have and being brought to the meetings and hearing the word of God at home. But Timothy was told to remember that time and to value it, and I hope everyone of us learn to value it. I wish that when I was a teenager I would have appreciated it, valued it more and availed myself of it.
Now what? The reason I began with this scripture is because as it says here.
It was the word of God that made Timothy wise as to the way of salvation. I appreciate it again, some of the prayers in connection with perhaps the fact that there's someone here who doesn't know the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior. Maybe even someone who, like Timothy, has heard the word of God from the time that they were children. If there's someone here like that I want to encourage, you know, I want to do more than that. I want to plead with you.
To get saved right now. Because we do not know even if this day or this camp is going to conclude before the Lord Jesus comes. Not only that, we don't know when we're going to draw that last breath and we're going to be taken into eternity. And as you have heard in the gospel many times after we leave this world, whether it's in death or through the coming of the Lord Jesus.
There is going to be no more opportunity.
To get saved, you know, very solemn to me. It's a little aside from our talk, but it's very solemn to me to realize that in the days of Elijah, when he was caught away to heaven, and it's a little picture in the Old Testament of the Rapture, when he was caught away to heaven, it wasn't the general populace in Israel that missed Elijah. It tells us that the ones who missed Elijah were the sons of the prophets. They've often thought of that in application to us.
Because I believe if the Lord comes today, those who really initially miss us will be the sons and daughters of Christian parents. It will be those who have heard the way of salvation from the days of their youth, those that have sat in camps and conferences and meetings like this. If the Lord comes before this meeting concludes this morning and you look around and most, if not all of everyone else is gone, you will realize what has happened.
And you will also realize, I believe, that it is too late to get saved. So it's the the word of God that shows us or makes us wise unto salvation. You know, I've heard stories, and probably most of us have here too, of people who have got a hold of the word of God or a portion of the word of God, read it for themselves without anybody to explain it or give exposition. And they have gotten saved as a result. Because the Word of God makes it plain. It tells us that the Word of God is so plain.
That a wayfaring man, though a fool, may not err therein. Anybody who has ever heard the word of God has no excuse for not getting saved, and you will have no excuse if you're not saved and you leave this world in death. O the Lord Jesus comes and the believers go. You will have no excuse to give to God, or even a good reason to give to God or to the Lord Jesus. As to why you didn't get saved when you had opportunity. Now I want to read on to the next verse in our chapter.
00:10:18
Verse 16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable.
For doctrine. For reproof, for correction. For instruction in righteousness. Now the last part of this verse we're going to take up a little bit later, but what I want to again point out and make it very clear is that the word of God is inspired. Now before I explain that, let's go to another verse or two in Second Peter.
Second Peter chapter one.
And verse 20.
Second Peter, chapter one and verse 20. Knowing this that the that no prophecy of the scriptures is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old times by the will of man, but holy man of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. You know we talk about something being inspired. Sometimes we sing a hymn that we particularly enjoy and we say, oh that was inspiring or that was inspired. Now I understand what we mean when we use that word.
But in the scriptural context, there is only one thing that is inspired, and that is God's Word, and the verse we read in Second Peter explains to us what inspiration really is. The people that God used to write His word didn't just write their own opinions or thoughts or observations. They wrote exactly what they were told by the Spirit of God.
Now I'm gonna give you a little illustration. No doubt some of you have heard me use this before. It's a very simple illustration, but it helps me at least to understand what it is, to what what it it means when it says the word of God is inspired that all scripture is given by inspiration or is inspired Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. When my girls were little and learning to write, sometimes they would take a pencil in their hand.
And then I would put my hand over there and I would guide them as they wrote their name or something else, some words. And after they had written it, they would hold up the sheet and perhaps say to their mother, look what I have written now, who really wrote it? They held the pencil in their hand. But who really wrote what ended up on the sheet? I was the one that guided the pencil and formed the letters and the words.
And maybe that's a little simple illustration of what it means to be in to be inspired.
It's interesting how many writers, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament wrote things that they didn't observe themselves. For instance, when Moses wrote the book of Genesis, Moses wasn't around for that. Moses didn't come on the scene till later, but Moses is used to pen the book of Genesis. And great details about creation, about the fall of man, about different.
Individuals.
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob the patriarchs the story of Joseph and so on. Who could have written such a thing if it wasn't by inspiration? And you know, some of those men that wrote those things, like Moses, they must have really wondered what they wrote. Can this really be what? What? What Is this really the truth? But I suggest that they must have had a sense that they were writing under the direction and control of God in the power of the Holy Spirit.
And so Moses wrote the book of Genesis. Then you take somebody like Jonah.
Imagine Jonah writing about himself the way he did. You know, if you and I were going to write our autobiography or about some incident in our lives, we wouldn't write so detailed about our failures, about running away from the Lord and going down in a ship and going to sleep and being tossed over and and so on. Jonah wrote that by divine inspiration. And so many of the writers write not only about their successes spiritually and how they followed the Lord and the Lord's dealings with them in that way.
00:15:01
But so many of the writers write about their faults and failures as well, because they were writing under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Just to come over to the New Testament for a moment, you know Mark and Luke, two of the evangelists, 2 of the gospel writers, they were not observers of the Lord's life here in this world now Matthew and John were. And you can say I could understand how they could write various incidents.
In the life of the Lord Jesus. But we find that Mark and Luke, they were not ones who followed the Lord. And yet Mark is the one that writes the most details as to activity. He he he writes about what the Lord Jesus did, and Mark takes us from one busy activity to the other, and so on. I wonder what this point to stress that the four evangelist writers, the four gospel writers, they were not reporters.
I say that because I've sometimes heard it said, well, they they observe the Lord Jesus, and it's like reporters going out. And if you read USA TODAY and the Wall Street Journal or some local newspaper, the New York Times, you're gonna get a different view, different opinions, different aspects of the same event. That is not what the the gospel writers did. As I say, two of them didn't even observe the Lord in his life and the other two certainly didn't write their opinions.
Now I just want to very, very quickly we're not going to really speak much about this ha, green hand out you have. But I just want to very quickly go over, while we're on this subject, the four Gospels And remember young people that every writer has a theme and it's helpful when you go through the word of God, whether it's the gospel writers, the Old Testament writers, the epistles and so on. It's helpful to just have some.
Idea of how they are presenting things. And I wanna give you just an A quick outline of the Gospels and you can study this for yourself. Because in Second Timothy chapter one, verse 13, as it has on the heading of your sheet here we find here that he says have an outline of sound words, which words thou has heard of me in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. That's the J&D translation. It is important young people.
To develop and have an understanding of an outline of the word of God.
Again, what each writer presents the various aspects. I know we can spend our whole life on scripture and we'll still only have an outline, but it's not hard to just have some idea sometimes just a key verse or a key phrase so that you keep what they are writing in their context. So we have Matthew. Matthew presents to us, Christ as the King of the Jews, Israel's Messiah, And I've given you a key verse. I won't take time to read it, but I've given you a key verse.
To understanding the book of Matthew. It was written by one of the 12 who accompanied with the Lord doing during his public ministry. In Luke's gospel, he's referred to as Levi, same person a Matthew. Now one thing that's helpful in taking up Matthew, it's the gospel that's most Jewish in its character. There are things that are unique to Matthew as I've got here. It's got the most Old Testament quotes of any gospel.
Somewhere around 80 times it quotes from the Old Testament. The term Kingdom of Heaven appears 32 Times and it is the only gospel in which the expression is used.
We have the genealogy from Abraham through Joseph, the husband of Mary. This is his official genealogy according to Jewish reckoning, and that's why it's presented in that way. Matthew traces his descent from Abraham, the depository of promise and David the depository of royalty, the only gospel that introduces the subject of the church. I think that's very interesting. You'd think it would be John's Gospel or one of the other gospels that would present the go, the truth of the church.
But twice in Matthew, in the 16th chapter on this rock I will build my church. And in the 18th chapter, instruction to go on in the local assembly. It's the only gospel that presents that showing that Judaism was going to be set aside and Christianity, the church period, was going to be introduced. It's the gospel that's most dispensational in its character. Now what I mean by that is it's the gospel that the stories present a dispensational outline. I I don't have time to go into that, but young people, let me just say this.
00:20:12
That I believe there is a great deal of the work of the enemy in Christian circles, even I dare say Fundamental Christianity Today, to set aside the dispensation, the dispensational character of the Scripture. And what I mean by that is God has, through his dealings with man, dealt with man in different ways, from Adam right through to the Kingdom. There's different ways that he's dealt with man at the beginning of a dispensation.
He gives light and responsibility as to the light he gives at the end of the dispensation. He brings in judgment when there's failure to act on that light, when there's ruin. And then he introduces something brand new. And remember, you and I today are not under covenant. The Church is never under covenant. The Bride of Christ is not under covenant. Covenant theology is what the Church fathers taught, and it's been revived again.
And the church fathers didn't understand the difference between God's feelings in different ways. In the Old Testament, the difference between Israel and the church, and so on. And we don't have time to go into that. Then we find Mark's Gospel. Mark presents Christ as the perfect servant. And I've given you a couple of verses to that are to me, at least to me, keys to understanding GOS The Gospel of Mark. It's written by the Lord's failing servant, John Mark, who was later restored.
And he was not an apostle or an eyewitness of the Lord's ministry. It begins with his baptism, temptation in public ministry. The reason there's no genealogy in Mark's Gospel is because back in ancient times it was not important or necessary for a servant to be able to declare his genealogy, and so it's omitted in Mark's Gospel in keeping with the character in which the Lord is presented.
It presents one busy activity after another. They go from from healing to feeding to the multitudes, and they he uses words like immediately and Anon and forthwith. Just one activity, as it says, they didn't even have so much time as even to eat. It's the shortest of the four gospels. But as I said, it gives more detail than as to his service and activity and as to historically events.
Than any other gospel. It is the most the gospel that's most chronological.
And it's uh uh presentation as well. Loop presents to us Christ as the perfect man, or the Son of Man. On the other side of your sheet. It was written by a Gentile referred to as the beloved Physician. And who better to write details about the Lord Jesus as a man than the Physician one who understood, uh, those those uh things. And so, uh, he introduces us his He introduces his genealogy through Mary.
Notice it's different here than than Matthew's Gospel is through Mary to show that he was truly a man because it was. He was conceived of the Holy Ghost, a begotten of the Holy Ghost, and he was conceived by a by a virgin. The man begets of the woman can see just the the spirit of God guarding his his deity. Luke traces him fro up to Adam and to God, for his is simply his manhood. That is the point. And so on.
It presents an order of moral principles rather than an direct and exact order of events. And so, as I've listed here, it's the gospel that's least chronological in its presentation. Sometimes people have been confused by reading Luke and saying, well, that's not the way it's presented in Mark or even MA Matthew. What's What's the deal here? Luke is presenting moral principles rather than a, uh, chronological outline John presents to us.
The Son of God as the Word. And I've given a key verse. It's written by the Apostle who calls himself the disciple who Jesus loves. There's no mention of his birth or his genealogy here again because.
He's the ever existing one. He's the eternal word here. He's the one from the past eternity.
Uh, God has no, again, no genealogy. God is his father. He's presented as the I am, and I've given some a list of some of them.
00:25:00
Uh, eternal life is presented to us in John like in no other uh gospel, no record of his ascension as the omnipresent one. He was in heaven and on earth at the same time. And you can notice the verse that that I've listed there that gives that uh that true. It's the most doctrinal and it's in of the four gospels. There's more doctrine in John's gospel than any other of the doctrine of the gospels. For instance, you have the chapters of the upper room ministry.
From 13 to the end of 16, where the Lord Jesus is expounding truth in connection with his leaving the disciples and uh the seeds of Christianity are sown there as well. And what would characterize them after uh the Lord was was gone back to heaven and the Christian era began. Then I've just listed a couple of verses as to the purpose of the gospel. 1 is that uh as John records that you might believe and so again if there's someone here and you haven't put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus.
These things are recorded that you might believe and it's also given as say a pattern for our life. So the life of the Lord Jesus here, he's left us an example that we should follow in his steps. I trust you'll go over that and study it. Look up some of the scriptures and so on. So we have the the word of God, it's inspired. We've established that the.
The.
Go uh, gospel that. We've given some examples as to uh, those who have written it. Uh, the word of God. Uh, we've gone over the gospel writers. Now I want to develop this a little bit by going to first Peter chapter one. We've spoken of its inspiration. Now I want to speak of it as a living book. That's the next heading uh, that we'll take up these verses under. So first Peter, chapter one.
And verse 23.
Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. For all fleshes as grass and all the glory of man as the flower of grass, the grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth forever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Now just hold your finger here. We'll come back. Let's follow this up with a few verses in John 3.
John's Gospel chapter 3.
John's Gospel chapter 3 and verse 4.
Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, ye cannot enter the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Marvel not that I say unto thee, you must be born again. I do want to read one more verse before we make some comments in Hebrews chapter 4.
And verse 12.
Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12.
For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and is a is a desert and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. So I believe these verses bring before us the fact that the word of God is not only inspired, but it is living now, young people, the book we have before us today.
Is the only book in this world that's living every other book. And some of you study pretty hard at school and have very intense curriculum, and you have some pretty thick books and some pretty deep books on science and other subjects. But every book written by man, no matter how deep and profound it is, with event, with study, it can eventually be exhausted.
00:30:02
But not the word of God. You can read the word of God for 100 years, and you will never exhaust the word of God, and you'll always find that there is something fresh brought before you. And so we find here that Peter first of all says, being born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible by the word of God that liveth and abideth forever every person here today who's saved.
And every person who has ever been saved, it's the result of having read or heard the word of God in some way. It is the Word of God taken and applied in the power of the Spirit that God uses to impart divine life to us. When we got saved, we got a new life, the very life of Christ. And this is what the Lord Jesus was trying to explain to.
Nicodemus that night that Nicodemus stayed up.
And talk to the Lord. You know, Nicodemus had some questions. And the Lord had to say to him, you're a teacher in Israel and you don't know these things. Why did the Lord say that? Because actually in the Old Testament it's brought out if we he, if Nicodemus, being a ruler of the Jews, had been reading the Old Testament with the prayerful exercise He should have, he would have understood what the Lord was talking about, because in Ezekiel, in different places.
It talks about giving a new heart, and I know it's a little different application in the Old Testament, but the Lord was applying what you have in Ezekiel as to getting a new heart. It's Israel and it's a National Heart transplant for them in that day. But the Lord was applying it to us as individuals. Now, I don't say this to be critical and I don't have any problem with making the gospel as plain and simple as we can, but you know, I never say in the gospel, give your heart or your life to Jesus.
Because what God wants to do is give us a new heart and a new life. Now, after we're saved, we should give our heart and our life to the Lord. Jesus, my son, give me thine heart. And we need to dedicate our life to the Lord and to his service and for his glory and so on. But God wants to first of all in the power of the Spirit, the living word. Through the power of the Spirit, He wants to give us a new heart and a new life. Again, I'm not criticizing and I'll sing the little songs about giving your heart to the Lord. And so.
Not a problem, but I think it's good to just differentiate these things as we go through the word of God. So the word of God lives and it abides forever. We'll talk about that under the that last part, under the next heading. We read in Hebrews chapter 4 as well, that there he speaks of it again. The word of God is living and powerful. Quick is just an old English word for living. Again, the word of God is living.
And it is powerful. And what does it do? Well, we read there that it it's sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of Thunder of soul and spirit. In other words, it differ when we read the word of God in the power of the Spirit. It differentiates between that which is natural and that which is spiritual. And I think that's important when we go through scripture because.
There's plenty of the word of God that deals with natural things. And there are natural tendencies with us, natural bents to our nature. There are natural relationships. Marriage is a natural relationship. A per the couple who gets married, their heirs together, the grace of life, that's this life here. It's not a spiritual tie. Marriage and the Lord is is what we desire and what is scriptural. But marriage is not a spiritual tie. It's for this life. It's natural.
Because marriage isn't going to exist in heaven in the same way that it does now. It's going to be nothing to detract from Christ and the bride. That's the paramount relationship. When we get home to heaven. Then there are those spiritual things and the the word of God of course takes up those things. So it's good to discern and rightly divide the word of truth in in that way. And then it says it is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. It's interesting that the word discern here.
Actually, in the orig. In the original comes from the word critic or to criticize. Never come to the word of God with the thought of being critical of the scripture or criticizing the word of God. So they talk about critics and there have been tons of books written over the over time where people are criticizing the word of God. You'll never get a blessing from the word of God unless you let the word of God criticize you.
00:35:20
That's what the word of God does in the power of the Spirit. Don't be like a brother who once said, well, when I read the word of God, there's some shots I let go over my shoulder. Now let those shots go right to our heart and our conscience. And don't I say again, don't come to the word of God with a critical attitude. Come willing to let the word of God criticize you. And we're gonna speak of some other aspects in that connection later on as well. Well, we find we found where we read in First Peter.
That there's another aspect to the word of God and that is it's enduring. So it's inspired, it's living and it's enduring and so the grass with Withers the flower face. But the word of our God endures or stands forever. It's really a quote from the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 40. When it speaks about grass and the flowers in scripture, it's often Speaking of man in his pride putting on an outward display.
You know, the grass comes up and uh, we run over it with the lawn mower and we cut it down. And so that it's an it's an apartment description of man and his pride. It's like Nebuchadnezzar in the Old Testament. It's not this great Babylon that I have built. The Lord brought him down in one hour, it says. And so in contrast to that, the word of our God, it endures forever. You know, men have tried over the centuries to get rid of the word of God, to eradicate it from this world.
And we know stories about in Europe, how they, uh, went into the homes and the villages and cities and they would try to confiscate all the Bibles they could. They'd often bring them to the town square and they would have a public burning of the word of God. They tried to root it out and get rid of it. You know, they'll never be able to do it. You know why? Because the originals in heaven and actually the the only original there is, you know, we talk about in the original it says this and that, but.
Actually the only original is in heaven, but we can go back to the best manuscripts and and so on. So the word of God endures. Now in that connection I want to read a verse in Psalm 119.
So I'm 119.
And we're gonna read several verses here, but first of all in uh verse 89. So I'm 119 verse 89.
Forever, O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. But we've just spoken of this, the originals in heaven. But I want to stress that the word of God that we have in our hands today does not change. You know, when I was growing up, we read Hardy Boy books and my sister I think read Nancy Drew and maybe some of my siblings read The Bobbsey Twins and they were series of books that were available.
Uh, when we were growing up, just kids books, mystery stories and so on. But you know what's interesting? Those books have been reprinted three or four times over the last 60 years, and every time they reprint the series, they updated. You know, when I read the Hardy Boy books, they didn't have cell phones. They talked about walkie talkies. They were the they were before cell phones and and different things that they had. And they've updated those series of books to appeal to the next generation.
But the Word of God never needs to be modernized. It never needs to be updated. The Word of God fits what is happening today. In fact, it's more up to date than the daily newspaper. Just drop down in the same Psalm and we'll notice that confirmed in verse 98.
Thou through thy commandments, hast made me wiser than mine enemies, for they are ever they are ever with me.
I have more understanding than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients because I keep thy precepts. The Psalmist, when he wrote this was really saying I in our language. I have more understanding about what's going on in this world and God's purposes for this earth and for man then all the wise worldly statesman and people that study these things from a natural standpoint.
00:40:13
And I believe today, young people, that the Christian who reads their Bible has more understanding about what's going on today in the world.
And the course that things are on, then all the people in political office or all the people that are trying to figure out where this world is headed, You know, I spend a great deal of time in the business lounges of the air airports around this world. And when you're in those business lounges, you are rubbing shoulders with the top echelon of the political and corporate world. And I watch people because usually on one end of the business lounge is a large flat screen television with CNN.
And depending what country you're in, there's another one on the other end of the lounge with CBC if it's Canada or BBC if it's Britain or whatever. And 24 hours a day the news is being.
Being sounded out. And I watch people these these are the intelligent people of the world, These are the top people of the world. And I watch them as they look at the news and the fear in their eyes.
Men's hearts failing them for fear and I listen to them as they turn away and shake their heads and say where is it all going to end?
You know, they realize they're dealing with an interplay of economic and social and political forces.
That are beyond their control and now it's not when is the elastic gonna what is the elastic gonna snap but when is it going to snap. And yes they don't have the answers but you and I if we're reading and studying the word of God we have all the answers this is the answer book and so the psalmist here he said I've got more understanding than all the wise of the of the world because I read and.
And keep your word. Give you another little example as to how up to date the, uh, word of God is. When I was growing up there was a large bookshelf in my parents hallway going down to the bedrooms and in that on that bookshelf were lots of different kinds of books. But up at the top by the ceiling there was a row of old school books that my parents had studied when they went to school and sometimes on a snowy evening or rainy afternoon.
My siblings and I would get those books down and we would look at them as we used to say, just for a laugh, because we would say, wow, we've left those things behind, behind long ago. And you young people, if I were to bring out some of the old school books that I studied when I went to school, you'd say, well, Jim, where did you come from? Those things that those things are no longer taught. Men have changed their opinions, their ways of teaching.
Men have made new discoveries, and so the books that men write are out of date, sometimes even before they come out off the press. But this book is Northeast will never be out of date. It was written over a period of several thousand years. It all not there's no contradictions written by a number of different people who never knew one another in this in this world.
And it all fits together. And it all fits what's happening either, even in the year 2017 and it'll do the same tomorrow. Now one more subject I wanna introduce this morning and we're moving quickly because I wanna cover a number of things as we go through these talks and that is, I want to cover the subject of nourishment. So again, just to recap for those of you who are taking notes, the word of God is inspired.
It's living, it's enduring, it's up to date and now it's nourishment, It's food for our Christian life. Let's go to the book of Job first of all.
Job, Chapter 23.
Different ones speak in the book of Job, but this is Job himself speaking, as is indicated at the beginning of the 23rd chapter.
And Job says in the 12Th verse, neither have I gone back from thy commandment, from the commandment of thy lips. And then this is the part of the verse I want you to notice. I have esteemed the words of thy of his mouth more than my necessary food. And then I want to notice a verse in Jeremiah, chapter 15.
00:45:35
Jeremiah chapter 15 and verse 16.
So thy words were found, and I did eat them. And Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart. For I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. Maybe just one more verse, back in the 119th Psalm.
So I'm 119 and this time, verse 103, how sweet are thy words unto my taste? Yeah, sweeter than honey to my mouth. When we got saved, as we noted before, we got a new life. We got a life from God. It's a perfect life. It's divine life, and it's the very life of Christ. It tells us Christ.
Who is our life? So when the Word of God was applied in the power of the Spirit, you and I received divine life. But that life, while it's a perfect life, it is a dependent life. And if you and I are going to grow and be healthy, fruitful, happy Christians, we must have food for the divine life. Now, what is the food for the divine life? Well, I believe these verses help to indicate what it is.
It's the word of God. Thy words were found and I did eat them. I have esteemed the words of His mouth more than my necessary food. Now that doesn't literally mean we eat the word of God. We don't eat paper with with print on it, of course. So what does it mean to to feed on God's word is to open this book every day, to read it prayerfully and slowly and to let it feed the divine life that we have.
Now, wherever we read in the word of God, the subject is always Christ. We're going to speak of this. We may not have time to develop it this morning, but we're gonna speak of this in a in a little go into it in a little detail, because what we need to do is really feed on Christ from God's word. In that connection, just notice this little blue hand out that you have, because I I believe it shows that what we're we're, uh, Speaking of.
So I I listed at the beginning where it says the scriptures. I listed a couple of scriptures that bring before us the fact that wherever we read in the word of God, the subject is always Christ. And I I've indicated that now in the Old Testament. Well, just let me read the under the Old Testament. Let me read the verse I verses I put there because.
Even in the Old Testament, the subject is always Christ. This is the Lord Jesus talking to the two on the way to Emmaus.
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the in the law of Moses, and in the That's the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible in the prophets and in the Psalms. Now notice this concerning me and you, That then opened either understanding that they might understand the Scriptures. Now I've listed under that Moses.
And I've started. I've listed some things that start with the same letter. I thought it might help us to remember it a little better. So in the books of Moses, that's Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. We have the foreshadows of Christ. Everything in the book of Moses was foreshadowing or looking forward to the coming of Christ. For instance, the sacrifices given later on in in in Leviticus, Exodus, and Leviticus, the Tabernacle.
All those things, they pointed forward. And Hebrews tells us that they were really just pale reflections and feeble foreshadows of what was really in the heart of God. You know, when God looked down in those early days in those five books of Moses, what he had established and what he saw was really looking forward to his son. Another example is Abraham and Isaac going up the mountain together.
00:50:12
And Isaac in type at least, being offered as a sacrifice that to the heart of God, looked forward to the time when his son would go to the altar to the cross and be offered up as that great sacrifice that's the foreshadow in the profits. We have the foretelling of Christ. The prophets gave prophecies concerning the coming of Christ. For instance in the book of Isaiah he we have some of the names of the Lord Jesus that he would would have an incarnation.
Emanuel and wonderful counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, and so on. So that's the foretelling.
Then in the Psalms we have the feelings of Christ. You know, in many of the Psalms we find that they are prophetically bringing out feelings of the Lord Jesus in the circumstances of life that we don't get in the gospel. And that's why often on Lord's Day morning you'll find at the breaking of bread, a brother will read from some of those psalms the 22nd Psalm, the the 42nd Psalm, the 69th Psalm, the 102nd Psalm where you have those feelings of the Lord Jesus brought out in a very real way. And I don't think there's anything we'll tug at our heartstrings.
Like reading those songs in that in that light. So that's the feelings of Christ. Now I've just added here the historical books. We don't have that, uh, differentiation in the verse where he expounded to them on the way to Emmaus and back in the in the upper room and so on. But in the historical books we have what we might say are the figures of Christ. And you can go back and read books like Uh, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, uh, Doctor John, even Joshua judges Ruth. And those things bring before us the figures of Christ like in Ruth Boaz.
Is a figure of uh of Christ and different of those individuals and and we see with the the rebuilding of the temple in Ezra's uh Zerubbabel in Ezra's day and the rebuilding of the wall in Nehemiah's day. They all figure in some way Christ. The New Testament uh the gospels. You have the facts concerning Christ the life of Christ in the in the psalms you have his feelings and expressions but you want the facts concerning his life. You've got to go to the gospel.
In as you have the foretelling of Christ, not the 4th telling, not so much prophecy telling the future, but foretelling. That is they went out with the gospel and they told about the Lord Jesus. They they it's it's forth telling. It's it's telling it out. And so we have the spread of the gospel and Christianity. In the epistles you have the foundation of Christianity. We'll never understand what Christianity really is and what.
The position we've been brought into and our responsibilities and actions and interactions with the world and so on. Unless you go to the epistles where you have the foundation of Christianity and that's what it says in the end of Ephesians 2. He's the foundation has been laid. The being the apostles and prophets that's the New Testament writers laid the foundation truth of Christianity. Then you have in the Revelation the fruition of everything Revelation looks on to the day when the Lord Jesus.
Is going to have his rightful place here in this world and everything is going to be brought into order and fruition for the glory of God and for the glory and full exaltation of the Lord Jesus. So that's just a little bit of a of an outline. And so it's the word of God that feeds us with the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. When I was growing up, we used to sing a little hymn, Feed on God's Word in the morning, Feed on God's Word at the at noon, Feed on God's Word in the evening.
To keep your heart in tune. Now when we take this subject up again, we'll continue on with that and go on to some other things, but I think that's probably a good stopping place.
2 Timothy 4:1-8
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.
135 Which book? Yeah. The Little Flock. OK.
Nsnoise, Timothy and I've asked Jonathan Bouillard to read the chapter for us.
Second Timothy, chapter 4.
I charge thee, therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his Kingdom. Preach the word the instant in season out of season, reprove, review, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having engineers.
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things endure affliction. Do the work of an evangelist made full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.
Which the Lord the righteous Judge shall give me at that day, and not me only, but I do all them also, that love disappearing through my diligence to come shortly unto me. Or demons have forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed at the Thessalonica. Kreskin to Galatia, Titus unto the men, unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Take Mark and bring him with thee, for he is profitable to me for the ministry.
And take a kiss. Have I sent to Ephesus the cloak that I left at Troas, with carpets, without comments. Spring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchment. Alexander the coppersmith is much evil. The Lord reward him according to his works. Of whom be thou. Where also, for he hath greatly withstood our words. At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me. I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.
00:05:23
Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, that by me the preaching might be fully known.
And that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly Kingdom, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Salut Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Vanessa Forest. Erastus abode at Chorus. Patrophis. Have I left at my Needham sick? Do thy diligence to come before winter. Uvulis greedy and Putin and lioness and Claudia.
And all the brethren, the Lord Jesus Christ, and with thy Spirit, grace be with you. Amen.
So I'd like to encourage you to speak up, ask the question as we go along or make a comment. But just to get the context here, we find that these are the final words that the apostle Paul penned by divine inspiration, which we explained what inspiration was this morning. And these words are written not to a an assembly, not to a group of believers.
Not to believers in a certain area, but they're written to an individual, a man named Timothy that had been no doubt saved under the the preaching of Timothy. And although he had known the Scriptures from a child and he had traveled with Timothy, in fact, Timothy refers to him as his own son in the faith. They were very, very close. Paul is an old man by this time. He's about to lay down his life. Timothy is a young, younger man.
And what Paul is seeking to do in this last chapter of Second Timothy is to encourage Timothy to take up the torch that for the truth that Paul had held high, and to carry that torch on. In fact, that this whole second epistle is really encouraging Timothy to go on in difficult times. Second Timothy has to do with the.
Breakdown of everything in in government, in the family, in the assembly, it's Christian profession at the end of the dispensation of the grace of God. The days that are described here as the last days in perilous times in this book are days very parallel to the days in which we live. And young people, what Paul was telling Timothy is things are not going to get better.
You're not going to see brighter days of Christianity down here, but you can go on as an individual and you will find there are other individuals, some of which will take up tomorrow as we take up the last part of the chapter. There will be other individuals who will have a similar desire to go on for the Lord. Don't look for things to get easier or better. The enemy is going to do his work and.
The This epistle prepares to show us that the last days of Christianity are days of general giving up and complete ruin of the outward testimony as to the truth of God. So we're going to find that Timothy then is encouraged to go on in spite of the darkness of the moral ruin that had come in.
It's helpful as this chapter that Paul is right at the end of his life and he's speaking to Timothy and, uh, he gives them this charge. He gives them something to, to do.
And Paul was at the end of his life. He's not saying Timothy. It was a waste. I wish I hadn't done it. It's not worth it. Outwardly, it looked like all that Paul had labored for was was lying in ruins. In in the first chapter of this epistle, in verse 15, he's saying to Timothy this Thou knowest that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me.
And yet he's saying it's worth it, Timothy, and it's those of us in this room, almost all of us are are still quite young. And if if you take the effort to talk to one who is older, who is, who has walked with the Lord and it has and in any measure made any sacrifices for the Lord and his and his walk to please him. They will say the same thing that Paul is saying here. You go on, you walk to the Lord, you do it, it's worth it. It doesn't matter if if others have given up. It doesn't matter if the course is hard.
00:10:13
You do this, it's worth it. It's a happy path and so it's.
It's wonderful to see Paul not as a disgruntled old man, not as one who is crushed at different defeats. He's sustained. He's saying you say the course, it's worth it.
Most of the full Pitbull especially are the ones with assembly pick up with the doctrine in the early part of the book and later on they give the practical teaching of the book. Uh, here in second Timothy, umm, most of the, the beginning of the book, the 1St 3 chapters, umm, Apostle Paul is pointing out, like uh, Jim said, the degradation of society and everything is falling away through whether it be, umm, whether it be in, uh, what have been the House of God is no being called the great house and.
Uh, problems there. And, uh, goes on in the third chapter to look at just complete moral breakdown in society, which we see today. Uh, if you look at some of the verses on your own time, you'll see that, uh, they line up very much with the thoughts of today. I'll, I'll get my own standards, what's right and we'll please God out of the picture. And that's what these ones have done in this 4th chapter is really what the apostle Paul is instructing Timothy to do in light of this. And it's not to, uh, it's not to hide in a shell.
Uh, it is to press on, but it's suppressed on with the truth to, uh, carry the gospel out. Uh, there's two things I believe in this in second Timothy where, uh, Timothy is instructed to do things which may not be associated with his quote on, quote, gifts. And, uh, we hear a lot about gifts that, you know, people, uh, weekends and so on. And you need to find your gift and do all this and that. Uh, but here in the fourth half it says, do the work of the evangelist and the 2nd and the 2nd chapter says we have to teach.
And we need to be grounded in the Scriptures so that in any circumstance that we come up against, we can, uh, as we have the verse this morning, right? We divide the word of truth, divide it in three times and in every situation have the word of God and an outline where we can, where we can take the situation and show what the word of God has to say on the matter. So in that regard, it's interesting that in these two epistles, first and Second Timothy, you have an exhortation to doctrine 13 times.
And we have it at the end of our second verse. We can't hope to cover everything in these chapters, but just to get a few practical instructions. So we're gonna skip a little bit. But it's interesting in connection with what Tim said, because what we we can't have sound behavior unless it's based on sound doctrine. And so especially in the first epistle, in the 1St Epistle, 9 exhortations as to the need for sound doctrine.
And young people, don't let anybody come along and tell you doctrine doesn't really matter, that we're all Christians and we can all get along and we can all be in fellowship with each other. Yes, we are all Christians. Yes, we are. We should all get along. And if we all acted on the doctrine, the foundation doctrines of the Word of God, we would all be together in fellowship. But that wasn't the reality in Timothy's day. There was a falling away. Even true believers were giving up what Paul had taught.
True believers were doing things that were not according to sound doctrine. And so Timothy is not told to compromise. He's told to as you get in the end of uh, well, let me read verse two. Preach the word the instant in season out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and what's the basis for it? Doctrine. You can't exhort, you can't reprove, so on without.
Sound doctrine being the basis. So I want to say again, the basis for sound Christian behavior is sound doctrine. We have to know what to do before we can, we can do it. We'll talk a little bit about that further in our, in our, our addresses. But I, I, I, people come along and say it doesn't matter anymore and we've got to give a little here and there. Compromise is letting the barrier down slowly compromise us. As we used to say, the thin edge of the wedge is just giving up a little bit here and there.
Paul says to Timothy, if you're gonna go on in the last days and after I'm gone, this is the is the basis for it. Now, one other thing, it's interesting that in this last chapter we don't have the Lord's coming as the rapture. It's not the Lord's coming for us that is brought out. But twice he talks about the Lord's appearing. The Lord's appearing always has to do with that which takes place after the rapture, whether it is appearing back in this world.
00:15:22
Or whether it is what we refer to as the judgment seat of Christ for believers. And the appearing always has to do with reward and judgment. So in the beginning of the chapter, he speaks of him judging the quick and the dead, the living and the dead at his appearing. Because there's a day coming when everybody is going to have to answer to the judge. The living are going to be when the Lord comes. The living are going to be judged when he comes back to this world and appears in this world.
The dead are going to be judged later on at the great white throne. But then I believe while it's not specifically brought out, there's the hint that then we need. If there are Christians who are acting carelessly, if there are Christians who are giving up sound doctrine, what was Timothy to do? He was to reprove, rebuke, exhort as far as the lost. He was to preach the Word the instant. In season, out of season, there's judgment coming.
Do you really believe that if we do, we'd be out giving out tracks? You'd be taking some gospel calendars from the back counter and making sure when you go home you're giving them out. If we really believe that the Lord is coming soon and that he's going to appear and judge the quick and the dead, But what about you and me who know the Lord is our Savior? We're not afraid of being judged for our sins. But he goes on then and to skip down, He says in verse 8, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge shall give me.
At that day, and not to me only, but all them that love his appearing.
You see, it has to do again with reward, because when the Lord Jesus comes back and appears in this world, we're going to appear in glory with him. And our faithfulness now in this life is.
Determining our position in the Kingdom with the Lord Jesus, the rewards are going to be handed out at the judgment seat of Christ for believers, and he's going to say be thou over 5 cities, be thou over 10 cities. There's going to be a measure of reward.
That puts our plate, gives us our place in the Kingdom, and we are determining that by our life. And so Paul wanted Timothy to have a full reward. He wanted him to live in view of the fact that he was someday going to stand at the judgment seat of Christ and receive a reward for the things done in the body, and that he was going to come back and have a place in the Kingdom. And you and I need to live in view of that, and we need to.
As He says here, we need to love his appearing to look forward to the day when the Lord is going to have his rightful place on earth and we're going to reign with Him.
Just in that connection, go over to Second Peter for a moment. This is a verse that is somewhat missed, a plot sometimes misapplied, but I wanna notice that in its context, and it goes along with what we have in our chapter, Second Peter, chapter one.
And verse 10.
Wherefore the rather, brethren?
Give diligence to make your calling and election sure. And what he's really saying is, keep the freshness of your election and your salvation sure in your soul. For if you do these things, you shall never fail. And I want you to notice this next verse. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly. Now notice this not into heaven.
But into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Everyone of us are going to have an abundant entrance into heaven When the Lord comes, we're going to meet the Lord in the air and we're going to be ushered by the Lord Jesus into the Father's house. We're all going to have an abundant entrance into heaven, but we're not all going to have an abundant entrance into the Kingdom. And what Peter was saying is similar to Paul, I want you to have an abundant entrance into the Kingdom. I want you to come into the Kingdom with the reward of feed out over 10 cities, not just be out over 5 cities.
Not just have a little, uh, subordinate place in the Kingdom, but I want you to have the full reward that the Lord wants you to have. So it's not an abundant entrance into heaven. We're all going to have that, but an abundant entrance into the Kingdom. And our life now is determining whether we're going to have an abundant entrance into the, the millennial Kingdom or not. We'll all be part of the Kingdom. Every man is going to have a reward. Every man will have praise of God. We read in Corinthians.
00:20:25
But there will be differences in those rewards and responsibilities.
As we conduct ourselves in this life, we're not doing godly things for the sake of the reward itself.
Distinction there. Umm, one thing I just wanted to point out is the timeline here, right? Paul's writing this in 60s, eighties, 60. So we're only a few decades removed from Christ himself. And how quickly has the testimony been?
Been corrupted.
Umm, eyewitnesses. The Apostle John and eyewitness was still alive.
Do you live until around 8090? So. So it's just umm.
Just curious to think about how, umm, how quickly it came into ruin and, and is that itching here, right? The you're so drawn to look at something that has been established and say, and then judges by how judged by the failures of those who practice it and then dismiss that, umm, that doctrine as untrue because of the, the frailty of the followers, you know, and then.
Be misled into something new and different for the sake that it is different. OK, Umm, but that's a category error, right? That's, that's, uh, applying the this treating a doctrine is false because of the failures of those who would seek to practice that target. So let's not mistake that category error, but it's also.
On an encouraging note to say that.
The testimony of of Christ and and given in the Word of God has endured until now. OK.
And there have always been a faithful view who devote themselves to the truth. And, uh, we'll continue to do so until the price return. So, umm.
You know it. It is our joy to fulfill.
The the purpose, you know, Timothy's purpose, seeking out those few who would, you know, be those who discern the truth for the truth sake, not for the followers sake.
That that's good. And so we never want to judge Christianity by what we see in the Christian profession. We judge Christianity by the word of God. It's going back to the foundation principles. Just say this too, brought to mind when Austin was speaking that second epistle, just a little talking about an outline of truth and understanding Scripture. Second epistles always denote days of failure and ruin, days of weakness.
What it is, is it's us. It's always the failure to act, uh, in a practical way on the truth that's given in the first epistle. And it shows again how quickly things come in between first and second Timothy, between first and second Peter, between first and second John, between 1St and 2nd Ephesians say, excuse me, Yeah, there's a second epistle to the Ephesians. It's in Revelation chapter 2, and between the time Paul wrote to them in the first epistle.
And John writes the 2nd epistle to them. They had left their first love they, and that goes along with what Austin was saying, You know, reward Christ is to be our motivation always to live in for his glory. It's Christ as our motivation, as our object. But rewards then are given us a nice little incentive. Now our time is slipping. I'm, we only got about four minutes left. And I just want to say this too, about this first part of the, uh, the chapter because tomorrow I want to get on to the ones that he commend.
In verse 7, after speaking about knowing that his departure was at hand because he was going to just about to lay down his life for his faithfulness, his testimony, then he says I have fought a good fight. We often speak of the Christian life as a good fight. That's the fight of faith. We need the armor of God and so on. But then he says I have finished my course. Now, if you notice Mr. Darby's translation, he's finished the race. You see, Paul often in his epistle speaks of the Christian life as a race or an athletic event.
00:25:33
Because again, we understand when the athlete goes out to train and give up certain comforts, he and disciplines himself. He has the prize. He has the goal in view. And what's the prize? The goal. In the Christian life, it's always Christ pressing towards the mark. It was Christ that Paul had before. But I believe the race here is in the sense of the relay race. That's what he's talking about with Timothy, because earlier in the epistle he's passing on the truth to Timothy.
Who was to pass it on to faithful men? The beginning of the second chapter. Who was to pass it on?
To more faithful men, I talked about Chapter Brown this morning who said that dictionary would answer not 85% of your questions. He made an interesting comment in his ministry one time. He said his desire and prayer was that he would pass on the truth with the same purity in which he himself received it. I thought that was a beautiful testimony, a beautiful exercise. He had received the truth ministered from the Word of God.
Through faithful men. And he wanted to faithfully pass on the truth to the younger generation. And that's what some of us who are older are trying to do in our feeble measure, to just pass on what we've received, what we've been taught by the Spirit of God from the Word, and what we've been taught by faithful men. Names that are just names to you. Gordon Hayhoe, Clarence Lundeen, Armstead Berry, Dan Anderson, all those that are just names to you young people. They passed along the truth to us as faithful men. And I trust that as we're getting older, we're seeking to do the same thing.
And so Paul was passing the relay, the baton to Timothy. Now, Timothy, my race is over. Now you take the baton and you run. Because young people, well, we're looking for the Lord to come at any moment. If we're left here a little longer, some of the older ones are not gonna be here to minister to you, to shepherd and guide you. You know, when I first went out in the work of the Lord 27 years ago.
There were a lot of older brothers on the front rows at conferences and who hosted the events and camps like this. You know, they're all with the Lord now. Some of us have moved up a generation. And if the Lord leaves us here, it's, it's going to happen again. And it happens more quickly than perhaps when we're young, we realize. So we're just seeking to pass on the baton like Paul passed it on to Timothy. I trust we're seeking to pass on the same baton that Timothy passed on to faithful men who passed on from one generation.
And that baton that was passed to me by my older brother.
Q&A 1
Q&A
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.
Thank you, 276.
In the little flock.
CX-336-CX338 Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh oh. Times Where is the heart And your heart falls.
Right.
Nsnoise.
Nsnoise.
00:05:06
So then then we'll spend perhaps a little longer on than others, but uh, I put them in some order here. What I'm going to do is read the question, probably suggest some scripture, make a comment or two, and then, uh, someone else can add to it. That would be wonderful. Uh. And sometimes the question leads to a question too. So umm, we'll uh.
As Tim just prayed, count on the Lord for help. As I often say, we don't have all the answers, but we do have the answer book, so I'm thankful for that. So the first question is this, what is the difference between the heart and the soul?
Interesting question because sometimes they are brought together in the same sentence or the same verse. The children of Israel when they were given the 10 commandments.
They were to love their Lord, their God with all their heart and with all their soul. And so you say there must be a difference. But before we get specific on that, let's read a portion in First Thessalonians.
First Thessalonians chapter 5.
First, Thessalonians chapter 5 and verse 23. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless under the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. What this verse teaches us is that we are a tripart being. We are in taken up in three parts. There's the Spirit.
That's the God conscious part of man and that is what sets the human race apart from everything else apart from the animal Kingdom is that God breathed into man's nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul. We have a spirit from God, We have a God conscious spirit within us. Now I know it says the living soul there in the verse I just quoted, but we're gonna talk about that in a moment.
So we're we're Spirit, Soul.
Soul is the seat, in this context, is the seat of the emotions and affections. Now animals have a soul too, because I saw a dog out here, and Renee and others were petting it and it was responding, wagging its tail, and so on it it it responded to love. And animals do that. Animals have emotions.
Where spirit, soul and body. The body then is the physical part. So the spirit is the God conscious part of us. The soul is the seed of the emotions and affections, and the body is the physical.
But this question is uh that's been raised is asking what is the difference between the heart and the soul. Now again I would say they're very much connected but the soul is also taken up in other ways. In scripture sometimes the soul is referred to as the person themselves. Let me give you an example. It says 8 souls went into the ark Noah and seven of his family 8 souls were were saved.
It says in Ezekiel the soul that sinneth it shall die, that is the person whose sins. Death is the result of sin.
Uh, another example is that there's given a number of souls that went up out of Canaan with Jacob when he went up to Egypt to see his son Joseph and to spend his last days in the in the land of Egypt. So sometimes the soul is used in that that context. A lot of times it's the moral, undying part of the of the person. It's the intangible.
In other words, the physical, the body, that's the physical. That's what we can see. But there's the soul. That's the intangible part of a person. So that's the soul. The heart then is that which at the fall of man, became corrupted.
With it you you find that when God looked down 1600 years after man sinned in the garden after creation.
00:10:02
It says that the heart, the thoughts of man's heart, was only evil continually. That which had come from the heart of God, from the hand of God, and had been pronounced as very good, had all of a sudden, after 1600 short years, become the most corrupt thing that it ever inhabited this earth. And when you follow the history of the natural heart of man, we find that it never get it does. There's two things that never does.
It never gets worse and it never improves. Why do I say it never gets worse? Because the moment man sinned in the garden, he he got a fallen nature and a corrupt heart that has never got worse and never got better. And so Jeremiah said later on, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. The Lord said in Mark's gospel, out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, and he gives a sample list of what proceeds out of the heart of man. What has got worse is the manifestation of the heart.
Outward sin and rebellion get worse as the dispensation ends, like in Noah's day, and that's what hap is happening in our day. The heart of man is not getting worse today, it's just manifesting itself in a more open and rebellious.
Uh way and sin is not just preach uh practice today, it's preached and glorified. Now there's other references too to the heart that really take us in a thought beyond just it being the seat of the emotion, the center of man. Uh, let me just, uh give you an example. Let's go to 1St Kings chapter 4. This is in connection with Solomon.
First Kings Chapter 4.
And verse 29.
And God gave wisdom and understanding exceeding much and largeness of heart, even as the sand of of on the seashore. And if you read this chapter you'll find it's repeated and and a couple of times that Solomon because he asked of the Lord for wisdom, the Lord gave him a wise and understanding heart.
You know, after we get saved, the Lord wants our heart. As I said earlier, I think in these talks he doesn't want our sinful heart, but we get a new heart, My son, give me thine heart. And there are many references to a wise heart and understanding heart. In Second Timothy. It speaks of a pure heart. It is that then in the new man that responds to the to the Lord and as a result of responding to the Lord.
Respond to as to the love of souls, and as to the love and care.
Of our fellow believers. So that's just a little bit, uh, of an outline. There's plenty could be said on the subject of the soul and the heart, but not some. Others have a few comments on this subject.
Uh, I would might just add to that When it's a qua subject of the heart, a little differentiation between the soul and the heart, The heart has to do a lot with motives in scripture and so again call on the Lord out of a pure heart that is unmixed motive. That's that's pureness in our in our motives and in our desire to follow and honor the Lord and give him the first place.
Uh, in our lives. So the heart, often in scripture, has to do with motivation.
There is also a verse that would show what you're just saying about it responds to the love of God in Romans 5.
Sometimes it's good to have a verse to show what he just said. Romans 5 and verse 5.
Just it says.
And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God.
Is shed abroad in notice in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
00:15:05
There it's.
The Spirit of God within us responds to that love of God, and it causes us to love one another.
Yeah, that's helpful.
And it's out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh as well. So what we say is going to show what is in our heart. If our heart isn't right before God, if our heart isn't pure, we're going to say things we ought not to. When the heart is right, then it is manifest by what we say and what we do too, of course.
I just say this about the soil too. Sometimes the words I say are used in different contexts and we talk about man having a never dying soul and that is different than the animals. When our dog dies or our pet dies, that's it, It's it's over. Say a little story, it'll make you smile. But I was impressed when my mother passed away. My cousin brought her five year old son to the Funeral Home.
And he had some questions and one was well if and Amy's with the Lord, why is she still in the box in the coffin? So his mother explained that, well, yes, her spirit is with Christ and but this is her body and it'll be in the grave and so on. And then he said to her something I thought was very interesting for a 5 or 6 year old. He said, you know what? What? Well, he wanted to know why if Aunt Amy's with the Lord, why is everybody sad and crying?
So his mother tried to explain this to him. He said, You know, mom, we really should be sadder when our pets die than when people who know the Lord died. Because, he said, when my dog dies, I know I won't see it again, but I know I'm going to see Aunt Amy again.
I I thought that was a very astute observation for for a young child, but that illustrates the truth. We so we have a soul that is going to live on in one of two places, with the Lord Jesus in the Father's house or in hell within a lost eternity.
I have secondary questions. Yeah. So we can have your heart, or we can have an evil heart. Can we have a evil soul or a pure soul? Or is it just a soul? It's who you are?
I I I believe the soul is the soul, if that makes makes sense. When it when, when it has to do with the condition of things, it more has to do with the heart. So we can have an evil heart of unbelief, as you say. We can have a pure heart.
But the soul is the seed of the emotions. It's the heart that became corrupt. Now we can have the wrong emotions, I realized because we are, we have, we still have the flesh. And so sometimes our emotions we don't react in the in the proper way. But I believe the emotion when it has to do with good or bad, righteous or evil, pure, unpure. It more has to do with the heart.
Just again a little differentiation, although they're very closely connected.
He gave a verse about the the heart. Uh, controlling of what comes out of our mouth. Uh, good burst for uh, our actions is uh, guard thy heart above all that is guarded. Bravo, there's the issue of light. Very good. Thank you.
That's, uh, Proverbs 423. Thank you.
OK, we're going to move on. Just for the sake of time, let me just say this about whether it's our talks, uh, on the subject we're taking up for a question and answer period like this ministry and times like this are really to whet our appetite so that we'll search it out more for ourselves. So in meetings like this we cover, we we try to get a a basic outline, give a few scriptures and hopefully you'll uh search these things out a little further.
OK, the second question here is at first glance Proverbs 26, verse four and five, and we'll turn to it, seem to contradict one another. Would you be able to explain why that is so, and if there and if there happened to be similarity? So this is a good question. Let's go to Proverbs 26.
00:20:00
This is a question I used to ponder when I was a young person.
Proverbs 26.
And I'll read verses 4:00 and 5:00.
Answer not a fool, according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.
Well, at first glance this seems like a contradiction, that he's saying one thing and then taking it back and saying another. But I believe what is being brought out here is the fact that it takes discernment to know when to not answer a question and when to answer a question. Now if we had time, we could go through the life of the Lord Jesus and you will find that often the Lord Jesus.
Answered at great length questions that were asked. We alluded to it this morning in UH John chapter 3. A man named Nicodemus came to the Lord Jesus by night, stayed up late 1 evening to ask the Lord Jesus some questions. And the Lord discerns that Nicodemus questions were very, very sincere, and the Lord stayed up that night to carefully go over the questions. And even when Nicodemus repeated the question, the Lord very patiently went over the answer again and told him He must be born again. And so on, because the Lord discerned that there were sincere questions.
But you know, there were some people that came to the Lord Jesus and they asked questions and the Lord never answered their questions. You know, there was an incident where they came and asked him by what authority John the Baptist did his, his miracles, his ministry. And the Lord said, and the Lord never answered them. You know why? Because he knew it wasn't a sincere question. In fact, Scripture says they only asked to try to catch him in his words, to try to trick him. So they have something to accuse him of. And so go through the gospel sometime and notice the different questions that are asked.
And whether the Lord answered them or not, and how He answered them, sometimes he just gave a one sentence, brief, concise answer, and moved on. Sometimes he spent time again, the woman at the well. She had some sincere questions, some real enigmas in her life, and the Lord sat there and patiently answered her questions. Now I realize the Lord could perfectly discern the heart of the men and women that asked him the question.
And he knew precisely how to answer those questions, because he was God and he knew perfectly. Uh, why? The person answered asked the question if they really were sincere, what they were gonna do with the answer. But I believe this, young people, if you look to the Lord, the Lord can give you wisdom and discernment. When someone at school or work asks you a question, discern whether it's a question that's just being asked in mockery or to try to trip you up.
In your Christian faith, or whether it's a question that is be is asked sincerely, And if it's asked sincerely, think about the verse that says be ready always to give an answer for the of the reason of the hope that is within you. So we need to be ready with the scripture to answer questions that are sincere. Now maybe somebody else has some thought on this. Uh, very good question.
6 chapters or something like that would be. Oh, maybe Solomon forgot what he was writing about.
You can. You can learn a lot by contrast. And so it's a contrast one after the other. And as alluded to, there are times to answer and there are times not to answer, and even even the intent of the question. You look at the Lord's ministry. You have the the, the scribes and the Pharisees.
Acting the fool and asking him questions. You have the examples of with the Sadducees and UH. A certain woman was married to a man and he died. In the six other brothers likewise they were fooled and asking it, but they were they were trying to trying to prove that the word of God is not true and he simply brought the word of God to bear. But there are other times that you mentioned as as per the uh the the question with respect to the ministry of uh of John or rather the Lord's ministry of of where he get he gained that authority and they were presuming to sit.
00:25:04
As as competent judges, and he wouldn't. He wouldn't allow them that position because they proved in their inability to answer another question that they were confident to judge. And so it's it. It takes discernment.
There's a verse in Ecclesiastes that we're told if the iron be blunt and you do not wet the edge, then it requires more force to put there too. But wisdom is profitable to direct, and often the real challenges in our own heart. Someone will ask a question and we're not in communion. We don't. We haven't been walking with the Lord and we'll just start swinging wildly in all directions when perhaps we should have remained silent.
Let let's just talk about that for a minute because that's that's the other side of it. Sometimes people ask me ask us a question, it's better to say I don't know than to just wing it as we as we would say. And you're not gonna help somebody spiritually by just talking and saying stuff that maybe doesn't really answer the question or isn't even doctrinally or scripturally accurate so.
I don't know is a very good answer if we if we really don't know.
And also it's helpful to take sincere questions to others who you know can help you. But don't forget to take your questions to the Lord and to the word of God. You know, it's interesting with the Queen of Sheba when she came to Solomon, and Solomon is a picture of the Lord Jesus. And when the Queen of Sheba came, she came to prove him with hard questions. And you know, when she got into the presence of Solomon, it says that every question was answered.
To her satisfaction. You know, you ask another brother or sister a question and you get an answer and you say, yeah, that's good, but doesn't really satisfy you. You just feel like you're it's still not the whole answer. And then you ask another and you get a little more and so on. But there's nothing like taking a question to the Lord and to the word of God. And when you take a question to the word of God, don't expect an answer right away. You know, I found in my experience that it's good to top questions away, not struggle with them, but tuck them away in your mind.
And then sometimes I've been reading the word of God or reading some written ministry, or someone makes a comment in a reading meeting or a ministry meeting and wow, that was the answer I was looking for. Maybe it was two or three years later. But rather than struggle with the question, just committed to the Lord, read your Bible, listen to the ministry, that you have orally read some good scriptural ministry that's on your parents bookshelves or that you can get it the bookstore or back on this back table.
And you'll find in time the Lord will answer your question like the Queen of Sheba to your satisfaction.
The only thing I might add, and it's a little bit it's connected but barely. But uh, the Lord always defended his deity and he. He always if it was a if it was a question of of them mocking who he was.
He was always very quick to to answer if it was.
Making if it if it was making fun of him personally or or mocking him personally or harming him emotionally he he didn't answer a lot of the time but when he when it came to questions of.
His deity. He was very quick to answer.
He also it seems like in the Gospels he also.
Answered if if there was umm. Those who needed him to answer. So if the Pharisees were asking his disciples, then he always came in. Or a lot of times he comes in and answers like in in Matthew 8 or I think it was 8 umm or maybe nine. He comes in and he answers the questions that the Pharisees said to his disciples.
But a lot of times if they came to him and it was a nonsense question, he would redirect a question to them that they wouldn't answer.
So that's why, he told Timothy, foolish and unlearned questions avoid, for they do gender stripe. In other words, you give an answer and it's only going to add lead lead to another foolish question. It's only going to lead to some controversy and so on. And I think what you say, Austin, is good. Uh, we won't turn to. I'll just give you an example of what you're saying about the Lord.
00:30:01
There was an occasion when they accused him of two things. They said thou art a Samaritan and hast the devil. Now he never answered the charge of being a Samaritan because that was a slur on his manhood. The Samaritans were a despised people. In fact, the woman at the well admitted the Samaritan Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Why are you talking to me? That was a slur on his manhood. But he did answer the charge of having a devil, because that brought into question his deities. So just to to confirm what you say.
Very good.
And, and just one more comment in connection with what Austin said. Sometimes the Lord answered the question not for the person who asked the question, but for others who may have been listening. If someone asked a question and they didn't really want the answer, but there was a multitude or others standing by that needed the answer, then the Lord would would answer it for them. And I often say you can turn a good, a bad question into a good answer too. So.
OK, we're gonna move on here to the third question.
This question says I am wondering about the verse in second Timothy chapter 2 and verse 12.
If we deny him this is in quotation. That's the part of the verse they're wondering about. What might that mean? OK, let's go to Second Timothy, chapter 2 and verse 12.
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he will deny us. Now before I put this in his context and try to explain it in a simple way, I want to make it very clear that this verse in no way is telling us that we can lose our salvation. I, it many have taken it out of context over the over the.
Centuries, and used it to support the thought that I can be saved today and if I deny the Lord tomorrow or do something.
That's not according to his mind or his for his glory. I can lose my salvation.
Now you say, how do you know that that the truth of this Because you can't divorce this verse from many other scriptures that confirm to us that we ha ha. Once we're saved, we can never lose our salvation. Like John 10, we're safe in the hand of the Lord Jesus. We're safe in the Father's hand. We have eternal life and the gifts and calling of God are out without repentance or irrevocable. We have the gift of eternal life. He'll never revoke it. He'll never recall it.
A multitude of scriptures. That's why you always have to take scripture in its context. And no, scripture is a private interpretation. Don't pull a scripture out and interpret it without taking it up in the context of the whole of the word of God. So OK, it doesn't mean that we can lose our salvation. Well then what does it mean? Well, as I think someone just said, we often are taught in scripture by contrast.
And we have a contrast in this verse. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.
What he's talking about here, and it goes along with what we were Speaking of in connection with the 4th chapter earlier today. He's talking about the Kingdom. He's talking about the time when we're going to reign with Christ. It has nothing to do with getting to heaven, nothing to do with that at all. But it has everything to do with our reign with him in the Kingdom. If we suffer for him with him, we're going to reign with him.
If we give up something in this life to follow the Lord, we're going to have a place in the Kingdom. He's going to make it up to us in connection, as we said, with rewards. What he's really saying here is if we don't give up things down here to follow the Lord, if we're not willing to suffer a little reproach to follow the Lord and to suffer for and with Christ here, we're not going to have a full reward in the coming day.
So that's what Paul develops, and we'll talk about it a little more tomorrow when we go on with the 4th, with the 4th chapter go to a verse in second John.
00:35:00
That has, uh, goes along with what we're saying, the 2nd epistle of John.
And verse eight, look to yourself that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Now again, I know we mentioned this in passing it in in the meeting earlier, but what he wants you and me to have is a full reward. He doesn't want to have to deny us.
That full reward. You know, sometimes when my girls were younger, I promised them a reward or some payment for whether it was good behavior, whether it was for doing chores. When we used to travel with my girls, I would get about a week's good behavior out of promising them we'd finally stop at McDonald's for a Happy Meal. Donald's is not my favorite restaurant, but we would promise them that reward for good behavior.
Or if they helped around the house on a Saturday, there would be a reward. We'd go out somewhere after, there'd be a little money change hands or something like that. However, there were times when they would get the reward but not the full reward. Maybe I would have to say to them, well, I know I promised you $10.00, but you know, I think it's really only worth five or five or six. And any of you who work for a corporation or or business company.
You understand this?
Sometimes they offer a bonus, a reward at the end of the year, and that bonus is based on your performance, whether it's sales or whatever it might be based on your performance. There's going to be a reward or a bonus at the end of the of the year or the pay period, and some may get more than others. And so again, there's going to be a difference in rewards. Is he going to have to deny us?
A full reward, uh, in the coming day. Now let's look at one more scripture in First Corinthians chapter 3.
Again, this is talking about rewards for believers that the judgment seat of Christ.
We won't read all this, but, uh, we find that our work is going to be manifest at the judgment seat of Christ. And then, umm, it says in verse 14, if any man's work abide which he hath built thereon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved. Yet. So it's by fire. So he's it. There's there's nothing to do with us being in heaven. It's nothing to do with going to heaven or hell.
We're gonna be sent. We're saved.
If you if you're trusting on the on the blood of Christ, the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, you're saved for eternity. But there is going to be loss in heaven. It's going to be lost as to what he can reward us for as to our place in the Kingdom. As we said earlier, he's going to have to deny us a full reward. It's just like he's got the reward there, the fire manifest things and he has to hold back on part of the reward.
Every person is going to get something. Every man shall have have praise of God. But is he going to have to deny us some of the reward that he will delight he wants to hit. His delight will be to give us so. It's nothing. It's not denying us entrance into heaven, it's denying us the full reward that he wants to minister to us.
And remember, rewards have nothing to do with our enjoyment of heaven either. We're all gonna have fullness of joy. They have to do with the Kingdom has nothing to do with heaven itself.
I think it's important to UH.
Just mention briefly about uh, the subject of losing your salvation. Uh.
And perhaps, if I'm not paid for, perhaps I believe that I don't leave it off. That's not what our salvation is based on. It's not based on anything of ourselves. If you look at Leviticus chapter one with the burnt offering, and they were to bring the lamb that was without spot, without blemish, and then to put their hand on that lamp and recognize that that lamb had to die for them. And that lamb was taken, and it was. It was killed and the blood was flinking and it was placed on the altar.
00:40:14
And it says if there was, if there was sound something wrong with that land, there was a spot or blemishes. It doesn't say that the land wouldn't be accepted, it says that the person bringing it wouldn't be accepted.
And we aren't accepted into a heaven, into heaven based on our actions. We're accepted into heaven based off pricing the perfect offer. And if we are not to get into heaven, the only reason that the only way that could happen is for God to say his son's work on the cross.
OK. Let's move on to the next question.
This question this is #4. Who wrote the book of Hebrews? Are there verses and or style or character of writing that support this? Now before I answer this question, I want to go to Hebrews chapter 3 and tell you why there's no Apostolic name connected with the book.
Hebrews chapter 3 and verse one.
Wherefore, Holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Jesus Christ. Now as you, we under. As you know, when you turn back the page to the first chapter, there's no writer's name given like you have in the other epistles. Whether it's Paul or John or James or Jude or Peter, there's no name given because.
In the book of Hebrews, he immediately presents his son, God. You know what? It's a very unique way. It's the only book in the Bible that starts with God is that interesting, And God immediately presents to us his Son, in contrast to the Old Testament figures and foreshadows. But the reason, the other reason why there's no Apostolic name given is because the Lord Jesus.
Is presented as the apostle here and there's no earthly apostle to over shadow or detract from that. Now an apostle is a sent one. That's that's what an apostle is. The disciples A follower, an apostle is a sent one. The 12 That were chosen were both they were they were just called. They were disciples to follow the Lord and they were sent out by the Lord within a with a mission as apostle and the Lord Jesus sent by God.
Well into this world was the apostle sent by God, and there's nothing to detract from that. So he's the apostle in Hebrews. But now the question is then who wrote? Do we have any inkling or clue who wrote the book of Hebrews? I believe we do, and it's in Second Peter.
Second Peter Chapter 3.
And verse 15.
Now this is Peter writing, and and let me just say, before we read this, Peter is writing to those who had been saved from Jewish background, those who were Jews by birth, who now had been saved and were part of the Church of God. And he says in Second Peter 315 an account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written unto you.
As also in all his epistles speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrestle as they do also the other scriptures under their own destruction. Now Peter is telling these believers that were saved from that are saved Jews, if I can put it that way. These are saved Jews. And he's reminding them of something that Paul had written to them.
And there's only one.
Epistle, written by divine inspiration.
By there's only.
One epistle written by divine inspiration that we don't have a name attached to.
When else would have Paul written to them? Because there's no other epistle that Paul wrote to Jews. All other epistles, all the epistles that bear Paul's name, are written to Gentiles. And so I believe by process of elimination we can conclude that if Paul wrote to the Jews to save Jews by divine inspiration, it has to be the the Epistle to the Hebrews.
00:45:28
I I believe when you go through to you'll see something some expressions that are very characteristic of Paul especially at the end of the epistle and and so on. But but I I say again, when else what what other writing would Peter be referring to? There's no other writing of Paul to to to specifically to the Jews. He's right. He writes to Gentile assemblies and and individuals.
No, we still have two questions and they're good questions. So I I I'd like again to to move on.
The word is the world is increasingly calling for tolerance of things the Bible says are not right. They give an example of homosexuality. How do we balance showing the love of Christ with not being in agreement with them? Uh, with their way of of thinking.
Very good question. I can't say I have the proper balance in my own life or answer, but.
Maybe just one verse I'll give you, and then I really would like to hear what some others say in Malachi.
Chapter One Last Book of the Old Testament.
Malachi chapter one.
And I want to read just the first part of verse 2.
I have loved you, saith the Lord. And then I want to go to verse 10 and just go down the verse about.
2/3 down the verse he says I have no pleasure in you, said the Lord of hosts. Now again, at first this seems like a contradiction. On the one hand he says I've loved you.
On the other hand, he says, I have no pleasure in you now. Malachi's writing to the people of God. They're at their lowest point, morally and spiritually. In the Old Testament, things have deteriorated to a deplorable level of things, and the sacrifices, the worship, their private life, their family life, everything had completely broken down.
What is the difference between these two expressions? On the one hand, it's the people and their position. On the other hand, it's their it's their actions and their condition. He didn't love them any less because of what they were doing, as far as they being his people, but he had no love or pleasure in their actions. Now I realize this is the Lord and again.
The Lord is perfect, and He's a fine flower. The evenness of his of his person, his righteousness, never overshadows his love or his love, his righteousness, his faithfulness.
And his compassion, they they're always in perfect balance. But I, I, I believe that we can seek to have that same spirit and attitude towards the world.
We're to love the Sinner, but we are not to love or go along with their sin or their actions. And I think young people, we need to be very, very careful in the day in which we live.
That we don't fall into this mode of having tolerance. And if someone asks us what we think or we have opportunity to present not so much what we think but what we know from Scripture is is right or wrong, and we have opportunity to present it without lobbying or arguing. I believe we need to be ready to give, as we said earlier, an answer and an answer from the word of God. I really would be interested to hear what others have to say on this subject.
00:50:22
What we have where the salt of the earth too.
Saint principle.
But if the salt had lost its savior? If we're just.
Intolerant to that we're like the salt that has no savior.
It's not falling to the trap of believing that the word tolerance is something that is effectively good in all outlets. OK, where to sell? Umm, so the the neoliberal and postmodern world would have to believe that the word calling us is something that is perfectly good, umm in all manners. Even though in a postmodern world there is no objectivity, right? Yeah.
So it's kind of self contradictory.
So don't fall under the into the trap of, you know, they set a track by saying that they were called. It's all good.
Umm, but.
Can I have two brief questions? And then, uh, go on from where it would be? Is the conscience that's safe, Uh, the Safeway to determine what is right and all at the top of the word of God. The the conscience is never to be our guide. The conscience is like the yellow traffic light. It's the warning. It's like the flashing light when you're approaching a construction zone or an area where the road has fought, caved in or something like that. It's a warning, but it is not our guide.
The word of God is always our guide and our standard. And that's why as we as, as we said earlier that with when Timothy was told to go on in the last days, he was to hold the sound, the sound doctrine that he had been taught. Because if we give up the word of God, we have no standard. And that's the problem today. There's no standard. It's just whatever you like, whatever, stand, whatever.
Is good. Whatever you feel is good, is good. Whatever you feel is bad, in fact. So there's there's no standard. It's like in the days of the judges in the Old Testament. Every man is doing that which is right in his own eyes. Now, in that connection, I would say this, that if we have opportunity, if people ask us what we think about some of these things, then we need to be ready to answer, but not to be ready to answer with a clever argument or with our own intellect.
But to be ready to answer with the word of God, because that's where the power is and the Word of God stands on its own. And you can argue something till you're blue in the face and you're not going to convince anybody. May not convince anybody, but when you use the word of God, that's when it's go in the power of the Spirit, that's when it's going to have it. It's proper effect and what keeps us from getting.
Used to send our tolerance of sin is to keep in the word of God, keep thyself pure, keep close to the Lord. Be thou holy, for I am holy. It's walking in practical holiness and with the word of God before us that is going to keep us from sinking to the level of what the world has has sunk to. Because I believe the great work of the enemy is to desensitize the people of God.
You know, the enemy doesn't introduce something, whether it's homosexuality, whether it's *********** or whatever it might be. It's not introduced blatantly and all at once. It's introduced very, very slowly so that over time we don't even realize how much the, the, the we we slipped on or the world has slipped on the on the slope. So we need to keep in the word, keep close to the Lord.
Keep the the holy standard before us.
Or, you know, it's so easy for us as the people of God to become desensitized to sin. Now, as to the rest of the question here, yeah, you answered what I was asking.
00:55:07
You know the first sentence? Yeah, that's good. Uh. The reason why I ask that is because, uh, the world has taken the consciousness of God, right, and has come up with our own set of moral standards. And according to their own set of moral standards, homosexuality is an OK thing because they say people were born that way. We know from the word of God that everyone has a sin nature, right? And homosexuality is a sin, just like lying and every other thing. And the problem is with this agenda.
Is that we? Uh, especially with homosexuality? Umm, And there's other things as well, that man has set their own standards for what's right. It's not according to the word of God. And is doing that and accepting homosexuality. They're not accepting lying or stealing or these other things so much. Uh, because uh, they they tend to say, well, uh, man wasn't made to do those things. Those things are just long enough or.
Uh, disadvantage to others and they don't see anything negative to other human being with homosexuality. And there's more standards of failed and what needs to happen is we need to, as you said, to be the fault of the earth and show what scripture says on the matter and it's not that. Umm.
The word of God is not against uh sentence. Uh who's the person? Uh Joe. Uh, the line who spoke. He said. Speak Joe for my desire to testify. Me and God wants to have a relationship with each one of us and that's the steep part. And his desire is to justify us. He's given us his son to answer whether homosexuality, lying, feeling, whatever, the thing they do so God so loved the world doesn't love their sins.
But he loves the people that inhabit this planet on which on which we live. And so as to the question here, how do we balance this, You know, when the Lord Jesus was here, he had absolute love and compassion for both multitudes and individuals. I'll give you just two examples. With the multitudes, he lifted up his eyes and he saw the multitude and he had compassion on them. There was a young man came to the Lord and it says, and Jesus beholding him, loved him. And so it shows that he has love for the people that inhabit this planet, but he has no tolerance or love for their sins.
And when, when we speak the word of God, we're not trying to reform people. We don't preach reformation. We don't tell people to turn over a new leaf. We need to reach the conscience. You know, salt is a preservative, and it also stings. You put salt on a wound, it's gonna stink. It's the conscience that must be reached. The heart, yes, but the conscience must be reached. And how are we going to do that? By presenting the word of God, telling man he's a Sinner.
Not preached much today and even in many Christian circles. But we're here to present Christ, not reformation. We're here to present Christ. Tell people how they can be saved. And that is our responsibility not to be here. To lobby against the abuses of humanity. Not join a coalition not plot card. We're here to present Christ to the lost and if someone asks us what we think of certain of those abuses of humanity and.
Certain sins tend to be able from scripture to answer and give the Lord's standard.
You know the way that that was Soma did with Nineveh. Go go and look at this and look at the first chapter of Jonah and just look at look at what it says about Nineveh verse 2.
This is what the word of the Lord that came to Jonah. Look at Jonah chapter one one and verse 2.
And arise, Go to the end of that great city and cry against it. This is what it says, for their wickedness has come up before me. Now look at the result when loans to Jonah obeyed in Chapter 3, when you actually did go and and preach to them.
Look at verse 4, where he cries that yet 4040 days, and none of this shall be overthrown. Look at the results of this wicked city. And when they really did repent so the people of none of them believe God, and proclaim the fast and fit on sackcloth from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For the word came into the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth and sat in ashes.
01:00:11
So did God save that wicked city? He absolutely did when, uh, the words came to them and they were pinned.
Very good, Yeah.
We never helped someone by just going along with them. And I've often said to you never that when the if you go in the ditch, the tow truck doesn't pull you out of the ditch by going in the ditch with you. It stays up on the solid ground and pulls you out of the ditch. And we never help someone by compromising or getting in the ditch with them. We if we remain on the ground of the truth, that's the way we're going to be able to help. So whether it's the lost as to salvation or a fellow believer.
Who's, uh, wondering about some of these things?
A brief comment.
Christianity is not a social reform program. You can wash a pig till it squeals, but it's still a pig and it's it's gonna go back into wallowing in the mire. What the? The error that that Christendom has has fallen into largely is seeking to make the world a better place. Trying to trying to wash the pig till its wheels. And the pig doesn't appreciate that.
And so it's not our job to go about and and to set this world straight. And so you have in First Corinthians chapter 5.
I wrote unto you in verse 9 and in epistle not the company with fornicators yet, not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous or extortioners, or with idolaters. For then must you need to go out of their world. But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner, with such an one known not to eat.
The Lord was in the presence of the woman who was taken in adultery in the very act.
You would speak to her. You would seek to reach your conscience.
But if, if it were one of his disciples, it would be in a different matter completely. And it's not that we would approve of any of these things that are wrong. We have the the list of things mentioned in First Corinthians 5 here, Most obviously wrong, but it it says verse 10, yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world. We're not set the world right. If if someone is living a clean, decent life and they're a Sinner, they're still going to hell. That's what's important. They need new life. It's not.
It doesn't matter if the kids if if the pig is spotless or if the pig is dirty.
The problem is that they're repeating and they they a center needs new life in Christ and and so a lot of a lot of the heat in this quote UN quote debate a lot of the the problem is is simply in the fact not understanding that we as believers that we're a heavenly people. The Lord would say umm of of his disciples they're not of this world even as I am not of this world. We're not we're not set this world right and so we can stand for the truth if someone asks us.
What we think, what the word of God says, we most definitely.
Must take a stand and and state what what word of God says.
But but we're not to go around and and and and be the the conscience and the police of of of the world and and try and make sure that they behave and act as Christians when they're not.
Our time is gone, but I do want to take up this last question. Can you explain in a simple way? Can you explain a simple way to defend the faith and present the gospel to someone who says Christianity is no different from Islam and the Bible is similar to the Koran by pointing to the stories of violence and genocide in the Old Testament?
Paul speaks twice in Philippians chapter one. I'll just give you the reference in verse 7 and verse 17 of Philippians chapter one of his defense of the gospel. But I believe this and we're going to look at another scripture in a moment. But I believe this, that when Paul in defending the gospel, simply presented the gospel, that's what he did if someone.
Tried to counter the gospel. What did Paul do? He presented like he said to the Corinthians, the gospel is that Christ died, he was buried, and he rose again the 3rd day according to the scriptures. That was really Paul's defense of the gospel. Now they're certainly, and when you go through the apps, there's certainly room for preaching and discussion when it comes to the truth of the gospel. But again, young people, I don't think you get very far by arguing.
01:05:16
The gospel, if you try to argue with someone and try to make them see you your point of view, it's not going to work. And Paul, I believe realized that all we can do is present the scriptures, the simple scriptures of the gospel and leave them for a work of the Spirit of God. I cannot convince anyone of get to get saved. Only the Spirit of God can compel sinners to come in.
That the Father's house might be full. Now we are to present the gospel simply and clearly. It says in the Acts they so spake that a great multitude believed. And we need to be exercised to present the gospel simple and clear in the power of the Spirit. But always use the Word of God, because as we said, we're born again, not, but we're born again by the word of God, not our explanation.
You know, my getting up and taking the gospel and telling a story about somebody that almost drowned isn't going to save a soul.
It might help to illustrate a scriptural point. And there's nothing wrong with telling stories and using illustrations. The Lord did it himself. He even used current events like the Tower of Siloam, falling on those, those ones, and so on. So nothing wrong with using stories, illustrations, even current events to make a point. But that's not what saves the soul. It's to bring in the word of God that lives and abides forever, that is quick and powerful and so, so Paul's defense of the gospel.
Was presented as clear and simple as possible. Now as to the question here. What authority do we have for the word of God over and above something like the Quran or even the Book of Mormon or other books? Ho religious or what the world would term her holy books that have been written? Let's go to a verse in Colossians that I think at least been a help to me.
In uh in this UH as to this question Colossians chapter one.
And verse 25.
This is Paul speaking. Wherefore I am made a minister according to the dispensation of God, which is given to me to, and if you notice, Mr. Darby's translation, to complete the word of God.
What Paul is saying here is that it was given to him to complete the revelation of God to man by inspiration. Now, OK, I I, I maybe shouldn't have added inspiration to complete the revelation of God to man.
You say, well, John wrote later than Paul because John was the last of the New Testament writers. How does this go with, with, with John's writing there? What Paul is bringing before us is that there's no revelation beyond what Paul gives us. Paul gives us the truth of the Church of God, our position as believers, our responsibilities as the Church of God and the the Lord's coming. And there's no revelation beyond that.
That's why John, who it's true, wrote later, He said no new commandment right on to you, but what you've received from the beginning. John doesn't bring before before us new things. He simply confirms things that have already been been revealed. It's a confirmation, we might say a review in that way, but there it was given to Paul to complete the revelation, to complete the word of God in that way.
Now the Quran was written, what about 600 years or so later than uh than the last writing of of uh the Bible that the book we hold in our hands. How can there how can that be God's revelation? If if Paul completes the revelation, then anything written subsequent to that, that's propagated as being divine or from God, it can't, it can't be, it disqualifies it.
Immediately.
So, so the Quran cannot be the Bible, if I can put it that way. It can't be God's revelation, uh, to men. Now how? The question is asked too. How is it justified? How do we justify the stories in the Old Testament, the stories of of violence. And you know, you read some of those stories, thousands and thousands of people killed in those battles in one day and it was man to man combat.
01:10:24
Now I know this is hard to explain to someone else, but I think most of us here realize again that God deals with man in different ways, in different dispensations or time periods, time frame in their history, and with the children of Israel in the Old Testament. You have to keep it in the context that their blessings and their inheritance were not heavenly like ours.
Their blessings and their inheritance were connected with this earth, and that's why it was right and proper when they went in to take the land of Canaan, that they would completely drive out their enemies. In fact, it became a snare to them to this very moment that they didn't. Why are they suffering the way they are over there today? Because they didn't obey God and completely annihilate their enemies. Their blessing was earthly, their inheritance was earthly and there were earthly.
Physical enemies dwelling in the land of Canaan that were keeping them from coming in and possessing and enjoying their inheritance, and so they were to drive them out. Now, in Christianity, is that the way we are to do it? No. Our blessings are heavenly, and so we don't take up the soy or take up with arms and drive out our our enemies. In Christianity, the Lord introduced it. In the Beatitudes, we're to love our enemies. We're to.
Live peace of as much as possible. Live peaceably with all men we're here to present.
Christ in in the Gospel and so on. I I know that's gonna be hard to explain to somebody at work or an unbeliever at school who's trying to question this. But, you know, maybe it goes back to the quest to the one of our earlier questions. Sometimes it's better not to answer. Sometimes those questions are not sincere, and it's better just to leave it, Maybe just quote a verse of Scripture and to just leave it and let the word of God have its power.
Be convinced in your own soul by the Spirit of God that this is the inspired word of God from cover to cover. You may not be able to convince anybody else, but be convinced in your own soul.
Fairly simple were epistles known in red of all men? You think of the one who had the legion of demons, and he was told to go home and tell how great things God had done for him. You look in John's Gospel, Chapter 9, and it's a beautiful chapter. There's the one who was born blind. The Lord comes. He he makes the clay anoints his eyes. He goes to the pool of Siloam. He washes.
And from that point forward, he's hounded incessantly as to to what happened, who Jesus was, all all these different things.
And he he doesn't know. He he doesn't get into a debate. They say, well, if this man of God or this man can't be of God or how could he do these things. One thing I know that whereas I was blind, now I see facts are very stubborn things. The umm the Pharisees were very good at debating, but here was a very stubborn fact in front of their eyes. You're the man who was blind and he now saw and one can run circles around me and uh frontwards upside down backwards and make me look the pool, but they cannot take away.
The joy and peace in believing and I remain in the measure that I walk in communion with the Lord. An epistle known and read of all men. Your car breaks down or something. Some calamity happens in your life and you take it from the Lord. You're rejoicing in the Lord that carries more weight than all the the arguments that you can make us to why these ones were were killed in in the book of Joshua and judges or or kings or Chronicles. Wisdom is justified of her children.
And as as we seek to walk according to principles of the word of God, that's what will bear weight on the conscience of the individuals that we meet with. And that's that's a fairly simple answer to say. One thing I know I I have no idea about these others. But one thing I know where it's always blind now I see. So don't let the things you don't know keep you from enjoying the things that you do know. And that's what the blind man, he wasn't going to let anybody take away from what he was. He did know.
Very good.
01:15:01
Let's pray.
The Word of God Part 2
Address—Jim Hyland
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.
OK. Let me know if you have any shipment.
Umm.
Nsnoise.
799.
Nsnoise.
Renaissance, Michigan.
Nsnoise.
00:05:29
I'd like to sing hymn #103 in the Little flock.
103 and if someone can please start it for us.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry 303 I. That's my mistake.
Sorry.
They found through.
Our and I am.
Free the Lord's name, God.
Nsnoise.
Good morning.
Classification in our life and yesterday where we left off, we spoke about it in connection with nourishment or food for the divine life and we noticed the number of different references such as your who have seen the words of God's mouth more than is necessary food. You know we had some wonderful food prepared by the ladies here this week.
00:10:22
And uh, I find that, uh, when the siren goes and meals are announced, everybody's there to line up and partake, and we're very thankful for that. But Joel said there was something even more necessary than eating some good healthy food every day to keep body and soul together. And that was he needed to feed on the word of God. Jeremiah, we noticed that thy words were found, and I beneath them, and they were under me, the joy and rejoicing of my heart. But Thomas said, how sweet are my words unto my face.
Yeah, sweeter than honey.
And the honeycomb. Now we're not going to turn to it for the sake of time. But before we go on, I would just say this by saying for the sake of illustration. In the Old Testament, you find that when you read the 16th chapter of the book of Exodus and you can make a note of these references and look them up. Later when you read the 16th chapter, the book of Exodus, you find that the children of Israel were in the wilderness. The thought, young people, of a wilderness, in the word of God is it's a place where there's nothing to sustain life.
I have been 11 Times on the Sinai Peninsula, and when Scripture calls it a a wilderness, that is exactly what it is. There is nothing to sustain the natural man, and so God provided a number of things for them.
And one of those things he miraculously provided was the breath of heaven, which is referred to as manna. And they were to go out and gather that manna every day. It was a little court, like looked like little coriander seeds of manna. It fell on the dew. It represents to a Christ. And that's not an application. If you read John's Gospel, chapter 6, the Lord Jesus refers to the man in there in connection with eating up himself.
Eating on Christ.
When we eat something, we cut, we take it in, it becomes part of it, part of it. And that's why it's referred to in that way as to eating. And so the mana in the picture to us of the person of Christ is Christ in the circumstances of life as a man down here, I mean at your feet on Christ every day, you know those little coriander seeds of of manna, they were packed full of nutrition and vitamins and they also tasted good. You know, some of us take a handful of vitamins in the morning. They don't taste very good. You need some juice and water.
Some coffee to wash them down, but those little seeds of mana, they not only were tactical of all the nutrition and vitamins they need for their day and for 40 years of journeying in the wilderness, but we find that they tasted like wafers and honey that speaks again of the sweetness of the person of Christ. And so leave that capture and leave it in conjunction with John, Chapter 6, and you'll see much instruction and remember they were to feed on the man every day. It speaks of the.
Need for you and for me in a spiritual wilderness. We're not in a physical wilderness, but we're in a spiritual wilderness where there's nothing to sustain the new man, to sustain the divine life. And as we said yesterday, the divine life is a life that needs food. It's a dependent life. And so how are we going to grow and be healthy, happy, fruitful Christian? We have to be on Christ through God's Word, as we spoke of at some length. But now, this morning, I'd like to go on and speak of another aspect. Let's just recap for a moment.
We spoke of the word of God as through it showing us the way of salvation. We spoke of how it inspired we. No. We noticed that it is living. The only living book that there is in this world. It is endured, it's endured forever and it will endure for eternity. We're going to have an enjoyment of it for all eternity. We've just spoken of how it is nourishment or food for the new man, for the divine life. Now I want to speak of his power. Let's go to Ephesians Chapter 6.
Jesus chapter 6.
And I wanted to notice the last part of verse 17, the last half of Ephesians chapter 6, verse 17.
The sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. Now we already noticed yesterday from Hebrews chapter four that the word of God is living and operative or a better translation is living and powerful. There's a power to the word of God and here we find in Ephesians chapter 6. It's limited as part of the armor of God if you and I are going to meet the enemy and we have a powerful enemy.
00:15:24
That enemy is safe in that it's host. And if we're going to meet the enemy and have some success in our spiritual life, in overcoming the enemy, part of it is to take up the word of God, the sword of the Spirit. Now you notice it's not our sword. You know, sometimes I hear people say it, having their Bible with them. Well, I have my sword with me, but this book is not my sword. It's the sword of the Spirit. It's always referred to that way.
Because it's when it's used in communion in conjunction with the Spirit of God, that it has its its power. Couple of examples we find with the Lord Jesus when he met Satan in the temptation in the wilderness. In Luke's Gospel chapter four, we find that in all Satan's temptation, the Lord Jesus quoted a verse of Scripture.
In our question and answer period last night, we noted several times how.
It is not profitable to argue the word of God. Yes, we need to be clear and concise and presented faithfully and so on. But you're you're not going to have any success just arguing things. It's to present the word of God in the power of the Spirit. And so when the enemy came to the Lord Jesus with a temptation, the Lord Jesus simply answered it is written and he quoted a verse of scripture each time it was from.
The Book of Deuteronomy. But the word of God has power. Let me give you a little story that really impressed this upon me. Many years ago we were having some gospel meetings in town in Nova Scotia, up in Canada, the Maritime. And one night there were two Mormons came into the Gospel Meeting and they had their Book of Mormon and their King James Bible under their arm. They sat on the front row and there was a young brother. It wasn't me, but there was a young brother who had the gospel that night.
And those two men were out for an argument as soon as the Gospel meeting was over. And they, as soon as the young brother stepped away from the podium, they zeroed on in on him. And the first thing they said to this young brother was, you know, the greatest man that was ever born into this world was Joseph Smith. And this product, this, this really struck me. This seems so unusual. He looked at these two men, and he said of those born among women there hath not risen to greater than John the Baptist. They closed their books and left.
If he had tried to argue with them, it wouldn't have had. They could have been there till midnight. But a verse of scripture, a strange verse, but I believe it within the power of the Spirit of God. Stop the their mouth and they left without further ado. And so it's the word of God that has real power when it's used in communion with the Spirit of God. Now a biblical illustration from the Old Testament. You remember when David went out to meet Goliath, a picture of our enemy Satan. What did he do? He first of all went down to the brook and he chose 5 smooth stones now.
A brook or a stream, or running water in Scripture is usually a figure of the Spirit of God. Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
And this he spake concerning the Spirit. That's the key contained. Water in a vessel is usually a picture of the word of God, like the water in the labor, the man bearing the picture of water. But running water is usually a picture of the Spirit of God. And David going down and taking five smooth stones and putting them in his shepherd's bag from the brook, I believe, is a picture to us of appropriating to ourselves the word of God and the power of the Spirit.
And so he had to take it for himself. He stored it in his bag, and when the right moment came, he reached into what he had appropriated to him for himself from the brook, and he used it to meet the enemy. I say again, it's a picture to us of taking the word of God in ourselves, making it our own, taking it with us. And at the right moment we can then, in the power of the Spirit, use a verse of Scripture, a quotation from the Bible.
To meet the enemy in all his power. We have a powerful enemy, but we have one who is more powerful. And we have also the sword of the spirit. So that's the power that there is in the word of God. And maybe I'll just say this before we pass on. That's why it's important, young people to store up your mind with the word of God. You know, when I was a young person, I used to hear the word of God read when I was a child. I heard stories from my parents at Sunday school, at meeting. You know, they didn't mean a lot to me at the time, but I heard those stories and the Spirit of God has been able to bring them back through my life and.
00:20:28
All of a sudden I realized, oh, that's what that meant. Or I can use that this in this situation, the little Lord has brought a verse or an A, a, a scripture, a story back to my mind. But if you don't store up your mind with the word of God, if you don't do like David and take the stones from the brook, you won't have anything to meet the enemy. And and remember I, it's when you're young that you can memorize the word of God and take it in. You know the verses that I quote to you today, this weekend, I didn't learn last week.
My memory is starting to slip a bit, and I'm thankful that my parents drilled the word of God into me. I'm thankful that I listened in meeting, to some degree at least, and I heard the truth of God and the scriptures read in my ears from the time I can. I can remember. And so store up your mind with the word of God, and the Spirit can bring it back. You know the Spirit is the remembrance, Sir, but he can't bring to your remembrance something you haven't read or haven't listened to.
Now I want to speak of another aspect of the word of God, and that is light and direction for our Christian pathway. We're going to notice several scriptures. Let's go to Jeremiah chapter 10.
Jeremiah, chapter 10.
And verse 23.
Oh Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man that walketh to direct his steps and then go to the book of Ecclesiastes.
Right after Proverbs Ecclesiastes chapter 6.
And verse 12, Ecclesiastes 6. And verse 12. Just the first expression of the verse for who knoweth what is good for a man in this life? We're going to stop there for a moment. These scriptures 1 Penned by Jeremiah and the other by Solomon, perhaps the wisest man that ever lived apart from the Lord Jesus. These verses show us that you and I cannot decide.
What direction to go in our in our lives, who knows what's good for a man in this life? Solomon said, Oh Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself but is not in man that walketh to direct his footsteps. And so realizing that it is not up to us to direct our pathway to figure out how to go in in our Christian life, then we might ask the question, well, how are we going to know? Well, I believe from the scriptures we're going to look at now.
We're going to see that there's only one way to have direction in our Christian life, and that's through the word of God. Let's go then, first of all to Psalm 37.
Psalm 37 and verse 23.
The steps of a Goodman are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand, and then notice 119th Psalm.
So I'm 119 and verse 105.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. And then notice the 130th verse. The entrance of Thy word giveth light. It giveth understanding to the simple. So here we find several scriptures, and there are many that show us that if you and I as believers are going to know the path that the Lord has for us, then we're going to have to read the word of God.
00:25:01
And I want to encourage you young people to form the habit in your life while you're young, of orderly, consistent reading of the word of God. You know, I believe that that's the way the Lord really directs us in our pathway. It's not enough, when you're faced with some dilemma or crossroads in your life to put your Bible on its spine, on the table, let it fall open to a a passage, put your finger there and think that's how the Lord is going to direct you.
Now, I've heard stories about people who've done that and the Lord can certainly undertake for us in extreme situations and in our weakness and so on. But I believe that really the way the Lord directs us in our Christian pathway is when we orderly and consistently, on a daily basis read the word of God. And perhaps you've experienced this. I know some of us who are older have certainly experienced it time and again. You're just reading in your regular portion. Some question has arisen in your life, some decision you have to make, and all of a sudden a verse jumps out on the page.
Maybe it really doesn't mean, not in its strict context. Maybe it'll never mean that to you again. It may never mean that to anybody else. But it's the spirit of God using the word of God to direct you in your Christian pathway. And so it's not just feeding here and there in the word of God. It's not just random reading. I want to stress again, it's orderly, consistent reading of the of the word of God. And so if we're going to know God's mind in our lives, we must read His word. You know, I've talked to young people and.
Sad to say, some who are not so young, and they'll say to me, you know, I really want to know what the mind of the Lord is for me. Maybe it's in connection with schooling, maybe a job where they should live, any number of things. But you know, you talk to them for a while and you realize they're not reading God's Word. You'll never have light for your pathway unless you read God's words. Thy Word is a lamp under my feet and a light unto my path. There's two things there. First of all, it's a lamp unto my feet.
Because it shows us one step at a time.
If we don't keep moving in the Christian pathway by faith, and act on the light that he gives us for the day, we for each day, we're not going to have further light. It's like holding on to a flashlight or a Lantern. You have that and you shine it ahead and you're walking somewhere on a dark night and you say, well, this light only shines a few feet in front of me. Well, you know the answer. You hold on to that flashlight, you hold on to that Lantern, and as long as you keep moving.
It's a lamp onto your feet. It shows you each step of the way, but it's also a light under our path, because it's sufficient light for the whole journey. Again, just like that flashlight, it shows you one step at a time, just a few feet at a time. But if you hang on to it, keep it on, and keep it pointed ahead of you, it's going to be sufficient light for the whole, for your whole hike or journey or whatever you're doing. Same with the headlights of your car. They only shine a few feet ahead of you.
But as long as you keep your foot on the gas and keep moving in the proper direction, those headlights are going to guide you all the way from point A to point B. And so the word of God is light for our pathway. You know, the children of Israel were directed through the wilderness by a pillar of cloud by day it became a pillar of fire by night, and that cloud it directed them for the whole wilderness journey. In this connection, though, I'd like to read two further scriptures in the Psalms.
In the first of all in the 27th Psalm.
Psalm 27.
And verse 11.
Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path because of mine enemies. Now keeping that in mind, I want to connect it with a verse in the 143rd Psalm.
So I'm 143.
And verse 10. The first expression of verse 10 teach me to do thy will. I want to stress two things in this connection, that is desire and obedience. Because again, we might be reading the word of God out of habit. And habits are good, you know. Don't be discouraged if reading the word of God is just a habit. We want it to be more than that, but it's a good habit, and we develop those habits and routines while we're young.
00:30:10
You know, they it it that the older you get, believe me, it becomes harder to change and harder to develop habits and routines. What we developed in our youth is only going to become more pronounced when we get older. I know individuals who've got saved when they were older and they've been able to develop a reading habit and and so on in connection with spiritual things, but it's more difficult what what you develop in your youth is going to become.
More pronounced and become your rule of thumb as you get, as you get older. And so here we find first of all, David, it's a Psalm of David, the 27th Psalm. He says, teach me thy way, O Lord, that's the desire, and I trust that every one of us here have a desire to know the path that the Lord has for them. I really pray and trust that you today.
Have that desire that in your Christian life every day you're praying. Lord, show me your way. Show me what you have for me. Show me what you have in life. Give me direction as to schooling. Give me direction as to where I should live. Give me direction as to remembering you in the breaking of bread. Give me direction as to friends, as to a partner in life. The Lord wants that desire on your part and mine, But young people desires not enough.
You know, it says the sluggard desires and hath nothing. Let me illustrate it this way. When this meeting is over, we may have a desire to get up and to clear the room and get ready for the breaking of bread. But if we don't do something about it, we can sit here till tomorrow morning. It's going to take more than desire to get up out of these seats when meeting is over and get ready for the next meeting. No, we're going. It's going to take purpose. And so David expresses a nice desire here. And that's the beginning.
But I say again, desire is not enough. I'm thankful when I hear about a young person.
That has a nice desire, but you know, it really takes what Daniel had in his day. It takes purpose of heart because purpose of heart is a desire that's motivated by an object. And so David or Daniel had more than than just a desire. He had that real purpose in his life. That's why Barnabas, in the book of Acts, he exhorted the early Christians that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto unto the Lord. And so it takes that real purpose. And what I've appreciated is in the 143rd Psalm.
David says something else here. He doesn't just say teach me thy way or teach me thy will.
And again, it's the Psalm of David. This is David writing this by inspiration, he says Teach me to do.
Thy will and I trust that everyone of us really have that motivation, and more than just desire to know by the the motivation to do it. I say that because I think sometimes, at least in my own life, I better only point at my own heart. But in my life there have been times when I wanted to know the Lord's mind, and he wants to show us in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path. If any man desire to do his will, he shall know.
And there have been times when I really desired, wanted to know the Lord's will and then he's shown it to me and I've held back and said, whoa, wait a minute now, Lord, I I wouldn't mind if it was something a little different, not that big a step, Lord or not in that direction, Lord. And I haven't had really the purpose to take the step and to follow his will. It takes more than just knowing his mind. Let me give you an example.
You know, I believe there's many young people, perhaps some here, who know that it's the Lord's will for them to remember Him in the breaking of bread. You know, you don't have to wonder if it's the Lord's will for you to break bread because he says as often as you eat and drink, that's something physical. As often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you just show the Lord's death till He comes. You don't have to wonder whether it's His desire for you to break bread. We need to be exercised that we would be where the Lord is in the midst, and that we would partake of the Lord's Supper at the Lord's Table.
But you don't have to wonder if it's his will for you to break bread.
But are you doing it? Are you saying teach me to do thy will? Or are you gonna let the cup and the loaf pass by? And when you get to heaven, what excuse are you gonna give the Lord that you didn't remember him, He's gonna say. But you knew. You heard it from your parents. You heard it at the meeting. She went to camp and you were exhorted and the scriptures were brought out. What was your excuse? You won't have any. And so it's more than just knowing his will. It's more than just the desire it is.
00:35:26
The obedience are you going to obey? Teach me to do thy will. And I believe David above all else wanted to carry out the Lord's will in his life. There were failures in David's life. It's true there was sin in David's life. It's true. But he said he restores my soul. And David because he had a desire and the motivation to obey the word of God. He was a man after God's own heart. You want to be a man or a woman after God's own heart. Seek to not only know the will of God.
But seek to carry it out in your life. So the word of God is light and instruction for our pathways. You want to know the will of God in your life. You want to know the mind of the Lord? You must read God's word. Read it every day. Now I want to speak of something else. And that's comfort, comfort or encouragement. Sometimes the word comfort in our English Bible is sometimes the word encouragement I should say in our English Bible.
Is translated comfort, but they're very similar and I want to look at how the word of God is comforter. Encouragement to us. Go to a very familiar verse in Romans chapter 15.
Romans chapter 15 and verse 4.
For whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning that we, through patience and comfort or encouragement, Mr. Darby, translates it of the Scriptures might have hope. You know, I don't doubt that there's some young people here this morning who really need comfort and encouragement. You know, the great work of the enemy, Satan is to discourage the people of God, discourages the opposite of encourage.
And the I I really wonder how many of us here are perhaps a little discouraged or a little sad. We're we're we're down. Something's happened in our lives. We've lost something or someone in our lives. Maybe another young person has really hurt us. Maybe a young person that you were once in fellowship with at the Lord's Table. And you said, I never thought they they leave the Lord's table. I never thought they'd go into this. Or they go into that and maybe you're discouraged.
Go to the word of God. You know, I often, in taking a funeral, say to the family, you know, there are days gonna follow this funeral where you're gonna need comfort and encouragement. Where are you gonna find it? You're gonna find it in the word of God. And so in the Apostle Paul is encouraging the Romans here to take up the word of God, to read it and define their comfort and encouragement in it. Because in the word of God, you're going to find that there is comfort and encouragement.
In connection with the Trinity, being interested in your welfare and mind, I'd like to just look at 3 portions of scripture that bring this out. So we're going to see that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit are interested, profoundly interested in our comfort and encouragement. And it's going to be through the word of God. Let's go first of all to 2nd Corinthians. We'll just look at these very, very quickly. Second Corinthians.
Chapter One.
And verse three, blessed be the God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. You know, God our Father is referred to in different ways in scripture. Sometimes he's referred to as the Father of light and and so on number of ways. But here he's the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort. When we need mercy and comfort in our lives, we can go to the word of God and from God the Father Himself.
00:40:03
We can have that comfort and encouragement that we need. Now let's look at 2nd Thessalonians.
Chapter 2.
And verse 16. Second Thessalonians, chapter 2 and verse 16.
Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God even our Father, which hath loved us and hath given us everlasting consolation and Good Hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work. Now here in this verse, it's not just from God the Father, but it's also from the Lord Jesus Christ. I I wonder how often we just sit quietly in the presence of God our Father.
The presence of the Lord Jesus Christ and let him comfort us, to just feel his arms of love about us and to have our Bibles and to just open to a portion. A Psalm perhaps. You know, there's nothing will comfort our hearts like the psalms in so many portions of the word of God. And just let those divine persons, the Father and the Son comfort us. Now notice John Chapter 14.
John, Chapter 14.
And verse 26.
Well, let's actually, let's uh read verse 16, John 14, verse 16, and I will pray the Father and he shall give you another comforter that he he may abide with you forever.
Here we find the Spirit of God is referred to as the Comforter. The Spirit of God is referred to in various ways. He's the Spirit of truth and so on. But here in this portion, He's the Comforter. Why? Because that's what the disciples needed at the time. They were troubled and afraid and concerned as they thought of the Lord Jesus leaving them. And He had been their Comforter, you know, Remember when John the Baptist was beheaded, the disciples were burdened and concerned about it, and they came to the Lord.
They told them all about it. He drew them into the desert place to rest a while. He was their comfort, but they were troubled as they thought of the one who comforted, comforted, and provided for them being taken away, going back to heaven, he said, I'll send you another Comforter. I'm not going to leave you comfortless, not going to leave you without encouragement. You're going to have the Spirit of God both with you and in you. So the Spirit of God dwells in US, and the Spirit of God is with us. And so the Trinity takes up the comfort and encouragement of you and end of me. And again, we need the Word of God if we're going to have the Father, the Son, and the Spirit brought before us in this regard.
Again, it's through the reading UH, of God's word. Now let's speak of it's cleansing effect. The Word of God has a cleansing effect. I mentioned earlier that water is sometimes used as a figure of the word of God, and so that's the aspect I want to speak up Now let's go first of all, then in that connection to Psalm 119.
MMM.
Maybe I'll just mention before I read a portion here, this 119th Psalm is a very remarkable Psalm. It's the longest chapter in the Bible and these Psalms were not divided into chapters by the translators. Like the rest of our Bible, these Psalms were written as individual psalms. So the only, if I can put it this way, they're the only chapter divisions in the Word of God that are inspired the other chapter divisions and the verse divisions.
They are helpful and God allowed the translators to put them in. But these were written as individual psalms. That's why the Lord would say, quote from a Psalm and gift like from the 2nd Psalm or whatever. Because they were written like we would write poetry or hymns. They were written as individual units. So that's just a little aside. But what's interesting about this Psalm is that in every verse now the first divisions are inspired. It's it's the psalms themselves. But in every verse almost I counted one time. There's a couple but.
In every verse there's some reference to the word of God, either called by statutes or thy commandments, Thy precepts, thy word, some reference to God's word. You'll notice the headings of the Psalm, the little headings throughout the Psalm. They're the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. And I like to think of it this way. It's just as if the psalmist said we need instruction and where are we going to get this struction? As we would say we have it all here from, as you say in America from A-Z or as we say in Canada, from A to Z. In other words, where are we gonna get it all?
00:45:18
It's God's word. We must have God's word if we're gonna have instruction and light for our pathway. Well, I wanna notice in this Psalm then the ninth verse.
Psalm 119, verse 9. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed? Thereto, according to thy word with my whole heart have I sought thee. Oh, let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hidden mine heart that I might not.
Sin against thee and then just notice further down in the Psalm the 101St verse.
I have refrained my feet from every evil way that I might keep thy word. Now we won't turn to it, but in the book of Ephesians we find it speaks there of the washing of water by the word. What it is. It's a cleansing effect that the Word of God has, in a moral sense on our lives when we read it from day-to-day.
You remember when the priests in the Old Testament performed the service of the Tabernacle, they had to come again and again to what was called the labor which contained water. And in that labor they had to wash their hands and their feet, because they became defiled with their service and with the sand of the desert, as they were there from day-to-day.
And so, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto, according to thy word, there was an older brother at home. He's long with the Lord now, but he used to tell us in his working days that when he came home from the office at in the evening, he needed a good wash. And he wasn't talking about soap and water. He was talking about the washing of water. By the Word he felt he had picked up some of the defilements of the world.
He perhaps heard things said by his fellow office workers who were not believers. He saw things that corrupted and defiled him, and he felt like he needed cleansing when he got home in the in the evening, he needed the washing of water by the word. That's like coming to the labor in the old in the Old Testament has nothing to do with washing our sins away as far as as our our acceptance before God and to get into heaven. That's been taken care of once and for all.
In the blood of Christ, the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses from all sin. But this is a moral cleansing that you and I need, so it's taking heed thereto, according to thy word, just as a little parenthesis, the Psalmist says with my whole heart. Let me let me reread it here again, here again, he says.
Verse 10 With my whole heart have I sought thee. You know, what God really wants from you and from me is wholeheartedness. I went through one time and counted how many times we have the little expression my with my whole heart. Or something ex, uh, similar. It's quite a few times.
God doesn't want half heartedness in our Christian life. He wants our whole heart. My son, give me not half your heart, but give me thine heart. Well, that's a little apart. But then he says thy word. Have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee? Later on, he says I've refrained my feet from every evil way. Why? Because he takes heed to the word of God. It's the word of God with its cleansing effect that is going to keep us.
In the path of faith, it's going to keep us within practical holiness.
So David said he restoreth my soul. Maybe we failed, maybe someone here. And you say I haven't been following the Lord and I've got into things that are defiling.
But David said he restores my soul. But he doesn't stop there. He said he leads me in the paths of righteousness. That's why it says in first John if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. There's a a a washing that takes place that keeps us now from going any further in that direction and puts us back in the right direction, the way of practical righteousness.
And practical holiness, you know, if you have a basket and you pour water into that basket, the basket's not gonna hold the water, but you know the water will keep the basket clean. You wanna be kept pure in your Christian life. It's the cleansing of the word of God. I was standing in line some years ago at a for to go in for a meal at a conference and a brother said, you know, I've got a memory like a sieve. And someone else said that's why you need to keep the water running through it.
00:50:28
It won't. The sieve won't hold water, but it will keep the sieve clean. But there is one way to keep a basket and a sieve full of water, and that's to immerse it in the well. That's to immerse it in a in a bucket of water. And you and I, we immerse ourselves in the word of God. It's going to keep us, keep us pure. And so he wants that practical purity in our Christian life. Now again, we won't turn to it for the sake of time, but if you just reference the first few verses of John's Gospel, chapter 13.
The Lord Jesus there spoke of the truth of feet washing. He said to the disciples that they needed to have their feet washed. And he wasn't talking about literal feet washing. Now he gave a literal illustration. He put water in a basin, he gird himself with a towel, he got down and he washed the disciples feet. It was a literal illustration. But he also said to them what I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.
That indicates, I believe, that there was a spiritual application to what he was doing that they wouldn't understand until the Spirit of God came. If if it was just literal feet washing he was teaching them to do, he wouldn't have had to say that because they saw and understood what he was doing in a literal sense. And so that verse indicates that it was a there's a spiritual sense to feet washing. Two things in connection with that, first of all.
He washed their feet. How does the Lord wash and refresh our feet for our path of faith and service? That's when our feet speak of in scripture, it's the washing of water by the word. It's the cleansing effect. It's for the refreshment that we need. And so we let him wash our feet. And then he said to the disciples something very instructive. He said wash one another's feet. Now I know there are groups of Christians who literally wash one another's feet and they have feet washing services, and so I'm not out to criticize that.
But again I say he wasn't teaching literal feet washing. What he was teaching is let me refresh you. Let the word of God refresh you and then you can refresh your fellow Christian. You know I cannot encourage you or refresh your soul unless I've been refreshed myself. The order there is very important. It was he first washing their feet and then they washing one another's. Why is it so often we get together?
And we may have a nice time. We may have activity in young people. We have. I have nothing against activity. I'm thankful to see you all out playing the games and playing ping pong and having activity that's wonderful. But that's not fellowship. You know, we confuse activity and fellowship. Activity is good, but true fellowship is our enjoyment of Christ one with another. It's common thoughts concerning the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And maybe we get together and we spend an evening or we spend the day.
And we have some nice activity. Great. And we come away and we say, you know, we didn't really enjoy Christ together. We didn't share much of Christ. There wasn't a lot to refresh us spiritually. Why? We can work. We only are collectively what we are individually. We're no more collectively than what we are individually. If I don't enjoy Christ in my soul, if I don't allow the word of God to refresh my spirit, then I'm not going to be able to refresh my my fellow Christian, I can only share with you.
What I have enjoyed of Christ in my in my own soul. And don't we need that young people? You know, there's enough today to discourage. We can get together and talk about all the problems amongst the people of God and difficulties in our local assembly. And there are plenty of them. There isn't a a family, an individual, an assembly who isn't going through some real problem and difficulty. And the enemy is working extremely hard in these last days and perilous times. But let's not focus on that. Let's not be indifferent to it. We don't want to be indifferent to those things.
We want to learn by them, be exercised by them, correct them if if needs be, and so on. But let's not focus on those things when we're together. Let's have have our own feet washed. Let's let the word of God cleanse us so that we can refresh and cleanse, uh, one another. And if you see a fellow young person going on with something that's not right in their life that you realize is going to lead to some detriment in their Christian pathway to a wrong direction.
00:55:26
Down the road, go to that young person in love. Speak to them. Bring the word of God before them. And again it's the word of God that refreshes. It's the word of God that has the cleansing effect on our lives. It's not a scolding, you know there's a way to admonish the Saints of God without scolding them. And you know when the Lord Jesus washed the disciples feet, I suggest that the water was just the right temperature.
You know, we can scold one another, or we can freeze one another. And so we want to make sure that the word of God is applied, uh, in in the proper way. And so the word of God has a cleansing effect on our life. Now, this afternoon, after lunch, we're going to go on with this subject, but this is probably a good stopping place. Uh, this morning again, the word of God is a necessary, vital part of our Christian life.
You're not going to get through life as a believer and bear fruit for God's glory and have joy in your life if you neglect your Bible. When I was growing up, we used to sing that hymn O cling to the Bible, my boy, O Cling to the Bible My Girl. I trust every one of us are encouraged to read and to claim to the word of God. It's really our greatest treasure apart from Christ himself.
The Word of God Part 3
Address—Jim Hyland
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
I'd like to sing #63 in the blue book.
Hymn #63 in the blue book and again if someone will please start it for it.
Clean up there in my end of thin chains and I think I did find where I found.
But the blessed cross of Christ, one day I came where spring of living water did abound.
Drinking at the springs of living water.
Happy now am I?
From the hills of God, it made me glad and happy all the way.
Now to breathe in what they are.
I shall lean on legally every day.
You're in the end of the spring. Love every morning.
In the meeting this morning, we spoke about the cleansing effect of the Word of God for those who haven't been with us. We're taking up the subject of the practical application of God's Word in our lives and the results that come in our Christian pathway.
As a result of reading and walking in obedience to the word of God. And so we're going to go on this afternoon we spoke about the cleansing effect of the Word of God. And closely related to that is the refreshment that comes from the Word of God. Let's just notice one verse in the book of Song of Solomon.
Chapter 5. Song of Solomon, Chapter 5.
And verse one, I am coming to my garden, My sister, my spouse. I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey. Now I want to notice this particularly I have drunk my wine with my mouth, eat all friends, drink, drink, yay, drink abundantly, oh beloved.
Now in the Song of Solomon, we have a dialogue. I wish it was differentiated in our English Bibles. Just give you a little hint that was helpful to me in studying Song of Solomon. There's a little book by Hamilton Smith on the Song of Solomon, and in that book he goes through and he tells you who is speaking. And I have made marks in my Bible as to who is speaking, because if we don't understand who's speaking in the Song of Solomon.
00:05:00
We're going to get confused as to different expressions. The Lord Jesus is not the Lily of the valley. It's the bride. That is the Lily of the valley. It's the Lord Jesus. Speaking of the bride, The Lord Jesus is not the Rose of Sharon. It's the bride being referred to in her beauty and freshness by the bridegroom. And if you don't understand that, you're going to get confused. So just a little. That's just a little parenthesis, but it's been helpful to me.
To have these little marks in my Bible to show who's speaking, it's mainly A dialogue between the bride and the bridegroom.
However, there are the daughters of Jerusalem and the friends of the bridegroom that speak up a little bit in between as well.
And what we have in this first verse is the bridegroom speaking to the bride.
And he's encouraging her to drink for her refreshment. And that's what the Lord Jesus is doing with each one of us. He has given us the water of the word, not just to cleanse us morally, but to refresh our spirits as we go through this spiritual wilderness, which we have talked about at some length when we talked about the manna earlier on. You know, there are two things other than air to breathe that we can't live without.
One is food and the other is water. And in the wilderness in the Old Testament God gave them those two things, the man of as food, and he gave them water again. I have driven over a good cross section of the Sinai Peninsula a number of times. You drive and drive and drive, and all you see is shimmering sand and rock to from where you are to the horizon and you drive and more shimmering sand and rock. Every once in a while you come on a little Oasis.
Little spring in the desert, but it is a desert, and so the Lord God gave them water from the rock to refresh them.
And to keep them alive while they were those 40 years in the wilderness. And as we have mentioned, we are in a spiritual wilderness and we need spiritual water. Are you a thirsty Christian today? I don't mean are you thirsty physically, but do you feel a spiritual thirst in your soul? If you do, then I suggest you're not drinking abundantly from the word of God.
I I, I know we've drunk a lot of ice water since we've been here this weekend. And I know because I've been the one that's mostly been responsible to keep that orange cooler.
Filled with ice water. And it just seems as fast as I pour water in the top that's being funneled out the bottom. And that's good. We're glad that you've drunk. But you've come again and again, and I want to make this point. You didn't take a drink of water early in the day and let that satisfy your thirst for the rest of the day. I noticed you came again and again and again and you had those water bottles. In fact, let me look at one just so I get it right.
Are you thirsty for the word? It's a good question to ask them. You know, if you're not thirsty for the word of God today, then there's something wrong. Either you don't have divine life, either you're not a Christian, a believer at all, or there's something in your life that you're trying to satisfy your soul with other than the word of God. It's not really gonna satisfy your soul, but there's something you're going after in this world.
That you're think you think is satisfying you, but it really is only the word of God, the water of the word, that is going to satisfy the third your spiritual inner thirst. And so I want to encourage you again, drink, Drink abundantly. Hear this as the very voice of your bridegroom, the Lord Jesus, speaking to you. If you're drinking from the word of God, you're not a thirsty Christian. And I say say not just once a day.
You didn't just come to the cooler once a day and get a drink. In fact, most of you filled your water bottles and took them with you. And I saw you're drinking even in meeting you. Take a little drink and you're sipping at it all day. I wish I sipped at the word of God the way we sip at our water bottles. Uh, or our cups of uh of uh, ice water. If I did, I wouldn't, uh, have any thirst in my soul. And so we need the word of God in that way.
Now I want to go on, and I want to go back to a verse, a portion we began with at the beginning of these meetings and see what follows. It's in Second Timothy Chapter 3.
00:10:04
Second Timothy Chapter 3.
And let's read verse 16 and 17.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. We talked about that at the beginning.
But now I want to notice these next things. It's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Now I want to talk about these things that, uh, he mentions here, because again, they're important. And to to take heed to what we have here is going to have a practical, purifying, preserving effect on your Christian life. Now, I know we already stressed this, but I'm gonna stress it again because I believe it is important. In fact, it's vital.
You know, they say there's three hours to learning, review, review, review. So we're going to review what we I mentioned earlier. The first thing that's mentioned here is doctrine. Now, it's very interesting that when you go through scripture and you find lists of two or more things given to us by God, there's always an order to which in which they're listed. If I can put it this way, God doesn't list things haphazardly.
You know, when I'm home, I like to do the grocery shopping, gets me out and also lets me slip a few extra things in the cart that maybe Faye is too little, too conservative to buy. But I like to do the grocery shopping. I I like to get out and and go walk through the stores and they will often go through the advertisements for the week before She gives me the list. And when I look at the list, if I were to ask her why she lifted those things in that particular order.
She would simply say, well, it's as they came to mind or as I came to them in the advertisement. It's it's really just random in a sense. There's no particular order to what she had. Li has listed on the shopping list, but God doesn't list things in that way. And I want to encourage you when you go through the word of God, if God gives a list of two or more things, stop and consider in the light of other scriptures why it's listed in that way.
The reason I'm telling you this, young people, is because when it comes to things like this, doctrine always is at the head of the list. I'll give you a couple of other examples. If we were to back up in this same epistle, we would find that Paul has said to Timothy, you've fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, and he goes on to list several other things. Why is doctrine at the beginning of the list? It's just what we said the other day.
You can't have a purpose, a proper purpose of life. You can't have good behavior, sound behavior, unless you have sound doctrine at the basis of it. You don't. We we must have the truth of God, the doctrines of the word of God, as the foundation even to go on collectively as gathered to the Lord's name. It's significant that in Acts chapter Two we often quote this verse, but good to see the order of the list, they continued steadfastly. That's the early Christians.
And some different things. They continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine, in breaking of bread and prayers. Now, if I'd been writing that, I might have put breaking a bread first in prayer and maybe doctrine somewhere down the list. Why does the Spirit of God record doctrine first? Because it was the basis for breaking bread and the basis for assembly, Collective prayer. Those are what we might say are the assembly meetings.
Meetings for ministry, meetings for prayer, the breaking of bread. But you have to have sound doctrine at the basis of it.
You know, people say today, well, it doesn't matter anymore. We're all Christians and you know, doctrine really doesn't matter. And we just go on wherever we like the people or wherever we like the format. No, we have to go back to the foundation. The foundation is the apostles doctrine, that which was laid out in the scriptures, the New Testament principles of Christianity laid down in the beginning, and that has not changed. So the first thing that the Word of God is profitable for.
Is for doctrine. Now doctrine is simply teaching.
It's the teaching of the word of God, and doctrine tells us what is right.
00:15:01
How are we going to know how to live? How are we going to know what to do, whether it's individually as young people, whether it's perhaps later on the Lord leaves us here. You have a family. How are we going to know how to go on collectively in the assembly? We have to have doctrine, the doctrines of the word of God, at the basis of it. Now let me just say this too, about sound doctrine. I understand that sometimes when we're dealing with a specific situation.
Maybe someone at school or someone at work. There's a need to have a little outline of some false teaching to know how to deal with someone. But I believe this young people that you don't need to study all the bad doctrines that are out there to know what is right. And I know we often use the illustration, but I think it's helpful. The teller at the bank doesn't recognize counterfeit money. By handling counterfeit money know if they did, they lose their job, but they handle the real money from day-to-day.
They get used to what is real, what is genuine, and when something fake is passed, then hopefully they pick up on it right away. And I believe that the way we detect what is the truth of God is not by knowing what is not the truth of God, but being well rooted and grounded in the fundamental teachings of Scripture. And so, again, as we've been trying to encourage you over these meetings, get into the word, read the word.
Read sound ministry. There's a wealth of good, solid Christ exalting ministry that God has preserved writers of past generations. There are those who are writing good ministry and a a a simple, concise format for today's reader and you need to get into that so that you know what the truth is. You know, I've had some experiences with difficulties amongst the people of God and.
Traveling in other countries and I remember after some real difficulties that affected the people of God in North America on a large scale.
I went down to the Caribbean and I was a little concerned about some of my brethren down in Saint Vincent and Trinidad and some of those places.
But, you know, I needn't have been, because they told me when I got there. You know, we got some letters from some brethren in North America. And, you know, we we kind of scanned them. But it didn't sound like the truth to us. It didn't sound like the Lord, the Lord's voice. Why? How could they say that? Because they were reading their Bibles. They were grounded in the truth. And when something was presented that didn't have the ring of the truth by the Spirit of God, they immediately picked up on it. I thought that was, that was a good lesson for my my own soul. And so.
Be grounded in the doctrines of the Word of God. So doctrine tells us what is right. But then there's something else. There's reproof. Let's go to it. Hold your finger here and let's go to a verse in Proverbs, chapter 10.
Fact we'll we'll read several verses in Proverbs helpful to get this right from the word of God. Proverbs chapter 10.
And verse 17.
He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction, but he that refuseth reproof.
Era and then in the 12Th chapter.
Think these verses are pretty self-explanatory.
Chapter 12 and verse one who so loveth instruction loveth knowledge, but he that hateth reproof is brutish. Chapter 15.
Verse 32 He that refuses instruction despises his own soul.
But he that heareth reproof getteth understanding one more verse in the 29th of proverbs.
And I'm not.
Chapter 29 and verse one.
He that being often reproved hardness, his neck shall be suddenly destroyed, and that without remedy, remedy. So if doctrine tells us what is right, we prove tells us what is wrong, you know, this is a day when we don't like to be reproved. You know, the spirit of the age is nobody to tell me I'm wrong and there's no absolutes today. It's whatever I want to make right is is right, and nobody's to tell me. And I suppose none of us naturally speaking.
00:20:04
Like reproof, but God reproves us in His Word, and it's necessary. And when the Word of God is ministered, don't ignore the reproofs of God's Word. It may sting, it may hurt. And I've had brothers and sisters in faithfulness come to me and reprove me from the Word of God. I didn't always appreciate it at the time.
And sometimes it really stung, sometimes it really hurt. But when I look back, I realized it was necessary. I remember.
A sister who one time when I was before I was married, I had a Sunday school class at home in Smith Falls And I was away for a while. And when I came back and this sister was actually my Grade 2 teacher in school and I said to the sister, I said, well, I'm sorry, I've been away from my Sunday school class for a couple of weeks.
She looked me straight in the eye and she said, Jim, remember, nobody's indispensable. That was a little reproof, and I maybe didn't appreciate at the time, but it was necessary. And I learned a great lesson from that was a general reproof. Sometimes reproof is not quite that gentle, but take it as from the Lord and from the word of God. So we need the word of God not only to tell us what is right, but to tell us when we're wrong. Well, then he says it's it's.
For adoption. For reproof. For, for correction. Because not only does the word of God tell us what is wrong, it tells us how to get right. You know, any of us who are parents would be a myth if we reproved our children, admonished our children as to something they were doing wrong, but then didn't seek to guide them or lead them in the right way. Scripture says train up a child in the way he should go.
When he's old, he will not depart from it. Don't just tell him he's going the wrong way, but lead him in the right way. Bring the truth before him. And so the word of God does that. It not only tells us what is what is wrong, but when we're and when we're wrong, but it shows us the way that we we should go. So that's re that's re re correction and we certainly need correction and now in connection with reproof and correction.
Young people.
Don't harden yourself against the reproof and correction of the word of God. I read those verses in Proverbs. I say they're pretty self-explanatory. But those verses show the folly of not listening to the reproof of the word of God, of not listening to the correction of the Word of God and taking heed to it. And there are many.
Many young people, many of my own generation that I know, who were reproved by the word of God, who had correction brought before them from the Scriptures, and they didn't take heed to it.
And it led to very sad things in their life. Just hold your finger here and go to the 13th of Jeremiah for a moment, because perhaps it would be good to read this just to give us a warning.
Jeremiah, chapter 13 and verse 15. Hear ye and give ear. Be not proud, for the Lord hath spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God before he caused darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains. And while he looked for light, he turned it into the shadow of death, and make it grow darkness. But if he will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride, and my eyes shall weep soar and rundown with tears.
Because the Lord's flock is carried away captive, I believe this is a solemn warning in regard to what we're saying.
Jeremiah is really saying it. What Jeremiah is really saying is you had light and instruction for your pathway. We spoke of that at length. You had light and instruction and you refused the light and now you're stumbling on the dark mountains. Jeremiah says All I can do is wait for you. You had the way you had it presented, you refused it, and Jeremiah was weeping for those that he knew in his day who had refused and were now they wanted light.
And they didn't have it. And I know many of my own generation, many of you, some of your generation, who sat in meetings like this, who've been reproved as to a course of things that they were on, and they hardened their neck against it. They wouldn't listen, They wouldn't take the correction. And now they're out there and they're looking for light, but they're stumbling on the dark mountains. All I can do is weep for them. And I don't wanna have to weep for you young people. I don't wanna have to weep for you.
00:25:23
I want to rejoice if when I hear that you're going on for the Lord, you know there's nothing thrilled those of us who are older more than someone comes along and says, you know, that young person, they're really going on for the Lord. That young person has really taken a hold. That young person is a real help in the meeting where they are. I don't wanna have to wait for you. Like Jeremiah had to weep in in his day. And so I believe, as I say, it's a it's a solemn warning.
Now we find something else too here, and that is that the word of God is profitable for instruction in righteousness. Just go. I think we mentioned it the other day, but let's read a verse in Psalm 23. Very familiar verse.
Psalm 23 and verse 3.
He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. Now just keep that in mind and let's go back to the Book of Titus, back to the New Testament, to the Book of Titus.
Titus, Chapter 2.
And verse 11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men.
Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world or at this present time. So the Word of God instructs us in the way of righteousness. You wanna know how to live for the Lord? Do you wanna know what is right and proper in your Christian life? Do you want to be able to exhibit practical righteousness? You must go to the to the Word of God.
And so David said, he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness, because there is a right and a wrong way to go in our Christian pathway. And I read the verses in Titus. Because what Titus is really telling us is that it is the grace of God, the appreciation of the grace of God in our souls, that teaches us to deny that which is unrighteous, and then delivers right soberly, righteously, godly.
In this present age, you know, when I see a young person, or any believer for that matter, who exhibits moral piety, godliness, practical righteousness in their life, I say there's a young person who appreciates the grace of God. You know, grace does not give us liberty to live as we please. In the days when the Lord Jesus was here, there were those that says they were turning the grace of God into lasciviousness.
The root of that word, lasciviousness, is license. In other words, they were taking license from the fact that God was gracious to live the way they pleased, but they didn't have an understanding or appreciation of what grace really is. When we really understand the grace of God in our souls, then it is going to teach us. Grace is a teacher. It teaches us, as I say, to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and then to live soberly, righteously, and godly when.
Right now, in this present time, Because I think sometimes when we're young, we look back and we say, well, you know, it's OK for brother Jim to talk like this. And that was OK when he was a young person. Or that was OK back a few generations ago when the world wasn't quite so bad and evil wasn't quite so prevalent and things weren't quite so in our face. But can we really live in a righteous, godly way?
In 2017, this verse tells us we can we can be instructed in righteousness and take that instruction and apply it practically in our lives, right where we are today. And if we're left here a little longer, we can do the same tomorrow. In fact, you and I have the resources in from God, in Christ to live righteously, no matter how dark, spiritually and morally this world becomes.
If this world ever becomes so morally spiritual and dark that we can't live for God's glory in a righteous way, then God will take us out, the Lord will come and take us out. But as long as we are here, we can live soberly, righteously, godly at this present time. Just go back to Timothy for a moment to Second Timothy chapter 2.
00:30:33
Second Timothy chapter 2 and verse 22 flee. Also youthful lusts.
But follow righteousness, faith, charity, or love peace with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. This is very interesting because, you know, we often say when we take up a book like Second Timothy that the last days are characterized by individual faithfulness. And that's true. Timothy is told to continue. We were to back up in the third chapter to the 14th verse. Continue thou, that's individual. But in this second chapter I believe it's a collective thing.
Because again, as I said earlier, people say, well, there's really no corporate or collective testimony and everything is in ruin and it doesn't matter where we meet and how we meet anymore. But it's interesting to me that before Timothy is exhorted to continue as an individual, he's told to go on with those that call on the Lord out of a pure heart and he's told to follow what's the first thing righteousness.
Not compromise, but righteousness.
You see again how important the order of God's lists are. If I was listing this, I would have put love at the beginning of the list.
And maybe put righteousness somewhere down near the end, but that's not the way God lists lists it. We are never to compromise the truth of God to go on in in fellowship with with with other believers. You can't have peace and love at the expense of righteousness and truth. Now, young people, don't misunderstand me. I'm glad for any believer I I meet and I often have fellowship with other believers.
Perhaps at the cafe, or just talking as we pass and and so on. And we've had many believers in our home and we've enjoyed happy fellowship. But I'm talking now about being gathered to the Lord's name at the Lord's table. We have to be careful that we maintain righteousness first and faith in the book of Timothy is often used not so much as to.
Confidence in God, but it often has to do with the truth of God.
And those two things must be maintained. Righteousness, faith, then peace and love. Yes, we're to love the whole household of faith. We're to do good to all men and especially those of the household of faith. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about maintaining.
A. A plot maintaining the truth of God, where the Lord Jesus is in the midst and as those gathered to His name by grace, and it's only by grace we must.
Uphold the truth of God. The assembly is to be the pillar and ground of the truth.
And so we're to follow righteousness. OK, so again, we've noticed these four things. The word of God is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness. Now I want to just mention something else in connection with this portion in the 17th verse that we're back in Second Timothy, chapter 3 and verse 17, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Now before I comment on that, go back again to the second chapter.
And let's notice verse 19. Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth. Sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. And let every man that everyone that nameeth the name of the Lord.
Depart from iniquity, but in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some to honor, and some to dishonor. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour sanctified. And I want you to notice this particularly, and meet for the masters use prepared unto every good work. I want to notice now that it is the word of God that fits us for service. We often speak of service for Christ.
00:35:00
And everyone of us here who know Christ as our Savior today have a little service, a little ministry to perform for him, brothers and sisters alike. You know, I've enjoyed with Samuel. As a young boy, he was brought by his mother up to the temple at a day when things were in appalling condition. The lamp of the Lord was going out, The priesthood was polluted. Things were in an awful condition in the days of Samuel. But his mother, by faith, brought him up and he served in the temple under Eli the priest. And we're not told exactly what he did.
But there, I think there is one thing. We're told he helped open the doors of the temple in the morning. You know, those doors were probably heavy and Eli was getting old. I picture him maybe going around and keeping the ashes swept up from the sacrifices, helping to keep the lamps. Whatever it was, we're not exactly told, but whatever little tasks Samuel as a boy carried out in the tempo under the direction of Eli. At least twice it's referred as ministry to the Lord.
You know, we don't have to wait till we're older to minister before the Lord or to minister to the Lord. Every believer has a little ministry that they can do. When the Lord Jesus was here on earth, there were some ladies that followed the Lord in His pathway. We often think of the disciples, but it tells us about some ladies and it names some of them. It names Johanna, Susanna and Mary Magdalene. And they follow the Lord and it says they ministered to him.
Of their substance, there was. They were there to be a practical help, but it was ministry. You know, we think of MI. Most people think of ministers as somebody who's been to a seminary and they have some letters after their name and they stand up in front of a congregation with the Bible. Are you a minister? You are. If you know the Lord Jesus as your savior, you're a minister of Christ. You have a little ministry. But I wonder if you're fulfilling it. You know what? The end of Colossians.
Paul speaks to a man by the name of Archippus and he says, say to Archippus, take heed to the ministry that thou hast received of the Lord.
That's how fulfill it, you know, I believe there are many people in their local meeting where they come from.
Who are given a ministry, but they're not fulfilling it. When Paul wrote to the Saints at Colossi, he felt that that archipelas was not carrying out the little ministry that the Lord had given him. And he felt that the brethren there were suffering a lot because of it. Timothy was shy too. He had to be stirred up to to carry out his gift and and his ministry. And I want to do that You you're going to go home to your local meeting, your little assembly you come from, you've got a ministry. And I'll just say this in passing, young people, I have noticed.
That those young people who happily get up after the.
Fellowship lunch or some activity and collect the cutlery. Cutlery and go out and help wash the dishes and sweep the floor and that kind of thing. Those are the kind of young people the Lord's gonna use in a greater way later on. It starts with the little things he tests us in the little ministries like Samuel, if you helped open the doors of the meeting room, then he's gonna he's going to use you because he that is faithful and not which is least is faithful and not which is much and so.
Any of us who've been in business know when you hire an employee, you don't start them at the top. Usually you start them at the bottom and sometimes you you have them on probation. And then if they prove themselves after three months or six months, then you hire them full time, they prove themselves after a year. You give them a little promotion, a little raise in pay. Now would God run something more careless than humans if humans are that that careful in running their business or corporation?
How much more God in connection with his, with his assembly. And so we find. What I want to point out here is that there are two things that fit us for service in the second chapter where we read it's separation from evil. That's first. You're going to be prepared to every good work you've got to separate from from evil. Do you want to be prepared on every good work you've got to then go on in the truth of God? Those are the 2 great lessons, I believe, from the 2 verses that we read.
First of all, it's to separate from that which is evil, to keep ourselves pure in every way, and then to go on in the truth of God. Those are the ways that fit us not for just for some good work, but for every good work. You know, if you talk to somebody, another Christian, about some aspect of the truth, and they watch your life and they see that you're not practically carrying that out in your life, it's not gonna have an effect.
00:40:17
You know, I I I heard a a story about a man believer and uh, he interested some other believers in the truth of baptism. And uh really brought the truth before him, before them. But you know, they found out after a while that he hadn't been baptized himself and they were stumbled. They he, they, he, you see he wasn't prepared under every good work. He wasn't walking in obedience.
To the word of God that he himself knew and was seeking, seeking to teach. I heard another story about a believer who interested another group in connection with being gathered to the Lord's name. Separating from that which was not according to the word of God ecclesiastically, and being gathered to the Lord's name, he even brought them to the assembly, where this was expressed in a practical and very real way from week to week, and again they were stumbled.
Because when the loaf in the cup was passed on Lord's tea morning, he wasn't in fellowship with those that were gathered to the Lord's name. And they said, how can this man teach these things when he isn't walking in the truth of them himself? And so if you're going to be prepared under every good work, you've not only got to separate from that which is evil, that which is wrong, but you must act in obedience to the Word, to the word of God. And others are watching. You know, we're epistles known in red of all men.
And so he wants us to be furnished not just to some good work, but he wants us to be furnished to every good work. So it's the word of God then, that fits us for service. Now I want to go to Revelation, chapter one.
Revelation, chapter one and verse three. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein.
For the time is at hand. Now I realize that this verse has to do with something very specific. It's that which follows here, the prophecy that John is given and he's telling. He tells us at the beginning there's a blessing for reading. Now before I make a broad application, I would just say that a lot of people shy away from prophecy, the Book of Revelation and prophecy, because they say, well, I just don't understand it and I just can't get the chronology in my mind and all that's gonna happen and the tribulation and and.
The the different battles and how it's all going to work out in the Millennium and what takes place at the end in the introduction of the Eternal State and so on. I don't get it all myself. When there's questions on prophecy, I like, if I can, to refer you to somebody else, and I'm thankful for those who can clearly and concisely lay out prophetic events for us. And there are some very helpful books on that subject.
Just uh uh in passing Brusans. He has a very helpful book on prophetic events and he gives the scriptures and lays it all out.
The few little maps and charts and so on, very, very helpful. And so there was a there's a promise here of a blessing for not necessarily understanding prophecy, but for reading it, for not maybe understanding fully the Book of Revelation, but at least read the Book of Revelation, because there's two things I understand. One thing I understand from Revelation. I may not understand a lot of it, and I may not get all the chronology just correct, but there's one thing I understand.
God's man wins in the end, and if you can get that out of prophetic events, you've got a blessing. And remember, as it says in the 19th chapter of Revelation, the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. It's not just to be bogged down with an intellectual study and certain events and dates and so on. Not saying that isn't good, but to see that it has to do with the full exaltation of God's Son, the Lord Jesus.
In a coming day here on planet Earth, the Lord Jesus does not have his rightful place on planet Earth. Yet on this planet where they spit in his face and cast him out, he's waiting for his vindication, and the heart of God will never be satisfied until his Son is fully vindicated in this world. His Son has his full place of glory in heaven this afternoon, but not on Earth. So you get that. Now I want to make a broader application.
00:45:19
Because.
Maybe as you go through the word of God, you say, But Jim, there's just a lot of things I don't understand. And what's the point of reading the word of God if I don't understand it? Well, first of all, as we said earlier, none of us would understand the word of God apart from the Spirit of God. It's not a book that can be understood intellectually. Those who've taken it up intellectually have only become stumbled and fallen into error. The word of God is only understood in the power of the Spirit.
As we mentioned the other day, when we preached the gospel, we used the word of God. Explanation is good, but it's the word of God that has the power. You know, a simple verse like John 316 will never be understood apart from a work of the Spirit of God in in the soul. It has to be. If this book is written in a unique way as a living book, it must be spiritually discerned. The other thing young people is you can spend your whole life reading and studying the word of God.
And you'll never get it all, because again, it's a living book. It'll never be exhausted. In fact, I suggest that for all eternity we're gonna have a fresh enjoyment of the word, of the word of God. You know the apostle Paul in writing to the Corinthians in the 13th chapter of First Corinthians, he said, for we know in part and prophecy in part. The apostle Paul said that you'd say of anybody that understood the scriptures, it must have been the apostle Paul.
But even the Apostle Paul said we only know in part and prophecy in part. And I say that's a comfort to me in a way because I say, well, if Paul only understood in part, then I I that that gives me comfort. But the point is we'll never get it all this side of heaven. That's why we need one another. I see some of you young people sharing different things between meetings and so on. That's great because we never get it all. None of us have it all we need to share.
And we are all given different gifts, and we all under are given little different understandings and appreciations of different portions and see things in a little different light and so on. And so we share it in that way. But the Apostle Paul also went on to say, but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. There is a day when we're going to understand fully, but I still say in that day we will have a fresh enjoyment of the word of God.
For all, for all eternity. So we need to read the scriptures. We may not understand it all, but we need to read it, Let it sink down into our souls. But young people, there's more than just reading the word of God. And for the few moments that are left, I want to show that there needs to be more than just reading the word of God every day. And as I said earlier in these meetings, more than just casually reading a chapter or two each day.
Let's go to John. We're gonna notice 3 portions now.
And this will take up under the heading of not reading, but searching and so John's Gospel, Chapter 5.
John's Gospel chapter 5 and verse 39.
Just the first three words of the verse. John 539. This is the Lord Jesus speaking. Search the scriptures. Now let's go to Proverbs chapter 25.
Proverbs chapter 25 and verse two. It is the glory of God to conceal a thing. The honor of kings is to search out the matter. Now one more portion and you're familiar with it in Acts 17.
And to get the connection, I'll read verse 10, Acts 17, verse 10. And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea, who coming thither, went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and search the scriptures daily.
00:50:10
Whether these those things were so, So here we have exhortations not just to read the word of God, but to search the word of God. And I want to encourage you to do that. I was glad to see that these Bible study books I put on the back with little themes and studies I they all went I believe I was glad to see that and those of you who took them I hope you use them because God has woven the truth in a way.
That doesn't encourage laziness. God never encourages laziness in any aspect of our lives. Many years ago, and I know this is just a name to you young people, but many years ago I was on a on an airplane between Ottawa and Fredericton, New Brunswick, Ottawa ON and Fredericton, NB and I happen to be on the same PLA airplane as an elderly brother by the name of Clarence Lundeen. There was a conference in Fredericton that weekend and we were both on our way to the conference. I was a very young man. I wasn't married. He was an older brother who administered to the Saints of God for many, many years.
And on the plane, he was talking about a certain line of truth in connection with Elijah Elisha, one of those Old Testament stories that he was so good at.
And I said to him, I said, Brother Lundine, why is it when you take up those stories or portions that not everything in the story seems to fit a certain line of things? And he quoted me the verse we just read in the book of Proverbs, it's the glory of God to conceal the Mass. The thing, the honor of kings, is to search out the matter. And he said, God weaves the truth in a way where we have to search the scriptures we go through. And he said.
Don't try to make everything in a story fit a certain line of of truth, he said. You'll get into trouble if if you try to force it. And you know, as a young brother that was very, very has been very, very helpful and a real safeguard to me. But it taught me a good lesson that we need to search the scriptures to go through and see how God weaves certain themes of truth throughout the whole word of God, as we said earlier, and you have on your.
Little blue card, we we, we have the foreshadowed.
In the books of Moses, the foretellings, in the book prophets, the feelings of Christ in the songs, the figures of Christ in the historical books, and then to go through the Gospels and so on. You need to see how it's woven, and you'll never get it if you don't study it out. Now, when I was a young person, we had to go to these big concordances and dictionaries and so on to to ferret out those things. But you don't have to. You've got apps and Bible apps and study apps and things that are very helpful computers and so on. And you can do a word search and a phrase search.
Young people, you don't have any excuse. If you're not searching the word of God, you don't have any excuse. You've got it all right on your belt, right here or on your laptop or your iPad or whatever gadgets you you carry every day. You have no excuse not to search out these things, and it'll be a great blessing. And it's interesting that it says of the Bereans that they were more noble than the Thessalonians. Now the Brennan and Thessalonica.
Were noble. They were noble because they listened to the ministry of the Apostle Paul, and we know when Paul wrote to them. Later on they took in what Paul said to them and they learned from Paul and so on. They were noble, but the Bereans were more noble because they didn't just listen to the ministry of the Apostle Paul and accepted at face value. The Bereans, when they heard Paul speak, they went home and got out whatever portions of the word of God. And it wasn't in a nice little book form like this, nor was it the complete word of God.
And they But they got out the word of God. And they searched out to see, notice that if these those things were so, what things? The things that the Apostle Paul was teaching them orally, you'd say, well of anybody's word for it. Couldn't they have just taken Paul's word? Paul was the apostle, uh, the great apostle Paul. Couldn't they have just taken his word for it? No, the Thessalonians did. But the Bereans wanted to make sure that what Paul was teaching them.
Corresponded to the rest of the word of God, for us it says no, scripture is a private interpretation. What that means is don't pull out a scripture and give it a private interpretation if it doesn't fit with the whole pattern, with the whole scheme of things. And so they were more noble because they went home and searched it out. We've run a lot of things by you young people this weekend. And my prayer is that you'll go home and you'll search out these things that you'll S say. Now we wanna be sure that what we were taught at Kentucky camp this year.
00:55:21
Was really according to the word of God. If you do, you'll be a Berean brother and sister. You'll be more noble than those who don't go out home and search the scriptures for themselves. Now I I just want to tell you our time is almost gone. But I do want to take up one other aspect of things, and that is meditation. So we've talked about the importance of reading, of searching. But now I want to.
Uh, read a verse in Uh Psalm 119 again. We've gone back to this Psalm many times. Psalm 119.
And verse 97.
OK.
Oh, how love I thy law. It is my meditation all the day. Well, here the psalmist says I don't just read the word of God. I don't don't. I don't just search it out, but I meditate on it. You remember when we talked about the mana and how they were to get up in the morning and go out and gather the men every day, but it wasn't enough for them to just gather the man and put it in their Homer a certain measure.
No, they had to take it and eat it. And not only did they take it and eat it, they didn't eat it all at once. They took their Omer, and I believe they dipped out of it during the day. And when they did that, here's what it says. He that gathered much had nothing over. He that gathered little had no lack. I believe it speaks to us of the importance of meditation. And so it's not enough young people to read a chapter in the morning, Shut your Bible and never consider what you've read. You know, it's not what we eat that does us good. It's what we digest.
Because what we digest becomes part of our system and nourishes our body. And so we'll never really take in and digest the word of God without meditation. So, as it were, be like the children of Israel, put it into your Omer. Take that measure with you and stop during the day and dip into your Omer. Because it wasn't the amount they gathered that was important, it was what they did with it. He had gathered much, had nothing over it. We learned from that that if you have time to read a couple of chapters in the morning.
You'll have nothing over you. You need all of the word of God you can feed on in the morning. But maybe there's someone here and you say, Jim, I'm not a morning person and I'm just not quite in gear in the morning. And not only that, but I've got to leave the house at 5:30 to get to work or to school. What am I gonna do? Read a few verses, even if it's just two verses. Read those two verses and take it with you and dip into your Omar. Stop during the day and meditate on it. Go over it in your mind and in your soul and you'll be surprised. You'll find God new. Just what you were going to need.
Uh, for for the day. And so I want to encourage you, and I want to encourage you to discipline yourself to meditate. I know again, years ago, a brother maybe could go out and work on the farm or have a Bible propped up on the bench in his shop and read a little and think about it as he worked with his hands. But you can't drive down the freeway like that. You can't run a computer like that. You can't do your office work or your school work like that the minute you step out the door.
It's going to be one activity after another interjected into your life. I don't care whether you're in school, whether you're at work, whatever you're doing, there's going to the enemy is going to be right there to keep your mind busy until you go to bed at night. And that's why I believe we need to stop every once in a while and dip into our Omar. Take a little piece of manna, go over it, enjoy it.
It's often been pointed out that one of the characteristics of a clean animal in the Old Testament under the Levitical order of things, was that they chewed the cut.
And that speaks of the need for meditation in our lives. Well, we've taken up a lot of things in connection with the word of God. Again, I trust you'll go over these things and meditate on them. But my real exercise, young people, that in presenting this line of things, in these three talks that we have shared together is really to impress upon our souls the importance of the Word of God in every sphere.
01:00:10
Of our Christian life. It has a practical effect on our lives in every aspect of it. God has graciously preserved it to us. And I just want you to learn to value it, to get into the habit and the routine of reading it and let it have the effect that it is that God intends it to have on on your life. And if you go home with a greater appreciation, with the word of God.
And a little more discipline in your life to read it and meditate on it and study it each day.
Then I believe that it's been worth our time to be here and to be over the word of God.
2 Timothy 4:9-22
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.
166 in the little flock.
For the hairstyle, that burning now that I'll draw anger.
I love my granddaughter.
Uh, good evening. Uh, uh.
Darby Darling starring by The Day.
I'm afraid.
When art flesh drowned, I don't want to change.
Nsnoise.
I'm going to suggest that in going back to Second Timothy 4.
We begin at verse 9.
Second Timothy, chapter 4, verse 9.
You die delicate, you come shortly unto me. For demons have forsaken me. Having loved his present world. And is departed unto Thessalonica, Preston's to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Take Mark and bring him with me where he is profitable to me. For the ministry and Tiktok have I sent to Ephesus the cloak that I left at Troas with carpets.
00:05:24
When they'll come and bring with me and the books, but especially the parchment, Alexander the coppersmith, it'd be much evil. The Lord reward him according to his works. Of whom be thou Where also, for He hath greatly withstood our word. At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me. I pray God, that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, that by me the preaching might be fully known.
And that all the Gentiles might hear I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly Kingdom, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Vanessa Forest Erastus abode at Corinth Metro. That I laughed at my litmus. 6 Do thy diligence to come before winter you be less grievous thee and Putin's and lioness, and Claudia, and all the brethren.
The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy Spirit, grace be with you. Amen.
Mm-hmm.
Just say in picking up the last part of this chapter that there's a very human side to what we have here with the apostle Paul. Remember that these are the last words of Paul written by inspiration. And Paul is about to lose his life as a martyr for Christ and.
It, as they say, it's it's there's a very human side. Come before winter. I need my coat. I'd like my books and my parchment.
He wanted Timothy's fellowship because the apostle Paul, though he served the Lord faithfully and was not a whit behind the cheapest of the apostles, yet he never He was human, and he never lost that sense of.
Real reality and and I say that because we, we, we never want to become callous or indifferent to our circumstances. You know, there are actually Christians who teach.
That if you reach a certain plateau of spirituality, you won't need to feel pain and you shouldn't be down and you shouldn't get discouraged. And, and we shouldn't get discouraged, but more from a natural standpoint that we shouldn't feel these things. We do feel them and we learn from them and they give teach us dependence on the Lord and they teach us to value and appreciate our brethren.
And I think it's nice to see here that as these different names are mentioned and these different desires of the apostle Paul, that he never lost that sense of what the Lord was passing him through. I say, never became callous or indifferent to his circumstances. And it made him appreciate the Lord and fellowship with his brethren, perhaps even more so as we go through these verses and we notice these different individuals that are mentioned, remember.
These are the last words of Paul, and there's a very real and human side to what he's saying here.
We have several different ones that are mentioned here in the last half of this chapter.
And I don't believe any one of them would have realized as they were living their lives, that there there was going to be a little snapshot of their life recorded in these in these scriptures and preserved for each one of us to look at.
So too with each one of us. We we get up in the morning, brush our teeth, go through the daily routine, live our lives, make a make a number of decisions and whether we read our Bible or not, whether we pray or not, we think little of it. And yet our our lives are a history being recorded day by day.
00:10:07
And there will be some point when our lives will be concluded, whether at the rapture, when the Lord comes for us, or whether in death.
And we won't be able to change our our life, the history of our lives.
There's, there's some of us in this room who are finished with high school and you can just as as a milestone in your life, you can look back at high school. You can remember the classes that you took. You can remember the grades that you got. You can't change anything about it. It's fixed, it's done.
What, what your grades were, what, uh, what your attendance record was or whatever it was, it, it, that's it. That's, that's what it's going to stand for for the rest of your life. And so too, with our lives, they're recorded and, and for all eternity, how we, how we lived our lives, the decisions that we made, whether we walked to please the Lord and, and whether we thought to serve him. It's recorded. And so these different ones, I, I believe will read a Dean. We'll, we'll see demons in heaven. And he was one who served with the, with the apostle Paul, and yet he forsook him for the present world. He wanted president abandoned. He wanted an easier course.
And so it's recorded out of him that he first took Paul and desired the present world. And so to the record of our lives may stand for all eternity. So we'll still have praise of God, but we'll still enjoy heaven. And yet the record of our lives could stand. Jonathan has departed, having loved this present world and has departed on the Thessalonica or put your name there in a place. And so these these records in the word of God.
Are are solemn. We need to put our own names here and and to take warning and and to to seek to live our lives. Please the Lord.
The time difference between inner Colossians and and 2nd tem TV.
Well, I don't believe it would be a great deal. A few years perhaps, but not a great deal because I think as maybe Tim said earlier in these meetings, things deteriorate very quickly. Whether it's collectively in our assembly life with the people of God collectively or whether it is individually. You know what, we can make a good start and a poor finish and it doesn't take very long sometimes to go downhill in that way.
And so I believe what Austin is referring to is the fact that Dimas is mentioned in in the book of Philemon and also the book of Colossians. And there is very interesting because he mentioned as a fellow laborer and a fellow traveler of the Apostle Paul. So I think what's significant to realize is that there were some who were happy to associate with Paul, the missionary out on the mission field, traveling, giving out the gospel.
Visiting the brethren intro as in Colossians, wherever they they were going, that was wonderful, but they were. When Paul ended up in prison, he was about to lose his life. It was another thing to associate with Paul the prisoner, one thing to associate with Paul the preacher. But Paul, when you associated with Paul the prisoner, that was a real reproach and it meant suffering and it meant you may be next in line to lose your life as well.
This, this was a very, this was a very real thing. And so I believe that's one reason why many didn't follow on, uh, with the Apostle Paul. They weren't willing to suffer for Christ. They weren't willing to take some reproach for the name of Christ. Are you and I willing to take some reproach for the name of Christ? Now, of course, we're not afraid of suffering physically here in the United States and Canada where some of us come from.
But, you know, I have visited countries where when we have a meeting, all the windows and doors are locked. We don't sing so that we don't stir up any, uh, umm, a, any suspicion from, uh, the neighbors. And if we have a meeting in one place tonight, we won't have it there again. We'll have it in another part of the city or another area, uh, on a, on another night. And those grabbing when they meet, they know that they could be arrested or they could even be be killed.
We don't suffer in that way, but there is a reproach connected with following Christ. All they that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Maybe not physical persecution, but there will be a reproach connected with CRI with following the Lord Jesus. He said himself, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they hated me, they will hate you also.
00:15:27
So there's a number of individuals who are mentioned here, but there are three that are often mentioned together. And you have it in Philemon and Colossians as well. And that is you have Dimas Mark or in Apps he's referred to as John Mark, and you have Luke. And I believe they're brought together in this way to teach us a very important lesson. We find with Demas that he began well.
And he ended poorly. That's not what God wants for your life, young people. He wants you to begin well, but He doesn't want you to end poorly. Demas began well. He did not end well. Mark, John, Mark. He didn't begin so well. Paul had to send him home. He didn't seem to be up to the mission field and what they were going to face spiritually and in other ways. And Paul had to send him home.
But now he's profitable for the ministry. He he began poorly, but he ended well. What a triumph. But then you have Luke. You know, Luke began well and he ended well. And that's what God wants for every one of us. He doesn't want, as the old saying goes, just a flash in the pan. No, he wants a good start and he wants a good finish. And Paul was another one who could say he finished his course with joy.
You know, young people, all Christians don't. I've seen people end their course, the Christian race with anything but joy. I've seen Christians who have ended their Christian pathway with only sorrow and regret. And that's not what the Lord wants. So let's let's again learn from this. I'll, I'll just recap again. Dimas, he began well and ended poorly. Mark, he began poorly, but he ended well. Praise the Lord.
Luke, he began. Well.
And he ended well, and that's what he wants for every one of us.
Just another little comment about Mark. You know, someone has said that falling down doesn't make us a failure. It's staying down that makes us a failure. And so John Marquis, he fell down. He stumbled in the Christian pathway, but he didn't stay there. He there was a real turn around. And again, as I say, Paul wants to commence him here. Bring him with when you come bring him. I wanna see him. I send him home at one time, but I wanna see him now.
Because he's going on well and profitable now, a human side of things in connection with Luke. Why does it say only Luke is with me? I, I think this is so, so gracious of the Lord. Who better to be with Paul at the end of his life as an old man in difficult circumstances than the beloved physician? You know, God takes care of his servants and so.
Many had turned away. They didn't associate with Paul the prisoner, but God made sure that the one who could not only minister to Paul spiritually, but physically was with him. This is not deep stuff, but it sure is precious to me and young people. If you give your life for the Lord, He's not gonna forsake you. He's gonna take care of you. I'm not saying it's gonna be easy. Paul didn't have it easy. But Paul had a brother with him.
Who was able to minister to him physically as well as spiritually?
00:20:12
I was wondering when it says all those in Asia have forsaken me, what what happened to Paul and Timothy? Were they not in Asia?
Yeah, when it says all, but then he there's a few that did, he says all. He makes a blanket statement, but then there's a few that hadn't, like Luke, Timothy wasn't with him, but Timothy was one that he felt confident he could pass on the torch of the truth to. So he makes a blanket statement, but then he qualifies it. He he says there's, there's a few and there's, there's a few names that are commended here at the end. Now when it says all.
Stay in Asia have forsaken me. This was literally they they wouldn't physically associate with Paul in his imprisonment except Luke. Timothy wasn't there at the time. John Mark wasn't there at the time. He wanted them to come back. It was a physical thing. There's a spiritual lesson that we learned from this. So it was true, in fact, when it was written. What is the lesson for you and for me? I believe it's this.
That one, one of the things that characterizes the last day is a giving up of Paul's ministry, a giving up of what Paul taught. And I believe that that's why there is so much confusion amongst so many Christians today, because when you talk to them, you realize they're not reading Paul's ministry. You'll never understand Christian position. You'll never understand really the truth about the Lord coming.
You'll never understand the heavenly calling of the Church of God unless you go to Paul's ministry. I know the other New Testament writers all bring it in in some way. All they all bring in the Lord's coming in some way. They all bring in the church in some way. But Paul spoke of himself in Corinthians as a wise master builder. What did he mean? He lay the foundation of Christian truth. And if you give up Paul's ministry, if you forsake Paul in that way.
You're not going to have the proper understanding of Christianity and you're going to get involved in things you shouldn't, uh, in this world. So sometimes we do this, to go back to Dave's question, sometimes we do this, we make a blanket statement. We say, well, all those, we might say, well, all that fruit is corrupt, but you know, there was an apple or two and, umm, we can pull that out and, uh, this apple or two is good. We, we qualify it. So I think that helps us understand a little bit of what's called in general. There was a turning away from the apostle Paul.
But thank God there were a few that he could commend, but only Luke was actually physically with him at the end.
Now in verse 12, there was a man named Tikakas and Paul says Tiktok have I sent to Ephesus. You know, I think this is so unselfish of the apostle Paul. If this was me, I would have said, you know, because I really need you here and I really enjoy your fellowship and your your comfort and and so on. That's I think that's what I would have done. That's that's human nature. But Paul sent tickets to Ephesus.
At his own expense for the blessing of the brethren there. You know, there was a falling away at Ephesus that was taking place that John writes up later on. We've already mentioned that in one of these meetings, the second of fifth to Ephesus and Paul perhaps realizing this sent ticket to seek to minister and stir up the brethren. That is really a summary of Paul's life.
But before Paul was saved a solid tarsus, his whole bent and motive was to stamp out the name of Christ, and to persecute the believers.
After he got saved and became the Apostle Paul, his whole bent and motivation was to present Christ and encourage the people of God, and he wouldn't keep tickets for himself, even though no doubt naturally speaking, he would have wanted to. He realized there was a needed emphasis and he sent him. What an example for you and for me.
00:25:14
It's interesting and you try this one certificate mentioned he was being sent there to, uh, it says in verse 12, and I shall send, uh, a chapter 3 of, uh, Titus verse 12, it says, uh, when I shall send Artemis unto the porticoes, uh, be diligent to come on to uh, onto a Coppola's before I have determined there to enter so.
Take a kiss It seems like take a kiss is willing to be sent where were uh.
Wherever and it's that should be our desire to wherever the Lord needs this, uh, we should be willing to go. That's very good. Yeah. Thank you.
The more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.
That's that's it. That's that's, that's it, yeah.
If I if I might make an application on some of the affiliate verses we're talking about all these funds that it was taken fall, if it's a call when the time got tough when there was a reproach associated with associated call.
Same thing happens with us, uh, in our relationship with Christ. We're, we're happy to be saved. We're happy to be on our way to heaven. We're happy that, uh, perhaps spend some time in the world coming up down to, uh, bearing reproach of whether it be among believers or whether it be among, umm, be among the world. We're not willing to do it. Often it's because of fear. I believe Timothy suffered with this, uh, with, with, uh, fear, uh, you get it in the.
7th 1St The 1St chapter God has not given us a fear of fear, but the power and the flaws and as a sound mind and uh, as mentioned at least four or five times in the chapter that Timothy was a take off into a fairly approach.
And, uh, it's important that we recognize that Christ wasn't, uh, Christ was not accepted in this world. They gave him a fraud. Paul here, he still had a booth with us and Christ went before, uh, went before Pilot there. Peter, who said he would never leave him, had denied him every time.
There's, we don't, uh, we don't like to associate with approach, but if it's because of fear, that fear is not involved and we should recognize that.
Uh, as a fault, admonished sympathy, we should be willing to bear that reproach and to do those things that are necessary in the gospel and then, uh, reaching out to other believers. And, uh, it's something that would, uh, cause research.
Well, prisons weren't like they are today in our country. I've visited some very nice, uh, prison facilities in North America, but I've also visited some prison facilities in other countries where I've wondered how anybody could survive. And the Apostle Paul was in a prison. That was not what we would think of as a prison. And so again, there's a very human side to what we have in verse 13.
The quote that I left at Croas with Carpus when thou comest bring with thee.
He needed his coat. I believe that's why he told him to do his diligence to come before winter. Things were going to get cold. You see, as I said earlier, Paul, though he rested on the Lord and took his circumstances from the Lord and was a prisoner of the Lord, yet he wasn't indifferent or callous to what he was passing through. He knew that the cold was going to come and these prison, that prison wasn't heated like the prisons today.
And so he wanted his coat and then he says and the books and especially the parchment. Now Paul knew that he had written many things by divine inspiration and he knew, I believe, that this was the last epistle that he was going to write by inspiration. The reason I say that is because, as we noted earlier in these meetings, Paul said that it was given to him to complete the Word of God. So he knew he was being used as a special vessel.
00:30:27
To lay down the foundation truth, uh, of Christian, of Christianity, to complete the word, word of God. But I believe we learn from this too, that Paul valued the writings of others. Maybe not that which was written by inspiration, but that which was good and profitable. And I want to encourage you again, I know we've mentioned this several times, but I want to encourage you again to value that which God has caused men to write.
Both of past generations and what is being written today by those that the Lord has raised up that is good and profitable in Christ. Exalting things that will help you in your study and understanding of the word of God. I say that because I know those who say, well, I only read the Bible. I wouldn't read anything written by anybody else. Well, it's true. We want to read our Bibles first and foremost, but to say that I won't read anything written by anybody else I I believe.
Is missing what we have here. And so there's a wealth of good Christ exalting ministry that has been written. And we want to be careful what we read, even what is published under the banner of Christianity, because it's not all sound. And you can usually tell by reading the flyleaf or the prelude of a book whether it's going to exalt Christ or whether it's going to exalt man. But there's lots and lots of good Christ exalting ministry books that have been written that are edifying and helpful.
You know, I'm thankful and I know it's only by the grace of God, but I am thankful that when I was younger I had the nudge from the Lord to reach on to my father's bookshelf and to read some of those books and later on to conferences and events like this to buy or avail myself of the written ministry that others pro provided. So I just want to encourage you that way.
Here with Paul, an old man, and he wanted his books, he wanted the parchment things that others had written that no doubt he felt would be a help in edifying for him.
Bit of a chapter here, but I, we, we can probably go a few minutes on because if you don't mind, because there's really nothing scheduled or planned afterwards, so maybe we can go, you wanna go to 8:00? Does that sound like, like a plan step? So go right on. OK, Well then, uh, I don't need to summarize the whole rest of the chapter, but I'll take a hot shot at it. Umm.
Just, uh, in verse 16.
Fall right at my first answer, no man stood with me. And that's Speaking of when he was first appearing before he's either there. We, uh, we read in the book of the Acts how he was dwelling two whole years in his own hired house. And it would appear that he stood before Caesar and, uh, he stood alone. And that's one of the hardest things for anyone of us to ever do. He, he was on trial for his life and he stood alone.
At my first answer, no man stood with with me, but all men forsook me.
And just that, that beautiful spirit, I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. And here he's perhaps he's writing to Timothy, but he's writing of different ones, perhaps some of these ones who had forsook him at that first first trial. And no.
No hard thoughts towards them, no, uh, nothing but love. I pray God that it may not be late to their charge. Notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me. And you read it several times in Paul's life when the Lord stood with him, and it was at those low points in his life. And often we go out of our way.
At least I should say for myself, I go out of my way to try and avoid those times in my life where where you just you hit rock bottom, you hit hard. But it's it's at those points that you feel and you appreciate the Lord standing with him. Paul didn't have anyone else with him, but he would say, notwithstanding, the Lord stood with me. And that is a treasure that those of us who have experienced it, you cannot compare it with anything else just to come to know the Lord in a in a more full way, in a deeper way.
00:35:26
It, it's a treasure, it's worth whatever we have to go through to, to experience it. So the Lord has been with him, strengthened him and, uh, he would say, I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And so it would appear evidence that Paul was released after that first, uh, first trial. And there was a brief period where he was at liberty. You have it, you could say, mentioned here in a few of the things that took place. And, uh, it, it's alluded to. I, I believe in another one of the epistles, but it was at that point, I believe that he would have traveled about and he would have seen all day in Asia, have forsaken him as he went from place to place to place.
And they didn't, they didn't have time for Paul. They didn't want Paul, the one who would be in the prisoner and was, you could say was on his way out. They, they rejected him all, all day in Asia have turned away from me. And so he, he went through all of those things. And then here he's in prison again, right, right about to be executed. And, and it's from that perspective that we read this epistle and just, it's so easy to become cynical and bitter and, and hardened if things don't work out in our lives that we might like them to.
But the testimony of Paul at at the stroke to please the Lord gave it everything that he had and he would leave that all with Lord. He would you would go through in in in triumph and he would he would just go out rejoicing. And so it's so helpful as we we just realized the perspective that Paul is writing from as an overcomer. And so there's there's that opportunity for each one of us in this room.
Life is not going to be easy. Life isn't going to turn out how we expect it to. It's not going to be all roses and butterflies and rainbows.
But we can have a triumphant life as we seek to serve the Lord and honor Him. And there will be that joy and just that, that ability to encourage ourselves in the Lord, even if it's alone.
Just to comment too briefly on Alexander, the coppersmith Paul gave gives a warning here, not only mentions that he did Paul much evil, but he warns Timothy to be careful of this man. I sometimes said in that regard that there's a fine line between gossip and godly concern, and I can't say I always find it, but you do find that often in Scripture there are warnings given. Paul gave a warning here in connection with a certain individual.
The apostle John did it too. He said he warned Gaius of diatrophy. It wasn't gossip. It wasn't talking behind someone's back. There was a northeast, a need to give a, a warning, a godly warning. And so sometimes we need to warn if, if a certain individual is teaching things or doing things that are going to divide or corrupt the Saints of God, we need to give a, a faithful warning. So we don't want to just talk about someone.
Don't wanna just gossip. Gossip is never justified in the scripture, but there are times when warnings are given for the Lord's glory and for the preservation of the Saints of God. Just to follow up on what Jonathan has said to I was thinking of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in this regard because Paul goes on to speak of how the Lord is going. He, the Lord shall deliver me in verse 18. But you say Paul lay down his life very shortly after this.
He was delivered though, but not from prison like he had been before. Not in the same way been before to be released and travel about again. But he was delivered through the article of death. It's interesting because the Lord delivers in different ways. Just go back to Daniel chapter 3 and you'll see what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said to the king when they were brought up before him.
In Daniel chapter 3 and verse 16, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer the in in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve. Now I want you to notice this is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace. I'll stop there. You know they didn't know the end of the story.
00:40:13
We read the story with confidence because most of us have heard it from the days of our youth, and we know what happened. But they didn't know what was going to happen. They didn't know whether they were going to be burned in the fiery furnace or not. But one thing was for sure, the Lord was able. Their God was able if He wanted to. But then notice what they further say. And he will deliver us out of my hand, O King.
In other words, they understood that whether they perished in the fire.
Or whether they were brought through the fire, in one way or another, they would be delivered from the king, but they didn't know how it was going to be now with the apostle Paul.
When it speaks of the mouth of the lion here, it's not. I don't believe it's the same context as what we have in First Peter, where he speaks of our ad your adversary, the devil, as a roaring lion walks about, seeking whom he may devour.
The lion here, I believe is it's an illusion to Nero, one of the worst dictators that ever lived in this and reigned in this world. And so Paul refers to him in that way. But he says, and the Lord shall deliver me.
So when Paul was beheaded for his testimony, he was delivered, delivered in a very wonderful way, delivered from the lion, from Nero, delivered from the difficult circumstances he was in, to be, as he had said earlier in another epistle, absent from the body and present with the Lord. What a wonderful deliverance that was for the apostle Paul. You know, God doesn't always promise to give us a miraculous deliverance like many of the stories we read.
Give you another example. You know, in Hebrews 11, there's this tremendous list of men and women and young people who live by faith. And they conquered and triumphed over all kinds of odds and difficulties and enemies. And it summed up, they stopped the mouths of lion women, received their dead to life. They they quenched the violence of fire, stopped the mouths of lions. Wow, you see, wonderful faith, wonderful victory.
But then it says and others, and they didn't accept deliverance in that way. They wondered about in sheepskins and goatskins, they were sawn asunder. They had trials of cruel mocking and so on. You say, did they have any less faith?
These all died in faith. It wasn't that they had any less faith, but God had something different in mind. God had a better thing in mind. You can read the end of that 11Th chapter of Hebrews and you'll see this So.
Paul didn't have any less faith than when Peter was released from prison the night he was asleep earlier on. No, but he knew that God had a purpose and that in one way or another, there would be delivered.
And he speaks of the Kingdom here again in the end of the 18th verse. Remember what we said earlier, Paul is not talking in this chapter about the Lord's coming for us. He's not talking about the rapture. He's talking about the appearing that we have a couple of times in the verses we considered the other day, if the time when the Lord is gonna come back to reign and give a crown of righteousness, and we're going to reign with Him.
And so he speaks of the Lord being able to preserve him unto his heavenly Kingdom. Here he was living under the worst tyrant that ever reigned in this world when an awful reign. It was when you read of the reign of Nero. But what was Paul looking forward to? He was looking forward to the day when his savior reigned, when the King of kings and Lord of Lords would take his rightful place. And he said, that's what I'm looking forward to. Never mind Nero, he's his reign is going to be for a short time.
God will take care of that because I'm looking forward to a Kingdom where there's going to be a righteous king. And I know we didn't mention it the other day, but when Paul speaks of a crown of righteousness laid up for him and for you and for me, all those that love is appearing. The crown of righteousness is a reward for living righteously in an unrighteous world now and a reward in the day when righteousness will reign in this world.
By me the preaching might be fully known that all the gentiles might hear thinking it over in the last chapter Philippians that actually speaks of all things Philippians 4 and verse 22 all the Saints salute you chief chiefly they they're at Caesar's household so.
False statements.
They could change him, change his hands and feet, but they couldn't stop his mouth. And so Paul was a real witness, wasn't he, wherever he was. And as a result, there were those who were saved in high places. Very good.
So we really have a little post script at the end of this, uh, chapter because in the end of the 18th verse, he says, Amen. But then there's a little post script to give commendation to several further individuals. There were some listed earlier who hadn't gone on. There were some who done him evil and so on. There were some that Paul wanted to see and have fellowship with, but now there's some commendation.
I don't maybe this is particularly my exercise in having suggested this little portion for these two little Bible studies this weekend, is that it's interesting to notice these ones that are commended and the relationships and sphere of life they were in. And I believe what we learned from this little post script is that no matter where we are in our Christian life, no matter what our relationships are.
There is full provision to go on even in what is described in this epistle as the last days and perilous times. The reason I say that is he begins by saying salute Priska or Priscilla and Aquila. That was a couple. You know, we never read that they had children. I don't know whether they did or they didn't. Scripture isn't pleased to tell it. But when we go back and we note the different times that they are mentioned.
We were to go back to the Acts. We see them mentioned there in other places. We find that they were a faithful couple. They were. They were a man and a wife who were a blessing spiritually and practically to many, including the apostle Paul. I believe what it shows is that it's possible as couples to go on for the Lord in days of ruin and weakness now.
I know most of you aren't there yet, but if the Lord leaves us here and a relationship forms and you know, we were just reminiscing today about some that have been here camp in the past and now they're married or they're engaged to be married very shortly. Katie and Ivan are getting married in just a few days later this week. And that's wonderful relationships of form. And some of those relationships started right here at Kentucky Camp. You know, there's provision.
For those couples, Joe and Lydia provision to go on as a couple and if the Lord brings a partner into your life, don't be scared. Young people. I know sometimes I know sometimes the thought is, well, can we really start a household for the Lord in the dark days in which we live? For silent Aquila, we're going on for the Lord as a couple in the day in which they live. It was a dark day. It was the last day.
00:50:00
Spiritual ruin and moral darkness had deepened in the days of the apostle Paul, their days parallel to the days in which we live. Don't be afraid if the Lord brings someone into your life and it's His will for you to get married, Remember there's full provision to go on even in the day in which we live. Then we have next the household of a nest of forests. Now I take it that perhaps it was more than just a couple with a nest of 4th. It was a household.
And if the Lord leaves us here, I don't expect to be here even for camp next year. But if the Lord leads us here and the Lord gives you a not only a partner but a household, there's provision. Don't be afraid.
There's provision to go on as family in the day in which we live. In fact, earlier Paul speaks of the household of Vanessa Forest for the off refreshed me. It's wonderful when we go to a home and the family.
Is interested in the refreshment, spiritual refreshment and blessing of the people of God. I've been in many homes over the years like that. Not just the husband and wife, but the children, the young people. They're interested in, uh, the blessing and refreshment of those that come under their roof. There's provision to go on as families and then there's individuals and there's provision to go on as individuals. So if I can reverse the order, there's provision young people to go on.
As individuals in the last day till the Lord comes, if the Lord brings a partner into your life like he did with Priscilla and Aquila, there's provision to go on in that capacity as well. If the Lord gives you a household with children, there's provision to go on in that capacity as well. I think it's so beautiful to see. It's not just individuals that are commended here, but it's couple, a couple and a household as well.
OK.
I'd like to develop that erythro from this being left in my litmus. We read in the book of the Acts that would haul a shipwreck at my litm. On another occasion there was one the, the ruler of the island, his father was sick. I believe it was, uh, Acts 28, umm, verse eight came to pass that the father of Hublius lay sick of a fever and the bloody flux of whom Paul entered in and prayed and laid, laid his hands on him.
And heal them. So we gather from that portion to other portions that Paul had the power to lay hands on different ones and to heal them. And yet here he did it with this one.
And that's, this is an important lesson for each one of us to lay hold of. Just because we have the power to do something, something was, is within our means, does not mean that is, it is the Lord's will that we should do that. And so Paul saw in the case of trophiness that there was a need for the sickness. And so he left him behind in my Needham that he would learn that lesson. Trophiness would have left lost out if Paul had just laid his hands on it, healed him and, uh, continued on the travels. So just because I have $5 in my wallet doesn't mean that I should, I should reach in, grab that $5 and buy myself a watch or a hamburger or whatever it might be.
It's not that the Lord won't provide that for us, but that's not licensed to, to reach into my own resources and and solve my own problem. And the an Old Testament example of that that I think we can each appreciate is Joseph. When he was down in Egypt, he went down when he was roughly 17 years old.
When he was 30 years old, thirteen years later, he was elevated the Prime Minister of the land of Egypt. So he hadn't seen his family versus his father, his brother for 13 years as Prime Minister of Egypt. He was fully within his right, fully within his power to, uh, take a little holiday and go visit his family. He, he could have very easily gone back home and maybe brought a couple of dozen soldiers and, and made his brother and, and, uh, had everyone bow down and, and cheered that his dream was accomplished.
But he would not do that. He would not reach out and take even what was in his power, but he would let God work. And so he waited another nine years, seven years of plenty, two more years of famine for a total of what is that 22 years before he finally saw his brethren. And so to that, that lesson for each one of our hearts. Just because I have $5 in my wallet or I, I have the, the natural strength and force of character to do something does not in itself give me the liberty before God to do that.
There needs to be dependent on him. And it's not that he won't use that $5 or whatever he's given us. It's not that he won't have us use that at some point, but that that in itself does not give me license to to solve my own problems, my own way. And Jacob's the example of one who who tried that and it didn't work out so well for her.
00:55:21
So just change at the end of the UH chapter. Then he closes by saying the Lord Jesus Christ not be with you, but be with thy spirit.
He's Speaking of our, of our spirit in connection with, in the context of our attitude, the Lord Jesus Christ be with thy Spirit. He has encouraged Timothy, exhorted Timothy throughout this epistle to stand firm for the truth, continuing the things that he had learned go on in the doctrine, in the ministry.
And serve the Lord. But really what he's saying at the end of it is Timothy, I want you to do it with the proper spirit, with the proper attitude, because you know, we can take the attitude. Well, I'm the only one that's faithful and and this is what the Lord has given me and I'm going to press it. And sometimes we can be clear as ice and just as cold. But he Washington, he wanted to Paul wanted Timothy to have the proper attitude and spirit.
In standing firm for the for the Word of God and.
You know, young people, the older I get, the more I realize how important our spirit and attitude is. Give you a little example, a little homework. You can look it up sometime. But you know, when they children of Israel finally went in to possess the land of Israel, there were only two of that of the generation that sent the spies in that were allowed that we read of that eventually went in to get their inheritance. And there's only one of those that got a personal inheritance, only one man that came out of Egypt that we lead up that got a personal inheritance. His name, of course, was Caleb.
And there is a reason given to us why Caleb got a personal inheritance. The Lord said My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him. When Caleb brought up a good report of the land years before, he had done it in the proper spirit and attitude. And so much did God value the spirit and attitude in which Caleb was faithful and spoke the truth.
That he said I'm gonna preserve him in the wilderness and I'm gonna give him a special portion because of his spirit and attitude. Now that's what the Lord wants from us. He wants us to go on in the spirit and attitude of humility, the spirit and attitude of grace and the spirit and then to be faithful as well. But don't be hard lined when it comes to the truth and don't feel like the prophet that said in the Old Testament, I only I am left alone.
I only, I am, I'm the, I'm the only faithful one left. No, Timothy was to have the spirit and attitude to go on with those that call on the Lord out of a pure heart because God was going to preserve others who would have a similar exercise and desire. And he wants us to go on in the spirit of, of Christ, the spirit of meekness and loneliness, and to enjoy the truth, be faithful, but enjoy the truth and present it in a way that it will be used by the Spirit of God as a blessing to others.
I'd like to sing a hymn in the little block. It's 312. And then when we sing to him, I'll let another young brother, a young brother, pray not another young brother, but a young brother, 312.
Nsnoise.