Open—H. Brinkmann, A. Scharf, R. Waddle
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There's a verse in the epistle and I just quoted.
The blessed hope and the glorious appearing.
And we as Christians most often think of the blessed hope that is we're waiting for the Lord Jesus to take us home. But what about the glorious appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? We ought to look for both.
And be interested in the truth of both.
And it's so important that we familiarize ourselves.
With Kingdom truth.
You know there's going to come a day.
When the Lord Jesus comes back in power and glory and will reign.
In the very scene where he was.
Rejected and despised.
And we find that John the Baptist in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 3.
In verse two says Repent ye for the Kingdom of heaven.
Is at hand.
And then we find the blessed Lord also makes the same statement in chapter 4. I believe Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Now.
That was no doubt referring these versus referred to him coming to reign in power and glory. Heavens rule on the earth.
The Kingdom of Heaven.
But what we do find the king is rejected.
And then the Kingdom takes on a mystical form.
There is a Kingdom.
But.
The Lord is not recognized.
And as I think was mentioned in these meetings, the Lord is not our King.
But he is the King of glory.
And he will come back to reign in power and glory.
And there are parables in Matthew's Gospel that tell us about the Kingdom.
And it's very interesting that it is in Matthew's Gospel.
Because Matthew's Gospel presents the Lord Jesus as King.
Luke's Gospel presents him as the man Christ Jesus.
Mark's Gospel presents him as the servant.
And in John's Gospel, he is presented as the Son of God.
That's why you have no genealogy in John's Gospel. In the beginning was the word. That is as much to say the word at no beginning.
And in Mark, where he is the servant, it is an important where a servant is from. That's why you don't have a genealogy in Mark. But in Matthew, the Gospel of the Kingdom presents our blessed Lord as the King.
And he's rejected.
And then as I already mentioned.
The Kingdom takes on a mystical firm.
And we have these parables, especially in Matthew 13.
The parables of the Kingdom of Heaven.
And uh.
But it was not for everybody to understand.
These things, that's why the Lord says in verse 11.
In verse 11 he says.
Unto them, because it is given unto you, the disciples, to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
And so.
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How wonderful that we have these parables in Matthew that speak of the Kingdom of heaven.
As a young man, I became very much interested in that aspect of the truth.
You know.
I grew up in Germany under this wicked ruler Adolf Hitler, who persecuted the Christians, forbade the brethren to meet. Had he won the war, he would have dealt with us just like he did with the Jews.
You know, but he needed the Germans to help fight the war.
But how wonderful the time is going to come.
When the Lord Jesus comes back as King, and he will reign in power and glory.
But at the present time, while there is a Kingdom.
He is not reigning in power and glory, but there is a sphere where his authority is recognized.
That's the Kingdom of heaven.
In mystical form.
And so we have these parables in Matthew 13.
And so we have.
Verse 24.
Of Chapter 13.
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The Kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sought good seed in his field. But while men slept, his enemy came and sought, sought tears among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in the field somewhere, and stand has a tears?
He said unto them, An enemy has done this. The servant said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
And he said Nay, lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest and in the time of harvest.
I will say to the reapers, gather it together first the tares and find them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into the barn.
So the tiers are those who are not real in the Kingdom.
And but at the present time, from this explanation of the law, it is not for his followers to deal with the tears.
In the coming day the Lord will take care of the tares.
And he will gather them out of the Kingdom.
You know, I think that will happen after the church is gone.
There will be still a Kingdom and he will then, in a physical way, deal with the tears.
And but at the present time, it's not for us to deal with, deal with the heretics as the Church has felt responsible to do. And what they actually did is what the Lord said, they killed the real believers.
All you have to do is read the church history.
The Paulinians, how they were treated and why were they called Paulinians?
I believe they were called Paulinians because they were known to take heed and pay attention to Paul's doctrine.
Where do you get the truth of the church in Paul's writings? You know they apparently paid attention to church truth.
They were exterminated, persecuted, wiped out, just about.
But.
We AS2 believers and followers of the Lord Jesus, it's not our business to deal with those who are false.
Now the Kingdom is not church.
You know, and the Kingdom is the real and the false, but when it comes to church truth.
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It's a fellowship of Saints. We have to discriminate.
When anybody wants to be in fellowship in the assembly.
That's why we have oversight in the assembly. There are those who have the responsibility to talk to the person. We are not an open fellowship where anybody can come and break bread. There is such a thing as reception to the Lord's Table or being put away from the Lord's Table. We have that in First Corinthians 5.
You know there was a wicked person in First Corinthians 5A moral man.
And it's very interesting that it doesn't say put away the brother.
Put away the wicked person.
It is left open as a question whether he is a brother.
He was dealt with as a wicked person. Not put away the brother put away the wicked person. Thankfully we find from the 2nd Epistle that there was repentance and they were admonished to show grace to this person and take him back in. But when it was necessary to deal with him, he was dealt with as a wicked person. Put out from among yourself that wicked person.
Discipline in the assembly is important, and it is sometimes not a pleasant thing to have to deal. It's never a pleasant thing to deal with evil.
But for the glory of the Lord, it is a necessity to deal with evil.
But in the Kingdom aspect of the truth, the good and the bad are to grow up together.
And in the coming day, the Lord will have the bad seed dealt with. And then there is that which is real.
They will go into the Kingdom.
And in.
Verse 41.
We read, The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his Kingdom the things that offend, and them which do iniquity. Notice it is the Son of Man will send forth.
Our relationship with the Lord Jesus is with the Son of God who loved us.
And gave himself for us. That's how we know Him. That doesn't mean that we do not know that He is the Son of Man, but He is presented as the Son of Man in connection with the Kingdom.
And he will send forth.
His angels and they will deal with the faults.
And cast them into a furnace of fire that shall be railing and gnashing of teeth.
Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. Who has ears to hear. Let him hear. Notice here it isn't the Kingdom of the Son of Man, it's the Kingdom of the Father. A chose the real reality of true believers. In that coming day. You know there will be true believers even after the Church is gone.
We know that the gospel of the Kingdom will be preached and people will be saved.
But then we also find that in these parables, in Matthew 13, we have that which has to especially deal or is dealing especially with those in the sphere of profession.
All have to do with the peer profession, but.
Then we also find that there is that which is real, and then we find.
There is a treasure hit in the field.
To which when a man has found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he has.
And buy us that field.
You see, that treasure in the field are the true believers, and we can apply that at the present time. But what does he do with the true believers? That treasure? He hides it in the field.
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That's our position as Christians in the Kingdom aspect of the truth. We are hidden in the field. We are not expected to be in political power, in control at the present time.
The time will come that we will reign with him, but not at the present time.
We had the treasure hit in the field.
And this is especially presenting what we are to him.
The treasure.
Isn't that wonderful?
That the grace of God has made us part of the treasure, if we are real, if we really know the Lord Jesus as Savior.
And then he buys the field.
Isn't it his?
As the creator.
Certainly as a creator he has claimed on everything, but he has a second claim as the Redeemer and that's how it is presented in Revelation. Who is worth it to open the book?
Or to take the book and open the sale, the Lamb. He has a second claim as the Redeemer, and that claim is made known by Him in Revelation, and he takes the book. And then through judgments the earth is going to be prepared for the glorious reign of Christ.
You know he at times judges nations today.
I believe he did that in Germany.
You know the awful thing that was done by that nation?
Killing six million Jews, one and a half million Gypsies.
Awful, isn't it? Man, you'd think women and children.
I was living there at the time. We didn't know much of what he was doing.
They did cap that quite quiet, you know, it wasn't published all over what he was doing. We found that out after the war.
I found it particularly out when I worked for the Jewish Hospital in Chicago.
You know, there was a lady in the office. She was a neighbor to Hermann Goering, the head of the Air Force. She got out before they could, arrested them. They were rich. And she was managing the office where I was working in Chicago. And I learned from her. And there was another lady there who had been in a concentration camp and survived. I found out from those people what happened.
The Germans even kept that very low. They didn't spread very much about that even after the war. I think they were ashamed of what has happened.
But you know today is going to come when the Lord Jesus will deal.
With all wickedness, and he joined the Kingdom will judge evil every morning.
People won't get away with anything.
Homosexuality, you know, isn't that shameful how they justify it? And if you speak out against it, you're the one that is the bad guy, you know, and many other things.
Well, the day is going to come.
When the Lord Jesus will be the judge and he will judge evil every morning.
And the desire of the nations will have come. What does that mean?
People in the world generally desire peace and the desire that those in government rule righteously. That's generally the desire of people and the desire of the nations will have come when the Lord Jesus will reign in righteousness. At the present time, grace reigns to righteousness. God is able to show grace because of the work of the Lord Jesus.
And grey strains. God has a righteous basis to show grace.
Because of the work of Calvary's cause. But in the Kingdom righteousness will reign.
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Evil will be judged.
But in the eternal state, righteousness will dwell. Isn't it wonderful? Is it there wonderful? There is gonna be time on this earth when righteousness will dwell. No evil will come. O pride and blessed scene where sin can never come. Whose side our longing spirit reigns from earth to Iran.
Yes, it is a wonderful thing that the work of the Lord Jesus has not only secured heaven for us, but has also secured a glorious future for the people of Israel and a glorious future for this earth. A new heaven and a new earth will be created, but even in the Millennium, what a wonderful time that will be.
You know who doesn't follow with interest what's going on in the Middle East?
Don't you pity the people, the women and children, what they have to endure.
What we had to endure during the war, not only in Germany.
All over Europe, millions and millions of people being perished.
Starving to death.
After the war especially because of lack of food.
You know, we were living in a city.
We didn't have any land.
And in the spring, when new growth was coming up, my dad would go and gather up.
Something that my mother could use for soup, making soup. She had four boys to feed and my dad.
And I still see her standing there by the stove, making soup, weeping.
Because of the little she had to give to us to eat. Fortunately, things improved. The Marshall Plan helped the German people, you know, it made me respect the Allies. Germany had started an unprovoked war, causing a lot of suffering. And here the winners fed the German people.
And made sure that we wouldn't starve to death.
Well, but in that coming day, there's going to be a Kingdom.
But at the present time, the mystical form of the Kingdom is so important.
And that we especially keep in mind what we find from verse 44 on the treasure hit in the field.
And that's those who are real at the present time.
And then also the Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant man seeking goodly pearls.
And when he had found one Pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Another picture of the Church, I believe the Pearl of great price, and in order to possess that field, or to possess the Pearl, the Lord Jesus had to suffer.
He sold all.
That he had and fought it in order to have that treasure, in order to have that Pearl.
The Lord Jesus, who was rich for our sakes, became poor that we through his poverty would be made rich. He sold all that He had in order to possess us, to be part of that treasure, to be part of that Pearl, a Pearl of great price.
You know, there are not many ladies that wouldn't like to have a nice Pearl.
I don't find fault with that. Not that we want to overdo it, you know, and.
But I don't think there's anything wrong in having some jewelry.
We wanna, we don't wanna overdo it, but.
The Lord Jesus has a treasure, and he has a Pearl.
But that is his own.
And in order to possess that, he had to sell all that he had.
But then how wonderful the Kingdom of heaven is, like a net that was cast into the sea and gathered of every kind.
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That's the gospel, isn't it?
And which when it was full, that drew it to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, and cast the bad away.
You know what is the result of the gospel being preached.
We have experienced that, uh, maybe not as much in the Western world as we have experienced it in Malawi and poor countries. You know, uh, gospel is preached, the net is cast out and people want to join and want to be part of this because of what they get out of it.
You know, and they even want to be in fellowship.
And what doesn't always know for sure? Is a person real, or is he only a nominal Christian?
But as time goes on.
The unreal will become manifest.
You know, we have had the painful experience to see people coming in, in Egypt and in Africa.
And we were so happy that they had come in.
But then, as time went on, they proved to be false.
You know they were in for what they could out get out of it.
You know.
And in some cultures.
It is perfectly alright to bake.
You know when they have needs, they contact those that can help them in their need and you have a moral obligation to help them.
That's what Jesse Backton explained to me. That's the culture in India. If you have a need, you go to the person that can help you and he has a moral obligation to help you. Well, I said to him, please try to remember that that's not the way the people in the West look at it. The people in the West look at that as begging. That doesn't mean that we are insensitive to needs, but there are ways in which needs can be made known. Instead of you coming and saying I have a need, give me some.
You know we have an obligation to help.
And what really grieved me very much, not long ago I found out there was a brother gathered to the name of the Lord in Malawi who starved to death.
He starved to death. He didn't have enough to eat.
I would have liked to have known that.
You know, and we had sent things there, but the brother that was handling things apparently didn't know of that particular need.
You know, they don't have the means of communication over there as we have here, you know.
So people starve to death. Christians are starving to death in the world.
Thankfully not many you know, but there are many who are not Christians that are starving to death.
And what grieved me so much?
In Malawi was to see children running around there with their stomach sticking out. You know why they stick out?
Undernourished.
Don't get enough to eat?
You know, and you would like to help them all and you don't have enough.
To help them all, you do what you can.
But.
Well, to our needs.
And.
But the main responsibility we have is not too much feeding the hungry, although that's part of our Christian responsibility. It is to meet the spiritual needs.
And what we have also found is when people get to be Christians.
They also understand what it says in the New Testament. If a man doesn't provide for his own, he has denied the faith in his worse than an infidel.
You know, in some of these cultures, the men don't do a thing. The women have to go to work. They have to work on the fields. The men sit around, do nothing.
Or practically nothing.
But if a man doesn't provide for his own, he has denied the faith and is worse than infidel. David Whittaker quoted that when he was with us there many times. If a man doesn't provide for his owning as denied the faith and is worse than an infidel.
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It's the husband's responsibility especially to provide for his own. There might be times when, for health reasons or whatever, he can't.
And then she might have to go to work.
And provide, but that is really the main responsibility.
Fellows, listen, are you preparing yourself for your responsibility in the future? If you wanna get married and have a family, would you be able to provide for them? You have no business getting married if you're not in a position to provide for your own.
You know.
Learn a trade.
Qualify or get into a position to qualify.
For some kind of work.
But how wonderful. Our biggest responsibility.
Is to work for the Lord to have part.
In catching fish.
There is in Wausau, WI a Christian publishing place.
And the title is Five floors and Two Fishes. It's nice, isn't it? 5 loaves and two fishes. That's what the Lord had to feed the multitude. And they used that to advertise their Christian book room.
But there's hell. There is a hell.
Was 50.
Offers 49. The angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire.
There shall be veiling and gnashing of teeth.
Hell is a reality.
Some people argue and say a God of love does not cast anybody into hell.
Well, read the Bible.
We had a warm diet nut and the fire is not quenched. Do you need anything more clear?
You know if there's anybody that is unsafe in this room, If you want to know what hell it's like, put your finger for just a short time into a flame. You know what hell is going to be like. You're not only with a finger in hell with a whole body, and the body will not be burned up.
We had a warm diet nut and a fire is not quenched.
Well.
The Lord says, have he understood all these things? They say unto him, Yeah, Lord.
And said He unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed into the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a man, that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure thanks new and old.
You know, we should have a treasure and gather up things that we can use.
And things do. And all that doesn't mean we're looking for new revelations.
But is there anybody in this room that knows it all, that doesn't have to do some gathering in?
Things new doesn't mean new revelations, but for that individual there are things that are new.
And to have a treasure.
You know the Word of God is a treasure, and the more you come to know and enjoy of it, the greater your treasure is. And what's the subject of that treasure of that book? The Bible, our blessed Lord.
In one way or another, all scripture has to do with the Lord Jesus.
Find Christ in the Scriptures, even in the Old Testament.
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You know the offerings.
You know there is this publication Christ has seen in the offerings.
You know, I came to enjoy that so much to see Christ in these offerings. When God introduced these sacrifices, he gave pictures of what is perfectly demonstrated in the person of the Lord Jesus. He's the burnt offering. That's what he has forgotten. That was completely burned up. Nothing was for the priest. The only thing that was for him was the skin. You know, that speaks of the garment of righteousness.
You know, but then you have the meal offering.
You know, there was a handful given to the Lord, and the rest was food for the priestly family. And as Christians, we're all priests.
And I hope we enjoy Feeding on Christ, the meal offering.
You know, and then he is the sin offering, you know, and all these various aspects of the death of the Lord Jesus. You know, if you want to come to understand more of what took place when the Lord Jesus went to the cross, get into the typical teachings of the Old Testament. That illustrates a lot of New Testament truth.
If you get the spiritual lesson.
Do you read the Old Testament?
Or do you say, well, that was for the Jew, you know?
Timothy from a child knew the Holy Scriptures. There was number New Testament scripture at that time.
Which would have came wise unto salvation. You can get saved by reading the Old Testament.
If you come to see Christ in it, you know, the typical teachings of the Old Testament, you know, uh, I don't want to boast and please don't take it that way. But we met people through my work that were Christians. And then when I took care of their son who needed my services, then I would always make a few comments. I wouldn't overwhelm them of Christian truth, you know?
And.
To then.
They said, you know, why don't we have some Bible study? We like to get into the Old Testament. You know, they had not. They belonged to a New Testament church.
That's how some people call it. You know, they neglected the Old Testament and they came to see through the little contact that they had. There was a lot of wonderful things in the Old Testament, and that's what we did for six years. We went through the Old Testament.
You know, I benefited very much from that for myself. Why? Because I had to be able to explain it, you know, and I meditated on it. I read helpful ministry.
Young fellows here and ladies, do you make use of the written ministry that we have?
Do you make use of it?
I hope you do.
What I have to present is not what I have all personally dug up.
I had the privilege of growing up amongst brother and so-called my grandparents were there already and I learned a lot from those men, from those people and I owe much to them. I still love them. I'm sorry I can't walk with some of those that I grew up among.
But I still love them and I appreciate it, the help that they were to me. But we have in English much more help available than what we had in Germany.
We had Macintosh.
You know.
And Macintosh is very nice, especially for those who are new in the faith, you know.
He does all the chewing for you.
When you read Darby, you know, you better know something of the subject that he is talking about, or it goes over your head, you know. And when you read Kelly.
You know he has been called the Irish St. and Scholar.
Kelly has made Darby simple.
Standard is another one.
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Edward Dennett. He has written as much, but what he has written is very easily understood.
Bible Truth Publishers still has these writings available.
Get him.
It will help you come to a fuller enjoyment of the truth and perhaps helps you to share the truth with others you know.
We learned from others, but.
How wonderful.
That we have not only church truth, that we have Kingdom truth. And there is a side to the Kingdom that is clearly shown in Matthew's gospel. That's the gospel of the Kingdom, you know, presents the Lord Jesus as the king.
Well, I hope.
Some of what was pointed out will be a help or perhaps even encourage some of us to look into things more thoroughly. You know, and I hope we all have the habit of reading the Bible every day for ourselves. What about the family? Do you have a family altar?
Do you sit down with the family and read the scriptures and pray with them?
It's our responsibility as parents to share the truth.
It's wonderful that we can go to meeting with the kids and that they can go to Sunday school.
But you heard me say that before. If you would only have two meals a week, how long would you live?
You know you have to feed your soul every day.
And you, as parents, have the responsibility to feed your children with spiritual food.
You know, I'm so thankful that.
I was exposed from a little boy aunt like Timothy to the Holy Scriptures.
You know, and there never was a time, I can honestly say that, that I resented that the scriptures were read in our home. I never resented that.
And it was early in my life that I wanted to understand more of the scriptures.
And, you know, during the war.
There was a lot of turmoil in the industrial area where I lived and that affected.
Our Christian life, even in the family.
And we were forbidden to meet.
And.
There were relatives, all of our relatives met secretly, you know, and but we couldn't always go along. Sometimes the parents would go alone, but most of the time they took us along. And so how thankful it is one can be that like Timothy from a child, we know the Holy Scriptures will make.
Which will make us wise unto salvation. So be thankful fellows and girls.
That you're exposed to the viable. Do you ever thank the Lord that you have been and that you are exposed to that and then.
Ask the Lord, please help me understand what is being read. And when you read the scriptures for yourself, ask him, please help me to understand, you know, line up online, hear a little, hear a little, you know.
But spiritual laziness is not going to be blessed.
There has to be diligence, spiritual diligence.
You know, it's just like a man has to provide for his family in a material way, but he has to also provide in a spiritual way, you know, and the mother.
You know, sometimes.
The man in the house doesn't have what it takes.
To expand the scriptures, but hopefully the mother has it, you know?
I had a godly mother.
And what we have as boys, we owe more to our mother.
She would bring the scriptures before us. She would quote the scriptures and bring the light of the scriptures in any situation.
That would arise. My father had a brother.
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Who, like himself, had grown up in a Christian home. Grandpa was much used of the Lord to teach the Scriptures, but he was not saved and he lived in sin. He lived in immorality with somebody else's wife.
You know, and then there was a bombing rate.
And he went out to fight the fire.
And a bomb dropped near him and he was cut to shreds and I was evacuated in Beguidus village. My uncle lived there.
My mother wrote us.
Uncle Fritz was killed in a bombing raid, she says. I cannot help but think of the Scripture. He that is often rebuked, hardening his neck, shall be suddenly destroyed and dead without remedy. That Scripture fit that situation to a tee, didn't it?
Well, I hope there's nobody here that like my Uncle Fritz.
Will turn away completely from it and not get saved and then live in the world. Live in sin.
He had all the opportunity.
To get saved, he visited my father shortly before he was killed in a bombing raid.
And my father once more tried to reach him, reach his conscience. He brushed it all aside.
That was, you might say, the last opportunity that he had to hear somebody try to reach his conscience.
Well, here he grew up in a Christian home. Well, how sad.
That's not an isolated case, unfortunately.
You know, to grow up.
In a Christian home under Christian influence. Go to meeting from a little boy on go to Sunday school.
You know, I went to Sunday school as a little boy.
But I was a teenager before I had assurance of salvation. Of course the war came in, and then there wasn't.
Much going on in the way of meeting for some time, but anyway, we don't know whether we will have tomorrow in our life. Today is the day of salvation. Today when we hear His voice. Do not harden your heart. You know that's what the scripture tells us so well.
But to come back, the Kingdom truth is so important.
Familiarize yourself with it.
The Lord Jesus is the King. He is the Lord. He is the Bridegroom. You know we know him as the bridegroom. We know him as our head, as Christians, but he is also Lord, the Lord of our individual lives. To say that he is my King is not Christian truth. He is my Lord. You know He is in control.
But he is also king, and we look forward to the day when he will come back to reign in power and glory.
And bring us along. Isn't it wonderful that He will have a place of power and rule in the very place where He was rejected and despised? We will rejoice to see it all and have part in it, even Mother Grace, not only to save our souls but to also share the Kingdom glory with us. We will reign with Him. But there is a difference in the Kingdom.
There is no difference in heaven.
We are all gonna be there because of the work of the Lord Jesus.
But in the Kingdom, some will be over 10 cities, some will be over less cities. According to faithfulness, there will be a greater or smaller position in the Kingdom.
And there will be crowns given.
And what do we find the Saints doing with the crowns in Revelation? They cast them at the feet of the Lord Jesus, as much as to say, if there was anything in my life that was for the glory of God, it is because of the grace of God that enabled it.
And to enable me to live for him. So may the Lord bless His word.
I'd just like to preface my remarks by underscoring something that was said yesterday.
Regarding honey, and that is the honey was not found in the offerings.
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And that's found in Acts.
Chapter 17 and the reason for this practice is just to.
Umm, prevent misunderstanding in what I'm about to.
Present, and that's in Acts chapter 17.
And verse 24.
Follow whenever he is, uh, presenting Jesus to the Athenians, declares to them in verse 24, God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worshipped with man's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing He giveth to all life and breath and all things.
Today there is much confusion, I believe, in the differentiation between service.
And worship.
When it comes to worshipping the Lord, there is no honey in the offering simply because He doesn't need it. However, the Lord has given us honey in our lives, and I think that's important to realize that we don't.
Become, as sometimes Christians are accused by the world of being unhappy or morose people of sorrow. That is not what should characterize us as believers. We should be characterized by joy.
Joy, as is often pictured in the Word of God by honey or wine.
And honey is what I'd like to look at today.
And I would just like to look at a couple passengers, first of all in Exodus chapter 16.
This is the passage where mana is given to the children of Israel as a source of sustenance for their journey through the wilderness. And certainly we are in a wilderness journey today, and the Lord has given us manna.
The Word of God, something that if we partake of each and every day, we will find joy and contentment in our journey. Surely all of us have discovered that whenever we neglect that, joy disappears very quickly. And there's just one aspect of manna that I'd like to look at in verse.
31 The House of Israel of chapter 16 of Exodus.
And the House of Israel called the name thereof Manna, and it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
It was pleasant, it was joyful. You might say it was something that they could.
Enjoy in their daily life. I think you could say that in the wilderness journey there was a lot of problems. That becomes quite evident as you read through the story. And they complained a lot and they had a lot of difficulties, real difficulties.
And difficulties that caused them to stumble in disbelief, stumble and.
Really blaming the Lord for their difficulties, when in fact it was their unbelief that brought them into those difficulties.
But nevertheless, each and every day, without fail, the Lord provided them manna.
And this manna tasted like wafers made with honey sweetness.
Joy, even in the midst of a difficult pathway.
The second passage I'd like to look at is in First Samuel.
Chapter 14.
And I won't read the whole story, but this is the story of the same old story, you might say, of the Israelites in battle with the Philistines.
It happens over and over again, and certainly in our life the same battles happen over and over again. We wake up in the morning and we think, well, surely the thing that we struggled with yesterday, we will no longer have to struggle with that today because we destroyed that enemy. But it's not too long and we're trudging down the path and lo and behold, boom, that same old energy, that same old enemy pops up in our path. The Philistine certainly is a picture of that in the Old Testament.
In fighting against God's people.
In.
1St 24 of First Samuel 14 The men of Israel were distressed that day in their battle against the Philistines.
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For Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may, that I may be avenged on mine enemies.
So none of the people tasted any food.
Now, it doesn't take much of A military mind to realize that this is not a very good idea.
When it comes to military battle, you need energy, you need food, you need something to sustain the body as it's being put under the ravages of war.
And verse 25 And all they of the land came to a wood, and there was honey upon the ground.
And when the people were come into the wood, behold, the honey dropped, but no man put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath.
But Jonathan heard naughty when his father charged the people in the oath, wherefore he put forth.
Wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in on honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth.
And his eyes were enlightened.
Then answered one of the people and said, Thy father straightly charged the people with an oath, saying, cursed be the man that eateth any food this day.
And the people were faint. Then said Jonathan, my father hath troubled the land. See, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey.
And much more, if happily, the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found.
For had there not been a much greater slaughter among the Philistines?
And there are several applications that can be taken from this passage.
But today I would I What I was struck with this passage recently was that.
Jonathan, Really.
Won the battle that day because he partook of the honey that the Lord provided for the people.
So you might say in a.
In an overhanded manner, had told the people not to eat of anything. They were strictly to be in battle. They weren't to eat anything that day except fight against the Philistines.
But they needed sustenance. They needed joy for their journey.
They couldn't defeat the Philistines apart from that which the Lord had provided them, in this case the honey dropping upon the ground.
Sugar in a very practical means.
But in a spiritual means, in spiritual things, there is much joy to be found in the Word of God.
Much, honey, that even when we're traveling through a land full of sorrow, certainly we look around the world today and we see much sorrow, much difficulty, things that really discourage us throw us down.
Put rounds upon our faces at least many times. I find that for myself.
But that's not the way the Lord wants us to be. The Lord wants us to have joy in our life. He wants us to have.
Victory.
He wants us.
To go and fight the Philistines. But he wants us to do that with sustenance in our belly, so to speak. He wants us to have spiritual sustenance.
It's also interesting that the land of Cain and the land that they were the children of Israel were to umm.
Conquer and take for themselves was allowed, characterized by the land flowing with milk and honey, while certainly the rivers weren't, you know, milk rivers, nor were there streams of honey.
But that metaphor is something that speaks of a land that even in the midst of battle and discouragement.
Bickering, fighting, complaining against the Lord. The Lord still provided those things for His people.
He still provided joy for the journey.
There's just one more passage I'd like to look at and it's umm.
Really ties in with the glorious appearing of the Lord when he sets up his Kingdom.
And that's found in Isaiah Chapter 7.
Isaiah Chapter 7 and verse 21.
And it shall come to pass in that day that a man shall nourish a young cow in two sheep. And it shall come to pass for the abundance of milk that they shall give that.
That they shall give, that he shall eat butter. For butter and honey shall everyone eat that is left in the land. My dad likes this purse. He likes to eat butter and honey with a little bit of bread.
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And I think that's really what in a spiritual sense, what this verse brings before us. The Lord in the in the coming day, in the millennial reign will provide much milk and honey, butter and honey, fatness and joy for those people that are left in the land after a period of time.
That, the Word of God says, will be unlike anything before or after a period of judgment and.
And terrible.
A terrible day, but nevertheless, following that day there will be a land flowing with milk and honey once again.
But we have honey today. I believe in the word of God, much of it. Much honey, much joy.
But we must be careful and as we discern as we divide the word of truth in a in a right manner that we don't mix up the honey that the Lord has given for us to enjoy in our in our walk through this life.
With what He requires of us in worship to Him, He does not need the honey given back. He does not want that. That extra bit that really titillates our own flesh and makes us feel good.
He has given us much joy, much many things that make us.
Gives us hope in this journey.
But we must be careful not to.
Confuse the difference between what He requires of us and what He gives to us.
By God's grace and help.
We want to look at a few scriptures. We've talked about the New Testament and the New Testament. We've talked about the Old Testament.
And what came before me was a verse in Romans, 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 of the scriptures, might have hope.
That takes in the Old Testament too, isn't it? The Word of God, God's written word. And as we've already talked a little bit about the Old Testament, the children of Israel, I had a few thoughts brought before me.
Concerning.
Us here today.
The young people, the older people, the middle-aged, everyone of us, the children.
Let's look in Exodus chapter 3.
The children of Israel there were many lessons to be learned as we follow their.
Their pathway and it's been very touching to my own soul.
And exercise to my own soul that I might trust wholly in the Lord.
For my life down here.
The children of Israel were chosen people, God's chosen people.
And we're chosen too, aren't we?
Were chosen in him before the foundation of the world.
What a portion that is to just lay hold of, meditate upon. Chosen him before the foundation of the world. Why did he choose me? Why did he choose you? There's nothing good in me, but God loved you and God loved me. And God wanted to bless us, to bring us in the blessing, not for only time, but for all eternity. And so we read here concerning the children of Israel in chapter 3 and starting with verse 7.
And the Lord said I have surely seen the affliction of my people.
Which are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters.
For I know their sorrows, and I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians.
And to bring them up out of that land, onto a good land, and a large onto a land flowing with milk and honey.
And on to the place, the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorite, the Parasites, the Hibites and the Jebusites.
Now, therefore, behold the choir, the children of Israel.
And I have also seen the pressure wherein the Egyptians oppress them. Come now, therefore, and I will send them unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. Oh, isn't it wonderful?
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Here they were, sorrowing, suffering from the hands of Egyptians, their taskmasters. But here's a word from God. He was going to bring them out, He said. I will. I've seen your affliction. I've seen what you're going through.
And I'm hearing, and I'm going to bring you out unto a land the flows with milk and honey. That's a promise of God to them. Well, let's turn over to numbers.
We know that here afterwards Pharaoh would not let them go in between this time, but God made him let them go. He made him willing to let them go. So Numbers chapter 13, we're not read all the chapter for for times sake.
Numbers 13, verse one.
And the Lord speaking to Moses, saying, Send thou men, that they may search the land of Canaan, which I given on the show of Israel of every tribe of their fathers.
Shall you send a man, everyone, a ruler among them, and Moses by the commandment of the Lord?
Sent them from the wilderness of Perrin. All those men were heads of the children of Israel.
And so everyone from every tribe were picked, and we see that in verse 17 now.
Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said to them, get you up this way southward and go up into the mountain.
And see the land what it is, and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many, and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad. And what cities they be that they dwell in, whether in tents or in strongholds. And what the land is, whether it be fat or lean, whether it be wood they're in or not. And be ye of good courage, and bring her the fruit of the land. Now the time was the time of the first ripe grapes. So they went up and searched the land for the wilderness of sin.
Unto rehab.
As men come to Haman.
And they ascended. By the South came the Hebron, and so forth. Verse 23.
And they came under the brook of Esco, and cut down from thence branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bear it between two upon a staff. And they brought to the pomegranates and of the figs. The place was called the brook Esco, because of the cluster of grapes with the children of Israel cut down from dents. Oh, here they are told to spy out the land.
And so they go forward and they come to the vineyard, and here this great large cluster of grapes.
They cut it down and they brought it.
And they returned in verse 25 from the searching of the land after 40 days.
And they went and came to Moses and Aaron, and all the Congress of the cure of Israel under the wilderness of Peron Kadish, and brought backward unto them unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the land.
And they told him, and said, We came up, came unto the land.
Without sentence us, and surely it flowed with milk and honey, and this is the fruit of it.
They saw it, didn't they?
We just had it brought before us about the milk and honey from our brother.
And they went, and they saw this wonderful land that God had told him about.
What was the answer? Verse 28?
Nevertheless, the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled and very great, and moreover, we saw the children of Anak there.
Giants. Giants of the land. They got their eyes off looking around.
God said he would bring them into that land God had promised them.
Nevertheless, they look around, they see all these obstacles.
In the way And don't we do that sometimes? Or how sad sometimes we obstacles are brought before us by the enemy?
And we forget for a moment what God can do and what God has done in our lives.
How is redeemed with his precious blood at such a cost?
Well, here the people look, and not only that. Verse 29. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the South, the High Kites, the Jebusites, the Amorites dwelling in the mountains, and the Canaanites dwell with this sea and the coast of Jordan. Oh, what a confusion.
All of these enemies, they were in the mountains, they were down, they were here, they were there, they were all around.
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Children of giants, the great large giants, they were afraid.
They looked around.
Oh, God wants us to look up. Look up to the Son of God.
Who can do all things well?
Oh, in verse 30 we see Caleb still the people before Moses.
And said, let us go up at once and possess it, for we are well able.
To overcome it.
How was he well able?
Was he counting upon his strength?
God had told him.
That he would bring them into that land.
And he believed God, you know, he came out of came out there from.
In that wilderness, Joshua and Caleb, they came out later on in that wilderness.
They were the only two that were alive, that were older, that came out alive because they believed God.
He says we are able to overcome it.
Oh, how sad, read the 31St verse. But the man went that went up with him, said we are not able.
To go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.
All, beloved, we're weaker than water spill on the ground that cannot be gathered up. We cannot trust ourselves. We trust in the Lord.
Who sought it pound us and brought us to Himself? Our strength is in the name of the Lord.
How sad the enemy came in.
And it's sad to see that they said we're not able, Caleb said. We are able.
When God is in it, everything goes well.
If God be for us, who can be against us? Oh, isn't it wonderful?
Here it is brought before him, the man of God, Caleb said. We are well able.
Verse 32.
And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched under the tour of Israel, saying.
The land through which we have gone to search it, it is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof, and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great statue. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come out of the giants, and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers. So we were in, so we were in their sight.
You know.
When you think about it.
They had no power within themselves.
They said we're not able, no power in themselves, but Caleb said we are able because he trusted in the word of God.
Do you trust in the Word of God? You know we're living in a day where many are giving up.
Throwing up their hands and saying what's the use?
Oh dear young people, and each one of us.
If God be for us, who can be against us? We have the power of God. We who know the Lord Jesus our Savior have the Spirit of God indwelling in US.
And we can go forward in that power. Not my own, not your own.
But it's the power of God, and so I urge you to trust in the living God.
My dear brother, one time he said, spread it before the Lord, or spread it all out before the Lord, and tell the Lord your weakness.
In your need of help And he'll help you and you'll be strong. You'll be an overcomer.
Here.
They fell short.
Because they were looking at the men there, the giants.
And they forgot what God had said.
Caleb told them We are well able.
Caleb stressed that before them, Caleb did.
And they were, because God could take them through.
But uh, the enemy is subtle and he sneaks in and he works in our hearts so quickly and it's our belief. And that's why they couldn't come into the land. You know, they were only 11 days journey to Canaan, 11 days.
40 years it took them to get to that point.
Because of unbelief.
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And that's all. And we lose all of our blessings because of unbelief. And I have to point to myself.
I'm loose, I I lose blessings of the Lord because upon belief, oh, may we trust the Lord fully, May I trust the Lord fully because what the Lord Jesus says he will do.
Well, just another quick verse or time is almost gone then Joshua.
Chapter One.
Moses had died in the wilderness, and now Joshua.
Was going to leave lead them into Canaan's land.
Verse one Joshua 11. Now after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, it came to pass.
That the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun Moses minister, saying.
Moses, my servant is dead. Now therefore rise. Go over this Jordan, thou and all this people, and the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread, upon that have I given you, as I said unto Moses. Now down in verse six, Be strong and have a good courage. For unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance of land which I swear to their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and courageous.
Only beta, strong and courageous.
Where were they going to get their strength?
From the Lord, Joshua is going to be their leader.
And so they were given a word of encouragement there to be strong and very courageous.
Well, you know, the blessing of the Lord make the rich, and he has no sorrow to it. We read that in in Proverbs 10/22. And that's what the Lord wants to do to every one of us in this audience today. He wants to bless us.
He wants to bless us. Do you want the blessing of the Lord, or do you want sorrow in your life?
It's up to you, dear one.
It's up to you to humble yourself. It's up to me to humble myself. Take that low place.
Of nothingness and trust the Lord Jesus, who is everything.
If God be for us, who can be against us? If God be for us, who can be against us?
You know, we're living in trying days now and it's not gonna get any better. The Lord's coming is perhaps even yet today.
We're looking for him, aren't we? But if the Lord should leave us here a little longer, it's not going to get any better.
What are we gonna do with our life? Are we going to listen to the enemy, the giants of this world?
Those that would try to pull us down, we are going to listen to the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior in heaven and live for Him. You know when I was growing up in my home, we had one little verse that wasn't a plaque.
But if said.
Only one life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last.
What are you doing for Christ today? What am I doing for Christ? It exercises my heart.
This is the word of God, and it should exercise each heart. It's not my word, it's God's word, God's word. We have only one life to live. Are we living for self? Are we living for the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who bought us with his precious blood? The cost in those hours of darkness? Well.
That's a little that I had laid on my heart this afternoon as these other thoughts were brought about with the two other brothers From the Word of God. Because it's from the Word of God.
So let's trust him wholly. Let's receive the blessing the Lord has for us.
Because He blesses us richly.
He wants to bless us, He wants us to live for Him.
Shine for him while we wait for His coming. All may I do that, may you do that, and we might receive the blessing of the Lord with no sorrow added.