Kirkland Conference: 2019
Table of Contents
Romans 5
Reading
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And our God and our Father, we are thankful this morning that we can look to Thee before we open up the Word of God. We do seek a blessing from Thee. We own that. We're in a wilderness land throughout the world. There is violence and there's corruption.
There's a darkness in this world that seems to be rolling in uncontrolled.
In this wilderness land, there is nothing for the spiritual man, nothing to build us up, nothing to encourage us, nothing to bless our souls.
But we're thankful that we've been invited here this morning by our local brethren. We're thankful that we have the privilege to open up the Word of God. And we do pray that if there is any object before us that's other than Christ, if there's anything that's burdening us or weighing us down, that we might be refreshed this morning, that we might have Christ ministered to us, that there might be a freshness about it and encourages us today and throughout the next three days.
And we do pray for one another. We realize that those in this room are brothers and sisters in Christ, that we have a heavenly hope that we hope to be with the Lord Jesus, to be with thee and like thee. And we pray that as we have, that as our hope, we might realize that love, Adotus desire toward us. We pray that we might encourage one another. We pray at these this time, as we open up the word of God, that thou would encourage and those that will minister to us.
That thou would give them a word in season, a help give them to be able to look upon their brother and then they minister in love to each and every one of us. Realizing that we all have an eternal hope. We do pray for a portion. We pray for liberty of the Spirit of the Spirit of God to minister to our individual needs and that we might set our our feet on the right path and if we are misdirected.
That it might draw our feet back. So we do ask Thy help, our Father, and we ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
I.
I wonder how many young people are here who never who don't know the difference between.
Sin and sins.
I remember that being a wonderful enlightenment to me. I remember writing to Jimmy Smith and saying, why do I have these thoughts? And he wrote back and on a postcard and said, you're just beginning to believe what God said about you is the truth. So I wonder, So some of these things disturb us and I know they're all hot and many people are here.
But maybe it's good to give the young people some tools and to know what's going on, how God views us. And, and I, I would suggest if somebody else doesn't, somebody else has something, that's fine. But I, I would suggest that.
Because we can't take it all up with the subject, but maybe.
Romans 5.
And and maybe get into six and we know if seven is a parenthesis and perhaps a little bit of eight, but.
What do you what do you think about that?
Good. It really helps us to know what's going on, you know? I mean, my sins are forgiven, but I still have something that wants to sin.
Romans, chapter 5.
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Romans chapter 5 and verse one.
Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
By whom also we have access by faith into this grace, wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation work of patience and patience, experience and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
For when we were yet without strength in due time.
Christ died for the ungodly, for scarcely for a righteous man will one die yet peradventure for a Goodman. Some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than being now justified by his blood. We shall be saved from wrath through him.
For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also join God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
Wherefore as by one man centered and entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.
For until the law sin was in the world. But sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned. After the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come?
But not as the offense, so also is the free gift. For if through the offense of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so was the gift. For the judgment was by 1 to condemnation. But the free gift is of many offenses unto justification.
For if by one man's offense death reigned by one much more, they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ.
Therefore, as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, Even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. Whereas by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.
That as sin hath reigned unto death, Even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
If we could, we have 4 readings that we could.
Take a chapter at a time, Chapter 567 and eight. I think that would give a overview. It will have to.
Not get bogged down to try to move through a chapter.
That be suitable.
I think it is very helpful for young people, and a lot of us who are older too, to get refocused again.
You might.
The first eight chapters are divided into two parts, and.
The division part comes in this chapter 5 at the end of verse 11.
Up to that point, the first chapters deal with the question of sins, those ungodly acts or thoughts that we all have had, and how God deals with that.
Because they need to be dealt with on a just basis.
But from verse 12, and I think this is what you were referring to, Vern, it's taking.
Up the subject in general of sin, that nature that produces those ungodly acts. So you have a apple tree, you have the root and you have the fruit. So it takes up the fruit first sins and then from verse 12 forward it takes up the root. And it's important to get that. Many people don't understand that.
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They that's why we have the struggles that you're mentioning.
Could we introduce the idea as to why the book of Romans was written at least the 1St 8 chapters?
There's many believers who don't understand the depth of the work of Christ and what it means to us in our lives.
And so this book of Romans is the gospel of God. And it's not a it's not the gospel to the lost. It's not that it couldn't be, but it's really, it's a gospel to the saved. It's a gospel to reveal the the fullness of how Christ has dealt with you so that you're standing before God. You can understand that not only did he deal with the sins, the fruit of what you've accomplished as a fallen creature.
But he's dealt with you as a fallen creature and has put you away. That's the difference between sin and sins, isn't it? It gives us the opportunity and to privilege to recognize what kind of things are going on within our body so that we can understand these struggles and see the value of Christ work. So this is the gospel of God. It's the gospel of what God has done for us through Christ.
So that sin and sins might have been dealt with and that it would help us in our pathway down here. There are many believers who sin and then feel that they're lost again. That's because they don't understand the fullness of the work of Christ. Understanding these two things will give you peace, won't they? They'll give you peace and enjoyment and enjoying the love that has been extended to you through the finished work of God's beloved Son.
So we learned from these chapters that we are more than forgiven sinners. That's true. We are forgiven sinners. But as you say, at the cross God not only took up the question of my sins, but the nature that produced those sins. John the Baptist said the axe is laid at the root of the tree, and it's really the root of man that is bad. Man is rotten through and through when he sinned in the Garden of Eden, when Adam acted in disobedience and aid of the forbidden fruit.
He became a Sinner, that is, he received a fallen nature, and everyone of us have inherited that fallen nature. We sin because we are sinners. Sin, as you say, is the fruit of the fact that we have this nature that's rotten through and through. And we learn in these chapters that the that nature that that we're born with, it never improves that sinful nature. And so that which is born of the flesh is flesh. The Lord said to Nicodemus in John 3.
It never improves.
It doesn't get any worse either.
Interesting, isn't it? The fallen nature never gets worse. The manifestation of it may get worse. We see more open sin and rebellion today. But it's not that that the the sinful nature, the old man has got worse. No, he's always been rotten through and through, nor does he improve. And so in these chapters we have something brought in before God that brings us into a position that is more than just a forgiven Sinner.
That's why this chapter opens with the thought of justification, and we have it in three different ways here. In the first few chapters of Romans, we find that if we were to go back to the third chapter, we find there that he says in verse 24. Therefore being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, because this is the way that we're brought into blessing, into this standing. It's through the great, it's through his grace.
And then we find in the 28th verse of that third chapter, therefore, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. And we can develop that later. And that introduces to us what we have in the first verse of our chapter. Again, he speaks of being justified by faith. And then, and so that's the means. But then notice verse 9. And we'll get to this a little later, but just to complete the thought, verse nine of chapter 5, much more.
Then being now justified by his blood, that's the basis of it, isn't it? It's the blood of Jesus Christ. And so justification is far, far more than just the fact that we're forgiven sinners. And I think it would be helpful if we develop a little on that subject. It's a subject that I don't believe is well understood amongst many Christians and perhaps amongst us as well.
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So if you go back to the end verses of chapter 4, it helps to get the context.
Verse 23 It was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed. That's righteousness, but for us also to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him. That raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our offenses, and was raised again for our justification, so that when the Lord Jesus was on the cross, He answered to God fully.
About the question of sin. And he died, He paid the ultimate price. Not only did he die, but he was raised again. And that showed that God was fully satisfied. His righteous character was completely vindicated in the work of Christ. So that now when you and I put our faith in the Lord Jesus, then God not only forgives us like you've been mentioning, but he justifies us. In other words, he.
Counts.
As righteous, we have imputed to us God's righteousness. It's it's a wonderful thing that.
It's not anything that we attain to on our own, but it is what God imputes to the believer. Now that we have put our faith in the Lord Jesus and the result of that is peace, can there be any question about it if you go back to the cross?
If there is any question, it directly reflects.
On the work of the Lord Jesus at the cross. Can you call that in question?
People often have doubts and fears when they're looking inside themselves and they don't feel quite right.
It's not a question of feelings, it's a question of facts. What was taken? What took place at the cross? The work of the Lord Jesus, the work of redemption and his resurrection showed that God was fully satisfied.
It's often said that salvation is in three tenses, isn't it? And I think it's so helpful to get a hold of that. First, there's a present tense of salvation, that is, we're saved from the penalty of sin. And that really goes along with forgiveness, doesn't it? And then because of the work the Lord Jesus did, it's the basis for us being saved from the power of sin, which is really what we're speaking about, isn't it? Forgiveness is a one time thing, really.
Because all of our sins are future at the cross. But then to be saved from the power of sin is a great thing. And that's really the subject of these chapters, starting with verse 12, isn't it? And then there is 1/3 and we get that in the 8th chapter. We're going to be saved from the very presence of sin. And that's a wonderful thing. So we have salvation past, present, and future. I think it's helpful to get a hold of that.
So there are many Christians today who do not have real rest of soul and Peace of Mind.
Because they don't understand the position that Brother Bob was Speaking of that we've been brought into. And I remember one time, I don't know if the younger generation here read the works of John Bunyan, but John Bunyan wrote a number of books. I suppose his most well known was Pilgrim's Progress. He also wrote an allegory called The Holy War. But one time my wife had picked up another one of his books called Grace Abounding, and she had, she read it, I read it years before.
And it's really his autobiography and the struggles he had as a believer. And as my wife was reading the book, she commented on a number of occasions as to how unhappy a man John Bunyan was. And so I picked up the book after she was done and I reread it, and I realized that he had struggles and what never had settled peace because he saw at the cross the end of his sins, but he never saw the end of John Bunyan. He never understood what God had done with the old man.
And I've sometimes illustrated it this way. You remember in Pilgrims Progress that the man Christian came to the wicked gate and there was the cross, and he had this great bundle of sins on him that represented his sins on his back. And as he stood there at the cross, that bundle of that represented his sins in John Bunyan's dream, it rolled into the tomb and he went on his way to the Celestial City.
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But it would have been better if he had rolled into the tomb with his bundle of sins and come out a Newman, if John Bunyan, who wrote that, had understood that he would have had settled peace in his soul. And so we need to realize that in being justified, we're brought into a position before God where we are seen in all the perfection and righteousness of Christ. We've been made the righteousness of God in in him. And I've sometimes illustrated it this way from the Old Testament, and it may fall a little short.
But you remember in the Tabernacle, there were boards that were raised to build the Tabernacle, and together they were a habitation for God in the wilderness. But I believe individually those boards represent to us individual believers, and there were two things that characterized those boards.
One, they were set in two sockets of silver, and we know that silver is almost invariably, if not invariably a picture of redemption in Scripture. And so we have forgiveness through his blood, even the redemption of our sins and so on. What a wonderful thing that is. But there was something else that characterized those boards. They were covered completely with pure gold and gold in Scripture so often speaks of of divine righteousness. In other words, for our illustration when the eye of God rested on those boards.
What did he see? Not that rough cut lumber that was underneath, but he saw that which spoke in type in anticipation of believers being brought into a position where they are seen in all the perfection and righteousness of Christ. And brethren, that's the position. Do I sin? Yes I do, but I'm thankful that he doesn't see me in the old light. He doesn't see me as the the old Jim Highland. I'm crucified with Christ.
The old man is dead. It was put to death at the cross. And yes, I have the sinful flesh. I stand before God as justified. One more comment about justification. That's important. Sometimes I've heard people say, and it's not accurate. I've heard people say justification is just as if I'd never sinned. That is not an accurate statement, brethren, because if I say justification is just as if I'd never sinned, that puts me back in innocence.
Adam had never sinned before. He ate the forbidden fruit, but he wasn't justified. He was innocent, but to be justified is to be brought into a position that's seen in that light, but it is a position that is far, far greater than anything that Adam ever enjoyed in innocence.
Another point I think is important, Jim, is that many people believe that when a believer accepts the Lord as his savior.
Then the righteousness that Christ had as a perfect man in this world is imputed to him. That is not right. We are clothed in the righteousness of God in Christ, but it never really uses the term the righteousness of Christ in the Scripture as to the what the believer is clothed in. It's the righteousness of God in Christ. And and that's an important point because if that were the case, then the righteousness we had would be a righteousness based on works.
And that's not the case. It's a righteousness completely different based on faith in the Lord Jesus and His finished work.
Just to go on here in this chapter, because we want to move along, brethren, so perfect is that place we've been brought into.
That we in verse 2.
Rejoice.
In the glory, in hope of the glory of God. And then notice verse 3. Not only so, but we glory in tribulations also.
Is that right?
Do you Glory and tribulations, Brother Vern.
No, it's the result of them.
But isn't this amazing?
That even in tribulations we can glory. I amazed that the apostle Paul who when he got that thorn in the flesh.
He said I will glory in tribulations knowing that when that is the case, the power of Christ rests upon me. And this is a tremendous thing, brother, and when things that are negative according to our viewpoint happened to us in life.
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We can glory in that. How is that?
Knowing that tribulation works, patience.
Patients experience and experience hope, and that hope is not a shame because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. So God is working through every single circumstance, even the ones that we esteem to be negative, to bring about His purposes a blessing that are formed in that past eternity.
I say sometimes, brethren, I'm kind of hard headed, kind of stiff necked, but who is going to win in the end? God in his eternal purposes or this little piece of humanity? It's God, Thank God.
Might mention from the Old Testament we have illustrations of what we have here, and that is that when the Israelites were coming out of Egypt, we know that the basis was the Passover.
But that wasn't the proof.
But the basis was the Passover. That's where the Lamb was slain, and that was what we call propitiation.
The work was complete there, but they were still in fear of their lives, weren't they? And so as we the verses Bob red in the end of Roar, go on to the Red Sea. Because the Red Sea is not only a picture of the death of Christ, it's also a picture of His resurrection, which we don't have at the Passover. Why is the resurrection so important?
I'll just put it this way.
Every man who started a religion, with one exception, is still in the grave. Why would I trust that man's religion? He's never overcome sin and death. He's still in the grave. But one person is risen, and that's the Lord Jesus. He has defeated the powers of sin and Satan and hell. And that's the picture of the Red Sea we have here in verse 25 of chapter 4.
And then I mentioned that because we're going to get to the Red Sea again beginning in verse 12 of chapter 5. But what we have in verse first 11 verses of chapter 5 is the wilderness. And that's, that's the truth. We're we're saved now. And remember, once they got on the other side of the Red Sea back in Exodus, that's when they first sang a song. They didn't sing any songs in Egypt, but they sang a song then and they used the word salvation for the first time.
Miriam led the ladies in singing the song and we have salvation. So we have those two things. We have the basis of salvation in the in the Passover. We have the proof of it in the resurrection, that's the Red Sea. The Lord Jesus not only died, he rose again and he ascended on high as we well know. And then again, the 1St 11 verses of chapter 5 are the wilderness and then we're going to get back to the work of Christ.
Beginning with verse 12 again, which frankly again is the Red Sea. It's important to see we have the Red Sea twice in these chapters. That's confused a lot of people, but I believe that's really the secret. We have the Red Sea in the end of chapter 4. In fact, that confused the early brethren and they wrestled with that for a long time and then finally resolved this very thing. So as to the question of sins, we have both the Passover and the Red Sea. The Red Sea again is the evidence.
The proof that the work is complete, not only did the Lord Jesus say it is finished on the cross, He rose from the dead. That's when He ascended back up on high. God never would have received him if he hadn't been perfect. He was perfect after those 40 days. But then we have in the 1St 11 verses the results of that, the introduction into the wilderness.
There's a reason He never repeats something just for the sake of repeating something. You don't get the Red Sea twice just for the sake of doing it. On the one side, you see that God is satisfied with the work of Christ, so it brings out that aspect. Why is that so important to us? It's because it brings before us what God has done through Christ for us. But then we have up to 11 as was brought out, or at the end of 11, the Red Sea is brought out in connection with what it is done for us.
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In his resurrection. And so there are two different aspects of something that we might enjoy, not only what God has, not only what was in the heart of God, but what has been done for us through the work of Christ.
Just like to comment a little further on verse.
Two and three and four, rather than because I think it is so beautiful to grasp this, the word patience might be used. Endurance.
Tribulations are hard to take. We all experience them in different ways, but to realize that tribulation works endurance, and that's where it takes faith. When there's that faith, the faith that God has put into you as a believer is a faith that overcomes. It endures. And so in the midst of tribulation.
We realize that it's God's working and so endurance, or I should say patience or endurance.
Works, experience, and through the experiences of life we come to realize that God is working His sovereign purposes so different than maybe what we had thought. And then experience brings hope.
I must say I've gone through some hard trials in life.
I at the time could not figure out what was happening.
But as life has gone on, I look back now and see that it was God that was working in that. And so now there is hope.
And when the Lord allows me perhaps to go through another hard trial.
I have hope. And what is that hope based on?
It's not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.
Why does God love us?
I like to ask that question when we go into prison to preach the gospel.
And generally speaking, the first answer I get from the men is.
Because we're his children. Well, I say, if you're not a believer, you're not his child. But he still loves you. Why?
So they stop and think, and then sometimes they say because we're his creatures. Okay, I can accept that. But I said there's another answer. God loves us because God is love. And as he looks at you, you cannot change who He is.
Looks at you with a love that cannot change at all for all eternity. It is the same. It's a love that depends on Him.
We're so geared in our humanistic culture to love people that love us. You'd be nice to me and I'll be nice to you.
With people that talk that way don't understand God's love. God's love is a love that loves in spite of all and so it goes on to confirm that in verse 6 for when we were yet without strength in due time Christ died for the ungodly. He didn't die for people, he died for the ungodly and then it further.
Confirms that in verse eight, God commands His love toward us in that while we were yet signed for us, ultimate proof of God's love is the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. What a wonderful thing.
Got one more word though and then 10th is when we were enemies.
It has something.
And you read of the word boast the last time in the 11Th verse of the 5th chapter. You have it mentioned seven times in the first part of Romans boasting.
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We boast in God.
Is the are you saying that these experiences that we go through?
Takes our mind off all but Christ and so this the love of God.
Is shed abroad in our heart. That's really the result of these things, right?
Yes. And the difficulty in our Christian experience is that we lose sight of one of two things, the love of God in what he's done for us in providing A Savior and the position that he's brought us into, or we lose sight of that which is ahead. We we lose sight of our hope. And that really was the difficulty with the children of Israel in the wilderness, wasn't it, when they failed it under the experiences that God passed them through.
When sin came in, when they murmured and complained, they had forgotten first of all what God had done for them in delivering them from Egypt, redeeming them by the blood of the Passover lamb, delivering them through the Red Sea, and bringing them out from under the authority of Pharaoh and the Egyptians, under the authority of Moses, God's man, a picture of the Lord Jesus. They forgot that. But I believe too, they also lost sight of what was ahead. They lost sight of their hope.
It's often been mentioned, but we'll repeat it because I think it's helpful. You find in the 16th chapter of Exodus that very quickly after they were in the wilderness, they murmured and complained, and Moses cried to the Lord. And the Lord told Moses, tell the children of Israel to turn around. They're looking in the wrong direction. They're looking back. And when they turned around and looked out over the wilderness, what did they see? Was it the rocks and the sand and all the things that were in front of them between them and the Promised Land?
And believe me, those things are very real. I've experienced them on more than one occasion. But when they looked out over the wilderness, they saw the glory of the Lord in the cloud. In some way, Jehovah was pleased to reveal himself to them. And with that in view, then they could press on toward, towards the the goal. But so often in their experience, they lost sight of the promises. They lost sight of what was ahead. And brethren, if we lose sight of those two things, we're going to not learn from the experiences.
That God is passing us through in this wilderness journey. And the experiences, we don't want to undermine them. They're very real. As we had in our prayer meeting this morning. Those experiences are very real. What do we need to keep in view? We need to keep in view the love that provided the the Savior and the position we've been brought into. And we need to keep in view the hope that is set before us.
Or to be results from these different things, aren't there What what's the result of the tribulation ending in hope? Well, it brings us closer it says in verse five it says and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us so so through our trials in our life, it should bring us closer to God. We should understand more about his love to us, shouldn't we?
What's the next thing we find? Well, it says, for when we were yet without strength and due time, Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet her adventure. For a good man some would even dare to die. What's the end result?
But God commendeth his love toward us, and in this, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. So now we learn something more about the love of God to us. And then what's the end of this year? We find that we're reconciled back to God.
Through the work of Christ. Again, that's another aspect of what God has done. He's desiring to bring us to Him, to understand we're back on speaking terms with Him. All of this is connected with His love. So these are three different areas in this little portion that bring the love of God before us and make Him more real and precious as we understand all that He has done.
The experiences of life and the trials and tribulations that he passes us through.
Are not because he's a hard God, it's not because he wants to discourage us and cast us down. He wants to prove himself in those experiences. I'd like to read a verse in Psalm 4 that has become very real and precious to me in the past year or so of my life.
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You know, again, experience, maybe I just say a little word about experience as a little parenthesis. You know, those of us who are older here have something that the young people don't have and can't have at this point in their life, and that's experience. You've had some experience, but not the experiences that the Lord has passed some of us who are older through. And as we look back on those experiences, it's wonderful to see the Lord's hand.
And I just want to encourage those who are younger, don't chafe under the experiences and trials that the Lord passes you through. He passes you through them in his infinite love and to deepen your appreciation of that love and of Himself. And in that regard, I just like to read the first verse of Psalm 4. Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness. Now the next part of the verse I'm going to read in Mr. Darby's translation.
In pressure thou hast enlarged me. I believe as we go through the experiences of life, if we really accept them and take them from His hand of love, it enlarges and expands our souls as to many things concerning His purposes, His love, who He is, even the work of Calvary, all that He's doing for us, as well as it deepens our appreciation.
And understanding of what is ahead as to our hope and that day of glory.
And brethren, as I look back on my life, I am so thankful for those experiences because I can say, and it's only by the grace of God that it has enlarged my soul as to many of the of these things. And maybe there's someone here and you're saying, but Jim, it's all right for you to talk about that, but I just don't see how God is acting in love in my circumstances. Well, and maybe we better take time to go back to it. We could quote it, but in Exodus 15, I believe we have a beautiful little example here.
That again has become perhaps more precious to my own soul in recent time, and I don't want to get away from our chapter. Things are very practical. Exodus 15, you find that the children of Israel, they're in the wilderness now. They have sung this wonderful song that has been mentioned, the song of redemption. First time you have singing in the scripture. They're just rejoicing as they realize they have not just redemption, but full deliverance from the power of Pharaoh and the Egyptians in Egypt, a picture of Satan in this world.
But then notice what happens in the 23rd verse. And when they came to Mara, they could not drink of the waters of Mara, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Mara. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? I'll stop there for a moment. Here they come to this bitter experience. And maybe there's someone here this morning and you say, I've come to America in my life, and I just don't understand how God can in His love bring me to this bitter experience.
But notice what he goes on to say, verse 24. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord. And the Lord showed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet there. He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them. Well. I think we see very quickly that the tree would remind us of Calvary, the one who bore our sins in his own body on the tree. And maybe you can't see God's love in your circumstances this morning.
But you can always see it at the cross. And I want to encourage you, if you've come to this point in your life, as it were, cast the tree into the water, look to the cross. Can you doubt His love when you look at what God paid to bring you into this position we've talked about? Can you doubt the love of the Lord Jesus when you see that mighty sacrifice and the fact that He gave His life and shed His precious blood? He gave up everything. He sold all that He had. He was that merchant man. He sold all that He had that he might purchase the Pearl of great price.
You can't doubt His love there, and maybe that's the only thing that will bring sweetness into the circumstance. But I say again, from experience, it's a wonderful thing. So you look at those bitter waters. You say I don't understand God's love. Look at the cross. And if you cannot doubt His love and what you see at the cross, then how can you doubt His love in the circumstances of your life?
Proved Himself to be for us unquestionably. And brethren, I I find that in many times in Latin America where people are not maybe so well educated, they trust the Lord more easily than we do, we have the tendency to analyze things. We're taught to do that, and it's all right to do that, but don't let that keep you from trusting God.
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Trust Him, He has proved himself. Sometimes when people call in question what God's allowing, I say to them.
Just a minute here.
How much of all the information that is available to be read?
Do you know what percentage of all the information out there do you know? And if they're honest, they say .00001, maybe percent.
I say, OK, you're being honest, but here's a God that knows everything and you think you can enter into judgment with Him when you have so little knowledge and he has all knowledge. Trust Him, brethren. That's Christianity. Trust him. He's proved himself unquestionably.
And when I'm dealing with people on the streets.
They asked me, well, if the love of God is his character and what he is, how could he allow somebody to go through a lost eternity?
And so the forgiveness of God is there, but it's like when we go to Brighton Morningstar and we are going on the whitewater rafting.
You have to have a life fit.
And it doesn't do much good just to hold that life desk in your hands. You have to put the life vest on. The life vest is there. It's a good life vest. And it might save your life and you might know all about the, the safety features of that life vest. But if you don't put that life vest on, it really doesn't do you much good going down the Rapids. And so in in this life that we're living.
As we go through this life.
There are many who don't have gods like this, and God has a life desk for each and every one of us. It's the forgiveness of God. But we cannot, God cannot apply that to us unless there's repentance.
Of our sins, we have to acknowledge and confess that we are lost, guilty, hellbound, hell deserving sinners. And that's where Acts 20 comes in faith towards God and repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus. And so we first must have come to the realization that we need that life as that God has for us. We must first acknowledge that we are lost, guilty sinners and then receive Christ into our hearts. Then God can apply that forgiveness.
He has that is there. We don't ask for forgiveness, we don't pray for forgiveness because it's already there.
But the forgiveness never comes into play.
Or cut, or is applied to us, or we can never come into the good of it unless there is repentance, unless there's acknowledging that we are lost, guilty sinners, and then we receive Christ in our hearts, and then he applies to that blood to us that washes us from us.
The second-half of the chapter I read a comment Mr. Darby made recently and I appreciated it so much I jotted it down in front of my Bible. I think it's really the a summary of what we have. In the second-half of the chapter it says this is the universal order of God's ways to set up blessing first under the responsibility of man, to be accomplished afterwards according to his council's.
By his power and grace.
And so we have what's sometimes been referred to as the two federal heads in the second part of the chapter, don't we? We have the first Adam.
And we have the Lord Jesus, who's the last Adam, and we were born under the first Adam, but the work of Christ in his death and resurrection, which again is the Red Sea that we mentioned. When we have faith in Christ, we're identified with Christ in that new position, we're dead as to the original position, aren't we? We're no longer under the first Adam, but we're under Christ. And so we have the.
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Two head ships, sometimes called the two federal head ships. We are under either the first atom or we're under the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the last Adam in new creation.
It's the second atom is it is He was the 2nd man, but he's the last Adam. Because this is the answer, God's ultimate answer. I'd just like to comment before we go on to that second part there, Erica. I think we need to keep on going like you say. But in verse 10, it says if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his son, much more.
Being reconciled.
We shall be saved by his life, and that's his life of intercession for us at God's right hand. So because of the position we occupy, there is a man at God's right hand who is interceding our 'cause even when we don't understand the dangers we're passing through.
He's interceding for us. It relates to the verse in.
Hebrews 725 I'll read it and it says wherefore.
He is able. I love it. In the Spanish it says he is powerful.
Also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever limit to make intercession for us. Isn't that wonderful, brother? Sometimes we feel weak. Sometimes perhaps we're so confused we don't even know how to pray.
But there's one that ever lives to make intercession for us at God's right hand and verse 11 here, which is really the end of the first section of Romans. Not only so that we also joy or boast. Like Ernie was saying in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received and it should be as in the margin of your Bible. Perhaps the reconciliation.
The atonement isn't really in the New Testament. The atonement means a covering. And in the New Testament, sin has not merely been covered, brethren, it has been completely put away by the sacrifice of himself. Wonderful to realize.
So it's the reconciliation there. And that concludes this first section of the book of Romans. Define reconciliation.
Could you you know?
You know, so we have something to pin it to. Go ahead, brother.
I'd like to hear you put on speaking terms with God, but that you can put it better than that. Reconciliation is to be brought back into a position where we're perfectly comfortable in the presence of God. And it's interesting that you never read of God needing to be reconciled to man. It says in First Corinthians, second Corinthians 5, be reconciled to God.
Because it was man that put himself at a distance. Sin separated from God. When Adam sinned in the garden, it separated him from God, and he received a conscience. He was no longer comfortable in the presence of God, and he hid himself, having sewed fig leaves together the work of his hands. But now we have been brought into a position. It was us that needed to be reconciled, not God. And so we have been brought back now on the grounds of the blood of Christ.
Were justified, as it says in verse 9, by the by his blood. We've been brought into a position where we're perfectly comfortable. Now, brother, not to belabor this, but I I think it's an important concept because again we're in in this chapter. It's more than the forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness of sins is a wonderful thing and we don't want we preach that in the gospel. We tell souls they need to have their sins forgiven, but we learn after we are saved that we are brought into a place being justified where we are perfectly comfortable.
In the presence of God and the presence of the Lord Jesus.
Now this is not an original illustration, but, and I'll repeat it, but I'll repeat it. I've used it many times. We'll suppose that I go to Lawrenceville, IL. I break into Brother Bob's home and I steal a lot of things. And Brother Bob calls the police and they come after me and they catch me. He doesn't know who the thief is. And so they call Brother Bob and they, Bob, Tony, come down to the police station. We've caught your thief red handed with the goods. And so Bob comes down to the police station and he's about to go to the counter to make it a charge.
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And he looks over on the bench and he sees me handcuffed to the bench. And he comes over and he sits down beside me. And he says, now, Brother Jim, what you did was wrong. And your guilt, I know you're guilty, but I'm not going to press charges. I'm going to completely forgive you for what you did. And not only that, but I'd like you, just as you always do when you're in Lawrenceville, come on over to our house for dinner, sit down and spend the evening with us. And we'll just let bygones be bygones.
If he did that, and if I went to his house, would I ever be completely comfortable in his presence again? I know I'm forgiven, but I'd always feel like a forgiven thief. You know, my grandmother had an expression. She said I forgive and forget, but I always remember. And that's human nature. You know, God doesn't forget. That's human weakness. I forget the things I want to remember, and I remember the things I want to forget, but only a divine person can choose to forget.
And one of the things God chooses to forget are my sins when they're washed in the blood of Jesus. And because I'm brought into this perfect standing now, I'm more than just a forgiven Sinner. I can be perfectly comfortable in his presence. And brethren, I say again, we need to get ahold of this in our souls or we will never have settled peace. Like I say, John Bunyan spent his whole life fighting what he called the holy war, fighting with the old man and not realizing what God had done with it. And as we go on to these next verses, it's a tremendous thing to realize.
That not only did Christ die for me, but I died with Christ. I'm dead and risen with Christ and seen in this completely new position.
Can I give a definition in in Colossians one, we have reconciliation here as well. You get reconciled, have your sins washed away by the blood of Christ, but you're reconciled by the death of Christ, aren't you? So here in Colossians chapter one, I think this this is kind of gives a definition in verse 21 it says and you that were sometimes alienated in enemies.
In your mind by wicked works. Yet now hath He reconciled in the body of his flesh through death. To do what?
To present you wholly and unblameable and unruh provable in his sight. That's what it is to be reconciled, isn't it? That's a definition. Now if we want to go to Ephesians chapter one, we find that we stand before God, who the one that we were enemies to please have before God.
Holy and without blame before him and love. What's the value of that? That's what God has done for himself. This is what he's done for us. But there it's what God has done for his pleasure. His desire was that we would be holy and without blame before him, in love for all eternity. And reconciliation in business or politics or in the world is always on the grounds of compromise.
But we've been reconciled to God through the death of His Son on the basis of the blood of Christ. Any of us who've been in business know that you try to keep the warehouse staff happy with the office staff and the salesman happy with the customer and so on. And to do that, you usually arbitrate and sit two parties down and bring them to a common denominator. But there's usually compromise either on both parties or at least on the side of one. But God has not compromised His Holiness or His position.
To reconcile us to God, to himself. It's on the base a righteous basis, the death and the shedding of blood, the blood of his son in the illustration, Jim.
I can forgive, but I can just if I can. But it's the realization of what God has done in Christ that gives us a basis for reconciliation with God, first of all with one another.
Mutual of the light in God's presence. That's reconciliation. Mutual delight in God's presence. Not only his delight in us because of our new standing, but our delight in Him as well.
What did you say? Would you repeat that again? I have a note in my Bible, I don't remember where I got it, but it says mutual delight in God's presence. That's what reconciliation is.
Bilateral, isn't it?
Verses 12 Through 14, then, are the first band, right, the first Adam. Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. And so it rained even before the law, because we're all sinners by nature. That's the inheritance from the first man.
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Sinned in Adam if the president of the United States, this is a federal government. And if the president of the United States, if he declares war, all the states are involved in that. We, the state declares war because the president has done it. And so we become sinners because we sinned in Adam. So it's true of all that are under that head and remain righteous.
Through Christ, because he is the federal head of that race. It's the root here, not the fruit, isn't it? Yeah, it's the root.
We inherited a fallen nature from our first parents, didn't we?
And the law didn't come in until Moses, but there was sin in the world before Moses, and that's why there was death in this world, because sin brings death.
It has to do with race, doesn't it?
We sinned in Adam, so where that race, we didn't do it, he did it.
We're under that head and we're condemned. But.
Federal means it means that.
Like in the United States, there's many states, but there is a head, a federal government, and what that they do up there is true of all of us.
This has sometimes been called the much more chapter and it's beautiful to see brethren in verses 9 in verses 10 we have that expression much more and when God steps in over other than how can we limit what he does verse 15 for if through the offense of many.
The one many be dead much more. Here we have the grace of God brought in, and the gift by grace, which is by one man. Jesus Christ hath abounded into many. And then it is repeated in verse 20 again. Moreover, the law entered that the fence might abound, but where sin abounded, grace did much more about.
Oh, what a God we have.
A God of all grace. Is there anything they can call in question? I mean, when we think of the awfulness of the sin that was perpetrated against God's beloved Son and taking him outside the city of Jerusalem and nailing him to that cross, there's nothing that equals that crime in all history. God turns around now, says that's the mean by which I can extend.
Forgiveness and justification to all mankind when there is repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus. What a tremendous work when he says, when you were talking about the, the 1St 11 verses and you talked about forgiveness, but he never forgives. He doesn't forgive the nature. He condemns it. It's like a meat inspector. He goes into the, the place and he looks at these, these slabs of cows and he, he says, well, there's something there. Well, it's something this whole thing is.
Not edible. We condemn it. And that's what he's done to the old nature hadn't forgiven it, he's condemned it.
You're talking about Romans 8 verse three, brother. Yeah, yeah. Let me read it because it it's exactly what you're saying, what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh because he was holy humanity.
And for sin about the sin question, condemned sin in the flesh, if there was anything.
That was to God's approval in man in the flesh. Surely the presence of the Lord Jesus would have brought it out. And what was man's answer? Crucify him. Crucify him. God says the test is over. Man in the flesh is not forgiven. He's condemned.
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There's a.
That brings us back to what the brothers just beginning to believe. What God said about you is the truth. Instead of trying to improve that old nature, where to reckon it dead.
And so it's the only way to get if God couldn't do anything with it, if Christ couldn't do anything with it, what makes you think you can? So it's not fighting the old nature.
It's realizing that's been put away in the death of Christ and.
To reckon it that way.
That's what we'll get later, isn't it?
At the operative figure in the earlier chapters up through 511 is the Passover, isn't it? It's the blood of Christ. We're redeemed by the blood of Christ.
Now it's all one work, of course, but we're getting distinctions here. The operative figure in this second-half, starting with verse 12 of our chapter, then through verse 817 at least of chapter 8 is baptism. It's the end of what I was in the first man. And really I might just say in the Romans 8, no doubt get to it. But the 1St 3 verses of Roman 8 give a summary of the previous three chapters. Verse one actually of Romans 8 gives a summary of of chapter 512 Through 21.
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. That's the new standing belong there as we all know what we have. We were in Adam, now we're in Christ Jesus by faith in Christ. But the operative figure here of the work of Christ is baptism, and we get that in the 6th chapter. We're looked at as dead and alive through Christ.
Before we close, go ahead, Rod.
Best to him so finish your thoughts.
I missed one much more, brother, let me give it to you. Verse 17. If by one man's offense death reign by one much more. They that receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus Christ.
Doesn't get any better than that.
Perhaps we could think 27 in the back of the book.
Summarizes nicely some of what has been touched on 27 the back of the book.
Our God and our Father, we thank Thee for this portion. We thank Thee for this opportunity to be together in Thy word. We think of that verse where sin abounded, grace did super abound, much more abound. Our God and our Father. What the truth is that we know in such a small measure the awfulness of sin, that we've been justified.
We've been freed from the penalty of sin and Lord, as we look in the next chapter as to sanctification.
Being freed from the power of sin, that we might choose to live for thee because of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives. We pray for help that we might make these things real in our lives. And we thank Thee, as our dear brother mentioned, that our good God commendeth His love toward us.
In that cross we just thank you and bless you and praise you in Jesus mighty name, Amen.
A Royal Dignity
Address—Eric James
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Spell our heads must've got her. Father, we thank thee again for this privilege. We have to speak about heavenly things. Speak about that love of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Had such a great heart that it purposed in a past eternity to create a race of men, though fallen and ruined, that they would be part of God's family forever.
We thank Thee and bless Thee for such high truth. And so we pray now, as we spend a few minutes in the precious word, that we would have the needed grace to have our hearts touched, that we would go away a different way. We thank Thee for Thy love and Thy care. Pray for Thy help now in Jesus precious name, Amen.
Like to look first at some verses in Revelation?
Revelation chapter one.
I'm going to take up a subject today that's a little different, I guess, than what we've often heard, but I don't think the truth is different. But the theme perhaps is a little different. And I entitled this little talk our royal dignity. Let's look at some verses in Revelation.
Revelation chapter one.
And verse 4.
I'm sorry, verse 5.
Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness in the first begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us or loves us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Then over in the 4th chapter.
Verse 10.
The four and 20 elders fell down before it, fall down before him that sat on the throne and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns or diadems before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things.
And for thy pleasure, they are in work created and then over in the next chapter, Chapter 5.
And verse 9.
Well known verses. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof. For thou was slain, and hath redeemed to us, to God, by thy blood, out of every kindred and tongue, and people, and nation. And this made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on her over the earth. I know the translations a little different on these things.
And yet.
There is a misconception.
And I know for a long time I struggled with that misconception. Some people translate the verse in chapter one is a Kingdom of priests. But if you look at the new translation and you look at what Mr. Kelly's written, translated and written, he puts a comma after Kingdom. And he said, no, it really is kings and we are priests. As I say, this is a subject we don't hear a lot about, but we are kings.
And priests, and I want to talk about that royalty, I think I mentioned the topic of my little talk here today is our royal dignity. There's a number of principles that flow from that truth. I want to look at three main principles, 3 misconceptions in connection with those principles, and then some applications of that. But first of all, the 1St.
Misconception is just what I mentioned is that we're not really royalty, we're just a Kingdom of priests, as wonderful as that is.
But we are indeed kings. We are indeed royalty. I didn't see anything on the invitation that said.
This is a gathering of royalty, but nonetheless, that's what God says and I want to look into that subject a little this afternoon. I think I've been enjoying some things and wanted to share them with my brethren.
Reminds me of a discussion that Albert Hal had with his father some time ago and many, many years ago now. Of course they're both with the Lord, but I remember Albert speaking about it and he said, you know father, he said if I didn't have any self esteem.
I wouldn't care how I looked. I wouldn't care whether I washed my clothes or whether I cut my hair or how I looked. It wouldn't make any difference to me. And his father, he said, was taken aback some and looked at him. And he said, son, we need always to walk into being, being in the dignity of the sons of God. And I think that's a great truth. We need to always walk in the dignity that becomes the sons of God. Let me read a quotation I wrote down.
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Couple quotations that I've enjoyed recently. I happen to be reading at home. We're reading in First Kings, and I happen to be reading a little booklet that I recommend by Mr. Faraday called Solomon in His Temple, and he's got a quotation there that I've enjoyed for some time. But I read it again because it's in the beginning of that book, and he quotes, first of all, what Balaam was saying about Israel.
Jehovah, his God, is with him. Remember, Balaam spoke with no more intelligent than his donkey, as we're told.
But nonetheless, one of the things that was put into his mouth was Jehovah his God is with them, Speaking of Israel, and the shout of a king is among them. Oh, that was a wonderful commendation for Israel, wasn't it? The shout of a king is among them. But then he goes on to say, this is Mr. Faraday speaking for as surely as the people of Israel.
Were divinely intended to be the aristocracy of the earth.
Those who are now being blessed and who composed the Church are the aristocracy of the universe.
Our conduct should be consistent with their dignity. Those are telling words, aren't they?
Let's look on now. That's the first point I wanted to make was that indeed we are royalty. And you read the commentaries of Mr. Darby and Kelly on those verses and they point that out. It's not merely a Kingdom, but we are royalty. And I want to speak about that. Let's look at God's purpose.
Over in Ephesians, we'll look first in the third chapter of Ephesians.
What?
Purpose does God have for us? We sang that song about the Lord Jesus coming from a past eternity to make the heart of God Dome. What purpose does God have?
In the the incarnation and the great work that the Lord Jesus accomplished, what's that great purpose? Well, let's look at that a little bit. I think we have a purpose, present purpose.
Ephesians chapter 3 and verse nine and to make.
All, don't use that word, don't leave that word men there. It doesn't belong, because as you can see, the context is not only for men, but for all the angels and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery. This is the mystery of Christ in the Church, which from the beginning of the world hath been hidden God who created all things by Jesus Christ.
To the intent that now not future, but now.
Under the principalities and powers and heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, so at the present time God.
Once his church to display.
To be so that by the Church might be known the manifold wisdom of God. You know, some of us were talking between meetings about John Bunyan, how little truth he had compared to what we have today.
He was royalty, of course, just the same as we are, but he the truth hadn't all been recovered.
And if you read Pilgrims Progress, which is a wonderful little book, you see that he struggled during his lifetime and even at the end when he was crossing the River Jordan, so to speak, he was not sure he was going to make it to the other side. He didn't have the assurance of salvation. But we do. And all the truth, the whole council of God has been recovered.
In these last 200 years we have so much to be thankful for and I sometimes wonder, why is it that God put it in the scriptures?
Doesn't He want us to walk in the good of it and to enjoy it? We all have the same title, Mr. Bunyan included. But it's only been in these last years that this whole truth has come out in its beauty. And so the Lord wants us to walk in the good of it. Why?
As it says here to the intent that now under the principalities and powers, who are those?
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Those are the angels, aren't they? The angels are watching under the principalities and powers, and heavenly places might be known by the Church, the manifold wisdom of God. And so as we walk in the truth that's been revealed in Scripture, especially speaking about the mystery of Christ in the Church, the manifold wisdom of God is displayed for not just men.
But all the principalities and powers of the universe.
To observe what a wonderful purpose that is. Well, what about another purpose of God? Turn over to the first chapter some well known verses here.
One of the misconceptions?
Is that it doesn't make much difference how we live in this life, but it doesn't really have an impact on the future. Sometimes you hear people articulate that and they say, you know, you really doesn't make much difference how you live because when we get to heaven, we're all going to be the same. It's not true. It is true that we all have the same title, but there will be distinctions.
In heaven, based on what we've learned here on earth. So what is God preparing us for?
Well, the one thing he's preparing us for, if we look at chapter one, it's a future thing, Chapter one of Ephesians. And let's start with verse 9.
Having made known unto us the mystery of His will again these things that have been hidden, God, according to His good pleasure, which He hath purposed in Himself. So clearly God's purpose again, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times, He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are in earth, even in Him, and whom also we have obtained an inheritance.
Being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will. God is preparing us for the Millennium. We're going to speak about that a little bit more. I think from the Old Testament. We'll see some examples of how a ruler should be. Because remember, if we look in places like Luke 19, it speaks about.
Talents that have been entrusted to the servants. And then the result is those talents multiply or they don't.
And if they multiply, the result is that there are rulers over that many cities. And so we will be rulers during the Millennium. Depending on our faithfulness, There will be a distinction, as we clearly have there the Millennium. You know, a brother came to me once and he said, you know, I don't really care about prophecy. He doesn't have anything to do with me. And I said, brother.
Don't you know that that's our inheritance? We have a spiritual inheritance now. That's true. It's over our heads.
But the physical inheritance where heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, and we're going to take possession of that inheritance too, when the Lord Jesus does. For that thousand year reign of the Millennium. Are we prepared? Are we really preparing for that Millennium? Are we preparing to be good rulers for that time? Well, that's a question because we are royalty and we're training now to learn to be better at our jobs.
Let me just read a poem I read not long ago. Just a part of the poem. I know so much of scripture is prophecy, but William Cowper lived in the 18th century. He was a dear spiritual man, but he had mental struggles. As many of you would know. He was a close friend of John.
Well, the Wesley's partly too, but.
Of others as well wrote the only only only him only hymns.
With another. And he struggled all his life with depression, but he also wrote some very spiritual things. I just want to quote a little bit from a poem of his called The Winter Walk at Noon, where he's speaking about the Millennium. One song employs all nations and all cry worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for us.
The dwellers in the veils and on the rocks shout to each other, and the mountaintops from distant mountains catch the flying joy.
Till nation after nation taught the strain, Earth rolls their rapturous hosanna round. That's the Millennium. And we're going to reign with the Lord Jesus. We're going to be rulers during that period of time. Now there's another time, I believe it's a future time, but we're being prepared for. And again, there's going to be distinctions, I believe. And that's of course the eternal state. Now I know the Kingdom lasts for 1000 years.
00:15:13
We won't be rulers per SE after the Kingdom, but nonetheless, I think there will be distinctions. Now if we turn to Ephesians, were there or did the third chapter again look at verse 20?
Ephesians 3 and verse 20. Interesting verse here. Know unto him that is able to do exceedingly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in US. Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus.
Throughout all ages, world without end, or unto the ages of ages, which is a formula in Scripture for eternity. So we're being prepared for eternity as well. It's interesting if we turn to the end of Revelation, we see that dispensational distinctions by and large disappear. God is All in all. And yet here we have that, the church.
Remains a distinct entity throughout all eternity.
Where the bride of Christ for all eternity were being prepared for that time. And it does make a difference. Let's turn over to 2nd Corinthians chapter 4. I want to look at a verse there because again, there's a misconception that says what doesn't really make any difference how I live now. I'm a Christian, I'll get to heaven. When I get to heaven, we're all going to be the same.
It's not true. We are being prepared for the Millennium.
We're being prepared now to show forth the praises of the One who died for us as we just read, and we're being prepared for eternity. Look in Second Corinthians chapter 4 and verse seven. I think, Jim, you quoted a verse this morning. And pressure, thou hast enlarged me. Does God have a purpose not only for time, but for eternity? Well, what does Scripture say?
That's where we get the truth. 2nd Corinthians 4 verse 17.
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
So even the things that we're learning now worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Well, I want to go on to the third. What are the means of preparation now? What's the rule of life, we might say? Let's turn over to Galatians a well known verse, Galatians chapter 2.
How are we to prepare for the Millennium? How are we to prepare for eternity? How are we to prepare day by day that we might our conduct might be consistent with our royalty, our royal dignity?
Galatians 220 well known verse. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. There's a misconception here. We hear it on the radio all the time. We see it in Christian literature, and that is once you're saved.
The rule of life is to keep the law. They may not use that term, but what they're saying is Christianity is to make me better in this world, to make me be a better father, make me be a better son, make me have a better marriage. That's really the purpose of Christianity, is what many people would tell you.
That's not what scripture says. I think that's a great misconception. Scripture that's really just law keeping and people fail regularly because they don't have the strength to do those things to be a better Christian. But what does scripture teach? Here's the secret. Jenna Galatians 220 I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.
And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me.
And gave himself warming. It's not trying to be a better Christian that makes me a better Christian, but it's being occupied with Christ. He's given us a new position as we're going over in our readings. He's given us a new life, eternal life. He's given us the Spirit of God that indwells us. And I think this is so important because many people go to marriage counseling and things and they just are told how to be a better Christian. And, you know, it usually doesn't work.
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I understand the percentage of divorces among evangelical Christians is just as high as a percentage of divorce in the world. It doesn't work very well. Addictions are rampant among Christians. Why? Because they're hoping that they can live up to their Christian convictions, but they don't know that the secret is to walk in the presence of the Lord Jesus, to have the Lord Jesus as our object, and when we walk in communion with the Lord Jesus and we have the Lord Jesus.
Is our object then we are better Christians, we are better husbands, we are better fathers and sons and so on. And so one is a top down approach and that's what you hear most of the time in Christianity and it doesn't work very well. The other is a top down approach. Perhaps we can say if I'm walking in communion with the Lord Jesus.
If I'm reading the scriptures and finding what God's mind is and I'm praying.
In in the spirit I will be a better father, I will have a better marriage relationship and these various things that we talk about. Christianity then, is the reflex of the new nature of our new standing, of the new relationships. We have as the bride of Christ, the body of Christ being members of the House of God. We have the indwelling spirit and we have a new object.
But the secret is to walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.
I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I know that's pretty simple, but how many, how many times have we felt, well, you know, I've got extra work to do that's more important than going to meeting or, you know, I, I need a little extra sleep. You know, I'm not going to read this morning. And I know I'm not pointing fingers at anybody because I've been there, done that.
But those are the things that robbed me of what's truly vital in Christianity.
And so I make that point. What are the means of preparation for to fulfill help? Our responsibility in fulfilling God's purpose is our royal dignity. It's Christ and communion with him. Let's look quickly over to Romans chapter 8.
We'll hopefully get there, but just a little preview.
Romans chapter 8 and verse 6.
For to be carnally minded is death. It's that simple. If I'm carnally minded, it's moral death. But to be spiritually minded is life and peace. That's the secret of a consistent Christian walk. We learn that very hardly, don't we? But that's really the secret.
Of spiritual blessing.
We could turn to John 15. We don't have time, but there the Lord speaks about. He's the vine where the branches. Apart from Him we will not be fruitful. It's that simple. Let me read a quotation for Mr. Darby came across recently. He said we must look above our path to be able to walk in it.
A Jew who had the secret of Jehovah.
And who waited for the Messiah was pious and faithful according to the Law. A Jew who had only the Law assuredly did not keep it. If we're only looking for a religious system, we're not going to be able to live up to it. A Christian who has heaven before him and a Savior and glory is the object of his affections.
Will walk well upon the earth, he who has only the earthly path for his rule.
Will fail in the intelligence and motives needed to walk in it. He will become a prey to worldliness, and his Christian walk in the world will be more or less on a level with the world in which he walks the eyes upward on Jesus. Will keep the heart and the steps in a path conformable to Jesus, and which consequently will glorify him and make him known in the world.
Seeing what we are, we must have a motive above our path.
To be able to walk in it. So, so much for that misconception.
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We hear it. There's books, self help books. They're wrong. They're basically giving us as Christians the law. We're saying do this, you'll be a better have a better marriage. Well, it works for a little while maybe, but it's just a system. But the secret is.
Not I, but Christ often said that that's really the Christian motto. Not I but Christ. That's the secret of Christianity, of a fruitful life, of a happy life. We can be so thankful for it. So we looked at those 3 principles that we are kings and we are kings, we are royalty. God has a purpose both for the present, for the future, for the Millennium, for eternity. And there's means of a preparation, and that is.
To walk in communion with the Lord and those Christian disciplines that are part and parcel of that. Remember hearing chapter Brown? I never heard him personally, but on tape he said are you a regular? Do I regularly go to the meetings? Do I want to be there? That's walking in the spirit, isn't it? Or do I walk in the flesh? Do I have all these excuses? Am I regular in my disciplines? I'm not saying this is keeping the law, but I'm saying.
Christian, I won't have a happy successful life, fruitful life unless I put the Lord first. That's the path of blessing. Now I want to look at some application. It's interesting in our meeting we've been going over, here's another misconception. I want to look some applications of these things. We've been going over proverbs and many times it talks about kings and Princess and proverbs and I thought what doesn't apply to me that's.
Isn't it? That's for people who are really kings and Princess in this world. But when I thought about it some more, I realized that we are royalty. And so we can get a lot of practical applications as to how a royal should act from the Old Testament as well as from the New Testament. You know, there's a lot of commandments in the New Testament. A lot of people forget that they pull out of concordance and look, and you'll see there's a number of commandments in the New Testament.
You say, well, I thought the commandments had to do with the law, but the difference again is that if Christ is first, then there's that which comes from putting Christ first. There's behavior that results from putting Christ 1St, and that's the secret of Christianity. You notice even the way the epistles are set up, most of the epistles have doctrine in the beginning, then they have application. It's not the other way around.
That's generally what Christians do, sad to say, is they? Well, I just want a better life on earth.
But to get a better life on earth, we have to have Christ first. Well, let's go back to Proverbs. We'll start with Proverbs chapter 8.
So every principal has a practical application. Proverbs, chapter 8.
Verse 15 by May kings reign.
And Princess decree, Justice, Proverbs 815 by me, Princess, rule and nobles, even all the judges of the earth, we're going to be the judges of the earth. I realize we have the title now, but not the position yet. But in the Millennium we will have the position.
So are we training for that? It's by me that's wisdom speaking by me kings reign and prince's decree justice by me prince's rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. And why is this versus we know so well down to verse 22? The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting from the beginning.
Or ever the earth was.
When there were no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains abounding with water, before the mountains were settled before the hills, was I brought forth. While as yet He had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the earth. We know this is wisdom with a capital W. It's Speaking of none other than the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. He dwelt in a past eternity. He never had a beginning. He is the eternal God, or as it tells us.
In in Isaiah Chapter 9, the better translation is the Father of eternity. He never had a beginning. He's the eternal God. When he prepared the heavens, I was there. He's a distinct person in the Godhead. When he set a compass upon the face of the depth, when he established the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when he gave to the sea his decree that the water should not pass his commandment, when he appointed the.
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Foundations of the earth than I was by him as one brought up with him. If you notice there in the margin in the notes of the J&D translation, you'll find something interesting in that verse 30. Then I was by him as his nurse length. But the note says artisan.
His artisan and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him. He was the creator of the universe. What about this universe? Will I understand that the Milky Way in which we live, it looks like a band in the sky. It wasn't until Galileo came along and made a telescope that he realized it wasn't just a band, but actually made-up of many distinct.
Stars.
That's true, but it wasn't until about 100 years ago that men began to realize that there are far more galaxies than just the Galaxy in which we live, the Milky Way. And now people have measured and they estimate that this Galaxy is about. Numbers vary all the time, but somewhere about 180 light, 180,000 light years across.
A light year, you know, a light year is about a 100 and about 186,000 miles per second.
It's pretty quick, it'll only take you about a second and a half to get to the moon if you could travel as fast as the light so.
The the Milky Way, our Galaxy is about 180,000 light years across. As it turns out, it's not the only Galaxy in the universe. They thought that till about 100 years ago. We're speaking about creation here, the artistry of the Son of God, God the Son. And so they've studied more and more and they said, you know.
This this Galaxy probably has somewhere.
Between 2 and 3 billion stars. Not only is it just a band, not only is it a number of stars, but they estimate now that there's several billions of stars in this Galaxy alone. Beautiful and at the center as a great black hole, or so they tell us, and many, many other things that they're just discovering. And then they looked and they started to see that there's many, many other galaxies.
The estimate now is that they're estimating. And I, I appreciate the fact that the scientists, you know how scientists tend to be fairly arrogant, but they're finally starting to say the observable universe because it always grows when the technology gets better.
Doesn't really grow, although the universe is expanding and it's expanding at an increasing rate, but.
The observable universe, now they estimate there's between 1:00 and 2:00 trillion galaxies in this universe of the observable universe. And as technology gets better, it's going to increase. This is the artist, the Lord Jesus Christ was the one who created all of that and he's the one that it said in verse 31.
Of Proverbs 8 Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth, and my delights.
Were with the sons of men. This is the one who came to this world, who walked as a man for 33 1/2 years, a perfect life. And we went to Calvary's cross and paid the debt. I often say that the that the cross is the center. We sometimes sing, don't we? This cross is the center of two eternities.
Everything passed.
Previous to the cross, look forward to that time. Everything after the cross has proceeded from that time and looks back to that point. Because it's changed the face of eternity. I sometimes say that it's the greatest event and all the animals of eternity. And that's true, isn't it? This artisan became a man and yet fully God.
He came into this world.
Well, let's look over in Psalms. Keep your finger in Proverbs because I want to spend more time there, but.
13th Psalm. We see in a little sense the greatness of this person.
Tremendous universe that he created, and yet it's sometimes been said He created the universe with his fingers, but he couldn't redeem one man to heaven. Apart from the work at the cross. Tremendous, tremendous thought. We are royalty. And why is it that we're royalty? Well, let's look at that.
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Psalm 113, verse 7.
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill.
That he may set him with Princess, even the Princess of his people.
Where were we? In a dunghill?
We were poor in the dust. He raised us up to be Princess among God's people. He's raised us up to be royalty from the dunghill. Thank God for that. We don't have dunghills much anymore, but there's still some outhouses around where I live in the old, in the, in the country. And they used to have dunghills. That's where they would put the dung, Needless to say.
Can't think of a lower place than that.
But that's what he's raised us from. By his matchless grace. He's raised us up from the dunghill and set us among Princess. Let's look at some other things. I want to have a number of verses. Let's go to Proverbs 16.
These are things that characterize a Prince or royalty, and so our behavior should be consistent with those things. Proverbs chapter 16 went to a concordance and got some of these things that are so helpful. Verse 12, Proverbs 16, Verse 12. It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness.
For the throne is established by righteousness. You know, there's a a misconception going around.
Christians and even the Lord's people, they call it grace. They say, well, you know, it's OK if that young person is or that person not living a very good life. It's just race. We'll cover it with grace or immorality. That's OK. Just give him a hug. I had a letter from my brother once concerning some young people and we knew they weren't doing well at all. Oh, just give him a hug whenever they show up.
Well, what does it say here?
I lost the verse here, verse 12. It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness, for the throne is established by righteousness. That's one of the things we're learning, isn't it? We should be learning righteousness. Now we are royalty, and here's a characteristic of royalty. It's an abomination to do wickedness. Don't say it's OK.
Don't tell yourself it's OK. Immorality. That's OK. Just show grace, no.
It's an abomination to do wickedness for royalty. Let's go on. We have a number of these verses I wanted to look at. Hop over to chapter 20 in Proverbs.
20 verse 28.
Mercy and truth preserve the King, and his throne is upholding by mercy. Those two things go together. God loves to show mercy, doesn't he? But it's always in conjunction with truth.
Mercy and truth.
Preserve the king.
And His throne is upholding by mercy. We're going to act on these principles during the Millennium. And to the extent we act on them now, the principalities and powers are observing the fact that somebody that was raised from the dunghill can walk consistently in mercy and truth. Wonderful, marvelous truth, isn't it? Let's go on quickly here, Chapter 25.
Proverbs.
Chapter 25 and verse two. An interesting verse. It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honor of kings is to search out a matter.
Listening to a talk that Mister Lundeen gave some years ago and he said, you know, the Bible is mostly parables. You've got to dig into them. To get the pictures. You go to the Old Testament. Norman Berry used to often say, and I so appreciated it, Barbarian's father, that the Bible is like a textbook. The New Testament is the text, the Old Testament are the pictures that illustrate the text.
And I so appreciated that over the years, but it takes digging to get that.
And so it says here it's the glory of God to conceal a thing. The Scriptures have treasures concealed, but it takes the honor of kings is to search out of matter. You search out those things. Do I search out those things? And when you find those jewels, do we value those things? Revel in their beauty? You know, you have to dig in the earth to get jewels, and then they have to be polished up and they're beautiful.
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And that's the way it is with Scripture. Beautiful treasure box. But we have to dig to get it because God's concealed some. Some of the things are right on the surface, but much of it we have to dig for. So that's a good reason to be diligent and reading the scriptures. And in going to places where the scriptures are expounded, it's never been easier to have access.
To good commentaries and now hop on the Internet.
And you can get tremendous help from stempublishingbiblecenter.org. Bible Truth Publishers. And her brother Robert Bullard is putting on many of the books their brother Bruce has published. They're becoming available in electronic format now. We can be so thankful for that. There's never been a time in the history of mankind that the truth has been so available.
Yeah. And yet do we take advantage of it?
Chapter 31.
I love this chapter. We all love this chapter. Proverbs 31 look at verse.
First, well, we'll start with first one, the words of King Lemuel, probably a pet name for Solomon, the prophecy that his mother taught him.
Well, you young couples, do you realize that you're raising Princess with God? We trust the Lord will save them. Are you raising those children? Here's a mother raising her children, her her, her kingly son in a royal manner.
And that's our responsibility. I tell the young couples, we have six young couples in our little meeting. And I say, you know, the Lord has just lent that child to you. It's not yours to raise any way you want to, but the Lord has lent that child to you to raise for him. And we're to raise him in a princely way, Princely according to the word of God, not according to man's standard. That doesn't last, that's only seen and only temporal, but for eternity.
And so verse two, what my son, here's the mother speaking, What the son of my womb, what the son of my vows, give not thy strength unto woman, nor thy ways to that which destroyeth king. This is a young people's meeting. That's good advice, isn't it?
Flee immorality. Flee fornication, The scripture says drunkenness. That's a sad thing too. Verse.
Verse 4.
It is not for kings, O Lemuel. It is not for kings to drink wine, nor for Princess Strong drink, lest they drink and forget the law and pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted. Those are not characteristics of a royal. And we are royal in God's sight, kings and Princess, and we're going to be for all eternity as the bride of Christ.
Thank God for it. Well, we have a little bit of time. Let's skip over to a Song of Solomon.
Few pages forward.
Sonu Solomon, Chapter One.
What is the basis of our royal dignity? Song of Solomon, Chapter one, verse 4. Draw me. We will run after thee. That's companionship, isn't it? One person makes a decision, others follow. We have to be careful of our companions. Draw me, we will run after thee. The king hath brought me into his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in thee. We we will remember thy love more than wine.
The upright love thee. So we have there the truth that our relationship with the King is the basis of our dignity. Look down a few more verses down to verse 12.
While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof. Reminds us of Mary of Bethany, doesn't it? She didn't say anything. In fact, I just noticed. I hadn't noticed it before, but if we read in the book of Mark, that time when Mary anointed the Lord Jesus just before his death, it says they murmured at him. But you know the new translation. I never noticed it before.
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But the new translation says the disciples, the apostles. Really.
Were very angry with Mary. Isn't that interesting? They didn't like what she did. Anointing the Lord, giving him that preeminent place. Should have just sold it and given it to the poor. Isn't that much better? Look at that. They were very angry, but the Lord delights.
In worshippers, we have that in John four, don't we? The Father seek us such to worship Him. Well, let's go on to Chapter 7 of Song of Solomon.
And we're covering a lot of verses, but you could look these up yourself and many more.
Chapter 7. Chapter Verse one. How beautiful are the feet, thy feet, which with shoes, O Prince's daughter, this is a bride speaking to the bridegroom. The joints of thy thighs are like jewels. The work of thy hands are a cunning Workman. Notice the new translation there. The same word, or close to the same word, the work of the hands.
Of an artist.
Mr. Darby has a reference to that verse we read in Proverbs chapter 8. But this is a different thought, isn't it? Not an artist in respect to creation, but an artist in respect to our walk through this world. How beautiful are thy feet with shoes? The Lord appreciates a walk that honors Him. He's the artist.
That forms that walk. O Prince's daughter, the joints of thy thighs are like jewels.
The work of the hands of an artist.
The Lord Jesus Christ, what an honor to Him when we put him first. Let's look over to Ecclesiastes back a couple pages.
Mr. JB Dunlop, I never knew him, of course, but he was a laboring brother. Actually. He was first of all an officer in the Royal Army. He was stationed over here. He was a captain in the Royal Army.
He was stationed over in Canada and he had been converted at some point, and he was on fire for the Lord. Turns out that at some point he and one of his fellow officers by the name of.
Cecil Adelbert Cecil sometimes called Lord Cecil. They were both army officers together and stationed there in Canada, and they were both on fire for the Lord, and they gave up their commissions, began to preach the gospel, and later on they said they came into the truth.
That had been recovered and they said it was like AI forget the exact term they used. It was like a like a new salvation, a new revelation. And they reveled in that truth and they were gathered to the Lords name and preached among the Lord's people for many years. And so at Mr. Dunlap's funeral this verse was read. I never thought of it in connection.
This connection before, but it struck me since Ecclesiastes chapter 10.
And verse 7.
Solomon speaking. I have seen servants upon horses and then this part, and Princess walking as servants upon the earth. Princess walking as servants upon the earth. Isn't that a wonderful commendation?
Mr. Dunlop was respected in that way. And it is funeral. They read that verse that he was as a Prince walking as a servant.
Upon the earth, That's what the Lord would desire for us to be Princess walking as servants upon the earth. Let's look a little further down in that same chapter, verse 16. Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, thy Princess eat in the morning. We don't want to be that kind of a Prince, do we?
We get to the Millennium, are we going to be a like a child because we weren't diligent in school?
In the school of God that we're in right now, Woe unto thee, O land, when thy king is a child.
And thy Princess eat in the morning. Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles. And thy Princess eat. And due season for strength and not for drunkenness. So may the Lord grant that we would have the desire to not be children when we get to the Millennium, not be that kind of a Prince, but rather one who has prepared well.
00:50:08
Taken our duties and privileges seriously.
So that the Lord would have the honor. That's the fruitful life, That's the happy life. There's no other.
Well.
We're about running out of time here. I wanted to just reference Jotham's Riddle and we don't have time. I didn't plan to turn to it, but I wanted to mention it if we had time. Back in Judges Chapter 9, you remember they were looking for somebody to reign over them. And first they said to the olive tree, why don't you rule over us? And he said, why should I leave my fatness and rule over men? The olive tree is a picture. We know olive oil comes from the olive.
It's a picture of being guided, directed by the Spirit of God. Well, that's a good characteristic for a ruler, isn't it? And then he said, well, no. But then the next one, they went to the fig tree. So well, why don't you become our ruler? He said, well, why should I leave my fruitfulness? Pig is a picture of being fruitful. The Lord wants us to be a fruitful ruler, but the fig tree said no.
No, I don't want to leave my fruitfulness.
And so they went to the vine, the vineyard. So why don't you reign over us? No, no, I I'm I'm happy with the wine that cheareth God and men is is a reference there in those verses. And wine is a picture of joy. And so these are royal characteristics to be led by the spirit of God to be fruitful, spiritually fruitful.
And that's the secret of true joy. So then what do they resolve on? They resolve on a Bramble. A Bramble as a result of the curve.
A Bramble has no fruit, and the Bramble what became their ruler. Let's not be brambles, let's be one of these other rulers and enjoy the truth that God has for us. One more verse, Ephesians chapter 2 again.
You know we read about.
We read about the artist enrollment and Proverbs chapter 8, The one who created this vast universe. Read about the artist. A similar word apparently in Song of Solomon, directing the path of the believer, the Princess daughter. Here's another artist in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 7.
That in the ages to come this is eternity. Now he that is God might show the exceeding riches of his grace, and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained.
That we should walk in them now this is speaking about.
Christians collectively, for we are his workmanship. That word workmanship, I'm told, is the Greek word poema. I believe that's the keyword in the book of Ephesians poema. It's the word that our it's the Greek word that our word poem comes from. We are his own.
That a beautiful thought collectively. Some people don't think much about the collective aspects of the truth, but it's the highest. And what was it Mr. Hale used to say? It's a mountain peak, a blessing beyond which God himself could not go. We are his masterpiece that's been translated. We are his poema, his poem.
Created in Christ Jesus and the good works which God hath before ordained.
That we should walk in them beautiful. And so our royal dignity. May God grant that we walk in that. Let me just read one more quotation in clothing.
I don't know where this came from, Mr. Bell. It quoted it in his little book on Psalms, and I don't know where he got it, but he put it in quotation marks. But I've appreciated it over the years and jotted it down in the back of my Bible. Here's what he says. He says every Christian is treading the ascent of wisdom and goodness, and an era in his course shall arrive.
When supernal beings, ancient proficients, and virtue shall count him.
00:55:02
Their worthy companion and delight in his commerce. We're soon going to be in his presence, and among all those other worthies. Every Christian is treading the ascent of wisdom and goodness, and an era in his course shall arrive, when supernal beings, ancient proficiency and virtue, the Daniels, the Abrahams, the.
Marian martyrs, so many others. Luther Swingley shall count him their worthy companion.
And delight in his converse. Let's pray.
Blessed God our Father, and we thank Thee for such dignity that thou hast brought us into because of thy love in that past eternity, that love between the persons of the Godhead, that is desire that we would be part of thy family, an intimate part, members of thy family. Blessed God our Father, filled with thy spirit.
The bridegroom of thy beloved Son, so many more blessings that we've been entrusted with. We thank thee and blessing. We pray for grace now that we would walk worthy of that calling or what we've been called. We pray these things now. We give thee thanks and Jesus precious name, Amen.
Romans 6
The Son of God Is Come
Gospel—Steve Hallowell
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Well, welcome to the Gospel meeting and thank you for giving me a little your time.
Maybe we could start by singing number six on our hymn sheets.
And I'll get somebody to start that for me. I'm not too good in that department.
Well, maybe we could ask for God's help.
Our God and Father.
You don't know the hearts of each person here.
And.
You know, the weakness of the one trying to tell them of Jesus.
00:05:05
We pray for help, we pray for blessing, and we give thanks that we have such a wonderful thing to speak about, even if we can't do it very well.
Blessedly for it in Jesus name, Amen.
Well, I'll look around on this room.
And I think how?
Well, I'm not going to be too good. I'm not a preacher, I'm a janitor. And.
Yet I know Jesus.
And I'd like to tell you about him.
I can't tell you something different than you've already heard.
I I look at the faces of people who have probably sat.
In.
Perhaps even thousands of gospel meetings.
But I know.
From painful experience.
But not everybody who comes to these conferences and sits in these meetings puts their trust in Jesus.
I can't go back 20 years, but I can talk to you, so I'm going to do that tonight.
You'll have to pardon me, I'm a bit of a scatterbrain and I've had three weeks to think about things and and.
I've got some notes and they're all scribbled all over the place and and they're kind of.
So if I fumble around.
Forgive me, I don't know, I'm not used to doing this anymore. New are.
So you know what I'm going to talk about tonight, though, is this. There's a verse in Don's pistol. He says we know that the Son of God has come.
If I could say that's the second most important historical event.
It's ever happened in this world.
I'll get to the most important one afterwards, but I want to say that.
That there's a We live in a world.
That was created by God every day we breathe His air.
Every day we feel his sunshine.
There's not one of us here that chose to be born.
There's not one of us here that doesn't experience God's hand in 1000 ways every day.
Yeah, there's people in this world and maybe it's you that says.
Well, I think all this just happened.
There's people that say if there's a God, why doesn't he show up?
Well, I want to tell you. That's why I want to talk tonight about we know the Son of God has come.
He has showed up. How could you ask for more and I would like to.
Trace a little bit of what we're told. You know, in this book we have 3 eyewitness accounts of the Lord Jesus life and then we have another account. It's the book of Luke. It's the work of a historian who went and interviewed people who knew.
People who had seen the Lord Jesus Christ.
And wrote down with a certainty.
What he'd found out.
And.
What he found out what these people tell us.
It's wonderful. It may have been 2000 years ago and you say why isn't Jesus here now? Well, I'll tell you why he isn't here because we crucified him.
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But, you know, I want to trace a little bit of, well, the gospel story in the life of Jesus, but.
First, I'd like to start out with turning to Romans chapter one.
You know, usually when I share the gospel, I well, I often go to the jail and I don't like to talk to people about the gospel without the.
Without talking to them, letting trying to find out what they think a little bit and what they've been through.
I'd like to know where they're coming from and I can't do that with you tonight.
I'm up here and you're done. You're sitting in those seats and I just can't go to everybody and sit down. But you know what? I can still share the story because the gospel really isn't about you and me. It's about him.
And so I'd like to read just the 1St 4 verses of this Romans chapter one Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated under the Gospel of God.
Which he had promised before by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning. And these are the verses that I'm thinking of. Pardon me.
Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
You know.
We were speaking about this being God's world.
And, you know, Eric was speaking earlier today about the stars and.
How many light years across the Milky Way was?
And you know, maybe some here have bigger minds than I have. I think about a light year. The nearest star is 4 light years from here.
And if we were to get in a rocket ship and we were going about 20,000 miles an hour, which is what they generally do, some of them might have got a little faster than that now, but.
Have you ever thought about how long it would take to get to the nearest star?
Well, I'll tell you it'll take about 137,000 years.
That's just the nearest start here, except for the sun. And here we're talking about a God who created.
Billions. And not just billions of stars, but billions of galaxies.
There's a picture and you probably many of you have probably seen it. It's called the blue dot.
The spaceship Voyager was was.
Going out, it was getting to the edge of the solar system and and they had it turn around this camera around and look back at the Earth and take a picture.
Is a. If you haven't seen it, I recommend you do. You'll you'll realize a little bit about how little we really are.
It's just a little speck. It's in a big band of sunlight.
And you think that's this great big world is that?
So how big are 7 billion people, after all?
You know, and then I'm just one and you're just one.
You know, that is incredible.
To me but.
That spaceship is not very far out there.
Um.
We have a God who not only made all that, but He knows. He knows every atom that exists in that universe. He knows every *, and he calls each one by its name.
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He has all power.
He has infinite wisdom.
He dwells in a outside of time.
Do I understand anything I'm telling you?
Don't look at me.
I don't how are we going to know a God like that.
He came here. God was manifest in flesh.
What a.
You know, that's why when I I thought about even this subject.
I just want to tell you if I stumble and bumble around, it's way too big for me.
But you know, we find.
And I I know that it just spent everybody here could probably preach better gospel meeting than I can, but.
Think of the Lord Jesus the first time we find anything about them.
Is the eternal God come in flesh and he's 12 years old.
Is subject to his parents.
Ah.
Just an amazing thing, an amazing start, but I would like to just think about as he goes through his life, you know, it says here.
It says he was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. In other words, he was the answer to prophecies.
He wasn't. He didn't just show up and say I'm the Son of God.
All through the Old Testament there was many, many prophecies, in fact.
Those who have looked into it say there there are over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament that were fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ when he was here that first time. And just by so you understand how amazing.
That is.
If one person fulfilled just 8 prophecies made out of them made about them.
There would be one chance in.
100 quintillion of that happening, which is a one with 17 zeros behind it.
Don't ask me the figure for 300 because I don't know it.
You know, so the Lord Jesus, it says he came.
John 10. I'm not quite sure I remember the wording.
He says.
He that entereth in by the doors, the shepherd of the sheep, you know the Lord Jesus came by the door. It was by the way that God had said he was going to come.
And so, you know, it would be anybody could show up. I could say, you know, I'm the Son of God, but I have nothing to back it up. Nothing.
But Jesus, it says he was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.
First of all, he was really a man, and yet he was the answer to all the prophecies.
When we could turn to Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 and we could find out how he was going to die, we could turn to Micah 52 and we could find out where he was going to be born. We could turn to Isaiah and we could find out that he was going to heal the lame and the blind.
You know, there's many things that we could look at.
If you want to substantiate what I'm saying.
I'm not going to go into it because there's not near enough time.
But the next thing it says he was declared to be the Son of God with power.
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You know, when at the conference in Walla Walla a bit ago, we, we had the privilege of having Michael Bryan.
There, and you see him.
In a wheelchair there and you can't really move anything.
You know, supposing somebody could come up to Mike O'Brien and they said take up your wheelchair and walk. And he got up and he walked and he carried his wheelchair.
Wouldn't you say, Bob?
That is impressive.
That would be impressive.
Supposing that you were out in a on a Big Lake and a big storm and the wind was blowing and the and the waves were just coming over the side of your boat.
And there was somebody in that boat that stood up and said peace be still. And the wind stopped and the water stopped.
And.
Whoa.
Who's that guy?
You know, supposing that you we had a crowd that was over 10 times the size of the people here.
And they all had nothing to eat.
And a boy came along and he had a lunch.
Two rolls and five sardines.
He hands it to Jesus.
And he feeds everybody, and there's more leftover than what he started with.
Said, well, that is not the average man, is it?
No, it's not. That's the Son of God.
He was declared to be the Son of God with power.
You say?
The next thing it says is according to the spirit of holiness and.
Who want you to think with me about the character of the Lord Jesus Christ?
We talked mentioned as a 12 year old boy. He was obedient to his parents though he was the Son of God.
Though he had the ability to talk with the smartest and wisest men of his time, and they marveled at him.
But it wasn't a show off.
He.
We look at.
Incidents in his life.
Where they tried to trip him up and the wisdom that he spoke with. We look at the temptations in the wilderness. 40 days, nothing to eat, nobody around.
Tempted the whole time by the cleverest being in the universe except for God himself.
And you know.
There is not one sin, you know, it says of him.
Those who knew him.
Peter says he did know sin.
Paul says he knew no sin.
Says in him was no sin.
You know, we we pat ourselves on the back sometimes when we face temptation and we want so badly to do something that we know is wrong and we say no.
Jesus faced everything we do, but there was never something inside of him that said, oh I wish I could do that. Nothing to put down.
He was that holy thing that shall be born of thee.
Nobody else I know has ever been like that.
Think of it in the garden.
Asked by God.
To take the penalty for what we have done, what everybody else had done and he'd never done it.
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Don't think it didn't cost them. I want to talk more about that later.
It he didn't did it.
You know how much I like getting accused something for that. I didn't do that, somebody else did.
I don't know anybody like that.
Nobody but one.
The one I found in my Bible.
The Son of God. He was declared to be the Son of God according to the spirit of holiness.
By the resurrection from the dead.
Every writer of the gospels mentions somebody who he raised from the dead. 4 witnesses says in the mouth of two or three witnesses, let every word be established. God's given you for.
Will you accept them?
Think of it I I've know a lot of people who I have been to conferences with and I have heard them at other times. I love them. I knew them, and they aren't here now.
Some of them were.
Excellent speakers. Some of them were brilliant men, some of them were big and strong.
And everyone lost the battle to death.
And yet here is a a man that.
Could raise the dead, and more than that, he himself.
Rose from the dead.
You know, there's no I remember my nephew was killed in a motorcycle accident.
About 22 years ago.
I haven't seen them since.
He.
There's I could say that about so many people.
Death has won. And 1:00 and 1:00. But here's somebody.
That's bigger than death.
This is the Son of God.
You want to know he claimed to be the Son of God, He said before Abraham was. I am.
Now doesn't that does that mean anything to you that the Son of God has come? We live in a world without hope.
We live in a world without meaning, without purpose, because we've abandoned the thought of God.
That's why there's so many people committing suicide, because there's no purpose in living.
But here we have.
Something to give us hope. The Son of God, the creator of this entire universe, has come to this little pale blue dot.
Why did he come?
Well, if we turn to.
I want to turn to two verses for why he came. First Timothy 1:15.
And you can read it for yourself and you open your Bibles, soak it in.
Just the last part. Well, it's No, it's not. I'll read the whole verse. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that for everybody to accept it that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. If I have intellectually convinced you that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, that's not a bad thing.
00:30:01
But I want to tell you, you will never know him except you come as a Sinner.
Nobody ever knew Jesus who wasn't willing.
To be honest about what they were.
You know, I'm afraid that there's many people who have grown up in Christian homes who would sit in a gospel meeting like this and say, yeah, yeah, I I agree.
And then somebody cleverer than them came along, and then they didn't agree because they had never known Jesus.
As a Sinner needing Savior.
I want to warn you about that.
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
Another verse. We read it today in Romans chapter 5.
And verse 8.
God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners.
Christ died for us.
You know, so we have two things, that Christ came here to save sinners, and that God loved you enough to send him.
I I want to.
I haven't said enough about one thing, and that is his. Like it says here, Christ died for us.
You know it as well as I do.
You've heard a lot of times about the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know they took him.
They slapped him, they spat on him, they punched him in the face. They whipped him.
They made fun of him. They nailed him to a cross.
And yet none of that puts your sins away.
Why did that happen?
Well, I'll tell you one reason it happened.
God wanted you to know.
That no matter how bad you are and you'll never be able to be as bad as those people because God hasn't given you the opportunity.
Jesus still loves you.
It was right at that time that he bore the sins many.
Mine and those people there, you know, when Jesus rose from the dead, he said, you go preach the gospel everywhere, but you start right here where they crucified me.
Wow.
He still loved them after all that.
Yes, he did.
And don't think that if you reject Jesus that he didn't love you.
You know, there was a young man that came to Jesus and he, he wanted to know what he could do to have eternal life. He'd done a lot of things, but he didn't do enough.
And when Jesus talked to him, instead of bowing and admitting his sin, he walked away. Very sad, but it says about him. Jesus, beholding him, loved him. You find the Lord Jesus weeping over Jerusalem and saying, oh, if you only know, missed your day.
Don't think if you go to hell it's because Jesus didn't love you.
God loves you too. God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son.
That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
But I want to focus in what time we have.
On two things about the death of the Lord Jesus like to turn to the Gospel of Matthew.
00:35:23
Matthews Gospel.
The garden scene in Chapter 26.
Matthew 26 and verse.
36.
Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here will I go and pray Yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful, and very heavier, very depressed.
Then saith the Unto him them my soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. Tarry here, and watch with me. Then he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, Oh my father, if it be possible.
Let this cup pass from me, nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt.
And he cometh to the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What could he not watch with me one hour?
Now I want to look back at verse 39.
Pardon me.
He went a little further and fell on his face and prayed, saying, Oh my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.
Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. Does that take an hour to pray?
I want you to think with me. I may be using my imagination, I don't know, but it does say, couldn't you watch with me one hour.
What if it took an hour between Oh my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.
What if it took an hour to say? Nevertheless, not as I will, but as I will, What would that mean to you?
What would it mean to you?
If it took him an hour.
To get out those words you don't realize. We don't realize how vital this scene was if Jesus had not been willing.
It would have been totally wrong for God to put your sins on Him, says He himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, but if he hadn't been willing.
Could God have done that? That question was in the balance here, and Jesus faced it.
But it was number light matter.
If it took an hour and you know the next.
Prayer tells us in Luke it says he went away as it gets second time and he prayed even more earnestly.
And his sweat was it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Why? Because this time he didn't pray.
If it be possible that this cup pass from me, he prayed, Oh my father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.
Do I know? Do I know what I'm talking about when I read that? No, I don't have any idea whatsoever.
I only see what you see.
What does it mean to you?
It wasn't a small matter.
I'd like to turn to one more scene.
Matthew.
Chapter 27.
Then verse 45.
Now from the 6th hour there was darkness over all the land unto the 9th hour and about the 9th hour Jesus cried with a loud voice saying Eli Eli Lamisa back then I that is to say, my God, my God.
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Why hast thou forsaken me?
This was the time when he bore our sins in his own body on the tree.
Thank God he bore mine. But.
You know, I remember talking to a man and he told me, oh, you, anybody can do anything for three hours.
You know, there's a verse in Peter and says the day is with the Lord's 1000 years and 1000 years is one day. And we often read that verse and we talk about the Lord's coming perhaps in two days. What about the other half?
1000 years is one day really. It means time is nothing to God.
So we don't have any way of measuring what went on in those three hours. It was 3 hours to us.
What was it to him?
We don't know. We don't have a yardstick.
But I'll tell you what, if every person in this world went to hell for an eternity and bore all the judgment that we're capable of bearing, it would never finish. Hang for our sins.
Jesus got done and he said it is finished.
So we don't even have a yardstick.
To measure what Jesus went through.
We just don't know.
But we do have.
Sometimes, you know, they have little angle signs greater than and less than and you can put Jesus sufferings here and you can put some people say, well how could a God of love send anybody to hell?
The God of love sent his Son, and that was greater than the whole rest.
And that's the reason.
That I am going to be saved and that a lot of other people are going to be saved is because Jesus died for us. We own them as Lord and put our trust in Him. What are you going to do with what He did?
You know, there was people when he was crucified that slapped him in the face. And you might say, well, I'll never do that.
What are you doing?
When somebody, perhaps you've tried to give somebody a present, you've gone to so much work and effort and you give it to them and they treat it like it was nothing.
How do you feel?
You don't think Jesus has feelings?
What are you going to do with Jesus? You know he's coming back.
And each and every person is going to have to face.
Him at explain what they did.
I hope.
I hope for your sake, and I hope for his sake because he loves you.
That you can.
Bow to him now. Accept them as your Lord, your Savior. Instead of singing a hymn, I want to read a hymn that I heard lately, and then we'll close.
Goes like this. Speaking of Mary, the wonder of wonders as she looked on his face that this little boy spoke. The worlds in their place, the stars and the moon shining brightly on them, the earth and the sun were created.
By him the wonder of wonders, as she heard his small cry, that this voice had thundered on Mount Sinai.
The hand that she held so tenderly had made a dry path through the mighty Red Sea.
The wonder of wonders as she looked down and smiled that he was her Maker as well as her child. He created the womb that had given him birth. He was God Incarnate, come down to the earth.
The wonder of wonders as a father looked on an eternity past. This was his Son had sent him to die on Calvary's tree. And that is the wonder of wonders to me. And then the chorus, the wonder of wonders of How could it be that God became flesh and was given for me? The Almighty came down and walked among men.
00:45:24
The wonder of wonders, He died for my sin.
A second.
Lord Jesus.
We would just like to give thanks for your coming here and for that ultimate wonder.
That you died for our sin.
We pray, Lord Jesus, that no one here.
Would turn their back on what was done for them.
We ask for a blessing for each one. My precious name. Amen.
Lessons from Luke 24
Talk—Peter Eun
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Our God and our Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, we just do thank thee for all my goodness to us and for all that they've provided for us today, the food and we just at the end of the day here. Thank you for these kids, the the songs, the hymns that they sang to just warm our hearts and to even the ones that they call to give us comfort and to give me peace. Just pray that this message would be one that would be.
Of your mind and your will that would touch the hearts of those here.
That would they were going away encouraged so just pray all these things in my name, Lord Jesus Amen.
So I do appreciate the whoever gave out that last time. I think actually all the hymns as I was listening, I didn't know that last one, but I thought you guys singing in harmony, I just closed my eyes and I appreciated that you guys were able to actually listen. I guess you guys were listening to each other and harmonizing or whatever you were doing, but it sounded great and that doesn't always happen in all the assemblies.
That I've been to some you know as we get older we get a little tone deaf but it was it's nice because in heaven it's just gonna it's not gonna matter it's gonna be the fact that Jesus his name is worthy you be praised right the Lamb of God and what I want to do tonight is speak about Christ obviously because a lot of the hymns.
Well, actually, let me go back a little bit. As I was walking in here, somebody asked me, well, Uncle Peter, are you going to be speaking tonight? That's like, yes. And it's like, are you going to be maybe speaking about dating?
And I was like, well, if you want me to, I could, But but it did remind me it's sort of and I, I've been thought as I was thinking the past two weeks about what I was going to speak on. I know that is something on all your hearts. You guys come here. It is something it's a reality, right? And I want to be real with you guys. You know, I think it's nice when the when the reading meetings and the addresses that we'd be real, right?
But what God wants our hearts and He wants our hearts to be real. And so that's sort of what I want to talk about tonight.
And I'm not going to read the entire chapter because Luke 24 is pretty long, so I'm just going to hit some of the highlights. But many of you guys probably are somewhat familiar with Luke 24, right? It's the last chapter after the Lord has died. But then what he has, and we talked about this today, He is.
Risen, right, and I want actually some participation in this because it's been a long day and I know it's going to be maybe a little bit challenging. You guys, I don't know if you're tired. I you know, I'm a little tired and there's a lot of things that I'm having to absorb so I can get some of your participation. It would be great. OK, so I'm going to ask you some questions and I actually do want a response because I think that's The thing is that we take in so much food, but it's a matter of walking in these things, right? That's important. It's how to exercise these things in life.
As you walk through life and you see to succeed or whether you fail, you're going to learn either way and so.
In Luke chapter 24, we have the resurrection of Christ. And what's one of the first things I'll read this first verse Now on the first day of the week, early, very early in the morning, they came unto the bringing the spices, we said prepared and certain others with them who went to the subcar, who was early, who was there early in the morning?
Anyone.
Mary, Mary, there was couple. Mary's right? Yeah, it was the sisters, which I thought was very interesting and nothing against the brothers. Obviously the brothers have farts, but where were the, where were the brothers? Where were the apostles and the disciples? They were back, you know, they were sort of a little discouraged because they thought that their Messiah was crucified and everything. They were really confused. But where were the sisters? The sisters had the heart and they went to the tomb not knowing that he had risen.
But they just wanted to be with Christ and that's what I wanted to speak about is the heart. That's one of the first points is just the heart. Where is your heart? You know when you come to conferences, you know it's great. We see a lot of family friends. You know we are as those that are saved. We're believers and it's great to be with each other. But our primary purpose really here is to be is to praise Christ and to be with Christ and to learn more of Christ right. Where is our hearts. I hope that your hearts are here because Christ you want to know more of Christ. But then.
Also maybe to minister and do the things of Christ, right? We have that in the messages today. I was really encouraged because even in my own walk, it is sometimes challenging to know what God's speaking to you. But as we are in prayer, He does speak to you and it's a reality. Most of my young, you know, when I was younger, it was really challenging. It's like, how do you know?
What God is, what's God saying to you? It's like, you know, sometimes you're do you have little voices in your head? And I don't know if that's something that you guys have challenges. But what I mean, what are some of the ways that God speaks to you? I guess you guys are probably a lot more smarter than I am when I was younger in in ministry, but in the word. So what are some ways that God would speak to you? Anyone. And I'm going to give liberty to the sisters to speak to.
00:05:15
Work through his work. Absolutely that's one because it's got to be consistent with this word, right? Because if you hear something and if somebody says something, they say they're a Christian and they say give you advice and it's not according to the your the word, then you know that it's not a price, right? But even when you're having to do something, I you know, you're maybe it's whatever decision that you have to make. And let's say, I mean dating, OK, the person that you're going to be dating.
How do you know you know that's the right person? Is it the the warm fuzzy feeling in your heart, you know, or what's what is the attraction that you know it is for the other person? Well, I would say if you want to go according to the will of God, look into the Scriptures and see what type of person that you should be looking for as far as his spouse. But the other thing though, is that look to your brethren. I mean, you know, you're the sisters and the brothers, they will give you advice as to especially in their home assemblies.
You know what type of person is? This is person. You know, a person who desires to follow God. OK, so if you want someone, you know, who is living for Christ and you want to live for Christ, and you want someone to be a perfect spouse for you, look to the Lord. But also realize that the answers are going to be in the scripture system, the type of person. So what's another way that the Lord would have you, you know, talk to you?
I'm sorry, speeding the speeding ticket OK, speeding ticket circumstance. Okay, so we do have the Lord actually is very interesting is so thank you for that because even in here I was, I felt a little more at peace because the first hand that was given out today during the per meeting is exactly the the hymn that I wanted to end up on with today. And it talks about the heart, you know, as far as with our hearts.
Divided, you know, because there is a lot, you know, as we talked about, there are things that would attract this. The three enemies that we have. What are the three enemies that we have?
Thank you so much. I'm glad. So yes, the world, the flesh and the devil. OK, so and so this gets to my second point. As far as you know, the disciples and the apostles, they were sitting there and why did they, why were they discouraged? Because they didn't remember the words that the Lord spoke, OK. And so they were reminded that the sisters that went to the tomb, it says in verse six, remember how he spake unto us when we were yet in Galilee.
And then in verse 8 and they remember his word. So remember after conference, you know, are there things that you're going to remember today? You know, during the reading meetings, during the addresses, I would, I hope that you're taking notes. I'm taking a lot of notes and go back and think about these things because that's the other thing that happened is in the story on the two going to Emmaus.
It said, and it came to pass, that while they commune together and reasoned.
And I mean, Luke 24 reasoned, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. So I hope, you know, as you guys are commuting to get as you guys are talking to each other, I'm hoping that you're probably talking to you about some of the things that have been brought up in the meetings. You know, the Lord will draw an ear to you and he'll give you answers. But you got to be, you know, what are you talking about with your friends? What are you, you know, feeding on? We talked about these things. You know, there's there's some questions I have.
Regards to what we're spoken today, there's a lot of material there right and so we need to medicate up on these things, but talk to each other about them and as you talk to each other, the Lord will open your eyes to these things. I I am so blessed to have a wife that just desires to you know, to learn more as well because when you know we were talking about this, she gave me some ideas and some verses and things that and so it's good that you guys are here together to talk to each other. But if you're here only talking about.
About worldly things when you go away at the end of the conference and you feel like you're you didn't gain anything. Well, that might be do the fact of what you're feeding upon. So I would encourage you to remember what he said and to, you know, be thinking and talking about Christ. Now do you have to do that 24/7? Obviously, I'm not saying that I mean there are things that you know you want to catch up with and all of those things. This relationship building right, But definitely, you know, the the Lord, he's the object that he should be the object of our hearts.
And he wants your heart, right? Because as they're talking about him, he comes and he, he's there with them. Now, does he reveal himself right away to them? Not really. He's sitting there and he's sort of actually in a way, testing. And they thought he was a prophet. They did not know exactly who he was. They didn't realize who he was. So I hope that there we just have the gospel. I hope that there's nobody here that doesn't realize who Jesus really is.
00:10:22
And he's not just a man, a prophet that's in many, you know, Christian denominations or some false ones, they think that he was, you know, they have some really wrong ideas of who Christ is. But know who Christ is. He wasn't just a prophet, OK? He was the Son of God that came down and died. And so we have that realizing, making sure you get that, getting that right. But what he did was he also explained the Scriptures to them. And as he explained the Scriptures.
They have fellowship with them and in the breaking of bread that means feeding upon Christ. Their eyes were opened right and they knew it was and so there is that benefit. So remember what he said first of all, are you know the heart and then remembering what he said and then in the end, when it comes down to its worship. Once your eyes are I mean their hearts were burning within. You know it says in verse 32 and they said one to another. Did not our heart burn within us.
Is your heart burning within? I mean the things that I mean, the hymns that we just sung, these things point us to Christ, our hearts, the things that were spoken today, you know?
And so many of those, it's Christ is the object. He is, he should be the desire of our heart. And if he is, then what happens? What happens when he is the object of your heart and your desire? Everything else falls in place, right? Because everything else then he tells you, he guides you through all those decisions that you have to make, whether it's a mate or whether it's school, whether it's a job. And you guys are at that age, you're going to be making some major life decisions.
If you make those right decisions and and maybe challenging.
Because what did the disciples and the apostles do? They had selective hearing. OK, so some of the things that were talked about today, did you, did you agree with everything you know, is I mean, the things that is our flesh, you know, is our old man gone?
Do you reckon it dead? You know, do we the old nature? We have the old nature in this, but we also have a new nature. Do you believe it? Do you believe inside yourselves, if you are saved, that you have a new nature that cannot sin?
Then walk in it. I mean, there are some powerful things here today that if you believe it and you walk in it, then you know you're going to leave a fruitful Christian life. And so walking in the Spirit, having communion with the Lord. But you got to realize it's not selective here. And because all of them, all the disciples wanted to do was they were looking for the Lord to bring in the Kingdom. So they just had selective hearing. They didn't hear all the other things. So some of the other selective things that we sometimes don't realize is that in this world.
Walking it for those who follow Christ, it's not an easy it's not going to be an easy life right. Has anyone given the gospel to someone and or stood up and stated with regards to the scriptures and then laughed at or persecuted thought it was ridiculous. It's just a fable talks about here. Even the apostles and the disciples said to the sisters, it sounds like an idol fable.
Have you gotten that? So realize that that is a part of Christianity, if you're truly standing for Christ, that the world will not.
And you know they will be against you. Satan is the devil, will always be fighting against and trying to take away your joy. But we can have the victory, right? If you walk in these things, then we can have the victory. So Mark, I think that clock.
Set.
807 So three points. Sorry, I tried to make this just a quick summary. Then what was the first point? The Lord wants your heart. He wants your heart, right? Where is the desire of your heart? OK, the second point, remember these things, OK? Sometimes we forget, you know, like I said, I hope you take notes and you're meditating on these. But sometimes we do tend to forget when you need to be reminded, you know? So all these things that were there that they're going, fortunately.
We have the recordings and you can go back. And then the third thing, what should we do? We should all these things lead to?
Sorry, louder, it's OK Worship, yes, worship and praise, right? And so I hope that, you know, these things will definitely, we need to be able to walk in these things. And, and so I did want to close with that him #33 I think if you still have your books.
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Because really, that is, he should be our objects.
Romans 7
Reading
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Gracious Father, help us as we open up again to the book of Romans, that it would be understandable.
And applicable practically to our lives, to we.
Commend ourselves to Thee. We give thanks, Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus, Amen.
Romans, Chapter 7.
Romans Chapter 7 and verse one.
Know ye not, brethren, for I speak to them that know the law, how? That the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth. For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband, so long as he liveth. But if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then, if while her husband liveth should be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she is free from that law.
So that she has no adulteress though she be married to another man.
Wherefore, my brethren, he also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held, that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid? Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law. For I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, rotten me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead. For I was alive without the law once. But when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died, and the commandment which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
For sin, taking occasion by the commandment deceived me, and by it slew me.
Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just and good was then that which is good made death unto me, God forbid but sin that it might appear sin working death in me by that which is good, that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful. For we know that the law is spiritual. But I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow not. For what I would that do I not?
But what I hate that I do?
Then I do that which I would not. I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwell within me. For I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me. But how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do now if I do that I would not.
It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death.
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin.
Perhaps for those that have just gotten here, we took up chapter 5, the first reading, chapter 6, the 2nd, and now we are in Chapter 7 and in chapter five. We noticed that from verse 12 on we are dealing with the question of sin in the flesh.
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That sin nature that we are all born with and how to deal with it and how God has dealt with it in the person of the Lord Jesus. We are now looked at as dead to sin.
And as we were mentioning in chapter 6 and verse 11, it says, Reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin. In other words, think like you're taught in this Scripture.
So in chapter 6 we are dead to sin, but in Chapter 7 now we find we are dead to the law. The law is a very real thing and there's nothing wrong with the law. The law is perfect and good. It says here, but it's us that have the problem. And so in the first verse here he says he takes up the question of the law.
The law had dominion over a man as long as he liveth.
And then it goes on to give the illustration of a woman who is bound by the law to her husband while he lives. And it's when her husband dies that she is free from that law to be married to another. And so he's applying that to us who are believers. The Lord Jesus has died for us. And so now we are free from the law to be married to another, to the Lord Jesus, to be united to him.
So the law is not the standard of life for a believer, it's the person of the Lord Jesus that is the standard of life for the believer.
So it's a very real thing.
And in verse six it says we are delivered from the law.
So we are free from the law. We are delivered to the law from the law. We are dead to the law.
Here's a dead man on the floor, stretched out there.
Can he keep the law? Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, and with all thy might, and with all thy strength. Any power to do that?
He's dead.
He can't respond to that in any way. That's our position to the law. And I remember.
Speaking to a 7th day Adventist once and of course they like to make the Allah still applicable to the believer. They believe that's the standard of life.
I said and they said to me, if you're going to say that, why? You can do anything you possibly want to in life and get away with it.
I said, have you ever seen a dead man get it? Do anything he ever likes?
All he does is lay there dead.
He's not only dead to sin, he's dead to the law. And it's important for us to understand because the law is perfect. It was the test that was given to man in the flesh.
But.
Man completely failed. Every single person that has ever been born in Adams race has never been able to keep that standard.
And so it condemns us to death. And once we're dead.
Were delivered from that law.
Not to go back, but you just said something that I think sums up that 6th chapter. It's very, very good. And if the young people are here, write it down. You said how God deals with it. Verse one to 10 is how God deals with it from 10, from 11 on, and that chapter is how we deal with it. That's perfect way to outline that chapter. The 1St 10 verses is how God deals with it.
From 11 on to the end of the chapter is how we deal with it. We reckon it there. That's very good.
But I think this chapter is very helpful if we can.
Get over it, brethren, to because.
What is the struggle of this man in the 7th chapter? What he needs is what we find in verse 24 right at the end.
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Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? Deliverance. It's the question of deliverance.
And I must say, brethren, it's interesting to me to hear different ones who have struggled with the question of sin and the law too.
And how they struggle for a time and then all of a sudden the truth of Scripture comes clear.
And what is the result? Deliverance. I have to say I struggle for that for quite a while.
I had tendency. I like to joke around.
I mean, that's not that bad of a thing, that's the way I reasoned, but I always felt afterwards I'd grieve the Lord.
So I go to the Lord and say, I'm sorry, Lord, I know that wasn't right.
And I determined as I get up not to do it again, I'm not going to give it in. And before I knew it, I was doing it again.
And I couldn't figure out where is the answer.
Until I found, like Jim said, you can't fight it.
You can't find it and I just simply accepted what God had said. You're dead.
And a dead man isn't fighting to keep away from sin, so it's accepting God's testimony, and that's what gives deliverance.
Not only was it a person at the end of the chapter that he found deliverance in, but there's another step too. Not to skip ahead, but as we say, we want to get a little outline of this, but in the 17th verse, I think there's something very important.
A conclusion that he finally came to. He said now then it is no more I but sin that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. He came to the realization of what we spoke of yesterday and that is the place that God had put him, what he was positionally. And I believe, brethren, there are many Christians that suffer because they they don't understand their true position before God. They don't see that God has put them in a new light.
We are a new creation in Christ Jesus.
We're seen in all the light of the new man at that perfect life. And so this man here that was struggling in our chapter, he finally realised and accepted what God said. It's no more I So when I sin, it's the old Jim Highland. It's no more I it's not the way God sees me and until we come to realize as we said yesterday.
Our standing in position before God, we're going to struggle with these things all our all our Christian life. And if I can just say this that I believe the more we enter in and appreciate our standing.
The more it is going to take care and rot of our state, our state of soul is going to depend on how well we understand and appreciate the fundamental doctrines that we have taken up in these readings already. Because as soon as I understand what God has, the position God has put me in, in Christ before him, then it's going to give me a peace and a rest of soul in my heart.
And we have often said that sound doctrine leads to sound behavior, and that's why these doctrines are so important. These fundamental doctrines are so important to get a hold of. I say that and I want to give a little warning in that regard because I've heard people say, you know, doctrine's not so important as the older brethren used to think. I've actually heard people, some young and some not so young, and those that we know very well.
Well, let's get on with the practical side of things. Why do we need these, these fundamental doctrines like we've been having in these readings? Brethren, you cannot have sound behavior, proper behavior, without sound doctrine. It's the basis. And that's why in the Epistles you always find the doctrinal part of the epistle at the beginning, not at the end. It's always at the beginning and then the practical side of things and the behavioral side of things.
Taken up after based on what has been laid out at the beginning of the epistle. So these these things to get ahold of in our souls of the difference between sins and sin, the difference between the, the, the sinful flesh, the old man, the new man. All these things are vital if we're going to go on in a practical way in our Christian life and have settled peace in our souls. It doesn't change the truth of what we are.
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But it does mean it does have to do with our state of soul and whether we're really in the enjoyment and peace of these things.
Yeah, that's very important, isn't it? And in this chapter, it's not just the law, is it? It's law at the principle of law. Now, the law was the Mosaic law. The Gentiles were never under the Mosaic law, but many Christians.
Put ourselves under the principle of law, and what is the principle of law?
Well, it's that I can attain to a certain level of behavior with my own strength and energy. And that's again what much of Christendom is teaching today, the self help folks. You want a better marriage? Do this XYZ and you'll get a better marriage. Well, it maybe works for a while, but then we look at the end result and we find that the marriage of evangelicals fails just as much as the marriages in the world.
It doesn't work. I'd rather Bill Frost had a meeting in Walla Walla and he mentioned what we heard some years ago. Just say no. That's the law, isn't it? Just say no, but we need something higher than ourselves. One of the keys in this chapter is I haven't counted it out, but somebody did. They noticed that there's over. There's 40 references to self. The law occupies me with myself. I'm going to do better. I'm going to pull myself up by my bootstraps and do better.
Doesn't work, not for very long. And then we fail again, and we wonder why we keep failing. Why can't we get better? So it's not just the law, which is the Mosaic Law. Most of these people were Gentiles who were never under the law of Moses. But it's the principle of law. And again, we had the promise keepers. I'm going to keep a promise. I'm going to be a better husband. That's the principle of law, not the law per SE, although they like to mention the 10 commandments.
God's moral laws don't change, that's true. But we're going to see in the 8th chapter the secret to practically keeping the law is by what we've been mentioning is by having something above ourselves. And that's why somebody said in Romans 7 the apostle Paul is speaking about someone who has eye trouble 40 times. It's all about me. That's not going to work. It's not I, but Christ. That's the rule of life for the believer, and that's the only way we can rise above.
The principle of law. And that's the secret to practical Christianity. And that's the difference between Christianity and all the other religions of the world. The other religions of the world have a system. Do this and you'll be a better person. Well, it works to a certain extent, but usually there's a, there's a, there's a problem, there's a there's a man can only rise so high.
What we need is an object outside of ourselves. That object is Christ. And again, as Jim said, and we mentioned it yesterday in a little talk yesterday afternoon, that's why doctrine comes first. When we realize the position the Lord has put us in, not only the position, but communion with Him is necessary. I am the vine here, the branches. We cannot walk in these things apart from communion.
And unfortunately, much of Christendom teaches that, well, just do this, this, this, and you'll be, you'll be a better husband and you'll be a better father and so on. It doesn't work very long. That's the principle of law. But if we put the Lord first, we spend time in the Lord's presence, we seek to honor the Lord, then we are a practical Christian.
That's what we have here, isn't it?
This man was this chapter assumed that a man is born again but not indwelled with the Spirit. So he has all of the affections of that life of God, but he has no power.
And and that's why there's a struggle because he is born again. He does have that new life. And so immediately there's this struggle. And I've talked to some who had this struggle.
And they've doubted their salvation had recent opportunity to talk to a young man. He was very distressed. But I said to him, perhaps the reason that you have this struggle is because you do have life. You are born again. And so we need again to go back to the scriptures and rest on what God has has said, because it's the work of God for us and in US doesn't change our our emotions, our feelings aren't going to change the work of God.
00:20:17
Innocent for us and in us, but we are going to, as we've said, have settled peace in the measure in which we have faith in what God says. Again, it's a little different, but you go back to Egypt The night they ate of the Passover lamb. What made the children of Israel secure? Not their feelings and emotions. It was obedience to the word of the Lord and having slain the Passover lamb and the blood applied on the door, God said when I see the blood, not when I see your.
Know your emotions are right or you understand things.
But in every house, I'm sure there were different levels of feelings as to security, but that didn't matter. It was the work of God. It was what God had provided for them when they got in into the wilderness. They never left the will. They never got back to Egypt. They were positionally redeemed and delivered, redeemed by the blood of the Passover lamb, delivered by a mighty hand through the Red Sea, it says in their hearts they returned into Egypt.
But thank God they never got back there positionally. So again, it's to go back and rest on the Word of God that is going to give us this confidence. And as I say again, it's going to raise our state of soul in the measure in which we appreciate and rest on what we've had before us in these chapters. I just want to say this too, in a practical way in connection with what Eric said, because the enemy Satan is very clever and he comes in different subtle ways.
Even in different generations, you know, in my father and grandfather's day, people were concerned about getting to heaven by keeping the law or doing good works, maintaining a certain outward moral lifestyle and so on. But you know, people are not concerned about that so much today. I don't think to preach to an audience and tell them they to to not do keep the law or do good works is going to keep them out of heaven because people aren't people are so indifferent. What they need is to be impressed upon that they're sinners and they need to repent and so on.
That gospel was more relevant a generation or two ago, but Satan has come along today in a day of indifference with the unbeliever, and he's attacked the believer, saying not, not, you don't have to keep the law or do good works or some code to get saved, but you need to do it to maintain your salvation, not to obtain it, but to maintain it. And so there are many Christians who are all in a tangle who don't have the settled peace that we have been talking about.
Or the teaching that we have had by the mercies and grace of God before us in these meetings.
And they think that they have to live a certain code to maintain their salvation. And wasn't that the problem in the early church? The Jews came the the believing Jews came along and said, well, the Gentiles need to be circumcised and they need to keep the law to be part of the church. And it wasn't to obtain salvation, it was to maintain it. That's what Paul was talking about when he wrote to the Galatians. The Galatians had started out by being saved by grace.
He said you've started out by grace. Now he said you're going to go back and and swallow the teaching that you've been saved by the grace of God, but now you've got to maintain your salvation by keeping the law or some code of ethics. He said, no, brethren, what we learned from this is that there is no spark of good in man. I know in the schools of man they teach us that there's a spark of divinity and if it's fanned and put in a proper environment, it'll spring up into something wonderful. No, brethren.
What these chapters teach us is that we are we were ruined through and through.
There was number hope for us apart from what God has brought in through Christ by His grace and brethren, if we can revel in that, what a difference it will make in our souls.
If just for a second, we could go back to Vern's comment, because he made a comment.
That this is this is a man that's born again, but not sealed with the spirit. I want to say there's there may be a number of people in this room, number of, of believers in this room that that statement confuses them because there's many evangelists that get up at the podium and say.
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This is the gospel. You must be born again.
But born again does not mean that you're saved and sealed with the Spirit of God and fully have accepted Christ as your Savior. So if a if a brother would just take the time to define that difference, because sometimes defining those differences will unfold and begin to make sense of what we're trying to talk about. But if they don't understand that we've already lost them. So we're dead in trespasses and states. That's the natural man. And as Bob said, you put a a dead man on the floor.
He's never going to respond.
You can give him all kinds of appeals and commands. He will never respond. And that is our condition. Naturally speaking, we're dead in trespasses and sin. We would never respond to the gospel if God didn't impart divine life to us. And we don't know when that happens in a soul. Because the Lord said to Nicodemus, the wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit.
And so if God didn't impart divine life to us, we never would respond to the gospel because we are dead. How does God do it? Well, we're born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible by the Word of God that liveth and abideth forever. It's the Word of God applied in the power of the Spirit that God uses to impart divine life to us. That's why when we preach the gospel, whether it's on the platform, whether it's speaking to a sole individually, we always want to use the Word of God.
My explanation or my illustration isn't going to save a soul. It might be helpful. We so speak that many believe we trust, but it's the Word of God in its living power that God uses to impart divine life. Once that happens, then he that hath begun a good work in you will complete it under the day of Jesus Christ. You're not going to go to hell if you have divine life. You might, you might not have come into the good of salvation and be sealed with the Holy Spirit.
But once you have been imparted divine life, you're going to be you're going to heaven. God is God is sovereign, and he'll complete that work, whether it's the completion of that work here in our souls, as we find with the man here and you go on to the 8th chapter, or whether it's a person that's taken home to glory without ever coming in to the good of these things that we have been Speaking of.
The moment a person is sealed is in Ephesians chapter one. It may be helpful just to read the verse Ephesians one and verse 13.
The last word of verse 12 is Christ, and then verse 13 says in whom?
Ye also trusted after that ye heard the word of truth. That's what you're mentioning, the gospel of your salvation, in whom after that ye believed. You were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. So it's not merely believing in the Lord Jesus.
But it is believing the gospel of our salvation and in the gospel, that's why it's important to present the finished work of Christ on the cross, how he answered to God for the full questions of of sin and sins, and he completely satisfied God and God raised him from the dead. When a soul rests there, it's as if God says now he's resting where I rest.
The work of salvation is complete and he seals that soul with his Holy Spirit. That's the moment a person is sealed. But between those two points is a time. And I find in speaking to souls that everyone's different. Nobody is exactly the same. And so the struggle that goes on that relates to this.
In Chapter 7 of Romans.
Is different with everybody I remember reading.
The story of Martin Luther, it's very interesting.
He had heard enough of the Scriptures that he realized that he needed to be saved, but he didn't have it clear. The Gospel in that system that he was the Roman Catholic system isn't clear. And so he was struggling. I think it was a question of several years. He struggled. He was a monk. I think you probably have heard that. And he would take a whip and whip himself if he was going to try to kill that sin nature inside of him.
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And he would torture himself.
It was interesting because it was a superior of the monastery that came to him one day and said, young man, why are you torturing yourself like that?
Don't you know that Jesus did it all on the cross? And it was interesting. He used that man to give him the gospel, and it came clear to Martin Luther that it was not what he did.
It was what Christ did on the cross and it was a change for Martin Luther. Of course, he had a lot of struggles in a lot of ways. But I say in every one of us, I see that the Lord allows us to go through struggles. And I want to say.
Brother Jim, you mentioned verse 17, and I think that is a crucial verse because there he finally identifies the problem within himself. It's not me, it's sin that dwelleth in me. And notice he says the same thing in verse 20. Now if I do that, what I would not, It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
That sin nature, it's still there.
It will be there.
But how do you treat with that?
And I think the reason why the Lord allows these things in our lives, these heavy struggles, is to bring us to what we have in verse 18.
He says, I know that in me that is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.
Wowie, that's a hard sentence. Nothing good. Come on, I thought there was something good.
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
That man that was dead, what do you do with him? You take him out and bury him.
How often do you go out and uncover that grave and see how he's doing?
Don't do it, because every time you do it, it's going to get worse.
Don't be occupied with yourself and I see so many young people sometimes.
They're analyzing themselves.
Let me tell you, it's a painful operation. Don't do it.
Take God's word for it.
In me, that is, in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. God looks at us as Dad and buried.
And when it's buried, leave it there. Don't go ticking it up again. We get the doctrine of it in the 1St 4 verses. And perhaps it would be good to take it up systematically. That's the doctrine that's put forth. And then the experiences from then on. So perhaps it would be good to just have somebody give a little dissertation on those four, first four verses.
Well, we talked about it a little bit before. I think, Brother Vern, that he uses the illustration of a man or a woman that's married to a man and she's bound to that man as long as he lives. But when he dies, then she's free from the law of that husband to be married to another if she is to another man.
While her husband is living, she's called an adulteress, and that's what Brother Jim was mentioning. Yeah, we're saved by grace, but the law is a rule of life.
You are an adulteress if you say that. Don't say that. That's not proper. We are completely freed from the law. I use another illustration. Sometimes it might help a bit. I say here we are in the United States of America. We are in American territory here. The Constitution of the United States is the law of the land. But we're going to take a trip and we go across.
At the border.
Into Canada.
And now we are on Canadian soil.
Now, is the law of the United States valid?
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Is it valid?
Are you trying to undo the law, the United States by saying that?
No, you're not. What you're simply saying is that you have changed your position.
Your place now is in Canada, and there is another.
Constitution of that country. So we have changed positions and that's what happens when we are baptized. We are disassociated with this world where we have lived. We are now associated with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yeah, and that's what Paul was saying in Galatians, wasn't he? He says I am crucified with Christ because it's the cross of Christ that separates us from this world. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me and the life which I now live. I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. The Galatians were trying to live by the rule of the law to maintain their salvation. Paul says the life that I live, I live in Christ is Christ.
And so, as we said earlier, the it's not living the rule of the law, but it's Christ who is our life. And it's interesting too, that when you come to New Testament principles, they always supersede what you had under the law. I'll give you an example. So the law said, thou shalt not steal.
But in Ephesians we read let him that stole steal no more, but working with his hands and not quoting it exactly that he might have to give to others. That's beyond the law. So a man under the law was simply took. The Mosaic law was simply told not to steal. In Christianity it's far more than that.
We have the divine life, we have the power for that life in the Spirit of God, and we're not only not to steal, but we're to work so that we can provide for others who have need. And there's many examples of that. So it really is far greater. The Christian life really rises. We in the power of the Spirit of God. We rise far above what the Mosaic law gave in the Old Testament because we're we're led by the Spirit of God. So it's not stick your hands in your brother's pocket and take something out. Stick your hand, your own pocket and give them some right. So that's.
But these first four verses tell us just exactly what you've said. You know that we're not under the law, we're not under the law. Then the rest is an experience, how we arrive at that, how we arrive at that, and it's.
The thing that it develops for us is that in chapter 5 and verse 12 on in that chapter, I mean in that, yeah, in that chapter we we find that we have two heads. So we're no longer identified with the with the first head. We're identified with the second head. This is taken up with husbands, isn't it? So it's taken up with two husbands. The first husband was the law. The second husband is the Christ. So on the first one, if you're dead to that.
You're no longer under the burden of the law, but if you're married to Christ, then you're you're married in liberty. And so it's it's developing these two contrast so that it can afterwards tell you about this struggle that you're going through. And you know, and I don't want to go back, but but you know, before you were ever saved before, before you have any awakening to the fact you're responsible to God.
You, you did what you wanted. You were a Sinner, you were had no strength, you were an enemy. You did what you wanted. You were dead in trespasses and sins. But one day you heard the word of God, and the Spirit of God took that word and produced life in you. That awakened you. Awakened you to what? Awakened you to your responsibility to God. Every one of us in some degree has gone through that awakened, awakened you to a responsibility to God.
You did something wrong and you and you went.
I'm responsible to God for what I did. What am I going to do? I'm going to go to hell. So all of a sudden you cared about whether you went to hell or not. All of a sudden you cared that you knew about a God that you're responsible to, but you didn't know how to have peace with Him. That's being under the law, isn't it? It's that you're trying to do good and you can't do it. You try to do good and you can't do it. You fail and you come and you go. What in the world am I going to do?
00:40:02
And then what happens after that? Well, the faithful gospel is presented to you. You see that the Lord Jesus Christ loves you and he died for you. And all these doctrines that we've had up to this point have been developed. And you see that that he put away your sins and he puts you away. And you say, that's exactly what I need. I need that Savior from myself. And when you did that, you were saved.
And that's what the Chapter 7 is developing. It's developing what you were when you were dead in trespasses and sins and under the law, and what it was to have that new husband and then feel that struggle that goes on through your life. And then the end of this chapter where he only sees Christ as the answer to meet all of his needs. And it's beautifully developed in this chapter, isn't it?
So in verse six, we are delivered from the law, that being dead, wherein we were held, that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of the letter. We are delivered from the law. And like Eric was saying, it's not merely the law, the Mosaic Law, but it is the principle of law. And I find that sometimes maybe we think, oh, the meeting doesn't allow that.
Or my folks wouldn't be agreement with that. And so there's always some framework that we are relating to.
And as long as we are struggling under the framework, it is the principle of law. And the problem is he takes up this question of the law here. And I take it it's the Mosaic law here. But it's it's the principle of it that there's no problem with the law.
The problem is inside of me is the lost sin, he says in verse seven. God forbid nay, I had not known sin, but by the law, or if I had not, I had not known lust, except the law had said, thou shalt not covet or lust, but sin taking occasion by the commandment because.
That sin nature that we have is provoked by the law. You say to a child, don't do that.
There's a natural inclination that want to do that. And if you say do this, there's a natural inclination that doesn't want to do that because that nature is at enmity with God. And so when the law comes out, it just provokes them in the wrong direction.
And that's why the law isn't the answer. The law is only there to make us aware of sin. Sin taking occasion by the commandment rotten me all manner of concupiscence. For without the Law sin was dead. But I for I was alive without the law once. But when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died. And the commandment which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
For sin, taking occasion by the commandment deceived me, and by it slew me. And then he comes to this conclusion in verse 12, which is important.
Wherefore the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good. There's no problem with the law. That's not the problem. And sometimes people try to say, why do you try to put the law to one side? I say I'm not putting it to the one side.
The law hasn't changed. One wit who has changed is me. I have taken another position now.
I'm not under law, but under grace.
Bob, it's good to bring out what you see that somebody may have missed that, but he's really talking about this person doesn't know.
He has an old nature. He he just says he sins. He has a wide sinning. He can't keep from it. He doesn't learn.
That it's something in him down to the 17th verse. In the 17th verse, he starts to learn that there's something in me that's causing me to do this.
17th and the 20th verses he repeats it the same thing. Both the 17th and the 20th verses he repeats the same thing. It's no longer I but sin. Oh, there is something else inside me. I want to do what's right. And that does every time it does what's wrong, and he finds out that Christ is dealt with that.
That's the point. He realizes that he's no longer seen in that position. He recognizes sin, but he says it's no more I. And I think that's vital.
00:45:04
Just say this too, that often the objection to what we have talked about in this meeting is raised by some that well, if you say if what you say is true and we believe it is true on the authority of God's word. But if what you say is true, then that just gives Christians to live their own life. That if we're not under some kind of rules and regulations or the law or the some code of conduct. Well then everybody can go out and do their own thing. But let's remember again, as we've stressed in these meetings.
We have divine life now. We have the the new nature, the very life of Christ. It cannot sin. The new life cannot sin. We have the Spirit of God as the power for that life, and we'll notice that in the next chapter particularly. But I think we need to stress that because the divine life has no power of itself. It is a dependent life, and the power for that life is the Spirit of God. Plus, as we've already said in yesterday's meetings, there's a new motivation.
So the Lord said, if a man love me, he will keep my commandments and my commandments are not grievous. Why is it we don't go out and and break the law? Why is it we don't go out and live the way we please? It's only in the measure in which our hearts affections go out to the one who's accomplished all this for our blessing. And so the love of Christ constraineth us. What keeps us walking for God's glory and, and, and in the power of the Spirit and so on. It's in the measure in which our hearts affections.
Are centered on Christ. It's in the measure in which he we have to we're walking in communion with him. All these things are what are going to preserve us to live.
For God's glory, so that it is the Newman that is manifest in the power of the Spirit. And when we do that, what are we really doing? We're unconsciously starving that sinful flesh that is still there. It's like the illustrations been used. Somebody comes to the somebody comes to the door. And who do you let answer the door? Do you let the sinful flesh or do you let the new man answer the door? Temptation knocks, and it knocks every day in our lives.
But who are you allowing to answer the door? If the new man is being fed and we're walking in the power of the spirit, he's the one that's going to have the energy to to answer the door. And that's really the key, isn't it? Augustine of Hippo.
Had a Christian mother. He lived back in the early century of Christianity, but he he was rebellious when he was young and he lived a profligate life style.
Well, the time came when the Lord caught up with him and saved his soul and he became a giant. I don't say he had everything right, but nonetheless he became a giant in influence for for good and Christianity. And after he was saved, there was a lady that saw him on the street and he ignored her and she said Augustine, it's I. And he said yes, but it's not I. He knew that he now that Lady that he had sinned with before, he now had a new life.
And that's the secret I wanted to mention too, not to go back too far, but to show the two conditions we're talking about. Romans 623 is often used in the gospel, but it even goes beyond that because he's writing to Christians for the wages of sin is death. That's when I was. That condition I was in before leads to death. Morally and spiritually and ultimately physically. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, don't we want to have eternal life? Not only have it, but walk in the newness of life. And then we have verses 5:00 and 6:00 go together. For when we were in the flesh, that is, when I was under the burden of the old man, the motions of sins which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit under death. Is that the life we want to live, one that has only its fruit?
That that brings forth fruit unto death.
But then verse 6. But now this is the new condition, the new husband, which is Christ risen. That's when he became the second Adam. The last Adam, I should say, was in resurrection. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead, wherein we were held, that we should serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of letter. That's eternal life. So when the Israelites were.
00:50:03
Being delivered from Egypt.
Before they cross the Red Sea, they came to a place called Pai Hai Roth.
Long name, but it simply means the gateway or the entrance to liberty. What's the real secret for Christian liberty and what's the real secret for Christian fruitfulness and Christian joy? Well, it's seen in the Red Sea. It's entering into these things we're talking about to realize that we're identified with Christ in his death, but then we're identified with Christ in resurrection, and that's newness of life, and we have the joy to walk.
In the liberty that the Spirit gives, that's eternal life, isn't it? That's newness of life. That's true liberty. Liberty isn't just doing what liberty it is. Isn't it all doing what the old man wants to do? Because once I have a new nature, the only true liberty then is to walk in newness of life and honor the Lord. Because that's what the new nature wants to do. That's what the Spirit of God directs me to do. And one of the most miserable people in the world is a Christian.
Who's not walking in newness of life? We're more miserable than the natural man. The natural man doesn't know better, but the Christian does, and he has a nature that is contrary to what he's doing, and the Spirit of God that indwells him is telling him what he's doing is wrong. There's no person more miserable than the Christian that's walking in the flesh. But true liberty, true fruitfulness, true happiness is in this new condition.
Newness of life. That's true liberty.
Maybe it would help if we why used to sit in these conferences years and years ago and you never left one of those conference that you didn't hear this. There's no substitute for communion. I can't do that for you. You can't do that for me. I must be in the presence of the Lord. We said we live in the Spirit. Let us walk in the Spirit. And if we walk in the Spirit, the Spirit is not going to give us to do anything.
This dishonours Christ, not because we're under the law, but because we're seeking to please the Lord. So do I pray to the Spirit? He's in me? No, I keep in communion with the Lord and the Spirit guides me. So remember that we need something that's concrete and practical and that is practical. I can't do it for you. You. It's a, it's an individual thing.
You can't do it for me.
And I grew the day I I don't practice this as much as I should, but if you stay in communion with the Lord, you keep talking to the Lord, keep taking every difficulty to the Lord every.
Experience from the Lord and stay in his presence and we know that that's that sounds mystical to anybody who is sitting in this room who's not saved, but it's not mystical to us that are saved. We know what that is to be in the presence of the Lord right now.
It's easy here, but when we're driving down the road we have to be then too. So there's no substitute for communion if you stay in communion, if you talk to the Lord and you're in his company.
The Spirit of God will guide you.
So that you're so the commandment, you won't you won't do anything. He will never lead you to steal. You know, it's like he says, he will never lead you to stick your hand in somebody else's pocket, but he will lead you to be gracious and and give to your people.
The New Testament probably are more than the commandments of the Old Testament, but they are always addressed to a man in Christ, and they are the guidelines that guide us. And we need those commandments, commandments of the Lord Jesus. And so we do have commandments, but it's not on the basis of law, the principle of law. It's not addressed to a man.
Just like to mention here the struggle that he has because I know this is the experience sometimes the people verse 15 that that which I do, I allow not for what I would that do I not but what I hate that I do. If then I do that which I would not I can send into the law that it is good.
And then finally he comes to the conclusion, that is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
00:55:02
And then at the end of the chapter, as we're getting down toward the end of this meeting.
He concludes and what I say, brother, and it's it's deliverance that we need deliverance from the law, deliverance from sin in the flesh. I delight in the law of God after the inward man. That's verse 22, but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind.
And bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. And then he cries out, Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death.
What a cry. Who right? That's right.
But it says I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. There's the answer. It's the Lord Jesus that is the answer. I understand that.
In old Roman Empire, one of the ways of of.
Punishment for crime was they strapped a dead body with chains to a person's back and they had to live with that until it rotted off their back.
That was the punishment that they had, and this is the figure that we have here, oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death.
So all the resources and power are there to live in newness of life. And there we want to make it clear that at the end of this meeting that they're available to every believer here. This isn't just something or a position that certain ones have been brought into. These resources are there. So Paul said, I can do all things through Christ, which which strengtheneth me because there might be somebody at the end of this meeting and say, well, it's OK for your brothers to talk like this.
Who've had experience in the path of faith and so on. But this is for everyone and it's in contrast to what you have. When Adam sinned, When Adam sinned, he did. He and Eve did receive the knowledge of good and evil, but they quickly realized they no longer they didn't have the power to do good or the power to refrain from evil. But brethren, we've been brought into a position now. And that's what the law showed in the Old Testament. Peter said. Neither we nor our fathers were able to keep it.
It showed how short man fell, that he couldn't keep God's standard. He didn't have the power to do good or the power to refrain from evil, naturally speaking. But brethren, we have the power now. We have the resources, and this is available to everyone who has come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. Yes, there are those struggles and maybe some struggle their whole life, but let's remember this, we're not, we have not talked about a select group of believers who have reached a certain plateau.
Of spirituality or understanding of the Word of God. These resources, the resources of power in and through Christ are available to you this this morning. If you will rest on what God has said, avail yourself of that power and believe the position you've been brought into, then the practical side of things that we have spoken of will take its place naturally speaking unconsciously even. And what you mentioned before, I want to emphasize that.
There are resources, but this new life is a dependent life, just as Vern was saying. It cannot survive apart from communion with Christ. We need to cultivate that day in and day out. And that's the way God intended it. He wanted us to be in intimacy with Himself, and that's the source of true joy and blessing and fruit and meaning in life too. Men struggle for a purpose in life, but when we walk in communion with the Lord, we have that purpose.
Because we're consistent with God's purpose and we're fruitful and we're happy.
I do believe that the reason that some struggle so long. I don't know that I can say it's the case and everyone that it is a lack of coming to the conclusion that he comes to in verse 18. I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing in our culture we are told.
To have self esteem, there are certain qualities I have that are really great and that God can use and until we come to that point of recognizing, I know that in me that is in my flesh no good thing. That is a tremendously hard sentence. Can we accept that? Well, we if we're going to get deliverance, we have to accept that.
01:00:14
A lot of young people here are just.
Recount something that I heard along that line recently. It was a statement that Brother Darby supposedly made or I believe he made. I was listening to an old tape. We have that resource to look up a meeting, I should say, on our smartphones and whatnot. I can't tell you who was speaking, but he was a, you know, meeting from the 60s, I believe, and he was recounting an event where.
Mr. Darby was teaching, I believe, I don't know if it was a meeting where he spoke or if it was a reading meeting, but a young brother came up and you know, was impressed with Mr. Darby and he, he said that I'd sure like him impressed with all you know from the word of God. I'd certainly like to study and learn how to you know what, what should I do to, to learn as much as you have. And Mr. Harvey said, well you want to study, I'll give you 4 words. Study these. The flesh profiteth nothing.
We could and there is, you know, we know what is accepted, you know? I mean, there's many who know what the brother tries.
You may do things and and go on, but if it's not done for the Lord, you're a good citizen, but you're not a spiritual person.
Unless it's done in communion with the Lord.
So you might be a good Pharisee and and compare yourself with other people.
But it's not, unless it's in communion with the Lord.
It's not of any. I've often said the Christian's motto is not I, but Christ. I've often said the Christian's motto is not I but Christ. That's a great secret, isn't it? If we remind ourselves. And that's what brings fruitfulness and joy, not I, but Christ.
And.
Wisdom.
I.
Loving God and Father, we thank Thee that Thou hast delivered us from this body of death.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We thank you that you have brought us into a place of blessing, a place where self is to be put aside.
We are to reckon ourselves dead to the flesh.
Be brought into full communion with thee.
With thy beloved Son, the Lord Jesus, we thank thee for these things, and we pray in your precious and alone worthy name, Lord Jesus. Amen. Amen.
Your Reasonable Service
Address—Bob Thonney
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Let's pray.
Gracious Father, thanks for another opportunity to be able to open my precious Word and to let its light search us. Father, we pray for direction of Thy Holy Spirit this afternoon for the speaker, the hearers alike. Father, that we might get profit that will last for all eternity. We pray give thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus, Amen.
Let's go back to the Epistle of Romans.
And chapter 12.
I trust.
This will fit into what we've been having in our readings.
So tremendous to get a foundation work.
In the book of Romans.
And really the culmination of the first chapters in Chapter 8 that we haven't gotten into yet.
Wonderful, wonderful chapter. I've heard that one time.
A survey was taken of Christian leaders. If you were going to have your Bible taken away, but you could have just one chapter of the Bible, which would you choose? And the majority chose Romans chapter 8. It is amazingly wonderful chapter.
But we're going to go to 12 This afternoon because this is what really is the practical.
Reflections on our lives.
Verse One. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your.
Your bodies a living sacrifice.
Holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
So when he says therefore in verse one, it reflects on what has already been gone over in this book.
Like I say, the first part of the book is the culmination, this chapter 8 chapter.
9:10 and 11:00 we have God speaking about his people, the Israelites, and how they will be be brought into blessing again. And so notice the end of Chapter 11 verse 32.
For God has concluded them all in unbelief, that He might have mercy upon all.
Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.
How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out?
For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor, or who has first given to him? And it shall be recompensed unto him again. For of him and through him and to Him are all things to whom be glory forever. Amen. We have been brought into a circle of fellowship and blessing.
Where God has declared that Christ is everything.
And in all, it's not about you and me, it's about him.
And so the exhortation is present. Your body's a living sacrifice. We all know about sacrifices that are killed and burned on an altar.
Old Testament was full of that.
But this is a living sacrifice. What does that mean? Sacrifice. It means laying down your own will, your own desires. And it is in view of of what he is. Oh, brethren, when we consider what the Lord Jesus has done on the cross, this is the only reasonable response. It's your reasonable.
Of us, how can you, when the creator of the universe who created it all, We heard something about its vastness yesterday. The one who created it all went to that cross and was hung there, and our sins were laid upon Him and He.
00:05:24
Paid the price of redemption for us all.
Now, is it reasonable? And I say I'm going to do my own thing in light. I want my way. Yeah, I'll recognize the Lord. I'll be at the meetings, but I have my own desires too. Does that sound reasonable to you? I suggest it is not reasonable service.
You know, we have some beautiful pictures in the Old Testament and I'd like to go back to one of the better known stories in the book of Samuel.
Chapter 18.
It's about.
David and Jonathan.
Jonathan was the son of King Saul. In chapter 16, David is anointed to be king of Israel.
Beautiful story and at the end of chapter 16 Saul is afflicted by an evil spirit, and so he looks for a man that can help him, and David is brought in.
He was expert on a heart, but he was expert in a lot of ways and Saul loved him, it says.
But in chapter 17.
David doesn't seem to be with Saul. He seems to have gone back to his sheep in the wilderness.
And there is an enemy that is threatening Israel. He is the story of Goliath. I love the story. I don't get tired of it, even though I'm sure we've all heard it so many times.
Philistine, the enemies of the people of God. Giant. I calculate he was approximately 10 feet tall.
You know, I've seen a few people that are pretty tall, but never anybody that's 10 feet tall.
And at one time I made a calculation on the weight of his coat of armor that he had on. It weighed approximately 156 lbs. What I what I calculated that's pretty heavyweight. But the guy was huge and he had a staff in his of his spear was like a weaver's beam, it said. And his spear's head weighed 600 shekels of iron.
Just the head of the spear.
And I calculate that's approximately 20 lbs. Imagine that thing thrown at somebody, 20 lbs on the end of it way there be no chance for anybody.
But it is a formidable flow and he stood out there day after day saying give me a man to fight with me.
For 40 days, Saul the king was head and shoulders above all the arrest in Israel.
But he hadn't any desire to take on that giant.
And so David is sent by his father.
To see how his brethren are doing, taking some food. And here he sees the predicament and.
He says why doesn't somebody go take care of that guy?
And in his talking, his brother and get kind of his brothers get kind of.
Agitated at him.
Where in the world you come down from taking care of those sheep? You ought to be back there taking care of those sheep. Anyhow, he had been sent by his father, but he in his talking evidently ends up with Saul the king. You would think that Saul would know who he was, since he had been playing for him, but he doesn't seem to know who he is. And Saul says in verse 32 of chapter 17.
Said to David, Said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail, because of him thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for thou art but a youth, he a man of war from his youth.
00:10:16
David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock. And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered him out of his mouth. And when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
I would take it that was a African lion because I don't think other lions have a beard, do they? You imagine the valor of this young man.
He caught him by the beard and I must have whacked him over the head, but he killed him.
African lion is a pretty formidable animal to encounter, but he took care of him. He says this Philistine is no more than they. Verse 36 Thy servants slew both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them seen. He had defied the armies of the living God right from the start with David. It wasn't a question of David versus Goliath, it was a question of.
God versus Goliath, all the others were comparing themselves to that giant and David didn't do that. David took it into focus with God as the reference point. And so Saul tried to put his armor on him and David just said I got unload this stuff.
If you're going to act in faith, act in your own faith. Don't act in somebody else's armor. That's an important lesson. But David went out.
And when he comes to the open field, there to encounter Goliath.
Verse 45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield. But I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied this day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand, and I will smite thee.
And take thine head from thee, and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and into the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear, for the battle is the Lords, and he will give you into our hands.
David sounded like the king, didn't he?
But he was just a youth. But he goes in that faith that the Lord is going before him. I think it is so beautiful. And you know the story. Verse 49 He took put his hand into his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smoked the Philistine in his forehead, and the stone sunk into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed.
Over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and smote the Philistine and slug him.
There is no sword in the hand of David. Therefore David ran, stood upon the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of the sheet thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head there with. When the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled, and the men of Israel and Judah rose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines. Well, it was a tremendous victory.
But what I want to get at in Chapter 18 is that there was somebody standing there watching it happen.
It was Saul's son Jonathan. And notice what it says here in the first part of chapter 18. It came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day, and would not, would let him go no more.
Into home to his father's house, then Jonathan.
And David made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him and gave it to David and his garments, even to his sword and to his bowl.
00:15:02
Into his girdle.
Did David say, come on Jonathan, you got to give those things up? No way. It was something that was the result of Jonathans heart being nicked with David. So he takes off his robe. That princely Rome, he was in line for the to be the king of Israel.
He says, John and David, I'm giving that to you and his garments.
And his sword, old times than they used to use swords. You sometimes have seen picture, I think it was. It's a picture of Robert E Lee giving his sword to Ulysses S Grant at the end of the Civil War. That was the way they showed they were surrendering.
And so.
Jonathan was saying, David, I surrender to you.
And then it was his ball. You know, the bow was something that was probably a personal talent. There were certain in Israel that could shoot right-handed or left-handed, a bow without missing more than a hair's width. I was pretty amazing. But the talents, they're yours, David, and.
His.
Is girdle this belt that was on him? I suppose they had a wide belt, those soldiers did to make them strong for battle. But David or Jonathan surrender to David. It wasn't something that was he was under obligation to do. It was of his own heart.
His heart was won by David's love that David would go down into the Valley of Elah, that he would take on that giant, and then he would come out Vic.
Yeah, OK, here's the challenge that comes to me.
Your young people and older ones to. I want to tell you about one that went into the valley of death.
The Lord Jesus Christ.
At Hebrews chapter 2.
And verse 14 For as much in as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself took part of the same, that through death he might destroy or annull him that had the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver them, who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to *******.
The Lord Jesus, our David went into the valley of death and I love the way it puts it. He was partaker of flesh and blood. He came here, the glorious Son of God, the one that's the creator of the whole universe. It is amazing, but our brother was bringing before us yesterday about the.
Dimensions out there in the universe.
Are our Galaxy the Milky Way Galaxy?
Last year at Easter time I was up on the high Alta Plano, Bolivia, and it is incredible, brethren, at that altitude, 12,000 feet and away from the city lights.
At night, before the moon came up, the strip of stars that goes across the sky, there's just amazingly beautiful. It is so clear up there that you can actually see other galaxies with the naked eye, see little groups of light out in there that are not connected to the Milky Way Galaxy. And this is the one.
The one that went to that cross is the one who created it all by the word of his power.
He's fake and it was done. He commanded and it stood fast. Can you get a grasp of the immensity of the power that was involved, the wisdom to putting them out of out there in the order that they're in?
00:20:12
This is the one that came into the world.
To save us and he went to that cross. He partook of flesh and blood and but there was this difference and we've been talking about it with the Lord Jesus. He was holy humanity. We are sinful humanity. The Lord Jesus when he was born the Virgin Mary was told by the Angel that.
Holy thing which will shall be born of these shall be called.
The Son of God.
But what is amazing to think that he was not recognized. His people, the ones that had the scriptures in their hands, didn't recognize that he was there. Wise men came from the East and they said where is he that is born king of the Jews? We've seen his star in the East. We've come to worship him.
Well, they could get their Bibles out and they could give you the answers, but they had no clue that he was there.
Man does that search me. We got the Bible in our hands. We can open it and talk about it. Are we aware of the grandeur, the glory of this person?
And when they took him at the end, they took him first to the.
The Council of the Jews.
And it tells us, I think it's in Matthew's Gospel, the chief priest came up and spit in his face. Can't think of a more degrading act towards anybody. The human race. And they did this to the creator of all things.
What reaction was there? I like to ask that of men in the prison where I go. What reaction would there be on your part if somebody spit in your face?
One man said, well, he would be.
Level on the ground in a minute.
And I suppose that's the natural reaction, most people. But the Lord Jesus, no reaction whatsoever. They took him outside the city of Jerusalem. They nailed him to that cross, His head crowned with thorns, His back plowed upon by the Roman scourge.
And they stretched out those hands and nailed them to that cross. Oh, brother, we can never get that far from the cross. Just can't do it. And there they hung him. He said. All my bones are out of joints. Some have suggested that maybe when they put the cross into the hole that it was to stand in, that had jolted in.
Knocked his bones out of joint.
And they jeered him. They said, if you're the Son of God, let God deliver you.
Did God deliver him?
And I think that's why it says one of the Psalms reproaches broken my heart.
I look for comforters and I found none.
And.
Then those three hours of darkness that we can't begin to understand, when God laid on his own beloved Son the iniquity of us all, and that storm of judgment in all its fury broke on his head. For three hours the waves and billows of God's judgment passed over him. And if you look in the Scriptures, there's no cry during those three hours.
Until the very end.
When he cries, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
In all his life, when he had spoken to God, it was always my father. But here is my God. Why wasn't God his father? Yes, but here he was not treating him as Father. He was treating him with as God in the holiness of his character, that holiness that had to be satisfied, that had to be vindicated if there was going to be any blessing for you and me.
He paid the price in full. He paid it in full.
Oh how it plays hold of my heart.
00:25:01
How can I say that I want to have my own way anymore? It just doesn't fit the picture. It's not reasonable to say such a thing.
Have you come to a point where you have surrendered to the Lord Jesus? I know you trust Him, perhaps as your Savior.
But has there been a true surrender in view of what He has done? This is what we have in this chapter in Romans 12.
Beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice. You know sacrifice is not.
Popular.
Today's world.
It's living for yourself. Men shall be pleasers of their own selves.
But it says of the Lord Jesus, even Christ pleased not himself. Is that your life, pleasing yourself, doing what you want to do? I want to suggest to you that that's not going to be a fulfilled life.
And I must say, as I have been challenged by different persons in my own life as a young man.
And that I have been challenged that it's not in doing things for yourself, it is sacrificing. Present your bodies, a living sacrifice.
Sometimes have said I do believe, brethren, the single most devastating.
Condition to the Christian testimony in the United States and North America, I suppose we could say, is the principle of self pleasing. It has devastated the Christian testimony. That's not Christianity.
Christianity is self sacrifice and the Lord Jesus said any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.
Whosoever loveth his own life shall lose it.
Yes, your soul is saved, but you want a lost life.
Is that what you're interested in? I know I've spoken about it before and I'm not sure if I did here, but I have to say I was tremendously challenged with the life of our dear brother, late brother, Eric Smith. He was. And for you young people that maybe not haven't heard of him, but.
I got to know him when I was only.
A teenager the first time and then when I left Walla Walla at the age of 18 to go back to work and Bible truth publishers. He came back from Bolivia with his wife Francis in a couple of years after he married her, and he was stuck right there in Oak Park because she had cancer.
And had several operations and so he was planted right there.
And he started talking about Bolivia and he challenged us young people to live our lives for eternity, not for time. And I was challenged. It was in 1967. Then I was able to go within the first time to Peru in 1968, to Bolivia, along with several others.
It was a privilege, but he told us the story of his life that.
He was born into an affluent family in New Zealand. His father was Prime Minister. He was a friend of the Prime Minister of New Zealand. So he had a lot of opportunity to get into a lot of different areas of life that would have really made him prosper and his father, who was a man of the world.
That's what he had in mind for his sons. Go get a good education.
Get a good job, make lots of money and get position in this world.
00:30:02
Brother Smith came into contact with the Lord and he told his father one day, said I've decided to go to Bolivia to preach the gospel. And his father said if that's your decision, son, get out of my house, you don't belong here any longer. So he had to get out and make his own way. And he did end up.
In Bolivia. But I must say I was.
Challenge the first time we went 1968 by the tremendous blessing that there was in the gospel through his instrumentality. You know those of you that may remember a little bit about Eric Smith. I don't remember that he was a man that had a tremendous gift in expounding the scriptures, but the sacrifice in his life spoke vividly for.
Some of you may remember at the conference in Des Moines years ago, they used to have it at a fairgrounds and in this room where they had the meeting, there was a balcony up above and.
The young people and the children used to sit up there and sometimes they were chatting with their friends and not paying too much attention to what was going on in the meeting. But a brother that sat up there kind of in the background told me, said I like to see the difference in attention on the part of the young people and children to the different speakers. And some of them they paid attention to fairly well and others.
They just didn't pay much attention to it at all.
He said when Eric Smith got up there, it was wrapped attention the whole time.
I say when I realized that he didn't really outstanding any outstanding.
Gift in any particular way, but it was his life, a life of sacrifice.
And I got to see him shortly before he passed away up in Montreal, Canada. He didn't have very much to his name at the end of his life. I think he did have a home, but he was in a nursing home. And I walked into the room. He died two days before.
He was 103 years old, so he lived a long life.
And I walked up to him and he wasn't speaking anymore, but he looked at me with his little beady eyes.
And I said to him in Quechua, he might not Yakashang Kermano. And that's the greeting of the Quechua brethren in Bolivia. And the only response I got was a little nod of the head. He understood me, thank the Lord, but he went home.
Not too long after that.
I tell you, young people.
It was a challenge to me. You want to live, earn lots of money, get the nice home and everything. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that in itself.
But I see so many people that have it all.
And they are empty. That is not what life's about. It's about sacrifice.
Present your bodies a living sacrifice.
It's interesting that it's your bodies.
We know we're all redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, spirit, soul and body, but it speaks about our bodies here. Our bodies are also redeemed. They belong to Him.
Do you dress to show that?
Not to draw attention to yourself.
But to show that you are surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And it says it is our reasonable service. Again, I say, when I consider what Jesus paid on that cross.
His life, his precious blood.
I say this is the only reasonable response that I can give is to say, Lord Jesus, you paid it all for me. How can I live for myself any longer? It doesn't fit in the picture. It just doesn't.
00:35:20
But then it goes on to say and be not conformed to this world.
This is what there's so much pressure, conformity to this world.
But.
Be transformed. I like that.
By the renewing of your mind. We've been talking in the reading meetings about our thinking processes. So often we don't have our thoughts right. We say I don't feel dead.
That's not the right kind of thinking. God says we are dead, think that way. Reckon yourselves to be dead indeed into sin. So we need to through the renewing of our mind be transformed that we may prove. Notice it doesn't say that you may know. Sometimes people say I sure would like to know. The Lord's will for me doesn't say that.
That you may prove.
In putting this into effect in your life, practically presenting your body as a living sacrifice, then you will prove it in obedience. You will prove that the will of God is good and acceptable and perfect.
It's so wonderful.
This is what we are told to do.
Then he goes on in verse three to say, For I say through the grace given unto me to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, according as God had dealt to every man the measure of faith.
What is conformity to the world is thinking well about yourself. I've got it together. I'm making my mark in my world.
Don't think of yourself more highly than you ought to think. Think soberly doesn't mean we don't think of ourselves at all.
Yes, we do think about ourselves, but think soberly.
This morning we were talking about that.
We have to come to the point just to read it again in Chapter 7 where we say, I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, thanks soberly think according to the revelation of God.
That's important.
Don't be conformed to the world. What is the world? It's that system.
That Satan has built up to satisfy man and its estrangement from God.
And you find the beginnings of it in the book of Genesis chapter 4, when Cain went out of the presence of the Lord and built a city. And there are different facets into this world system. In first John chapter 2 it says love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. Any man love the world. The love of the Father is not in him.
You want to enjoy that love.
That's the love that gives you to surrender. You can't enjoy that love. If you're enjoying the love of the world, then it tells us everything that's in the world. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life are not of the Father, but are of the world.
And somebody has said that the lust of the flesh is what attacks majorly in the youth, lust of the eyes in midlife and the pride of life in old age. None of us are exempt from feeling it, but that's the world. What is the remedy?
Is to enjoy the love of the Father.
When the Lord Jesus was here in this world, that's what he did. Remember they asked him in John chapter one.
00:40:04
Where dwelleth thou?
Where was his dwelling place? The Lord Jesus just said come and see. That's all He said. He didn't give an address.
Come and see.
But if you go back earlier in that chapter, it says the only begotten Son, which is in the Buddhism of the Father, He hath declared Him so. His dwelling place was the bosom of the Father. From all that past eternity. That was His dwelling place. He enjoyed the love of His Father.
That's why when he was down here in this world, he really wasn't interested in the things this world had to offer. It wasn't that there was rules against having a house.
But he said, boxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. I suppose that he spent many nights under the stars, probably in the cold at times.
Why didn't he have a home? Why didn't he? Have you never read of him having any money in his pocket? Even he had to say show me a penny one time.
Is it wrong to have money in your pocket? I don't think so.
Why didn't he?
He was so enraptured with that home that he had come from and was going back to that he wasn't interested in anything down here. And that's what will make you a Pilgrim. And a stranger in this world is enjoying the love of the Father. So that's this world, this world.
Pass away passes away and it's lusts, but he that does the will of God.
Abideth forever. What a challenge it is to my own heart. This life is so brief I can't believe it.
That it is over 50 years since I left Walla Walla and.
You see me as an old guy. I don't think of myself as an old man.
I don't feel old. My knee kind of feels old sometimes, but I don't feel old because life is ahead overhead. The Lord help us to.
Know what it means to present our bodies a living sacrifice.
Want to go over to the book of Hebrews again and chapter 13?
We've talked about the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. We've talked about the response there should be from us.
But now here's two more sacrifices that Scripture speaks of in that way, as sacrifices.
Chapter 13. Hebrews verse 15.
By Him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
Sacrifice of praise to God.
What does it say on Sunday morning?
No, continually. Just wanted to ask you, are you occupied in giving that sacrifice to the Lord on a daily basis? Do you stop to praise Him? That's one of the reasons He's chosen us.
Eric talked about her being royalty yesterday. The other part was we are priests. What a privilege to be able to go right into God's presence, to present our praises, our worship.
You know, brethren, I have really been challenged in my own soul that we need to stop and worship Him. Worship is what we render to God for who He is. Praise is what we render to God for what He has done.
And when we think of the glory of his person and the work that he's accomplished, what tremendous themes, I'm convinced, brethren, that the moment we are raptured into the Lords presence, we're going to be so enraptured with his person, the glory of his person, that everything else is going to fade into the background.
00:45:23
Have you ever thought about?
The three disciples when they were on the Mount of Transfiguration with the Lord.
There they were, they were asleep 1St and then when they woke up they saw him and there was Moses and Elijah.
And they were.
Pretty interested.
They'd never seen Moses and Elijah before. They knew they were. That's interesting detail. But they were so enraptured with Moses and Elijah that they didn't realize they had taken their eyes off the Lord.
You ever notice another detail? There is no evidence that Moses and Elijah ever noticed Peter, James and John. Why not?
Weren't they interested in them? I'm sure they would be interested in.
But when you're in the presence of the glorious Son of God and talking like they were about his deceased that he was going to accomplish at Jerusalem, is there anything that compares with Audi glory?
Brother, do we grasp, in a small way anyhow, the glory of the person of our Lord Jesus?
We could go on and on speaking about it, but that's what is rendered to Him in worship.
Sometimes it's been said, and I believe it's true, that worship is not necessarily expressed with words. You find those wise men that came to Jerusalem. I suppose the Lord Jesus was a little less than two years old. Just what we'd call a toddler.
And they came into the house, it says in Matthew chapter 2.
And when they saw him, they prostated themselves on the floor before him. You know it wasn't just three men. Somebody have suggested it's probably a caravan. Probably 15 to 20 of those wise men came into the room. Imagine what Mary must have thought when she saw them coming in and then one by one just getting down.
They recognized who he was.
Do you and I recognize the glory of the person that we're talking about?
I have to say, brother, I'm not exhorting you merely I challenge my own soul, and when I think about it, the glory of His person, but to stop and to praise him during the day in our homes, let it be filled with praise. It's one thing I've learned from my Latin brethren in Latin America. They do a lot more singing than we do.
Beginning of a meeting off times they're singing for half an hour. Of course the clock is not.
Such a controlling influence in their lives. It is for us but but they don't worry about it so much. So when they get going they they'll go for their hour after that. But it it has been a blessing. It has been a tremendous blessing to be amongst them and to sing. We've got so much to sing about.
But the point is, is when the enemy gets you occupied with yourself, do you feel like singing? No way.
You feel like putting your head down and feel depressed.
Get your eyes on this person, this glorious person, not only on who he is, but that work that he accomplished on the cross. Oh, what a glorious God and Savior we have in the Lord Jesus. So that's a sacrifice of praise. Take time, you say? Well, I don't have much time.
I say that's why it's sacrificed. Take time to praise him.
I have been amazed that when we can do that, the blessing that results. Learn some hymns by heart so you can sing when you're traveling down the road.
00:50:02
I've learned how great Thou art by heart and I love to start that up sometimes when I'm visiting at home. And most brother know it, but it's a blessing to get our focus of ourselves on the Him.
That's a sacrifice of praise, and we're told to.
Do it continually. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. And then verse 16 is another sacrifice to do good and to communicate. Forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. This is giving and some have suggested This is why we have the collection right at the time.
Of the Lord's Supper is because the 2GO together. They're both sacrifices, but sacrifice of giving is something that should characterize us at all times too. Brother, we live in a world where there's a tremendous amount of need.
It is incredible to think of our brethren there in Malawi. Rather, Tim Roach tells us about them down there that sometimes they can eat a meal maybe once every two days or maybe every three days.
We have so much.
To eat, think about it, do something about it. You say, well, I don't know how to do it. Ask the Lord to show you how to do it. There's a lot of ways you can be involved in giving.
Understand in China the need for Bibles is a tremendous need. They cannot keep up with all those that are coming to faith in the Lord Jesus giving them Bibles.
Recently my brother Dean Rule was in China and he visited a group of Christians in the city of Shanghai. Very interesting to hear his report of his visit. I didn't hear a whole lot but.
There are ways he goes in because he is a flower consultant and he has business in China and he has a business visa and he has to be careful how much he takes in unless he loses business visa. But at least he's going in and he's taking something in. But isn't there some way you can be involved in giving? It's not only Chinese, all over the world there is.
Need dear brethren, there in Africa and the need that there is in those places. Well brethren, these are just a few thoughts that I wanted to present to you and I get a picture of what God has done for us in the person of the Lord Jesus.
The only reasonable response is to offer our bodies a living sacrifice.
May the Lord give us to be exercised as well in the offering of the sacrifice of praise and worship to God, and also of the sacrifice of doing good and communicating.
Will just end in prayer. Father, thanks so much for Thy precious word. How it searches us. We pray for blessing Father these dear young people. Help them to live life in a way that they will not repent at the end of their lives for having lived for themselves.
We pray, Father, and give thanks now as we wait on Thee for the rest of the afternoon in the name.
Of our Lord Jesus, Amen.
Romans 8
Heavenly Wisdom
Gospel—Mark Rogers
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.
Welcome to the Gospel meeting.
I have a special burden on my heart.
And the burden on my heart is going to be for those that probably are about half the audience in here.
The burden on my heart is for those that are about 35 years old and younger.
So those of you that are going to be.
50 and older.
So what I may say, I'm trying to relate to a special, unique situation I see the young people are faced with today.
We sit.
Those that are 50 and older we may remember.
Things that we used to do that we no longer do.
Things like.
Communicate by writing a letter and putting it in the postal box.
Sending it off to somebody.
And that somebody then turns around and you may receive apply in 10 to 14 days. Things have changed.
Or you'd ring up somebody on the phone.
And you were not able to get them at home, but there was number voicemail in those days.
And you'd have to see to see if there would be a way for them to reach you because you're calling their home. You couldn't reach them. And what we know is cell phones.
And then, umm, he wanted something to learn about something. Why you would?
Go to your Botanic encyclopedia set that would you might have there in your library in your home and you look up the topic. It may be old information, but it was it was information that was prevalent hopefully to your with your topic. Or you go down to the library and look through something called the Dewey Decimal system of a car catalog looking for books that may pertain to your topic.
Things have changed.
It was about 35 years ago here, in this next neighboring city that has changed the world, there's a company.
Founded headquartered around 1985 by the name of Microsoft, It struck me even just the other two nights ago Thursday evening.
As we left and headed down the road down to the hotel, the entire St. has some of their headquarters here. Just a little while. He's over here in Redmond, just a couple blocks away.
They started something that has revolutionized the world and namely the operating system. It was the ability to take, instead of looking at a flashing green dot on your computer screen to communicate with the computer, you now had an operating system on which you were able to communicate with your computer. Windows 95 being, I think, one of the earlier versions.
And it revolutionized the world to the point where now today a lot of PCs have some kind of operating system. This has changed the way we have communicated with the PC.
When we head down the coast down to the Bay Area, down here back in 2000 and 5:00-ish or so, there was a company that came out of nowhere. Other companies have preceded it that had something called a search engine, and a search engine had the ability to go out there. I happened to be in my past career working with companies like Lycos and Excite. Those are early search engines.
That would allow you to aggregate information from around the world and be able to put it on your screen in a beautiful fashion. AOL be an early one as well. Google came out and now everything is everything is a Google. The information is now gathered together.
Into one platform and you'd like to be on the front page if you can, of a search engine.
And then in the mid 2000s, another phenomenon came up and the phenomenon is has to do with social media and social media like Facebook and YouTube and LinkedIn and.
Myspace and Twitter etcetera all allowed us to all connect with one another around the world in fact.
We're connected in this meeting hall this afternoon. There were those that had their phones out and they were indeed connected with somebody else somewhere else.
So we've been able to be connected one to another.
Coming back up to Seattle, we now have another phenomenon happening.
And the phenomenon was accompanied by the name of Amazon. What has changed the way we consume information in written format and other things. And now shopping is going on as well, where now we're able to get it in two days to our home. Some are saying one day it has totally changed the way.
00:05:15
We now consume our products.
Those that are 35 and younger may see this as a normal thing. Those that are older will say this is massive change that has taken place.
And This is why I have a burden, because not all is what it seems to be.
Technology is not a bad thing, and technology is not a good thing.
Today or over the weekend, why there were those that would be coming up and they had maps and that their GPS and their car might have been communicating with them. There was technology at work. There was a surgery, the surgeries that are being done up at Seattle Children's Hospital. We have been the benefactor of Seattle Children's Hospital that the technology in these hospitals is phenomenal. And now even more recently, now even Brother Anstey's books are going up on Kindle version on Amazon and now worldwide they're able to see.
Ministry of Profound truth Worldwide.
But at the same time, man has taken technology and built a Kingdom out of it.
And this Kingdom has allowed to be able to gather information together.
Connect people together and entertain people.
And this is a Kingdom that I'm warning you about. And I'd like to open the scriptures and look at these things because the youth, and I don't want to say so much youth, because I'm talking to the 20 something year olds and the 30 something year olds and the teenagers, that there is something that is sitting there that is ployed out to you that you must be warned of.
You know, we have achieved data. We have ones and zeros, ones and zeros. That's the element of part of computers. We have data at the very form. We've consumed the data and put it into search engines and then we put that together and we've now got knowledge, but we're lacking wisdom.
Wisdom is lacking. That's why there are stories and it's coming prevalent of those that are being sucked into things, whether it be some kind of obsession with their with their.
A smoking that we've got marijuana now going on here in this in this particular state. We got suicide rates we've talked about we've prayed for a suicide attempted suicide in our assembly here a couple nights ago of someone that's distant but still it touches our hearts to see lives younger lives.
That have no hope.
They don't have the heavenly wisdom from above.
And so that is why we may be connected, we may have lots of friends on social media, but we are alone.
And without friends. And So what I'd like to speak about tonight is the heavenly wisdom from above that can Pierce down through the barrier of the Kingdom that man has set up. Because God has a special message. So we asked for his help.
Our Father, our God, we thank Thee for this time that we have before us here, and we earnestly plead for the Scriptures as we open up the Scriptures to let the Scriptures flow through. Let the Holy Spirit direct and guide and teach and convict us. We pray for the young people in this room, our Father, our God.
And we pray for the delusion, the Kingdom that has been set up by man here, and we pray that thy wisdom come through. Father, we ask us, in the name of the Lord Jesus, Amen.
I'd like to open up and I'm going to read out the new translation in Proverbs 8.
Proverbs 8.
This is the crux of what is going on.
Death, not wisdom, cry.
And understanding give forth her voice on the top of high places, by the way, at the cross path she taketh her stand besides the gates at the entry of the city. At the coming of the door she crieth aloud unto you Man I call, and my voice is to the sons of men a man. Oh, you simple understand prudence, and you foolish.
Understand sense.
Here for I will speak excellent things.
00:10:01
And the opening of my lips shall be right things. Verse 8. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness. There is nothing torturous or perverse in them. They are all plain to them that understandeth, and write to them that find knowledge.
Receive my instruction and not and knowledge.
Rather than choice, gold for wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things that may be desired are not equal to it.
Wisdom is crying in Proverbs 8 and we don't have time to look at it. But if you want to see what else is being perpetuated, look at Proverbs 7. The other woman that's sitting in Proverbs 7 and she is luring in the young men.
And there's plenty of young men and young women that are being lured in.
And I'm not necessarily talking sexual in nature as may portray in the chapter. There are other things that are luring in.
But wisdom is crying out.
And man has an entire Kingdom of because I worked in the in the technology industry some 18 years ago and I saw first hand how engineers could say, and it came down if you can think it, you can do it. And engineers are put on the team and they could build what they need to be built.
And so now you have the richest two men in the world.
Sitting right here on these two suits, two companies wanting to do things like put rockets into space and live in space. It's because they have built their Kingdom and their Kingdom has come down to the youth of this generation. So tonight I'd like to look at three instances where God, and there's many others, but I'm only going to focus in on three.
Where God is coming down and coming right down to some souls.
And tonight, perhaps, you have been.
Maybe the fog, the delusion of technology has consumed you in such a way that you have not heard wisdom cry.
The first one I'd like to look at is in the Book of Jonah.
The book of Jonah. We're only going to read the essence of the third chapter.
For those that may not be aware, Jonah was given a specific message to a particular city of that day that actually was a major city and it was actually, we have cities like this in this country where commerce is coming and going. We have the San Francisco Bay Area, we have the Seattle area, we have these areas where commerce is coming and going and their major traffic centers and Nineveh was one of those.
And so Jonah was given the opportunity, was given the mandate by God, who's looking down at the city and his heart goes out to them. So we look at Jonah chapter 3. And the word of the Lord came into Jonah the second time saying, arise going to Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee. So Jonah rose and went into Nineveh according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days journey.
And Jonah began to.
Enter into the city a day's journey. And he cried and said, Yet 40 days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. So the people of Nineveh believe God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them, even to the least of them. For the word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
And he caused it to be proclaimed, and published it through Nineveh, by the decree of the king. And his noble saying, Let neither man nor beast heard, nor flocked taste anything, Let them not feed nor drink water.
But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God. Yeah, let them turn on everyone from his evil way and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from His fierce anger that we perish not?
And God saw their works, and they turn from their evil way, and God repented of the evil, and he had not that he had said that he would not would do unto them.
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And he did it not well. Here we have these people of Nineveh. It's, it says it's three days journey. That's roughly 60 miles. I don't know if it's 60 miles around. It's a tremendously large city. And we've, we're going to look at one more verse here at the end of the chapter where we see the the population. But the point of it is these people were doing their own thing.
And today out here, as I sat in, I drove up and down this Blvd. out here and looked out across the Microsoft people again. I used to be there. I could see it is these people. We're all doing our own thing.
And God came through that day and he had a man crying out one verse of wisdom and all he says. He says, yeah, 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
Wisdom was crying out in the city that day and it came down to the word came up to the king, and the king said may we be before God.
And so they took down all the he took his robe off, he got sat in dust and ashes, and he commanded everybody else and the animals to all do the same, because of the fear of the holy righteous God and the judgment that might fall in that city.
And today?
God's wrath is still there. It's still abated for the time being because of the person of the work of the Lord Jesus, which we're going to read about in a moment. These folks did not have that privilege. They had the wrath of God before them, and that's all they had before them. And they took counsel and they came before themselves and God obeyed. It abated his fierce anger. Now, history does tell us that the city did fall.
No doubt they probably turned back to their ways, but God is holy and God is righteous and he cannot put up with the wickedness.
That he looks down upon Shall we turn over the last verse of the book. Now he's talking to he's talking to Jonah here God is and I just wanted to I just wanted to look at the last verse and should not I spare Nineveh, that great city wherein are more than six score thousand persons that cannot discern.
Between their right hand and their left hand, and also much cattle.
There we see the heart of God, He looks down, he looks upon this massive city and they're all sitting in dust and ashes and God is, is abating and, and, and Jonah of course is, is not happy about the situation. You can read about on their own. But I see there that God says there's 120,000 people that can't tell their left hand from the right hand, presumably children. And that's why I did it. I did not judge the city because of those folks and the repentance that went on.
And today we have a situation where there are those that cannot tell which bathroom they're going in.
God still loves them.
We have situations where people I never would say and we, they can't tell the blue sky is blue, the sky is green and they argue with you, the sky is red. But God still loves them. He loves every single soul.
And there is a salvation. There is salvation that's offered to every single soul.
I thought that was interesting, where God looks down the very last verse of the book that Jonah writes. Here we're assuming Jonah writes it.
That God abated because of these repentance and these 120,000 souls and their cattle.
And we look around and we see things are strange.
But God still loves.
Every soul.
Shall we turn to the next next story and let's look over into the book or the Gospel of John?
John, we're looking to look at.
A woman here that's not named in the 4th chapter. John chapter 4.
This has been a very precious meditation for myself and many others, no doubt.
Verse one, the Lord Jesus, if you get the context, he's on his earthly ministry, He's walking the earth, He's got one place to go, He's got this point to go and he has to go to that point. And it says in verse three, he left Judea and departed again into Galilee. Verse four, and he must needs go through Samaria. You know the way it worked in those days, why Samaria sat there And if he's going from point A to point BA, good Jew would totally skirt the whole region to not.
Himself or herself or whatever because of the Samaritans. But it says in this verse that he must needs go through Samaria.
Then he cometh to a city of Samaria, which is called Sycar, nearer to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
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Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus in the well. And it's about the 6th hour. About noon there cometh the woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give me to drink. Verse 9. Then set the woman of Samaria unto him. How is it thou, being a Jew, asked us, Drink of me, which I'm a woman of Samaria, For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
Jesus answered and said to her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that thou saith, that he give me to drink, thou would have asked him, and he would have given the living water.
Wisdom comes right into Samaria and the person of the Lord Jesus Christ right out of heaven, and he goes to find this woman.
He must needs go through Samaria.
And today, he's finding ways to reach your heart.
There are hearts being reached on the social media platforms.
But if you're in this room or you're listening to the recordings, time is of the essence and he's still seeking your heart. He must reach you. And he's talking a heavenly language she doesn't understand. She says, How can you give me this living water if you don't have nothing to draw with?
Isn't that wisdom? Read for yourself the 1St chapter of Proverbs. Read the fact that the wise will go and understand an enigma.
They will understand these things God is displaying these things, but man has clouded it I'm the the fog is set in and the Lord Jesus wants to come through and Pierce through it and he's piercing through her veil. Let's read on with her veil here that she has she says verse 12. Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which give us the well and drink thereof himself and his children his cattle. Jesus answers said to her, whosoever drink of this water shall thirst again, but.
Drinking For the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be unto him a well of water spring up into everlasting life. Isn't that beautiful? He's weary, he's tired, he's sitting on the well, and now he's Speaking of everlasting life, water that you can never thirst. And you know, today there are those that are sitting here with their technology in their hands, and they are thirsty.
It's not providing what they're looking for.
It's because it's not bringing in the wisdom, the true heavenly wisdom. And here we have the Lord Jesus is sitting there face to face with her. She's thinking earthly things. He's thinking heavenly things for her. And there is also the heavenly thoughts for you. If you haven't accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior, there are as a heavenly purpose for you.
Verse Verse 16 Verse 15 The woman said unto him, Sir, give me this water that I thirst not, neither come hit her to draw. Jesus said unto her, Go call thy husband, and come hit her.
The woman answered and said I have no husband Jesus under her the house well said I have no husband for thou hast had five husbands and he whom thou hast is not thy husband and thou sets out truly you know this woman apparently wasn't on it was was honest to him. The Lord saw right through her and the problem is is she hadn't had the living water she was seeking and there are those today that are seeking and are seeking they're seeking that's why they're taking up with.
All these habits that are being formed and legalized now, it's because the soul is not satisfied. The living water is not being obtained. They're not reaching out for the living water.
And that's why all these things are coming out of nowhere. It's because the souls are thirsty and they refuse to take of the water that this man, the Lord Jesus Christ, is offering to you tonight.
Sir, I proceed that thou art prophet. Verse 19 Our fathers worship in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Now there are many today that have preconceived notions as a how religion works.
And she had hers. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain.
There are those today that will say.
My dad was a minister.
So and so. I know so and so. No, it doesn't work.
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God has a purpose for you, has a salvation plan for this woman here too, because he says.
He says, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. Ye worship. You know not what we know, what we worship for salvation of the Jews. Verse 23. But the word our cometh. And now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in.
And his truth the woman said to him, I know that the Messiah's cometh, which is called Christ. When he has come, he will tell us all things Jesus said into her eye, that speak unto thee and he.
There was the sunlight, you know, out there in Eastern Washington, where I live, we have fog that rolls down over the Yakima River. And when we dry it, when I drive away sometimes, why, it's all foggy.
But I get a little down the road and the sunlight is coming through. I'm only a mile or two down the road and now the sunlight is just coming through, beaming through. The fog was surrounding my house. And I have, I'm just, I can't see far. But as soon as I get down the road a little way, the sunlight's beaming in. And tonight that's the same way. There's a fog that is settled down in the youth.
Have pertained to the technology. Again, not bad or not good, but it's succumbing to the point where now their Kingdom has been built, infrastructure has been built, and the voice of God is having a hard time coming in. And I speak to my own soul as well.
This woman had preconceived notions.
And she did have a hope, and tonight, may it be that every soul in this room or in the recordings too, that would grab a hold of the Lord Jesus that provides living water.
Shall we turn to the third one? And this is going to be an Axe Chapter 9.
Acts Chapter 9.
Here we have another soul.
The first instance we talked about in Nineveh, the Lord Jesus had not come to this earth yet the message was clear. The 2nd instance we talked about with the woman at the well, the Lord Jesus was physically in front of her. Now let's look at the third situation here.
Chapter 9 of Acts.
And saw yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples, the Lord went into the high priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, that if you found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound in Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus, and suddenly they're shine round about him a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said.
Who art thou, Lord? The Lord said. I am Jesus, whom thou persecutors. You know, light struck down Paul, and we're going to take a peek at the 26th chapter where the other account is as well. Light struck Paul down in all his companions. He was in his own world, just like the folks of Nineveh were in their own world. The woman at the well that day was just just going out to get water at noon when no one else is going to go out there. She was doing her thing.
Saul was zealous for God.
But the Lord struck him down. Why are you persecuting me?
And and it's striking to see.
That you can be zealous for God. There are those that today are zealous for God.
But they do not know his Son the Lord Jesus Christ who we've spoken about today that hung on that cross and saw maybe would have seen this. We know he was there at Stevens death, which is a little wise before, but nonetheless there was an event that happened slightly before this. We're reading here in Acts 9 where the very Son of God and Son of man was lifted up on the cross.
Hung between those two thieves.
And man could do everything that he could do to him, and then God did everything he had to do to him.
And Saul still wanted to take something out and he was going after these ones, any ones that would call themselves Christians or it says later on in the way.
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And Christ, a risen Savior, now sitting on the right hand of glory, strikes him down on the road to Damascus. What does it take? What does it take to get through all of the technology bubble that we deal with today?
How does God get through to the souls, even your soul and my soul, when we're connected all the time? Now I just want to read here. Look it down here in verse verse 8. And Saul arose from the earth, and when his eyes were open, he saw no man, and they laid him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat.
Nor drink.
You know, this morning we were in the morning meeting, we were Speaking of have.
Life infused.
And Paul saw at this time is having life infused in him, and he is blinded from everybody else for three days and three nights. Have you, dear soul, had an alone time with Christ with regards to your soul?
Because it's necessary now in this situation. Saul took three days and three nights. He didn't eat anything. He didn't drink anything and he was alone for three days and three nights. That's what God was doing to him.
But have you had that opportunity? Has your smartphone been turned off or your tablet been turned off? Has the TV been turned off long enough to have it with God Himself and the Lord Jesus Christ, the risen Savior that's watching over you right now? Have you had that time with Him?
Because that's what the technology is doing today. It's making things happen so fast.
You and I get frustrated when things are happening slow.
But meditation alone with him takes time.
Three days and three nights.
And come on down to verse 17, the latter part of his salvation says here in verse 17. And Ananias went his way, He was put in the house and went, entered the house, and putting the hands on him, said, brother saw the Lord, even Jesus that appeared unto thee in the way, as thou Camus hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And I want to reiterate what was said earlier today.
Do you see? Do you feel, do you appreciate?
The privilege of the third person of God had the Holy Spirit indwelling you if you are saved.
And if you're not saved.
You're missing out.
Here possible Saul at this time is filled with the Holy Spirit.
There's the ceiling of the Holy Spirit filled with Holy Spirit.
It's a privilege because Saul got his day rocked hard that day because he thought he was doing on something on his calendar and it totally changed on him.
And that's happening too for individuals. You may have some circumstance come up in your life where you think you're doing one thing and all of a sudden your calendar gets changed on you and you had nothing to say about it.
And I've said this before and I'll say it again, I don't know when your appointment is, when your last breath is on this earth, and neither do I.
It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this.
The judgment.
Paul had an appointment here and he didn't know it was on his calendar.
And you and I have appointments on our calendar too. We don't know when when they are. And we may have other appointments that you don't know what they are, a diagnosis, an accident, or whatever it is. I don't know. But God is watching down and he loves everyone and he's wanting to Pierce down through the fog, through the veil and touch your heart in such a way.
Shall we turn over to the 26th chapter?
Well, Paul recounts this account three different times in the book of Acts. This is the last one. Here we read the first one in Acts 9 and you can compare this with.
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The 22nd chapter, but I just want to fill out something that he he says in chapter 26 that he doesn't say in Chapter 9. And now I want to focus in for the few minutes that we have before us.
I want to focus in on individuals that have come to know the Lord Jesus as their Savior.
But don't find them necessarily Him as Lord.
And so here we have here in verse chapter 26. We'll just read it again here in verse 14. And when we had all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the ******. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? He said, I am Jesus whom thou persecuted, but rise and stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose to make the administer and a witness both of these things.
And of those things in which I will appear unto thee, delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them, which are sanctified by faith. That is in me.
Here in this portion, here we get Paul getting or Saul rather as he's known this time still he gets a Full disclosure or partial disclosure of his itinerary, if you will, on what he's going to do.
And again, as I speak to the young people, 30 year olds something's, the 20 something year olds something's and the teenagers particularly.
Is if you haven't taken the Lord Jesus as your Savior, not tonight's the night to do that.
You know, because we're not ever, we're not ever given tomorrow.
And he loves you, the Lord Jesus died for you. And if you have done that.
Perhaps.
You haven't known what your purpose is.
Because there are a lot that make a profession for Christ and seem to flounder around as to what to do.
And I can tell you the technology is pervasive. I go back to the technology, not bad, not good, but it sucks you in. The gaming is incredible amongst the men of the males today.
There are boys not becoming men of God.
Daniel I'm not going to turn to it. Daniel One speaks of young men that are captivated by a conqueror called Nebuchadnezzar, and he gives them a new language, a new dress code, a new diet, a new God.
But Daniel and his friends? Not all of them.
Are able to circumvent that because the scripture says and Daniel purposed in his heart. So while Daniel took on the dress that was given to him.
When Daniel was following the orders, the king gave him the purpose he gave him.
He chose not to eat what the king was giving him.
And the world is giving you food.
That is detrimental for your calling.
And of course later on you can read.
That they're the three. The three young boys were given a God to worship as well.
The God of this world is so subtle. You know, I go back to to Genesis and early Genesis, right? Satan comes rolling into the garden that day and he tells Eve ye shall be as gods. Now the King James says gods the the Darby translation you should be as God capital G.
Whatever it is, it's the presence of not having to deal with anybody else.
And today we have a whole entire generation coming along that is in no need of God the Creator. Going back to Romans, we've taken up different parts of Romans, but we get back to the first chapter. In the second chapter. We have no need to look at creation and look at the Creator in the first chapter. And then we can subvert our conscience with that second man by getting entertained 24 hours a day, seven days a week with our technology.
So the conscience and the creation are being subdued. Those are the two witnesses you see in early in early Romans.
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Technology is not good and it's not bad.
But man has been given from the early days. He's been given that premise. Ye shall be as God.
And man sucks it up and becomes and builds his own Kingdom.
So it goes back to the early Genesis where God's walking through the cool of the garden. He says, Adam, where art thou? Adam is hiding behind leaves. That's his Kingdom. He built something there to cover himself and not to deal with God. God is still seeking souls today.
Adam, where art thou?
We read about Nineveh, we read about one man running, walking through the city, a day's journey, crying, a very simple message of repentance or God will destroy and the whole city of possibly a million people. We know there's 120,000 people that can't tell their left hand for the right hand. They are falling their face in dust and ashes. God seeks repentance for your sins.
We read about the woman.
Who sees the Lord Jesus at that? Well, didn't know who he was. She's in her world and he's offering her living water.
Living water? Do we need living water today?
Living water that you'll never thirst again.
And then we just read about Saul being struck down and given a new purpose, and my he had to go through what God had given him.
But God struck him down for a purpose. And what does God have to do to reach your soul? If you haven't accepted and fell before the Lord Jesus yourself and spent some time alone on on the question of your sins, what is he going to have to do?
You know the wisdom we talked about in Proverbs 8.
I just want to focus in on some wisdom beams that would strike through down through the fog. Peter says be holy.
Or I am holy. It's a high standard. God says be holy for I am holy. But it gives the that we read earlier in Romans 3, earlier in the last couple meetings where it says for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It would be helpless if we stop there.
But the Lord Jesus walks this scene, and he says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believed in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. He wants to take something away from you and give you something.
He wants to take away your perishing and give you eternal life.
And the rich men of this community and others up and down the West Coast here have tried to figure out how to embalm their bodies so that there can be resurrected some other day with advanced technology. They, too, are looking for some kind of everlasting life.
But the soul is never dying. That's what they fail to see. The soul is never dying. And while they may put their body in a refrigerator and hope that technology can revive them someday, it's not going to happen. The soul is gone.
Come unto me, all ye that labor, and our heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
You know, and I know there's many from here from outside of Washington state.
Our little town of 5000 was one of the first to put on the map.
A shop that sells marijuana.
We have now seen the effects.
Of bringing something in, of man saying I don't want to deal with my conscience and they put something there to alleviate the conscience for the time being and we're now dealing the effects of it in society.
Has been said to me the cat is out of the bag and you can't put the cat back in.
And so to try to keep your soul from going down the path of whatever it may be that's offering, if you don't have eternal life, if you don't have that assurance, if you don't have that living water, tonight's the night. I am the resurrection and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.
I am come that you may have life.
And that she may have life more abundantly? Is that not what people are looking for? Truly, at the end of the day, is life more abundant? The thrill seeking is incredible today.
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You know how the Romans fell, You look at Gibbons book on how Rome fell and then we are following the same exact path as how Rome fell. And the increased need for entertainment was one of those principles.
People are looking for life and they're looking for life abundantly, but they're doing it in the wrong manner because they're not seen the one that gives the life abundantly.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If any man opens the door.
I will come in unto him, and Sup with him, and he with me.
That verse has two applications. It's oftentimes given in the gospel, as I will give it right now, to plead with you that you can only open the door and let him come in because he wants to Sup with you.
The other application is is in the context in which it's written in Revelation is that it's to the believers asking to have him come in and Sup with you.
So I asked my fellow believers in the room that may have taken the Lord Jesus as their Savior at one time. Maybe it's been talked about today as well. Do we call him Lord? Do we invite him in and Sup with him and he with me?
So that's what's on my heart tonight.
Is the Kingdom of man that has been built over the last 35 years and it's coming at us in all different facets.
And the Word of God is still crying out in various forms. And that's why a gospel meeting like this is held. And that's why there's YouTube streaming going on, and that's why there's printed material going up on Amazon and Kindle and blogs and stuff like that. The Word of God is still crying out there. God would still be reaching out to sinners. And that's why we have a gospel meeting tonight. And that's why there's a burden for souls in this room.
That still haven't accepted the Lord Jesus as their savior.
And the thought of having a soul.
Escape this earth whether it be going out and having a car accident or going in the rapture happens and that souls left here is beyond a comprehension to see how much the Lord Jesus loves you as that soul and you still say no.
Because he gave everything. It was beautifully put forth here. The last day or two. It's beautifully put forth and how much he actually gave for your soul.
So with that, I'd like to close.
And ask the Lord Jesus.
To help convict souls.
Because it's a travesty what we have going on today, the carelessness that's going on with the Kingdom that's been built, that is entrapping people today.
Let's commend ourselves in prayer, Father and our God.
We commend this meeting, your loving hands tonight and our blessed Lord Jesus. Lord Jesus, we can see these beautiful portions here before us. To see this woman at the well, to see Saul of Tarsus being struck down. And yet, Lord Jesus, to see every soul in this room and the sound of those recordings to know. Lord Jesus, let us love them and care for them and died for them. We pray for each and every soul.
And so we just.
Wrap this meeting up tenderly into thy care, our Father and our God, asking this in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Disappointment
Talk—Tim Blake
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Let's look to the Lord for help.
Our God no Father.
We thank you for thy Son, the Lord Jesus.
And truly we can say Hallelujah, what a Savior. And so we just pray for each one in this room here this evening. I don't know, it's the heart. I don't know how to touch each heart. We just pray that our hearts will be drawn to this blessed Savior that is ours. And so we just cast ourselves upon them and pray for our help.
And encouragement, Thank you and the Lord Jesus precious means, Amen.
We could turn to Matthew.
Chapter 13.
Matthew, Chapter 13.
Been asked to keep it a little short so.
I have to kind of pick and choose what I want to share.
Customer would have.
Matthew 13.
Verse 52.
Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed into the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a man, that is a householder which bringeth forth out of his treasure.
Things new and old.
Well, you can look at this first and we can.
Really see that the Lord?
As it were to be that householder.
And without, he's got treasures.
Possesses and when he came, you not only helped us and helped those in Israel to understand that which was old, the Old Testament.
But he also had.
So much that he wanted to share. That was new.
And we know they weren't able really to take it in because they weren't dwelt with the Spirit of God.
And so you see how the Lord expounded things that were new and old.
But I also like to think of each one of us.
In your life, householders.
And we all possess treasures.
Treasures that we've been given by the Lord.
Things that we've enjoyed in our lives that are very valuable.
And so I'd like to.
Give you something that's new.
What I mean by new, it's fresh with me.
Let the Lord give me.
But then at the end, I'd like to share something that's old that I got when I was about 19 years old, and I treasure it to this day. And so there are things in your life as you get older, the treasures increase. We trust if you're walking with the Lord, your treasures are going to increase and you'll be able to share one with another these treasures that are dear to you.
What might be dear to me may not be as dear to you, but it depends on what the Lord passes us through.
To give us these treasures and so we could turn to.
2nd Corinthians.
Chapter One.
2nd Corinthians, chapter one.
It was about a week ago.
My brother Mark called me.
And asked me I could share something with the young people.
I didn't know if I could.
You know, I want to give something.
I would like to give something not just old, that's that can be very precious, something that I enjoyed years ago maybe or a year ago, but I wanted to give something that was fresh, something that the Lord has given me.
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But at this time.
I was struggling with a disappointment in my life.
And I wondered the Lord.
I really did. I told them I would have to pray about it. The Lord could give me something fresh during this time of the disappointment in my life.
And he did.
The ones. Every single one in this room.
Struggled with disappointments from the younger.
What are we doing?
Where do we find hope?
How do we get out of that disappointment?
Can we get out of a disappointment?
And so I thought of these verses in First Corinthians, Second Corinthians, chapter one.
Verse 3.
Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ the Father have mercies.
And the God of all comfort.
I met him.
All of us, I trust, have met a God of ours.
The Father of all mercies, the God of all country.
Verse four. Who comforted us in all our tribulation, in all our tribulations?
That we may be able to comfort them which are in trouble by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted, God.
I'm sure each one of here there could be some disappointments that you're struggling with right now.
And I'd like to.
Share with you.
How he comforted me.
You notice it says.
The end of verse three it says the God of.
He is the God of Hawker.
No true comfort comes.
Apart from him.
He is the God of all comfortable.
True comfort comes from God.
We're passing through a period that is regulated by time. We call it time.
And the difficulty of going through this period of time.
Is that things change.
Things are temporal.
Disappointments come.
And so how does the Lord, how can he comfort us in a time we're passing through time We can't escape that, as it were. How does he comfort us?
When things are constantly changing, disappointments come day by day. The disappointment might last for two hours and it might last for two years.
How do we find country?
True comfort.
Comes.
By giving us that which is eternal.
I don't know if I can make it clear.
Everything here is temporal.
The only true security we have in this life is that which is eternal.
He wants us, He weans us from those things that are temporal.
That we might lay hold on that which is eternal.
And who is that eternal 1?
It's the Lord itself.
In Hebrews.
It says Jesus Christ.
The same.
Yesterday.
Today.
Forever.
It also says.
I worked the same since Holmes.
Malachi says he changes Mark.
That's the only place he removes us, as it were, from time.
00:10:03
And places this.
It gives us that which is the guitar, that which changes not.
That's our true comment.
That's our only true country. We're not going to find it.
No, I.
The Lord gave me.
What he gave me, I will forever treasure.
You know.
At night.
Went to bed exhausted, tired.
And I woke at 1:00 in the morning.
And.
I pray the Lord that He put me back to sleep.
Because that disappointment came pretty heavy on you.
And I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to deal with it.
I just wanted to go back to sleep.
Well, I do.
At 3:30 in the morning.
You know, I think of Jacob.
When did the Lord wrestle with you?
It's at night.
Have we ever wrestled?
What's the Lord?
The disappointment that's happened.
He's the one to go to.
And the Lord won.
But you know what I learned is disappointment.
Disappointments.
Are his divine appointments.
Disappointments.
Are his divine targets.
And it can be a very special time.
Nebuchadnezzar could say none can stay his hand.
And so if we can take it from his hand and realize.
But these disappointments that come into life.
Are his divine.
He wants to meet with each one of us in our disappointment.
And so.
I started and that's why it's so good when you're young to take up with the scriptures, read the scriptures, know the scriptures.
And there might be times where you can't pick up the Word of God and you can go back to things that you've enjoyed in the past.
And they can be a refreshment to you.
And so I thought of those in scripture.
Who had disappointments?
I almost want to say, do you know of anyone in scripture that didn't have disappointment?
We could turn to 1St Kings.
Chapter 19.
First Kings 19. I don't have time to go through it at all. I just want to read the first part. I think we should all know the story very well, but this man had a great disappointment in life.
And we see, we'll see how he tried to overcome that disappointment.
It was a failure in his life.
But I find very interesting is I don't think there was anyone else that knew about his disappointment.
It was between him and her.
First Kings, chapter 19.
And they have told Jezebel all, all that Elijah had done, and with all how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a message her unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose and went for his life.
00:15:01
And came to Beersheba, which belonged to Judah.
Left a servant there, but he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree. And he requested for himself that he might die, and said.
It is enough.
Oh Lord, is he left now? Oh Lord, take away my life, for I'm not better.
And my father.
There have been a great victory. The Lord had used Elijah and a great victory.
In this land of Israel.
Over.
And it was an outward show, you might say.
What the great, the great work the Lord is doing?
But then we see Elijah. It seems he thought that there was going to be a great, as it were, a great revival in the land. There was the work the Lord was doing a mighty work.
Seems as what we'd like to expect.
He was disappointed.
Wasn't the case.
Jezebel wanted to take his life here. It seemed his life was going to end. Here was just the beginning of this great work of God.
And its life is going to be taken by this woman he fought.
What did he do? What did he do in the time of disappointment?
Did you seek the Lord?
You seek the Lord time of disappointment.
You cry out to the Lord.
Give you what's needed to go through it.
You may not seem fit to see fit to deliver us.
You like to agree, and he ran.
Says he journeyed for 40 days.
We're, as far as you go, the other end of the land of Israel.
He was running away from the situation.
You can't run away from the situation.
Because it's his divine appointment.
He is the one that allowed that disappointment in your life.
Are you going to take it from his hand? Are you going to laugh lightly? There's a great man of God.
Maybe you're here, but in heart you're a.
You're headed the wrong way.
What is the Lord saying? Oh.
He says I will never leave you nor forsake me. Did he say OK Elijah, that's it?
I'm done with you. No intent.
But I think what Elijah needed.
He was in the midst of a lot of commotion, and the Lord was using him for that.
It was a great blessing to the people of Israel.
But you need to hear something.
And that's what we need to hear.
Later on in the chapter.
I just, I want to look at this and then move right on because we don't have time.
Verse 12.
And after the earthquake?
Of fire. Well, maybe I should be in verse 11.
And he said, Go for it, and stand upon them out before the Lord. And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and break in pieces the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, that the Lord was not in the fire.
Elijah knew something of these things and how the Lord had moved in these things.
But that's not how the Lord is going to speak to Him now.
But Elijah needed.
Wants to hear.
It's still small. We needed to get away from all the commotion.
And he might hear a still, small voice. So it is with each one of us. Sometimes we want to ground things out with whatever it might be. I don't have to mean it.
So that we don't, we just want to cover it up as it were and move on. Just I want to go to sleep. I don't want to deal with this.
00:20:06
But it's that very hour.
He wants to speak to you.
But it was a still small voice. Everything else needs to be shut off, everything else put away.
Yeah.
In your disappointment.
It's his appointment.
And Elijah?
He said Elijah.
I had called him twice.
What are you doing here?
Oh, Elijah was consuming himself.
And the failure of the people.
And not his own.
Well, the Lord told him to go back, and he was obedient to what the Lord said. He'd heard that still small voice and it moved him back into the path of obedience and faith.
He got what he needed.
And there's much more, but that's probably as far as I should go.
So he wants to hear. He wants us to hear. That's still a small voice, but we need to be quiet. We need to be in a state that we can hear.
Want to look at one more really quick? It's probably.
I appreciate it very much. And John, it's chapter 20.
Another disappointment, another one I thought of.
That night, that's 3 1/2 hours.
My treasure now.
Another one I thought of.
It's Mary Magdalene.
We know Mary Magdalene was the one in whom the Lord had cast out.
Seven demons.
The Lord healed that woman.
And she was attached to him.
But here comes a time of incredible disappointment. For for all those who had their trust and followed him, disappointment was great.
What did Mary do?
In this great time of disappointment.
Everybody else went to their own homes. They're just.
What were they supposed to do? What did Mary do?
What did Mary do? That's what we need to do.
What made you?
Verse 11. Chapter 20. Verse 11.
But Mary stood without at the sepulchre, weeping.
And as she went, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, and seized 2 angels and white sitting in one at the head and the other at the feet. Or the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, Why we this thou?
She sat under them.
Because they have taken away my Lord.
And I know now.
Where they have to leave him.
She valued his dead body.
He's alive today. Do we value?
A living.
Lord and glory.
She valued his dead body. What did she want to do?
Verse 14.
And when she had thus said, she turned herself back and saw Jesus standing.
And knew not that it was Jesus.
This was a divine appointment, wasn't?
Jesus said unto her woman whitely pistol, Whom seekest thou?
Did You Know?
He's drawing that hard. He wants to drive her heart.
Who are we seeking after? What are we seeking?
Who seek us now?
What does she say? She's supposing him to be the gardener. Secondary, Sir, thou hast borne him hits. Tell me where thou hast slayed him.
And I will take them away.
You want to take.
That's how much she was attached to him.
Perfections.
He had won her action.
00:25:00
Has he won your affections?
He wants to win elections.
And it's often through disappointment.
If he wins our affections.
Doing this on.
And so there he is. He knew Mary was going to be there.
And he met her where she was.
She wasn't like Elijah or like the two emails. Were they disappointed? Yes, they were.
But he had a divine appointment with him. He met them where they were.
Verse 16.
Jesus said unto her name.
Mary.
Just like Elijah, he said he liked you.
What is Mary say?
She turned herself, and said unto him.
The bone, which is to say.
Massachusetts.
Because we've heard it said.
The bone I.
To say master of my heart's affection, that's what he wants.
That's what he got from Mary.
In her disappointment.
She found the one.
Who was the master of protections?
What are our affections drawn after?
Scripture tells us what the center affections are. It's nothing temporal.
Set your affections on things above.
Those things that are eternal, those things that are lasting, those things are going to last for all eternity. Everything here is going to be wiped away.
So I enjoyed that.
That these two.
Found they were disappointed.
And we have disappointments in life.
But the Lord met them where they were.
One may be headed off in a path not in accordance with the Lords will. The other one found herself wanted to be as close as she could be to the Lord.
And so that's something that I enjoyed the Lord gave me.
That was.
Helped me and helped to.
Relieve my disappointment.
But then something that was all came to me. I want to share that with you.
That has been a stay in my life.
Since I was your age.
I had a disappointment my life that lasted for five to six years.
And this is what kept me.
I was young, I didn't know much.
But this was something that.
As I thought of these other ones, this first came to me.
And I wept.
I treasure very highly in Psalms 18.
That's all I could do.
Is to quote this first over and over to myself.
And so it's something that I I continually have to go back to. I hadn't thought of this earlier as I was really in under this disappointment.
The Lord gave it to you.
If I rest.
Psalm 18.
And verse 30.
As for God.
His way.
Is perfect. The word of the Lord is tried. He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him.
We don't always know the way that he leaves us.
The dear ones you have to trust.
00:30:02
What does sex and you'll have blessing in your life.
As for God.
Let him lead you in the way.
And it'll be a great blessing, you know, I think of that.
At first.
In Psalms it says.
When passing through the valley of Baca.
It says. I think it might be in the Darbus translation. It says they make it. They make it.
Wellspring.
The Valley backers might say it's the Valley of Weeping, the Valley of Disappointment trial. It says they make it a wellspring. What does that mean?
I've enjoyed it in this way.
To dig well.
It takes a lot of strength. It takes exercise.
To dig a whale, it takes a lot of work to dig away.
But at the end.
There's repression.
There's water that will refresh you.
And so in the midst of a trial or difficulty.
If we're an exercise about it.
The Lord's going to bring in repression.
The Lord's going to refresh us.
And then it says.
Make it a, well, spring.
What I enjoyed with that is once you've dug that well, that water is there.
And all you have to do is go back and dip the water. There's no more exercise or as it were, strength. You don't have to re dig that well. It becomes, as it were, a spring to you. And you can always go back and dip from that well again.
And so the Lord causes disappointments and trials in her life.
And through those we might, as it work, dig a well.
And that leader in life?
Those things.
That we gleaned in the presence of the Lord.
We'll come back to us and refresh us.
When we.
This little verse has forgotten ways. Perfect is a spring to me. I don't need to read. Dig it as it were. It's there for me.
And so I just.
Wanted to share that with you.
But yes, we're going to have disappointments in this life.
But always remember.
That they are His divine appointments.
He wants to come and make himself known to you in a way you've maybe never known.
You can go through different ones in scripture.
And see where the Lord brought in disappointments, trials in their life.
And where the Lord looked and refreshed them, and brought them, drew him to himself.
And there was growth for each one. And so no doubt you've experienced disappointments, but we're left here.
Will continue to come because the Lord wants to meet with you.
Sometimes it's only through disappointments that he can get our attention.
Because it might just be a still small voice that you want.
He wants us, He wants himself to be master of our actions.
Let's think.
The gardener Father.
We just thank you for that. Tender mercies to us.
Thank you each one here it's very dear to be I don't know us which.
Each one here is passing through. What's the common if we're left here, Lord?
Thank you. They were able to meet each one in their circumstance and their disappointment.
And refresh them and give them that which is needed to sustain them to go on in the path of faith.
So we thank you, Lord.
Thank you. The disappointment stops alone in our lives.
You take them from my hand.
00:35:01
Sick like grace to go on.
In the path. Let's see.
So we just give you thanks, Lord Jesus, my precious name, Amen.
Lost, Broken, Helpless, Empty
Children—Jeff Lunden
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.
We can say the memory verse. Then I have a little story to tell you. So let's look to the Lord for His help first, OK? Our loving God and our Father. We thank you for these children that are here this morning to sit under the sound of the word of God. We thank you for your goodness that you want the children and adults too to come to you. We thank you for the good news of the gospel that goes out that calls children and men and women to come unto the Savior.
So we pray for help this morning as we open the word of God together, that there be a little something that we could glean from it and that we could understand.
And we pray for any that are here today that might not have taken the Lord Jesus as their savior, that they would not delay, but that they would come as soon as they possibly can. So we just pray for help now, and we pray in Jesus precious name. Amen.
Now, I suppose that you all learned the Sunday School verse that was in here.
And I think what we ought to do You didn't learn it. Well, let's let's How about if we just say it all together instead of everybody saying it individually then. And I'll lead it and then if I mess up then you can say the word. If I missed the word and we can all say it together. So I'll count to three and then we'll say it all together. It's let me say it first and then we'll all say it together. OK, then we can say we've all said the Sunday School first. It's if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Romans 10/9 OK 123.
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus.
And believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved, Romans 10/9 Good. So we all said it, and I think probably most of you already memorized it too.
I'd like to talk to you about a tell you a little story about a hunting trip that I went on. No animals got hurt and they never do when I go hunting.
But I met some guys who had four problems, and those 4 problems are problems that are the same for you and you and you and you for each one of us here.
That the Bible talks about those kinds of problems. And so I want to tell you the story.
I went hunting up on a place called Windy Point and the road up to Windy Point is a narrow Rd. that goes up a steep hill. It goes up across the hill and the hill is very steep like this. So when you go up Windy Point Rd. friends told me before, when you go up there, don't go in the snow because if you go in the snow, you'll probably slide off the road and fall right off the Cliff. You look on the drive on the passenger side, you look out the window and you can see the bottoms of trees, the trunks of trees, where they go in the ground.
You look off the left side. Sometimes you see the middle of the tree, sometimes you just see the top of the tree, and sometimes you see no tree at all. It just goes like that, and you see trees 2 miles away. It's just a Cliff. And when you go up this road, it's kind of steep and it's rocky, and sometimes the back wheels go and they start jumping over toward the side, and it makes you want to kind of sit in the middle of the car, as if that would help because it feels like the whole car is going to go right off the edge.
But you know, there's no choice when you go up that road, there's two tracks and you can't turn to the right or to the left and get into a problem. You have to go straight up that road. It reminds me about the narrow Rd. that we read about. There's that there's a Broadway and a narrow way, and that's the narrow way that goes right straight up. But when you get to the top of windy point, the road turns like this and you're on divide Ridge and it's a big, wide field.
And the road changes completely because there you can see that people first went one way and then probably people followed them, and then all the dirt got wore away and the rain washed the dirt out and the track got deeper and deeper and had big rocks in it. And pretty soon it was too rocky to go that way. So people went another way and that happened again and again. And pretty soon it looks like it looks like you took spaghetti and laid it out on the table, just lines going like this all over. And you can't. It's the Broadway. And everybody chooses their own way.
There's a narrow way and a Broadway, isn't there in the scripture. The Broadway is the way that everybody chooses. And that says, and the Scripture says that's the road to destruction. The narrow way is the way to lie. So anyway, I was going up this Broadway and it was very bumpy, lots of big rocks, and I was winding my way, going about as fast as you could go if you walked. And I thought to myself, I'm sure glad that my pickup has big tires and it sits up high off the ground.
00:05:09
So that the bottom of my truck isn't banging on the rocks. And about the time I thought that, I looked up way ahead of me where the road kind of disappeared into the trees and I saw a little Ford Focus coming out of the woods. That's a little car will load to the ground. And I thought, what in the world are those guys doing here? And they came toward me and they were doing the same thing I was doing, winding back and forth, trying to find the smoothest path. Sometimes I was on the left hand side of the road.
And they were on the right, and then they were going back and forth. We were going fast, we to crash into each other, but we were going really slow.
Finally those guys came up and they got next near me and I could see that the driver wanted to talk to me. He rolled down his window and he kept looking up and so when he got right next to me, we stopped. I rolled down my window and he said a funny thing. I thought he'd say hi or man sure is a bumpy road or seen any deer or anything like that.
You know what he said.
You got a pair of pliers, That's what he said. You got a pair of pliers?
Not this strange thing to say, but I thought, well, it must be a problem if he that's he didn't even say hi. He said you got a pair of pliers so I pulled off and he pulled off.
And I got out. I said, yeah, I got a I got a pair of pliers. You know what pliers are? You know what pliers. You don't know what pliers are. Let me show you pliers. Here's some pliers, and they're for squeezing stuff. Everybody know what pliers are.
Ed, your dad has some right.
Yeah, there's different kinds of pliers. This is the kind of pliers I had. So I got out and I before I even handed him my pliers, he said something else that must have been troubling him even more because he said.
This road comes out at White Past, doesn't it?
Well, you know, I measured it.
Just on the way over here this time and where that road comes out is 27.1 miles from White Pass.
I realized that man was lost. That's the first thing I want to talk about, about being lost.
He I said where do you come from? He said, well, I came from Yakima and he told me how he went on one road and then another. And then they went on some roads that weren't marked and then they went through a gravel pit and then they didn't know where they went and they finally ended up on this road and he thought they were near White Pass.
You know, there's two kinds of loss that I can think of. One is that you don't know where you are, and the other one is that you're not where you're supposed to be. And I think that's the loss that we find in the Bible. I asked about being lost the other day in our meeting, and Russell said he'd been lost. I want to tell you Russell's story. Is that OK if I tell your story? Because your dad kind of told me a little bit about it. It happened. Well, was it a year ago today? It was at the end of conference, anyway.
And the Harkins were all getting ready to leave the motel and they had all their stuff packed up and they were just about ready to leave. And right before they left, Russell went into the bathroom. Smart thing to do because it's a long road, long drive. But while he was in there, the family all went and got in the in the elevator and just before the door closed him said I heard Russell cry out. He was Russell, said he was lost. But Russell knew where he was. He was in the apartment.
He was lost because he wasn't with the people he was supposed to be with.
And I think that's the kind of loss that we talk about it in the Bible. People who are lost are not with the person they're supposed Who is it that we're supposed to be with?
Which is that, huh?
Who is Who says? Who says Come unto me?
Jesus. Yeah, the Lord Jesus wants children and men and women to be with him. But why are we lost? You know that verse that says all we like sheep have gone astray. That's how we're lost. We all do our own thing. We go our own way. And when we do that, that's called sin. And then we can't really enjoy the company of the Lord Jesus, can we? We're lost. We're we're we're not supposed to be.
But you know, there's an answer to that, the Lord Jesus. It says the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. He wants you and me to be with him, to enjoy his company.
00:10:03
I would ask you, have you, have you come to the Lord Jesus? Have you recognized that you've gone your own way sometimes, that you're a Sinner and you need a savior and that you can talk to the Lord Jesus as your friend because he's put your sins away?
That's the first thing.
So let's get back to our story about the pliers. So I said, why do you need the pliers? He said. Well, he said while we were driving down our bumpy, the bumpy Rd. the hose broke on our engine. And so that we don't have any cooling. Well, you know, car engines have to be cooled off or they get hotter and hotter and hot. Pretty soon they just stop working all together. They freeze up or they heat up and stop. And he said, so the hose broke. I'll show you. I've got it right here. I've got an example. Here's like a hose.
And here, let's say this is the piece of the motor. The hose has to go in, goes like that, but it would leak right there and it would come back off if you didn't have a little clamp on it.
So here's the little clamp. There's a little clamp like that. That's what the guy needed. But to put it on, you have to squeeze these two little ears right here. It's kind of a funny clamp because when you squeeze like this, when you make this smaller, this gets bigger. So you squeeze it down hard and you put it over the pipe and then we let go. It gets littler and it holds it on to the other piece of pipe.
That's what he needed, was a pair of pliers to squeeze that.
This car was broken. I gave him the pliers. I gave him these pliers. I want to ask you, do you think these pliers can do this job?
Well, I want to show you something.
See how big those players are. Do you think those players can squeeze those little ears down?
Let me tell you, I tried. I tried in my shop a few times. You know what happened? Each time the pliers slipped off and the little clamp went off this way and off that way. And I was trying up here on my workbench. These guys had to work down inside the engine where they could never see and they had to work in the dark. You think that would work? Let's talk about broken.
Their car was broken, and that's the second thing I want to talk about. Have you ever had anything that's broken? Who here has had something that's broken?
These people I know, kids have things that are broken because dad's job is to go to work and make money to buy things and then come home and fix them.
I know that because I did that all my life. What? Who has that? Have you had something that's broken?
Go Kart. How did you know it was broken?
It didn't run. It didn't work. Was it that way? When you got it, was it broken? When you got it, was it broken?
When the guy first made it, No. Did he intend for it to be broken? No.
You know, I think broken is just like lost in some ways. If lost is not being where you're supposed to be, broken is having a go Kart that doesn't work the way it's supposed to work.
And, you know, not only do toys get broken, people get broken, too. I think if you look around this room, you can see lots of people that are broken. You can look at me and see I'm broken. I wasn't supposed to have glasses when I was born, but my eyes are kind of broken and they don't work very well anymore. And you can look around this room and see lots of people that are kind of broken a little bit, but, you know, broken inside, too. I want to read you a verse about that, a verse that tells us how we're supposed to be.
Eric James read this verse in his meeting. Let's turn to Revelation.
Revelation Chapter 4.
And verse 11.
This the last part of the verse it says.
For thou that's the Lord has created all things.
For thy pleasure they are and were created.
That's the way we're supposed to be, isn't that right? We're created for the to please God, to please the Lord. Do you think people always please the Lord?
You remember back in Noah's day when the Lord looked down from heaven.
To see the people in the earth. And you know what it says. He saw the people and they were wicked all the time.
Let's read the verse because it's pretty sad verse, but it's a pretty important verse. It tells us about broken.
00:15:08
In Genesis.
Genesis 6 and verse six. It repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him in his heart. Do you think God was pleased when he looked down and saw all those people? He was grieved in his heart. He was sorry. How about today when he looks down and he sees you and you and me? Is he pleased? Do you please, God every day in what you do?
You know, if we're broken, if we're in our sins and we're broken, we can't, Please.
Without faith, it's impossible to believe God. We have to take the Lord Jesus as our savior, otherwise we're broken. There's a verse in Ephesians that I like that gives me hope in Ephesians chapter.
Chapter One.
Verse 12 That says that we should be to the praise of His glory who first trusted in Christ. We can please God, we can be to the praise of His glory if we trust in the Lord Jesus. That's how we cannot be broken. So let me tell you about these guys with their pliers. There was three of them. These three guys, they were bear hunters, and I don't know how they were bear hunters because they had the little Ford Focus and three big guys in the little car. There was hardly room to put a squirrel in that car. I don't know what they'd have done if they shot a bear.
So they got out and they got their pliers than my pliers and they reached down in there and they were trying to fix their car and I didn't try to help them. I just kind of watched and they tried and tried. I could hear them grumbling and talking among themselves and climbing underneath and shining a little flashlight down there and trying to squeeze and I could tell from their conversation that it wasn't going very well.
And they their their faces got longer and longer and longer. They knew they.
It wasn't working. And finally they came to me and they said, you know what? Your pliers just we just can't do it. We can't fix our problem. And I think that's the third thing I would like to talk about. Helpless. They were helpless. You know, you and I are helpless too. We can't fix our problem. We can't be good enough to be be right with God, can we? We're sinners. That's what the Bible says for all of sin. And come short of the glory of God. We can't fix our problem. We can't.
Find ourselves. If we're lost, we can't find the right.
We have to trust in the Lord Jesus and his work on Calvary's cross. We have to trust in him. We can't fix our own problem. We are helpless. But you know, those guys realize that. They realize we can't fix it. And right about that time, you know what happened? One of us, one of them said, hey, I think I hear somebody coming.
And we all look back down the Broad Rd. that I'd come up where the roads went like spaghetti and we heard this noise and it sounded like wheels against rocks in the car engine. And pretty soon an old beat up pick up came up over the hill And I thought, oh boy, that guy can't fix his own pick up. How could he fix anybody else's. It was a old beat up, but you know that pick up came up and it came up and it stopped. It could have kept on going.
It came up and it stopped and a cowboy type guy got out of it. His name was Harry Cowboy Harry and his two dogs jumped out and he walked up to it and he saw the hood up so he knew there was a problem. He said what's the matter fellas? And so they explained about their hose clamp and that they weren't able to open up the hose clamp and fix their car.
He explained all that. They explained it to him. They said, can you help us? They were desperate. There was nobody else to help him. I couldn't help him there, couldn't help themselves.
They were helpless.
You said, Well let me just a minute, let me go check. So he went back to his old beat up pick up and he rummaged around in the back. Pretty soon you know what he came out with.
Some things like this.
Cody, you and Mike, I want to come up and see if you can do this hose clamp with this thing.
Cody and Michael are Cracker Jack mechanics on Junk So.
Right. Well, I'm sorry on good stuff here. See if you can put that hose clamp on here and fix this the way it should be. And, you know, you might probably have to help him hold it.
00:20:00
And don't let it go springing across the room. I don't want it hitting anybody.
You know.
Harry, the cowboy, he got in there. He didn't give them the pliers. He got in there and he started working himself and he started working and grunting and and pretty soon, you know, he said there, right, You got to put it on the hose first, fellas.
Maybe they're not Cracker Jack mechanics.
He said there, I think I fixed it. And they all went and he looked there you could. You saw the smiles on there. They were just, oh, he saved us, you know.
You know, kids, he was the only one who could have saved him.
And you know who is the only one who could save you and me? Jesus. Isn't that right? He's the only one who can save us.
That's what I said before. Jesus just exactly suits us sinners. Cowboy Harry was the only guy who could fix them. Nobody else could. And he got there just in the nick of time. And it says in due time Christ died for the ungodly. The Lord Jesus is the only one who can solve that problem. So they were all happy and they were about ready to leave. And I I guess I'd say that's the end of my story. But I told you there was four things right. And I've only talked about 3:00. I've talked about lost.
And broken and helpless.
What happens when you have a water pipe on a car and you're driving it for a while and it's broken? What happens to the water?
It all runs out.
They were empty too. They were empty.
Oh brother.
I did it by myself. There we go. Let's give him a round of applause. They fixed it.
That's what.
That's what Cowboy Harry did down inside the engine in probably half the time.
These guys were empty and one of them said, hey, it doesn't do us any good that we have the hose fixed. If we don't have any water we still can't drive. We don't have any power to go anywhere because the cars doesn't have any water to cool it off. It's empty. They looked at me and I said I got a little bit of water in my coffee cup and that's about it. So they looked at Cowboy Harry and you know what he said? He said my two dogs come with me all the time up here into the mountains.
Sometimes they drink the water up here and they get kind of sick. So I always bring some water. So he went and he got 2 gallons of water and he gave it to him and they poured it into their radiator and it filled it up. You know, that reminds me of the story of the Lord Jesus and the woman of the well, you know, she was getting water, but she was really thirsty. She was not satisfied with all that she had tried. And the Lord Jesus said, I'll give you living water that lasts forever. That's the spirit of God that we get when we.
Accept the Lord Jesus as our Savior, and that's what he has for you and me, too. He can fix us. He can take us to the right place. If we're lost. He can bring us to himself. That's where we're supposed to be. He can fix us so that we will give praise to God. That's what we're supposed to do. That's why we were made, was to give glory to God.
He can help us because we're helpless. And he is the verse that says the Lord is my helper, and he, You and I can say that too. And you know what? He can fill us with the Spirit of God. He can give us the Spirit of God so we can live lives that are pleasing to Him.
That's the end of my story about Harry and the three bear hunters. You've heard about Goldilocks and the three bears. This is a better story.
So let's pray, and then we'll get the Sunday School papers. Our loving God and our Father. We thank you for your goodness to us. We thank you for the Savior who can answer all of our problems, the One who is the solution to all of our problems. We thank you for His death at Calvary's Cross and that we can claim Him as our own. He can be our friend, and then we can walk with Him. We can be to the praise of His glory, our Father. We thank you for our Savior, for your goodness to us. We pray for your blessing on these children now.
We commend ourselves into your hands for the rest of the day we pray in Jesus name. Amen.
Just a minute. Let me get the Sunday school papers right over here.
I'll give them to your kids and then anybody else who wants 1, they're right here. I don't think we have enough hands to pass them all out, so.
00:25:06
And do I have somebody here who has a really nice loud reading voice and can read the verse for next time You can use the.
Come on, I know somebody here knows how to read.
You want to read it good.
I'll help you if there's any.
Little words that you can't read or big words here. You want the mic.
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Thank you.
The Living Word of God
Address—Jim Hyland
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Let's ask God's help and blessing our blessed God and Father how thankful we are for that rich resource we have in Christ as a result of that finished work accomplished so long ago for Thy glory and satisfaction. And we thank Thee that we have found in Him not only our salvation as to that which is ahead, our salvation from a lost eternity and for glory, but we thank Thee that we have provision all along the path of faith and service.
And that as thou didst provide for thy people of old our God, we thank thee that thou art providing for us every hour of every day. We thank thee for these happy meetings. We've enjoyed the privilege we had this morning. And now, as we have another opportunity to open thy living word, our God, we pray that what thou wilt feed us with food convenient for us, encourage us, strengthen us, admonish us, whatever the need might be. We pray that thou help us to stay alert and to take in what thou has to say for to us.
So we ask thy help and blessing owning we have no might of ourselves but our eyes are upon thee. We ask this with confidence and in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
By way of introduction to what is on my heart this afternoon, I'd like to turn first of all to Second Timothy Chapter 3.
Second Timothy, chapter 3, and we'll begin reading at verse 14.
But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned, and been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them and from and that from a child thou has known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.
That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Just hold your finger here. We're going to come right back. But I want to read a portion also in First Peter chapter one.
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 flesh is 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 by which the gospel is preached unto you.
I noticed on our schedule that this meeting is simply designated as an address, And I was thankful that it wasn't designated for any specific age group in this room. Because I trust that what's on my heart this afternoon will be relevant, relevant to every age group here, whether it's the boys and girls who know the Lord Jesus as their Savior, the young people, those who are raising families, those of us who are a little further along in the path of faith and service.
Because, you know, I used to sit as a boy and young person in meetings like this, and I used to look at the older brethren and think they've arrived. But I want to tell you, we haven't. Because the exhortations and the word of God that we speak of so often is needful for all of us. None of us can say that we have we're home free or we have arrived in the things of God. That takes continual exercise to live for God's glory. It takes.
Continual living in the presence of the Lord Jesus to walk the path of faith.
No matter what age we are here, but the wonderful thing is, brethren, that the resources that we have in Christ this afternoon are the same limitless supply that has always been available to the people of God. And I want to speak specifically of one of those resources this afternoon. And I know it's an age-old subject, but I want to impress this particularly on my own heart, and if it impresses you as well, then so be it. And that is the resource that we have.
The living word of God. We have a tremendous book in our hands and I want to look at some scriptures that bring before us how the word of God.
Is necessary in every aspect of our lives, no matter how young or how old we are. Because, you know, it's wonderful to come to meetings like this, to sit and hear the word of God ministered and preached. But you know, we're going, we're going to go home very soon if the Lord leaves us here. And there are many challenges and difficulties in the path of faith. And as you go on in your little assembly, in the family circle and as an individual, you're going to need like never before.
00:05:26
To have the word of God before you. This is one of the great resources that's going to preserve us in the path of faith and service. And I began here in Second Timothy, because here the apostle Paul, at the end of his life, is writing to Timothy. Timothy had heard the truth. He'd had it ministered to him. He'd had the Old Testament before him, through his grandmother and his mother, who were two godly Jewish women.
He had had the truth ministered to him from the apostle Paul, as it was given to Paul. And now Paul's desire was that Timothy would continue in the things that he had learned and been assured of. And that's my desire for every one of us in this room, at least in some little measure, by the grace of God. I know there's many here who have gone on in the truth of God for many years, but brethren, young and old, we need to be exercised because the enemy is so busy today to discourage.
To confuse, to divide the people of God. And he's had thousands of years to practice and we're not we don't want to be ignorant of his devices, but all I say we have this powerful resource. And so Paul, as he was passing off the scene, he was about to lay down his life for the testimony and his desire and prayer was that Timothy would continue on.
And that he would be used in blessing. I never thought I'd be to this point in life, but I look at my younger brothers and sisters, and that's my prayer for you. Those of us who are older are not going to be here forever if the Lord leaves us here. Some of us have learned by recent experience how fragile and short life really is. And my prayer is that you young brothers and sisters would really take hold, and that the truth would get hold of you, and that there'd be that real purpose in your heart to stand and walk in the truth.
That you might carry on and be a blessing and a testimony to others. Well, we find here that he reminds Timothy that he had heard the truth from the time he was a child. What a wonderful heritage. Now I realized that there are no doubt some here who didn't hear the truth in the their home, your home when you were growing up. And the Lord has come in and in one way or another saved you and brought you to be gathered to the Lord's name.
And that's a wonderful thing. But I realize there's many like myself here who have been brought up in the truth. We've had a godly heritage. I had a godly mother and father by the grace of God. I had godly grandparents on both sides of the family. I had godly great grandparents and great, great grandparents. And I know it's only by the grace of God. But, you know, I heard an expression one time. And I know we've repeated it before, but it went some goes something like this.
The first generation often buys the truth at great cost. The second generation enjoys it and the third generation often squanders it. And I don't want you to squander the truth. Those of you who have had a godly heritage, I just want to say before we pass on, oh, let's get into the presence of the Lord and seek to value the truth that you have been brought up in. And you can go through scripture and find the truth of the statement we have just made. There were so many both in the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Who had godly grandparents? They had God fearing parents and they themselves squandered the truth. You know, we see that when the life of Samuel don't wait. Samuel had godly parents. Samuel was a great godly judge in Israel, enjoyed the position he was brought into, but the next generation didn't appreciate it. And I think maybe Paul was a little exercised about this when he.
Encourages Timothy to carry on. He'd had a God fearing grandmother, a godly mother he was, and I know it's a little different, but he was, as it were, the third generation, at least for our application this afternoon. And then he brings before him the need for the Holy Scriptures, he says, which are able to make the wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. I believe this salvation has a broad application.
00:10:07
It was mentioned in our meetings that salvation is taken up in different ways in in the word of God. I'll just first of all apply it in this way. You know, it's the word of God that first of all shows us how to be saved. None of us would know God's way of salvation apart from the word of God, but it's spelled out so clearly in Scripture. It says a wayfaring man, though a fool, may not err therein. And so it's the word of God that shows us how to be saved initially.
And I would say too, in passing, if there's someone here and you've sat in these meetings and you're not saved, you don't know the Lord Jesus as your savior. I want to give you one more appeal. From the heart of God, from the heart of the Lord Jesus, He desires your blessing. You know the way of salvation. You've no doubt heard it many times. But have you come in faith that repentance and faith and receive Jesus as your savior? But the Holy scriptures do something else too.
They show us how we can be preserved in the path of faith after we're saved and how we can go on and live for God's glory. And so he says all scripture is given by inspiration of God, All scripture. I'm going to go back to something I think it was Brother Eric mentioned in one of the meetings. And that is that we need all of the word of God. I know some who only read certain parts of the word of God.
But they're unbalanced, and they don't have a full appreciation of the full scope of the truth of God. It was mentioned, but I'll repeat it, that in the Old Testament we have the pictures, the types, the foreshadows. And in the New Testament, we have the instructions, the doctrines. As to Christianity, those who know me best will confirm that I'm no good with my hands. You wouldn't want me to try to repair something. You wouldn't want me to try to build something for you.
In fact, one year in school I had to take a shop to graduate out of junior high. I opted for woodworking. I spent from September to June with four little pieces of wood and made a little stand for about 12 books. I think the teacher gave me an A and said don't ever send this guy back to A to a shop. It was very painful for him and for me and so I'm not good with my hands. But one time after we were married I thought I was pretty clever and I bought a bookcase that said some assembly required on the box.
Well, I spread it all out at our home and I worked feverishly to put it together, got everything put together, went to put the middle shelves in and found I put the whole thing together backwards. And my wife came along and she said, Jim, why didn't you look at the diagram? I was trying in 12 easy steps to get from point A to point B, but I had completely ignored the diagram and when she turned the page and showed me the diagram.
Then I was able, as frustrating as it was, to take the thing apart and to put it together properly. And God has given us both. I say He's given us the written instructions in the New Testament. But to go back to the Old Testament and read those stories, and with the sacrifices and so on, this gives us a different perspective, a proper perspective, a more complete understanding of what we have in the New Testament.
And so I want to encourage you to read all scripture because it is given by inspiration of God. Men didn't just write down their own opinions. No holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And then he says it's profitable for doctrine, for for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness. This is certainly not original, but someone has said that doctrine teaches us what is right, and doctrine is simply teaching. It's another word for teaching.
And that's what doctrine does. Reproof tells us what's wrong. Correction tells us how to get right when we are wrong. And then we have instruction in righteousness. That's how to keep right. And so these things are helpful. And again, we need the whole word of God. And then we read in first Peter chapter one, because here we find that not only is it the word of God that shows us the way of salvation.
And I want to go back to the thought of salvation initially in our lives. But it is the word of God in the power of the spirit that God uses to impart divine life to us. And I want to just say a word in our presentation of the gospel. You know, I believe that we need, whether it's speaking to souls individually or whether it's in a more public setting, we always want to use the word of God. My explanation is not going to save a soul. It might be helpful.
00:15:28
And when you go to the book of the Acts, we find there's plenty of room for preaching and explanation. They so spake that many believed, and we want to be exercised to present the gospel in a way that's clear and simple, and that the Spirit of God can take it and use it in blessing. But my explanation, or my telling a story about someone that almost drowned isn't going to save a soul. It might help to make a point, but it is the word of God in all its living power.
This is the only book in the world that's living. That's why you'll never exhaust it. That's why we can come to conferences like this and take up the same portions again and again. And it's always fresh. There's always something, some aspect that we haven't seen before. In fact, this book, being living, we're going to have a fresh enjoyment of it for all eternity. We're no longer going to know in part, and prophecy in part. That's true, but we're going to enjoy it forever. It's settled in heaven.
You know people that men have tried to eradicate the word of God from earth. They in past centuries have taken it and burnt it in big bundles. You read stories about how they went into the towns and villages in Europe and tried to root the word of God out. Why have they not been successful? Because the originals in heaven. There it is safe and and secure and God thankfully has preserved it to us. But just to go back, I want to encourage you when you present the gospel.
Use the word of God. That's where the living power is.
And so, whether it's again in a public setting or individually take the word of God, it's the sword of the spirit. It's living and powerful. Well, as we say, it endures forever. But now I'd like to go on to another aspect of the importance of God's word in our lives. And as I say, I want to show how this practically applies to every aspect of our Christian pathway. Let's go to the book of Job for a verse, Job 23.
Job 23.
And verse 12.
Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips. I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. Now again, hold your finger here. I want to read a verse in first John, First epistle of John.
Chapter 2.
And just the last part of verse 14 I have written unto you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God abideth in you, and you have overcome the wicked one. Well, we've spoken of how the word of God shows us the way of salvation, how it is profitable for instruct doctrine and instruction in various aspects aspect of things. But now I want to speak of it in connection with food for the divine life.
We mentioned in the reading meetings that the life that we have, when we get, when we got saved is a when we were born again is a divine life. It's the very life of Christ. It's a perfect life, but it is a dependent life. We're born again, as we had in Peter, but that life needs food. If that life is going to grow and we're going to be healthy, happy, fruitful Christians, we must feed the divine life.
And so, Job said, I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. You know, I didn't see anybody hesitate to go down to the cafeteria for the good meals that we have enjoyed over the last couple of days. You know, we take good care of the physical, don't we? We're careful to eat three good meals a day, sometimes a snack in between. Perhaps this generation is even more conscious of healthy food, healthy, healthy eating, than they ever.
We ever were before. But suppose we treated the physical as we treat these the the, the spiritual. You know we've become very weak, naturally speaking, Wouldn't we at least I only can point at my own heart and and leave my finger pointed There, Job said there was something more than just having three good, healthy meals a day. I've esteemed the words of his mouth, Jeremiah says. Thy words were found and I did eat them.
00:20:16
And they were unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. It's the manner that we speak so often about, and we're not going to turn back to the 16th chapter of Exodus. But I just want to make a comment or two in connection with the gathering of the manna. Because when Israel entered the wilderness, there was nothing for them apart from God's provision to eat or to drink. I've been a number of times on the Sinai Peninsula, and when Scripture calls it a wilderness, that is exactly what it is.
And I believe that the thought in a wilderness, in scripture, is there. It's a place where there's nothing to sustain life. And in this world, there's nothing to sustain the divine life. There's plenty to feed our lusts. Just seems you can hardly drive down the highway, stand at the checkout counter in the grocery store anymore without seeing something to feed our lusts, to feed the flesh. And we need to be careful because as we've said in these meetings, we don't want to feed the flesh or the flesh is going to take the upper hand.
And so we need food for our souls, just as Israel needed physical food in a physical wilderness. Brethren, we're in a spiritual wilderness, and we need food for the divine life. And what is that food? It's Christ himself. It's defeat on Christ. When I was a boy, we often in Sunday school sang that little hymn. Feed on God's Word in the morning, Feed on God's Word at noon, Feed on God's Word in the evening to keep your heart in tune.
I suggest that when it's the thought of feeding, it's because we take it in and becomes part of us. And remember, it's not what we eat that does us any good, it's what we digest. And we'll speak of that in a moment. But what I want to notice, and you can go sometime at your leisure to the 16th of Exodus and trace this out. First of all, they were given men, It was the bread of heaven. And if we were to go to John Six, we would find that that man was a type of Christ. And there are a number of characteristics of the manner that correspond with the man Christ Jesus.
But it's confirmed by the Lord himself that the manna that they ate in the wilderness was a picture of himself, and he encouraged his own there to feed on the bread of heaven, which was Christ himself. Because when we opened this book and read it, it presents various aspects of the person and work of Christ, whether it's the Old Testament or the New Testament. But they needed fresh man every day, because the manner they needed today was not the manner they needed tomorrow.
And you and I need fresh man every day. We need something of Christ. We need to feed on Christ from this living book every day. You know, those of us who've had children, we didn't feed our children a good meal on on Lords Day and expect it to do them the rest of the week. No, we made sure that each day and before they went off to school, they ate a good healthy breakfast and that they had a lunch pail with them and a good dinner when they got home at night.
And so the manna fell early in the morning. In fact, it fell on the dew, and that's significant, but we don't have time to go into it. It fell on the dew. And they had to get up early in the morning and go out and gather before the dew melted. And again, having been on the Sinai Peninsula, I realized how early that is because as soon as that sun comes up over the desert, the any moisture evaporates very, very quickly. But I believe it speaks to us as to the need of every morning before we go out into the world.
Feeding on God's word. Because the minute you go out into the world, Satan is going to have everything to feed your lust and every kind of thought and activity to keep you from thinking about Christ and reading your Bible. I know some of us are mourning people and some are not, but there's a very interesting comment made about the manna. It says some gathered more and some less. In other words, it wasn't the amount of manna that they gathered that was important.
It was what they did with it. And so they gathered it and they put it into their armor, a certain measure, and they took it with them. And it says when they dipped into their Omer during the day, he that gathered much had nothing over. In other words, if you're a morning person and you have time to read two or three chapters in the morning and maybe a little commentary with it, thank God for it. You'll never overeat when it comes to feeding on God's word, but maybe you have to leave early and you struggle to get up in the morning.
00:25:01
But he that gathered little had no lack. Maybe you only have time for a few verses, but again, it's not what we eat that does us any good. It's what we digest. And I believe that gives us the thought of meditation. It's taking it in our Omer and dipping into the Omer during the day.
And I want to encourage you. It's not enough to read a few verses, shut your Bible and never think about it during the day. That's not what's going to feed your soul. It's to stop. And I know you have to discipline yourself to do it. But to stop during the day for a few moments and meditate on what you read, That's why the psalmist in the 119th Psalm said, oh how love I thy law. It is my meditation all the day. Now again, it takes discipline because when I was growing up, we would hear about past generations who.
Could prop up their Bible and work at their at the shop, or follow the plow and think about scripture and so on. You can't run a computer like that. You can't drive down the highway like that. You can't conduct a business meeting like that. What do you have to do? You have to stop.
Can't just make a conscious effort to stop during the day and dip into your Omer and you'll be surprised. You'll find even if you only had time for a verse or two, God knew just what you were going to need for that day. But there's something else that in the in that portion. Now brethren, what I'm going to say now, I don't want in any way to take away from the individual need and exercise of gathering food from the scriptures every day. But you know, usually when we see an artist depiction of the gathering of the Manna.
We usually see them depicting the women gathering the manna, but if you notice there carefully in the 16th chapter of Exodus, it was not the women that gathered the manna.
They were specifically instructed that every man was to gather for himself and for his household responsibility of the head of the home. And I would just like to say a word to those of us who are husbands and fathers. Here are we gathering for ourselves and for our households.
It's our responsibility to not only feed our own souls, but to have something from the word of God, something of Christ, to feed our families. You know, I grew up in a very busy home. My father was a busy man, but I remember he always took time to sit at the breakfast table with an open Bible so he could catch his children and young people as they trickled out to breakfast and hurried off to school and other responsibilities.
He didn't always read us much. Usually there wasn't even an explanation, but he made sure we had something of the word of God before we hurried off to school. We were Speaking of this one time, and a young brother came to me after the meeting and he said, Jim, it's interesting what you said because he said I have to leave about 4:30 or 5:00 for work and he said my family is not up. So he said what I do is I read a little portion of the word of God.
I enjoy a little thought. I write it out and I put it with a magnet on the refrigerator door. And when my wife gets up to get the children ready, she shares what I have enjoyed with the children. There was a man that gathered for his himself and for his family, and again, I know it takes discipline. But I say I look back and while I didn't always appreciate it, I thank God for parents who are exercised to set aside time for family reading as well as prayer in the home. Young Fathers, you'll be well rewarded if you do it. The scripture says them that honor me.
I will honor. I beg of you, I beseech you to take time in your busy schedule to feed your own soul so that you can feed your wife and your children and those who are under your roof. And so they were to go out and gather it every day. If they tried to keep it over. What they needed today was not what they needed tomorrow. Oh, let's be exercised. How sweet are thy words to my taste? Yeah, sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. But maybe I hear someone say, Well, I find it difficult. I just can't seem to discipline myself. And I don't seem to enjoy the scriptures when I read them like I know I should.
Well, I want to use another little illustration that we've used before, but you know, when I was growing up as a boy, there were very few vegetables that I liked. And one of the vegetables I particularly did not like was green peas. And my mother was very gracious. She told me I could leave those things when I was home, but when I was out, I had to eat what was served. And having traveled amongst my brethren for many years, I have found that green peas are often the vegetable.
00:30:07
That is served at the dinner table. But you know, having disciplined myself to eat green peas over these years, I actually thoroughly enjoy them now. And I'll take a second helping if they're offered, because I've developed an appetite for something that I didn't naturally have an appetite for. And maybe when you first start to read the word of God, you don't have that appetite. But read it. Discipline yourself. Exercise godly. Exercise takes discipline.
But discipline yourself and you'll be surprised. As time goes on, you will unconsciously develop an appetite for the word of God. You'll enjoy it, and you'll want more and more. So it's food for our souls. But now let's turn to another aspect and go to the 119th Psalm.
Psalm 119.
And verse 105.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Well, I want to speak now of the word of God as light and instruction for our pathway. You know, sometimes I talk to young people, and some who are not so young, and they will say to me, well, I'd like to know what the Lord has for me. I'd like to know the path that He has. But you talked to them a while, and you find they're not reading God's word. We'll never know the path that He has for us.
Unless we orderly and consistently read God's word. I just want to say that a word about this because I don't believe the Lord guides us so much by when we're faced at a crossroads in our lives, putting the Bible on its spine on the table, letting it fall open and putting our finger on a page and hoping that we're going to land on a verse that God can use. Now, I've heard in different circumstances, God used that and in our weakness.
God is certainly gracious, but I believe God guides us through the Scriptures when we orderly and consistently read His Word. And in my Christian life, I've experienced it time and time and time again. I've come to some decision in my life, some crossroads in my life, and I'm just reading in my regular portion. And there's a verse that jumps off the page. It may not be really the meaning of the verse. It may not mean that to anybody else. It may never mean that to me again.
But it is God directing my footsteps through the the reading of His Word. And so we need to orderly and consistently read the word of God. We need two to have a desire to walk in obedience to it. Because it's one thing to read the Word of God. It's another thing to have a heart that's open to its direction. There's a little progression in the Psalms that I've enjoyed in this regard. If we were to go back to the 27th Psalm we find there, David says, Teach me thy way, O Lord.
And lead me in a plain path. And that's a good desire for everyone of us. I know every believer here deep down has that desire. But is it really the prayer of your heart and mind on a daily basis that we would have the desire to be led of him in a plain path here in this Psalm? And this is a remarkable Psalm. It's a the longest chapter in the Bible and in every verse, almost every verse.
I think there's two or three. But in almost every verse there's some reference to the word of God either called commandments or precepts, or thy statutes, thy law, some reference to God's word. Because the psalmist here recognized that if there's going to be light and instruction for his pathway, it had to be the word, the word of God. But then we find in the 143rd Psalm, it's verse 10. You can look it up sometime. There we find another little expression.
The Psalmist there says, teach me to do thy will. Not just teach me thy way or teach me thy will, but teach me to do it because if any man desire to do his will, he shall know as we read in John's Gospel. And sometimes I've had to hang my head and say I wanted to know, but I wasn't willing to carry it out. Sometimes it was a big step in my life and I'm like, well, Lord, OK, I wouldn't mind if it wasn't something quite that way.
But we need to seek grace and to have a desire to follow the word of God, whether it's a big step or a little step, whether it seems hard or whether it seems easy. Because whatever He has for us in His word and in the path of faith, again there's going to be the full resources and the strength to carry it out and to walk in it. So it says, in all thy ways, acknowledge him and he might direct thy paths. No, He shall direct thy paths. And brethren, if we don't know the mind of the Lord in our lives, it's no fault on God's part.
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It's no fault on the part of the Lord Jesus. It's something in our lives. It's either we've set our will in a different direction, We're not reading His His word, we're holding back and in some way. But His desire is to show us and to make the way plain and brethren do. We think we can go through life, whether we're young or old here today. And we don't need instruction from our maker. It says, I know that the way of man is not in himself.
It is not in man that walketh to direct his footsteps, Solomon said. Who knoweth what is good for a man in this life? If the Lord Jesus came and stood right beside me and said to me, Jim, I know what you want isn't my will, but I'll change it and and and I'll make it. I'll make it the way you want it. What would I say? What would I say? Oh yes, Lord, I think just this time it would it would work out if you just change it and let me have my way.
Or what I say, Lord, help me to submit, just teach me to do Thy will, lead me in a plain path, and so on. So the word of God is light and instruction for our pathway. But let's just back up in this same Psalm for another aspect here.
Psalm 119 and 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. Let me not wander from thy commandments. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. Well, here we have the cleansing effect of the word of God in our lives. It's the washing of water that we speak so often about from the New Testament, You remember in the Old Testament in connection with the Tabernacle.
There was the labor that contained water where the priests were to come from day-to-day, and during the day to wash their hands and their feet as they became soiled through their service for God. And that labor speaks to us of the word of God. How often contained water in the word of God is a figure of the word of God and the Lord Jesus. Before he left the disciples here in a world of defilement, he brought before them the truth of feet washing.
Not so much literally washing one another's feet, but he was using it as a figure and how we need to have the washing of water by the word. And first of all, we need to have him wash our feet. There was a elderly brother in my home assembly for many years. He's with the Lord now, but he used to tell us that in his working days when he came home from the office, he needed a good wash and he wasn't talking about soap and water, he was talking about the cleansing effect of the word of God.
And feet washing isn't always to remove sin or defilement from our lives. It's those things that dull our affections and chill our souls. Because there's so many things in this world and as we go about we we we rub shoulders with the world, We see, we hear things during the day. And I know it's school and in business you can't help it. But come home and open this book and let it have its moral cleansing effect on your life.
So we need the word of God in the morning as food for our souls. We need to meditate on it during the day to encourage us and give us the strength to go on. And then when we come home at night, we need to have its cleansing effect. You see how it affects every part of our day and every aspect of our lives. No book like it. And so wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to thy word? And then he speaks of the heart here, because it really is a matter of the heart.
And when you open this book, remember that, well, it's good to have a knowledge of Scripture, and we need that script. The word of God does not discredit knowledge. We need to grow in grace and the knowledge Peter said at the end of his epistle. Knowledge is important. As we've been stressing, we need the teaching and the doctrines of Scripture. But in itself it's not enough. It needs to reach the conscience and touch our hearts. So again, it's often been said that the entrance of the truth is the mind. There must be that knowledge.
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The channel is the conscience, because the conscience must always be reached. And the dwelling place is the heart. And when the truth enters and rests in that way, then there's going to be true power and blessing following. And it's when the truth of God gets ahold of our hearts that it's going to preserve us in the path of faith. And here he says, my whole heart. Read through this Psalm sometime and find out how often the psalmist says speaks of a whole heart.
You know, what God wants from us today is not half heartedness. He doesn't want 90% hard heartedness. He wants wholeheartedness. And so let the word of God sink down. We didn't mention it, but we read earlier in connection with the young men in First John that were strong.
You know the glory of young men is their strength. But when John wrote to the young men, what was the source of their strength? Not because they got up and worked out every morning or went to the gym. Nothing wrong with that. I like to run on the treadmill in the morning when I'm home too. And bodily exercise profits for a little time. Scripture does not condemn that. But what made the young men in John's day strong? The word of God was abiding in them. They weren't just reading the word of God, but it was abiding in them. It had reached their heart through their conscience.
Was part of them now, and that was what gave them, gave them strength. You want to be strong Christians. You want to stand fast for the truth of God. You want to have fruit in your Christian life. The word of God's got to get down into your soul. It's got to abide there. So he speaks of wholeheartedness. Thy word have I hid in my not my mind, but in my heart that I might not sin against thee. This is what is going to preserve us, is to take up the word of God and hide it.
In your heart. So we need its cleansing effect just still in this same Psalm. Because there's so much in this Psalm, we're just touching on a few things. Go back to go over a page again to this time to the 98th verse.
Thou through thy commandments, hast made me wiser than mine enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for thy testimonies are my meditation. I I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. Well, here we have something else, because it's the word of God that shows us the future. You know, wise, worldly statesman today in high places are trying to figure it all out by their own intellect and by their own devices.
They're only becoming more and more confused, you know, because of the way I travel and the extent that I travel. I have a path to the corporate and business lounges of the major airports of this world. And so I often find myself rubbing shoulders with the top echelon of the business and political world. And I have learned to watch their faces as they watch the news, because usually on one end of the lounge there's a flat screen television.
With CNN or Fox News, and depending what other country you're in, it might be CBC or BBC on another end of the lounge. And I watch these people as they turn away from not good news but bad news. And they shake their heads and they say, where is it all going to end? Because men in high places, if they're honest with themselves today, realize that they are dealing with an interplay of economic, political and social forces.
That are far beyond their control and it's no longer if it the elastic is going to snap, but when is it going to snap? And men's hearts today are failing them for fear and looking for those things that are coming on the earth. And I read often the fear in the eyes, the faces of men and women in high places. But you know, while we always want to be concerned about what's going on around us, we don't have to be overwhelmed. We can be aware, but not overwhelmed.
And so the Christian who's reading his Bible is more intelligent as to what's going on because God has told us what the future holds. You know, I we, some of us were taking up a little bit in Revelation not long ago. And I made the comment that there's much of Revelation I don't understand. But one thing I understand from Revelation, God's man is going to be victorious in the end. God's man is going to win. And that's a great comfort to my soul.
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And so yes, we're seeing the breakdown of every level of society around us, but we know what is ahead. Not that we know every detail, but we know who's in control and where it is is all heading. This book we hold in our hands to is more up to date than the daily newspaper. You know, when I was a boy, there was a large bookcase in my parents hallway, and on that top, the top shelf of that bookcase, there was a row of old books that simply collected dust.
Because they were old school books that my parents had studied when they went to school. And sometimes on a snowy evening or a rainy afternoon, we would pull those books down and we would look at them as we used to say, just for a laugh, because we would say to each other why we've left those things behind. Long ago, men's ways of thinking had changed men's ways of teaching. And now, even if I were to take the books I had in school and show them to you young people.
Oh, you'd say, Jim. It's a lot different than when it went then, when you were going to school so many decades ago. Men's opinions change, but the word of God hasn't changed. I say it's more up to date than the daily newspaper. It fits what's happening in the world today, and it will do the same same tomorrow. Do you want to be wise as to God's purposes for this earth and his purposes for his, for his heavenly people? You must take this book and you must read it diligently.
And prayerfully now I'd like to go to the New Testament to Romans, chapter 15.
I'll just say this, while we're turning there, what we're looking at this afternoon are just a very few of the aspects of the word of God that apply to a practical, in a practical application to our lives in the time allotted to us. We're just looking at a few. There are certainly many more, and I'll leave them for your further meditation. You know, really a ministry orally in the assembly is to wet the appetites of the listeners so that they will hopefully be like the Bereans who go home.
And search the scriptures to see if these things are so. But let's notice another aspect here in Romans 15 and verse four. For whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. First of all, we find that the things that were written aforetime were written for our learning. You know, the stories we have in the word of God are more than just interesting stories and historical facts.
They are interesting stories, and they are historical facts, but they're far, far more than that. They're written for our learning. Someone has said happy is the man that learns from his mistakes. Happier is the man that learns from others mistakes. But happiest is the man that learns from the word of God.
And if we take up these stories of men and women and young people, and these illustrations that are given to us and learn from them, then we are again going to be happy, fruitful Christians. And so these things are written for our learning that we, through patience or and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. I just want to speak of the encouragement and comfort of the word of God.
I never understood the import of this until I went through some very severe trials myself.
And I want to encourage my brethren, because I never realized the power of the word of God in comfort and encouragement, especially in times of trial. And my wife and I learned to appreciate every eye message with a scripture, every text, every card with a scripture, every e-mail, every little note that had a verse of scripture. And we would sit down and read those scriptures over and over.
And over again, I didn't realize what sending someone a little verse of scripture would mean in a trial. But it has been in that's one of the aspects of my life that has been enlarged. We spoke of that earlier, how that impression he enlarges us. And I, by the grace of God, I have an enlarged appreciation for sharing the word of God with others, and I want to encourage you to do that. Sometimes a brother or sister would stop in and they say, Jim, we can't say long, but I want to give you a little verse.
I meant so much.
It strengthened our souls. It encouraged us. It helped us over a little difficult time, a little pain. We were going, we were going through. The word of God is tremendous. It has a power. I'll share it with one another. Because going back to the thought of feet washing, the Lord washed the disciples feet. That's necessary. We need to have the Lord wash our feet and encourage and refresh us with the word of God.
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But then he said, wash one another's feet. We need encouragement in the path of faith, brethren. There's so much to discourage today. We don't have to look for things to discourage. There's so much on every hand to discourage. But where are we going to find that which will encourage one another in the path of faith? It's sharing what we enjoy from the scripture. It doesn't have to be great. It doesn't have to be an explanation. Just share the word of God with your brothers and sisters.
Normal conversation always bring in something from the scripture that you have enjoyed. That's what true fellowship, that's what true encouragement, that's what true comfort is. And so I just leave that for your exercise. Our time is almost gone, but I want to look at one more scripture. It's in Acts chapter 2.
Acts chapter 2 and verse 42.
And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread and in prayers. I want to apply this in connection with the assembly meetings here. They went on together in these things. And I want to apply it particularly for our in our context this afternoon in connection with the apostles doctrine. And I want to apply it in a broad sense, because I want to encourage each and every one of us to avail ourselves.
Of ministry in the assembly. Because I believe it's in the assembly where we get the balance. Not that the Bible needs balance, The Bible is the only balanced book there is, But it's we who need the balance. And I have noticed that those who do not avail themselves of ministry in the assembly are a little bit like Ephraim. It says Ephraim, is a cake not turned. You know if you put a cake on the griddle and you don't turn it, it gets too well done on one side and not enough on the other.
And I've noticed the people who do not avail themselves of ministry in the assembly, they often go off on certain tangents. It may not be wrong in itself, but it's unbalanced. Now, it doesn't mean that every assembly meeting for ministry is balanced, but it means in the scheme of things, if you avail yourself of ministry in the assembly over time, you're going to get that balance. Not only that, if something said that's not right, another by by the spirit of God can correct it.
Can bring out the doctrinal principles and lay them out clearly. Others can make practical applications. Some can even bring out the gospel application of that portion. And you get that balance. Can I just say this too? When you read written ministry, and I want to encourage you to do so, But when you read written ministry, it's good to read a number of authors as well. You know, I'm thankful that Mister Darby can lay out the doctrinal principles for us. Mr. Bellitt can bring out nice little Nuggets and applications.
Woolston can bring out the gospel aspect. And when you do that again, you get a balance when you read a variety of of different authors. And as we had displayed here earlier this weekend, there's no shortage of good Christ exalting ministry. That will be a help to you in your understanding and appreciation of the word of God. Avail yourself of it and remember this too. And I'll say this particularly to those who are young.
The scriptures that I have quoted in these meetings are not scriptures I learned yesterday or last year. They are that which I learned in my youth. Thank God. I want to encourage you to store up your mind with the word of God. Not just meditate on it, but memorize it, read good solid ministry that will be a help to you in your appreciation and understanding of it. And that is what is going to stand you in good stead as you get older. You know, a lot of what I read today I enjoy, but I don't always remember.
And so your mind is keen at the time. But I say again, avail yourself of ministry in the assembly. I know some of us come from very weak situations. We come from situations where maybe we say we go on reading meeting night.
And doesn't seem to be much food there. There's nobody with a real gift to teach or explain.
But you're there. The Lord is there. The word of God is there. The Spirit of God can take it, and in ever so simple a way, He can feed our souls when we're in the presence of the Lord and exercised and be exercised. Bring something. Maybe you won't always have opportunity to share it. I'm talking to the to the brothers now. But bring something and you'll find you'll be encouraged in your own soul. Brethren, we've spoken so very quickly of the value and need of this precious book.
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But I say again in closing, we need it no matter where we are in our Christian experience, whether it's physically or spiritually. I heard of a young boy. He went to school and the teacher gave them a little assignment. They were to start a little paragraph by My greatest treasure is and this young boy, he wrote. My greatest treasure is my Bible. I knew an older brother and when they found him having passed away into the presence of the Lord.
He was sitting in his armchair with an open Bible. You see it. It's for it's for youth, It's for middle age. It's for families. It's for those of us who are a little further along. Oh, may we value this book. And as the songs often say, we sing Cling to the Bible, oh, cling to the Bible. It's the most precious possession you'll ever have. Let's pray our blessed God and Father how thankful we are for this precious book.
And how thankful we are for the one that is presented in it, thy beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And as we go from these meetings, we're thankful for the time we've had. But we pray that we might take our Bibles with us and learn to value them more, to read them, to meditate, to memorize that our souls might be encouraged and fed, and that we might be kept strong in the Lord until His coming. So we commit this meeting to Thee for thy blessing in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Discerning the Times
Open—Bob Thonney
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You ask for God's blessing. Our blessed Father, our God. It's a privilege to have this time set aside now for an open meeting. And we just asked for the undertaking that the Holy Spirit would be able to teach us, to edify us, and to exhort us as well in these things. Pray for the spirits of the brothers that would stand up as well, our Father, our God as vessels.
And open thy precious word, Father, we are so dependent upon thee and thy name we pray, Lord Jesus, Amen.
Matthew 16.
The first verses of the chapter.
The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him, that he would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, he say, it will be fair weather, for the sky is red, and in the morning it will be foul weather today, for the sky is red.
And lowering. Oh yeah, hypocrites.
He can discern the face of the sky, but can ye not discern the signs of the times? Interesting.
Here are these Pharisees that had the scriptures in their hands.
And they could tell by how the sky looked, what kind of weather it would be, but they had no idea that they were standing in the presence of their Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Were there signs for that? Yes, there were definite Scriptures that told more or less when He would come and where He would come, and yet they did not know. Brethren, to me it is a real challenge in the world we live.
To have an understanding of the times we're living in. We're getting down close to the Lords coming and of course the rapture is not connected with any outward signs. It could happen at any moment.
But after the Rapture will come the appearing, in which we have a very interesting part.
And for the appearing there are multiple signs.
And we need to be alert and awake and discerning the signs of the times. Let's go over to Romans chapter 13.
Verse 11.
And that.
Knowing the time, here is question of time again that now it is high time to awake out of sleep.
For now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof. So here we have it again, question of the times.
And it's interesting, it says.
Now, is our salvation nearer than when we believed? Of course, that's not the salvation of the soul that we already have, but it's our full salvation, is what we were talking about yesterday in the Romans. Chapter 8 talks about the redemption of our body. That's when our salvation will be complete. And so we are to cast off the works of darkness and to put on the armor of light.
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Now First Thessalonians chapter 5.
And verse one.
I think we're all aware of the fact that the last verses of chapter 4 are one of the clearest.
Declarations of the truth of the rapture, that which we look forward to at any moment. But when it comes to chapter 5, the first verse is really deal with the day of the Lord, which is the day when the Lord Jesus is going to exercise His Lordship.
He's going to come back and the times of the Gentiles in which we now live is going to end. The Lord Jesus is going to take back the reigns of government and He will reign supreme for 1000 years. That is the day of the Lord. So he says in verse one, but of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that are right unto you. They had the Scriptures to tell them about these things.
Interesting times and seasons. If you look back at Acts chapter one you have that expression used again.
In Acts chapter one.
And verse 6 the disciples after his resurrection, while he was still here with them, said, When therefore they were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel?
He said unto them, it is not for you to know the times and the seasons. It wasn't at that time that he was going to establish the Kingdom to Israel. And so he connects it with times and seasons, the very same words that are used here in our chapter five of Second Corinthians. Times and seasons are earthly events and they're connected with.
Signs.
It's really interesting to see that, but he says here.
Continuing to read here in the 1St Thessalonians 5 for yourselves. Know perfectly the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. Whenever you have the Lord's coming as a thief in the night. I think we're all clear on this that we're not talking about the rapture, we're talking about His coming in power and glory.
He's not coming for us as a thief, brethren. He's coming as our heavenly bridegroom. And if I would ask any brother here, do you want the Lord to come? I think they would say yes. Do you wait for him? Yes. You don't wait for a thief. You don't want a thief to come. It's the world that doesn't wait for him and that doesn't want him to come.
For them, he's going to come as a thief for when they shall say peace and safety.
Then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. That makes it very clear that it's not is coming as a thief is not for us as believers. You're all the children of light and all the children of the day. We are not of the night, nor of the darkness.
Therefore let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and foreign helmet the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation.
By our Lord Jesus Christ, that's one of the best verses that shows that the church will not go through the Tribulation at verse 9. But I just want to reflect on what it mentions in verse six and seven about two things that are going to be a snare to God's people at the time we live. One is sleep.
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The other is drunkenness.
What does that mean? Sleep is something that happens.
You're a person that is asleep is not alert.
Are we alert as to the things that are happening in the world today? I don't think we have to get into political processes at all to be alert, but we should be aware of what's going on. We're getting close to the end. Things that are happening indicate that we are close. And so we should not be asleep. We should be alert as to what's going on.
We're getting close and so it's a moment to warn people.
These things that are happening are indicating the direction this world is going to. An awful time of judgment.
And then the other part, a problem with the drunkenness, sometimes we use the term under the influence, and it's not necessarily with alcohol that we're talking about drunkenness.
There's people that are under the influence of politics, there's people that are under the influence of sports or music.
Sometimes you see a young person in a car and it's reverberating that car with the music they're going on and they're kind of going up and down in the car.
Drunk.
And that's not to be characteristic of us. It will warp your apprehension of where we are. So those are the exhortations. Let's not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. And then coming down later on in the chapter, there's some.
Exhortations, rather than that, I must say, are I find very interesting.
Yesterday we were talking about commandments and that we have commandments in the New Testament. I think some of these, we could call them exhortations, but they are really commandments too, if you go down to.
Verse 16 Rejoice evermore. He doesn't say rejoice if he can no rejoice evermore.
Oh, brother, and we have reason to rejoice, and may the Lord help us. That joy would be the characteristic of our testimony. I think that is a real powerful testimony to people around us. Do they see us as people that are have a sad countenance and they're always downcast?
That's no good testimony. We have so much reason.
To rejoice evermore. Next one is pray without ceasing. Know how important to pray, But can you pray without ceasing? It's to be the attitude of our prayer of our lives. Brethren, you're writing down the freeway in your car. You're not going to close your eyes, but you can pray.
And we need to cultivate that spirit of prayer at all times.
Still remember somebody told me about my grandmother Clausen, who had ten children and she had a lot of work to do because she didn't have any extra help except for her own children. But she would take a bowl of potatoes she had to peel and she'd pick up one potato. And as she was peeling it, she'd, she'd pray for one of her children, another potato she'd.
For the next child, and so she prayed through her family that way. Oh, it's beautiful. Cultivate a spirit of prayer verse 17. I'm sorry, verse 18 in everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Doesn't say when things go good. Give thanks No in everything.
It's interesting you look at the corresponding verse in Ephesians chapter 5. It says giving thanks for all things, not only in all things, but for all things. Since we know that God makes all things work together for good. I find it a challenge, brethren, when things go negative.
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And sometimes they have a way of doing that. It's just to be able to stop and say.
Thank you Lord, thank you man. Let me tell you, sometimes I feel like everything inside me wants to do the opposite. But in everything give thanks. Why? For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
Oh, rather than God is using every single circumstance, so let's give thanks in everything.
I found that it is really recognition that we accept what God has allowed in our life.
As something that we need, we accept it from His hand. That will bring peace in your heart.
But if you just look at people, how in the world this happened, that man, he, he was the problem.
You'll never get peace that way until you realize this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. How important it is to practice this. Then the next one is in verse 19. Quench not the Spirit. We've had a lot about the Spirit in our meetings and that the Spirit of God.
Is here to guide us in our lives. That's his purpose. Amazing fact that the Spirit of God dwells in US.
And I must say, brother, and I do believe that we should cultivate a sensitivity as to His presence with us and His guiding hand for us. When He lays something on your heart, be sensitive as to that and pray about it and do it.
Those are important things. If we don't do that, we.
Might quench the spirit.
And we're told not to do that.
I have to confess that I have quenched the spirit many times.
I don't know if I've told the story here, but one time after a Wheaton conference years ago when I was still young and still single, I had just gotten back to work from the conference and I was really felt wonderfully edified in my soul and I had at that time.
They at the hospital where I worked, they had given me a truck.
To take out to certain parts of the city where I was to get material for the hospital. And so I was waiting at this particular place and across the street there's.
A supervisor from the hospital standing over there, and it was just as if the Lord said to me, go give him the gospel.
Lord, he's a supervisor. I got to watch how I do this. You just don't treat supervisors lightly. You know how you use that as an excuse to kind of put it off twice? It seemed that the Lord came to me all of a sudden, here's this truck pulls up and he says I got some material for the hospital. So I said, OK, just back up to my truck and we'll transfer over the boxes to the other hospital, to the other truck.
My truck there and so I jumped up on the back of the truck and I opened it up and I find that they had just been rented. The truck had and I found that the previous renters had left a bunch of garbage in there. So I called to the supervisor across the street, what should I do with this garbage? And he came and stood at the base of the truck and I was looking into the truck.
And right at a certain moment I turned around and looked and here comes this truck and catches that guy right in the middle.
Killed him.
Imagine I felt, brother, I'm guilty having quenched the Spirit. I didn't give him the gospel. I know he's not going to go to hell because of my unfaithfulness, but it just was a real warning to me. When God lays somebody on your heart, it's with a purpose. That's the Spirit of God in you. Sometime later I was in Bolivia when we lived in Bolivia and.
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A man who sold me one of my our jeeps that we had in prayer in that morning, the Lord laid him especially on my heart. And so I said, well, I'd better do something about it. I took a New Testament. I went down to his office. He was a pretty busy man, but I walked in and I said, Sir, I'd like to leave you this New Testament. I'd like to suggest you start reading in John's Gospel here and I marked.
For him, he thanked me and so I laughed. It was two weeks after he was a wealthy man and he had his own personal chauffeur, and he was coming back from the city of Santa Cruz to Montero, where our residents was.
And his chauffeur was driving and had a head on collision with another car and killed him.
I was so thankful that I obeyed the impulses of the Spirit of God that time.
Spirit of God is with us and I want to encourage you young brothers in the meetings to take part in. The Spirit of God is there to guide us just like our brother Dave was mentioning. It's for the liberty for the Spirit of God to use.
And so if the Lord lays something on your heart, I want to encourage you, especially when it comes to giving thanks to the Lord in the public meetings, praying.
It makes me a little bit sad sometimes in the prayer meetings at the conference and I see just the brethren and more on the front row, giving, praying. There's so many good brothers back there that have the priests, their priests just as well as anybody else. And you should be exercised in praying as well.
Let's not quench the spirit.
I must say I I realize it's carrying to maybe daunting to have to get up in a conference when there's so many, but try to concentrate on the Lord and not on the people around that will help you to do it. I know what it means to be daunted by older brother. And when I first went back to Oak Park, IL to work at Bible Truth Publishers, there was an old brother in the meeting there. I don't know.
Anybody here remembers him? Maybe some do. His name was John L Erzmann and he was a stern old brother and I was rather afraid of him.
Fact. I used to go up and say hello, Mr. how are you doing? And he would shake hands and one time I went up to him and I'm not sure why. Maybe I was a little bit too.
Forward, but I said hello, Mr. Husband, how are you tonight? Hello. And he turns square around. I said, man, I'm doing something wrong. I don't know what it is, but I better not go up to him anymore. So I didn't go up to him anymore and I found them that he came around to me and you say hello, Bob, how are you doing tonight? But he was stern and having that old brother in the meeting made me pretty.
Cautious about getting up to.
Take any part in the meeting.
And one day and breaking a bread meeting.
I was sitting there and Brother Erzman and his wife were sitting facing this direction. I was facing this way and Mrs. Arizona was on this side of him, so I couldn't really see him that much. But the Lord really laid it on my heart to get up and give thanks for the loaf that day.
But I said Mr. Ayersmann's here.
And.
There was a long, long pause. Somebody was quenching the Spirit. I don't know. I think he must have gotten the idea that maybe it was me. But all of a sudden he leans forward and looks straight at me. While he did that terrorize me, I wasn't about to get up. I'm afraid I further quenched the Spirit. But brethren, the Spirit of God is in US.
Yeah, you're going to make mistakes. Perhaps.
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I think your brethren will realize that you're learning. Go ahead and make a few mistakes. The Lord.
Takes our prayers and praises and presents them to God properly. That's why He's there. So don't quench the Spirit. Recognize that He's in you to guide you individually and collectively. It's important to give the Spirit of God His place.
Next one is despise, not prophesying. Notice the next verse after prove all things hold fast that which is good. What we've had in these meetings are prophesying. What is prophecy speaking to men, to edification, exhortation and comfort. Edification to build that exhortation to stir up.
And.
Comfort to bind up. Those are ways that the Spirit of God uses His Word to help us. Sometimes we need instruction. That's edification. Sometimes we know it and what we need is not instruction, is exhortation. Hey, come on, walk as you are. But there's times when we need comfort too. And so the Spirit of God is here to give us according to our need.
So.
Despise not prophesying, but it doesn't say that everything that is prophesied is all right. Prove all things. You got your Bible there in front of you. Read it. What he's saying about it is that what really means there? I think that's what it will make. It will cement it into your heart if you can see it from Scripture.
Oh, how important it is. Prove all things.
Hold fast.
That which is good.
I remember I used to travel somewhat with Brother Clem Buchanan.
In my younger days before I was married and remember one time after a certain meeting.
Got up, I talked into Clem Buchanan and he said, I said to him, when that particular brother speaks, I just can't hardly listen to him. He looked at me and he said, despise not prophesying. He said, you might not appreciate that brother, but listen, God may be giving you a message in what he's saying.
And God uses instruments sometimes that we least expect.
He used the mouth of a donkey to reprove a disobedient prophet.
Have one wonder how I would have reacted if a donkey spoke to me. I think I would have stepped back. What's going on here?
Balin didn't know how to listen and he just answered his donkey back. Well, God uses instruments, and I found that sometimes He uses instruments we least expect. So when God uses an instrument to speak to you, take it to the Lord. Try it with His word. Is it square there? If it's good, hold it fast. If it's not good, you can leave it aside.
Says abstain from all appearance of evil and then verse 23 the very God of peace sanctify you holy and I pray God that your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless into the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it.
When it comes to a matter of our faithfulness, brethren.
Am I faithful? That's my desire is to be faithful, but I can't pass judgment. Whether I'm faithful or not, the Lord knows, and he's going to say at the judgment seat if I'd been faithful or not.
But the point is.
There is somebody that is faithful, and to me this is such a consolation, passing through a world where there are circumstances that are confusing. Sometimes we come to the wrong conclusion.
How wonderful this little statement. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. His purpose is that we would be sanctified Holy Spirit, soul and body for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. I like the illustration illustrate these.
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Three.
Things they were made in the image and likeness of God. God is three and one, and so He's made us in his image and likeness. So we are three and one, two, spirit, soul and body. The body is the physical part.
Like we were talking yesterday, that's also belongs to the Lord, and we should recognize that that this body is not mine to do what I'd like to do with it. It is the Lord's.
In creation we have the plant creation, we have the animal creation, and then we have human beings.
The plants have a body, but no soul or spirit. The animals have a body and a soul. Not a living soul like a human being does, but a soul. That's why an animal can show emotions. An animal can show love.
A mother dog gives birth to her little puppies. How she takes care of them. What is that? That's the soul.
But ask a dog about God doesn't have any ability.
Or to relate on that, on that issue, on that level, only the human beings have this God consciousness, the spirit. It's the part of the being that can reason. And so we are to be preserved, blameless.
There are things that contaminate on the spirit level, there are things that contaminate on the soul level, there are things that contaminate on the body level. And the Lord's desire for us is that we would be sanctified Holy Spirit, soul and body. The soul is the.
Perhaps we can say the personality. It's the desires, the likes and the dislikes.
I like certain kinds of food. I dislike other kinds of food. That's my soul. And but the spirit is that God conscious part. You know how important there are things in this world that contaminate. Brother Mark last night was talking about it in the gospel of what's on the Internet and how subtle some of it is to draw people in and to contaminate them.
We need to be careful.
We need the Word of God like our brother Jim was bringing out to cleanse us daily. Oh how important that is.
The very God of peace sanctify you holy, and I pray God, your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless into the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it.
Love through Everything, Hosea 3
Open—Steve Sacksteder
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The latter half of the verse says there is a friend.
That sticketh closer than a brother.
This morning and the remembrance of the Lord, a brother read John 1513.
Greater love hath no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends.
Very next clause I'd like to include, it says ye are my friends.
And I've had impressed on my heart lately.
And have even spoken with a few in private conversation during this weekend.
About what kind of a friend the Lord is to us.
Verse we just read, you know, we, you know, the verse that was read this morning and we think of in the context of his giving up everything that he might have us for himself. He loves us. He wants, he wants you, he wants your affection, he wants all that you are and he's invested everything in you to that end.
This verse here in Proverbs reminds me of another verse.
John 13 verse one.
And it has more to do with throughout our pathway here.
Says now, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of the world under the Father.
In this clause, having loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. I'd like to read a note in my Bible, a translator's note.
To the End Quote, UN quote does not give the full force of the expression, for it makes it refer merely to time, whereas going through with everything is, as it seems to me, implied.
Perhaps you could paraphrase it this way. Having loved his own, he loved them through everything.
At home in our weeknight meetings, we're going through the Gospel of Luke, and we've noticed in recent chapters many things that the Lord suffered along with his disciples. And he tells them, I'm going up to Jerusalem, be delivered in the hands of sinners, and be killed.
And their response? Well, they they were arguing among themselves which one of them should be the greatest.
What does he do?
He takes a living object lesson, a little child, and he shows them how they can be the greatest.
What condescending love.
What grace, what gentleness, what a friend.
Well, I was thinking of something that has been on my heart from the prophet of Hosea.
I'm going to read the third chapter of the prophet Hosea.
And I will not presume that everyone here is real familiar with the prophet Hosea, but he was himself a living object lesson to the people of Israel on behalf of Jehovah, who loved them, who brought them out of Egypt, who carried them through the wilderness on eagle's wings.
Who bore with their murmuring? Who chastened them?
Who cared for them, who loved them through everything, Who has a purpose for them and is going to bring that purpose about? Because love, as we read this morning, divine love never faileth.
Hosea 3.
Then said the Lord unto me, Go, yet love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the Lord, according to the love of Jehovah, toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods and love flagons of wine.
So says Hosea, I bought her. That would be Gomer, the daughter of Diplom, a woman that the Lord had instructed him to marry and who had been unfaithful to him, as Israel had been to Jehovah.
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So I bought her to me for 15 pieces of silver, and for an Omar of barley, and an half Omar of barley. And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days. Thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man. So will I also be for thee. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king.
And without a Prince, that is, without royalty, without leadership, and without a sacrifice, that is a levitical means of approach to the Lord.
And without an image.
And without an ephod and without terraphim.
The Lord is going to take Israel.
In a time that we believe is not very far off and he's going to bring her through the most difficult and horrendous.
Earthly trial that any people could ever face.
And he's doing it because he loves her so much and he's going to have her heart.
The last verse of this chapter says Afterward, shall the children of Israel return and seek Jehovah their God, and David their king, and shall fear the Lord and his goodness in the latter days?
He is going to.
Bring their hearts around full circle.
He looks back, does the Lord many times in the prophets, and he speaks about the day, the early days when he brought them out of Egypt, and their heart rejoiced.
And.
They sang the song of redemption and that was so pleasing to him. And he looks back on that with fondness. Why? Because he had their affection and their love and they wanted nothing more than to be with him.
But then in the process of time, they become taken up with other things.
They become distracted.
They they turn away from him and they turn to idols. They attribute the blessings that he had given to them to their idols. And he says there are those who who love idols and who.
Who look to other gods verse one and love flagons of wine. They were all about pleasure, self seeking.
And depending on anything and everything but him.
What a challenge. Who is equal to the task of changing the hearts of ones like this?
Our God is one who knows how to bring in reconciliation, and when our brethren were speaking about reconciliation in the in the earlier in the reading meetings, my my thoughts went to this chapter.
You remember our brother James, the way he he, the way he described, the way he defined reconciliation.
Mutual comfort in his presence.
And despite all that, all that has gone on in the past, the Lord, praise be to His name, is going to bring His people around to that point where where they'll nonetheless, and we, they and we will be comfortable, happy, fulfilled in His presence.
We know that for ourselves, in our day, in the context of history where we find ourselves, this is a day of ruin and weakness. All of the 2nd epistles point to it. We've been taught that, and we can see it, I trust, clearly.
That the Lord is not surprised by the condition of things in which we find ourselves, and we need not be surprised by it. A brother mentioned earlier. There's plenty to discourage. It's not hard to find things that are discouraging, but to find what is encouraging.
Takes a little more effort sometimes.
We just had a verse read to us. Rejoice evermore. How can we do that?
But we have a friend that sticketh closer than a brother, and I don't suppose that there will be many things more precious to us.
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When once these bodies have been changed.
And we're like him bodily, and the flesh is gone, and we are like him morally, for we shall see him as he is.
That will be more valuable, more precious and to look back.
And see how he never once stepped away from us. He never once gave up on you or me. Despite all that has gone on, we'll see that he loved us through everything.
I think that will mean everything to us.
We often sing that hymn, O Jesus, friend, unfailing.
What a wonderful hymn, How dear art thou to me our cares or fears assailing. I triumph, Lord, in thee. Why should my feet grow weary of this my Pilgrim way? Rough though the path and dreary, it ends in a perfect day.
We have a friend whose friendship alone, whose love alone, should be enough to carry us through the long dark night, that night, the long dark night of his absence.
It's almost over.
He says in the Gospel of John.
I must work the works of my father while it is day.
The night cometh when no man can work. I believe he's referring there to works that are that point to the Millennium millennial works. We know that the Lord went about healing and and and doing those things, raising the dead to life again. So on things that exhibited that power and he did that work while he was here.
But he pointed to a time when those things would not be so much in evidence.
That time is almost over. The Lord is soon to come back to receive His bride to Himself, and then to set up His Kingdom, to come back in judgment thereafter and set up His Kingdom.
Just as an aside.
We've often heard, and it's true, that the Christian pathway is not a Sprint, it's a long distance race.
I think that's true.
That said.
I have two of my kids have run cross country. I did too when I was younger.
The apostle Paul speaks about about that, about running as an object lesson. He says that know ye not that all that run in a race, that that all run, but only one receives a prize.
So run that ye may obtain.
Even in a long distance race.
When you're nearing the end.
Usually there's a there's a shoot at the very end, lines of flags that show you that lead you right into the finish line.
And even before that comes into view, you can hear the cheering crowd on either side of that.
And you can you can hear the noise.
And you may be spent, completely spent, but there is something within you and in your training.
That says pick up the pace, let's go, it's time to Sprint.
And you know, the apostle Peter, he speaks about having an abundant entrance into the Kingdom of God.
The Everlasting Kingdom.
Friends, I believe we're very close to seeing him whom having not seen, we love.
And the time is short.
Let's run with purpose.
Let's have our hearts focused on Him.
Let's remember that through everything.
He loves us.
Even if we're the part and even if we're part of a testimony that has failed.
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He loves his own.
And faith longs to be with him. If you ever wonder how long will it be, you know Israel is going to ask that question, How long, O Lord, will outcast us off? Oh, little do they know that their being alone and abiding without the opportunity to go into their land and, and being separated from worship and all of these things is actually the Lord working to turn their hearts back to himself.
Well, if you've ever felt that way, how long is it going to be?
How long are we going to pray for one another while we're suffering and we see we see people who are going through trials that we don't understand?
Please believe that the Lord would not pass us through anything.
But he's going to have a purpose of love for it, and he's going to bring blessing about from it.
He means it for our good.
We can thank him.
16 in the appendix. 16 in the appendix.
Scriptures in closing.
Hebrews, Chapter 11.
Verse 13.
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country, and truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country.
That is in heavenly, Wherefore God?
It's not a shame to be called their God, for He hath prepared for them a city.
Towards the end of the chapter.
Verse 36 and others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, a moreover of bonds and imprisonment. They were stolen, they were sown asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword.
They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. Of whom the world?
Was not worthy.
They wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and in caves of the earth.
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These all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise, God, having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.
Wherefore, seeing we.
Also our compassed about was so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, let us run.
With patients, the race that is set before us, looking on to Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Maybe just one other place in Revelation chapter 3.
Verse 20 of chapter 3. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him, and will Sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant you, sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and I'm sat down with my Father in his throne. He did have an ear.
Let them hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches just.
Commend ourselves.
Our God and Father, we thank thee.
This afternoon, for the faithful word that we have had, we thank Thee for what we have seen in the person of the Lord Jesus.
What He endured for us and the hope that was set before him. And so, as we separate now, we pray for Thy preserving grace over each one, that we might be kept in the love of God, that we might recognize that we are pilgrims here in this earth and be kept from the world's attractions.
We might remember our heavenly calling, and so we thank thee again for the graciousness of our brethren here. We pray that there might be a special blessing comfort.
Encouragement to them for their efforts.
So we just look to thee for the remainder of this day to commend the meetings to follow to Thy care as well. Again, we thank Thee for thy goodness and we give thanks in the name of thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen.
Why Will Ye Die?
Gospel—Paul Cedarland
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Let's just look to the Lord for His help.
Our gracious Father and our God, we thank Thee this evening for that dear loving Savior, the Lord of glory, Thy beloved Son, that one who came from the heights of glory to seek and to save that which was lost. So we praise you for that one, Thy delight, and the One in whom most of us here have come to love and to delight in also. And so we just pray this evening, if there be one soul yet lost in their sins.
That they might just come in simplicity as a needy Sinner and receive the Lord Jesus and go on their way rejoicing. So we just pray for thy blessing upon Thy word this evening and help in all things.
Give thee thanks in Jesus worthy precious name, Amen.
Through our hymn that we just sang.
Kind of touches on what I have on my heart this evening.
We've just over the past few days at this conference, we've been enjoying the truth.
Of the love of God.
And what God has done for us.
You know, I used to have the idea that God was out to get me.
Do you know God is a loving God? God cares about each one here. He cares about individuals.
He cares about you, he cares about me, and he is for you.
He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall He not with him also freely give us all things? God is a giver, God. He's a loving God, and He's a savior God. And God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world.
But that the world through him, might be saved.
So I have good news this evening, but there's also a solemn side to it, and that is that God is holy, God is righteous, and God cannot have sin in his presence. But thankfully God has made full provision so that our sins can be put away. And yes, the Bible tells us all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way.
The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. The Lord Jesus, the Lord of glory, the eternal Son of God, came from the heights of glory down into this world of wool, was born of a virgin, laid in a Manger over 2000 years ago, because there was no room for him in the inn.
And that blessed Savior came to seek and to save that which was lost.
Perhaps there's someone here?
That is still lost in their sins. The Bible tells us if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. In whom the God of this world has blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of God should shine under them. God has made full provision. God is light, and God is love. He loves you, He loves me.
I see some little children here.
I know when I was just a little child, I didn't pay much attention to the meeting. I can remember I used to count the squares in the ceiling.
My mind was always on. I was watching the clock pretty close. I think that's where I first learned to tell time.
I wanted to get out of there as soon as I could, but you know, the Lord Jesus cares about each boy and each girl here, even if you're just a little child. He took the little children up in His arms and blessed them. He desires to bless you. He desires for your richest blessing.
You know, we like to have our own way, but the Bible says there is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death and is appointed unto men once to die, but after death the judgment. So when we die, we're not like a dog. We don't don't just stay there in the ground, but we have an eternal soul and you're either going to spend eternity.
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In heaven with the Lord Jesus, that dear loving Savior, or in hell.
The Devil and the Damned, where there's weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth.
Where the Word of God tells us, Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like Crimson, they shall be as wool. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. We have a God that delights in mercy.
He wants to show you mercy, but it's important that you realize that you're a Sinner. I had a man come to my door just in the last few weeks and told me he was fainting. He needed some food and water. And so as he was there and I gave him something to drink and something to eat, I tried to speak to him about his soul. I said I'm not just.
Thank me for what I gave him. I said I'm not just giving you this because I'm a nice guy. I'm giving it to you because I belong to the Lord Jesus and I want to share his love with you. Well, as we talked for a few minutes and I told him he was, I said, you know, we've all sinned. And I thought surely this man that was homeless, he told me he had told me his hard luck story.
About how he didn't have a place to live and.
I thought surely he would realize he was a Sinner.
But he thought I was pointing the finger at him and accusing him. When I told him that he was a Sinner, he took offense at it and he said, well, what have I done?
You know this best thing to do is to take sides with God. I finally after talking to him and you know what he did, he blamed God. He said I've tried to do what's right and then God makes it so that I have all these problems. And that's what man does. The natural man cannot understand the heart of God. But you know, even the the problems that may come into your life.
God is good and He allows trials for our good and blessing.
I can remember, and I wanted to go my own way and do my own things. I had all kinds of problems. You know, I still have problems, but I've got one that'll help me through them now. But there was a time. The Bible does tell us that the way of the transgressor is hard. So God and his goodness sometimes allows trials to wake us up and realize that we need Him.
Well, sad to say that man was not willing.
To admit to the Lord that he was a Sinner and he went off on his way. He said I have to go.
And he went on down the road.
Do you know this is the last gospel meaning tonight? I don't know if that man will have another chance to be saved or not. We have no guarantee of how much time we have in this scene. I just heard this evening of someone that passed into eternity. Time is short. David could say there is but a step between me and death.
This may be the last gospel meeting, not only here at this conference, but it could be the last one.
The Bible tells us Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation.
There's no guarantee of tomorrow.
I sometimes walk through the graveyard and I see some stones there where people live quite old and there's also.
You read the dates, you're somewhere. They were very young.
Sometimes even people that died before they ever came out of the womb, so there was number guarantee.
Whether you're old or young, none of us know the time.
When will pass into eternity?
You're but one heartbeat away from eternity.
And in the book of Daniel there's a verse, The God in whose hand thy breath is, hast thou not glorified?
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I look around this room, I think I know most of you.
And you know when we don't, if we don't act on the gospel, that the danger is that our hearts become hardened. Today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. Time is short. And you know, if you do not come to the Lord Jesus while you can.
There will come a day when it is too late.
Used to go to school with a boy. I remember him, he used to sit next to me in some of my classes and another boy came in and he told that boy the gospel and he heard the gospel, how he could be saved.
And you know, he mocked that boy and made fun of him. I had never told that boy the gospel. I didn't want him to make fun of me. I thought he might make fun of me. But another boy, he gave him the gospel.
And you know, it wasn't. He just made fun of it and walked. But it wasn't too long after that that boy went into eternity, died of violent death.
We have nowadays it seems like every time you turn on the news, kids getting shot in the schools.
We used to be feel pretty safe when we went to school when I was a boy. I don't say these things to scare you, but to warn you.
These issues are eternal and it's important.
I looked around. I saw two boys that weren't listening. They were talking. There is nothing more important than where you spend eternity. Any moment you could be the next one to go into eternity. I don't say it to scare you, but to warn you.
Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. The Lord Jesus, that one who came from the heights of glory, came for you, doesn't mean nothing to you. He loves you, He loves me.
Paul could say, The Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me, that one who made the universe, that one who makes his sunshine on the just and on the unjust, he sends ringing for the wicked.
God is good, God is love.
And he has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. The Lord is long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Will you come? You can come just as you are. You don't have to improve yourself.
Come now.
Lord Jesus said, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest under your souls.
There's only one that can satisfy your heart and mind. This world is too big. Too big. Our hearts are too big for this poor world to satisfy it. But the Lord Jesus is the one that satisfied the longing soul and filled the hungry soul with goodness. He can give living water.
He could say to the woman in John four, there was a Sinner as far as the waters of this world, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again.
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into life everlasting.
When the Lord Jesus came into this world, we would think surely men would accept Him. They would welcome Him. They know He came unto his own, and His own received Him not.
But as many as received Him to them gave you power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Have you received Him? You can write while you sit there in your chair.
In simple faith.
Own that you're a Sinner and you need a favor and you want him to be your savior.
He can save you now. He will save you now if you trust Him. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God hath praised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
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I know most here have heard the gospel before.
But I'm going to go over it.
The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the one who made this world.
The eternal Word came into this world. The world was made by Him in the world knew Him not, came unto His own, and His own received Him not.
What as many as received Him to them gave you power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and He was buried, and He rose again the third day according to the scriptures. In John 4 you get Him satisfying the longing of the heart of a Sinner. In John three you get Him meeting the needs.
Of Nicodemus showing Nicodemus what was required.
But you know He also is the one that gives what's required. It's necessary that you have a new life. He must be born again. You need a new life before God. But if you trust Him, you'll have that new life.
And he also said.
As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. You know, for you, a guilty Sinner, to come into the presence of a holy God, someone had to pay the punishment, the punishment for your sins and for mine. And that the only one that could do it was the Lord Jesus.
Even though he was the eternal God, the creator of the universe, he became a man.
And he went about.
Doing good, healing all that We're oppressed to the devil, taking the little children up in his arms and blessing them.
Helping the lane.
Healing, Elaine.
Allowing the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak.
Glorious Savior raised the dead.
All that were sick and oppressed, He was the one that can meet the need. And whatever the need is that you have, He can meet that need. But your greatest need is a savior.
He alone is that safe, and the Bible tells us there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
Neither is there a salvation in any other.
Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. He loves you. That's why he came into this world, so that you could be saved.
He hasn't asked us to do some hard thing, but simply come in simplicity and trust Him.
You know that blessed Savior whose hands were stretched out in good and grace to His creature all through His life.
Had to say he was not welcome in this world.
He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hear the word our faces from him. Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. Yes, man is a Sinner when we get in the presence of one that is holy as a guilty Sinner.
The tendency is to want to do like what Adam and Eve did, flee from the presence of the Lord.
We know that Cain went out from the presence of God. I can remember.
Before I knew the Lord Jesus, I used to.
Well, I can remember how glad I was to get out at the gospel meeting.
But you know that very Savior whom I feared as a judge had come to pay my price, to take care of my guilt, to take care of my sins. And He has done exactly that. Wicked men took the Lord of glory.
And they raised him up on a cross of wood, and he hung there between.
Heaven and earth for my sins and for yours, if you will have him.
The Lord of glory.
Cares about you enough that he allowed his creature to nail him to a tree. Could thou be delighted with creatures such as we, who, when we saw these, slighted and nailed thee to a tree? The answer is yes. His delights were with the sons of men from a past eternity.
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And you know those sins that you did 'cause that blessed Savior to have to suffer there on the cross, that just for the unjust, and yet.
He did it in love.
That you might have your sins forgiven. And while they're on the cross, while man heaped upon him every indignation they could heap, the servants smote him with the palms of their hands.
They spit in his face.
The only man that was worthy of Ahmad Jenna praise man, despised and rejected and cast him out.
With religious men as well as those that were that we would outwardly consider vile sinners. So whether you're religious, maybe you come to meeting every Sunday. Maybe you know, lots of verses.
You know how to say and do all the right things.
Has your heart ever been washed in the precious blood of Christ?
God knoweth the heart. The Bible tells us the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. And who can know it? And it says, I, the Lord, search the hearts. So as God looks down, he sees either a heart stained with sin or a heart that's been washed in the precious blood of Christ. You trust the Lord Jesus as your Savior.
Your your sins will be.
Washed clean, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin.
Well, we touched briefly on what man did to the Lord Jesus. They heaped upon him every insult they could do. They said, all thou that destroys the temple, if thou be the Son of God, come down and save thyself.
We sometimes sing at him. Himself he could not save.
Love stream too deeply flowed in. Love himself he gave to pay the debt we owed.
Just His dying at the hands of men would not put away our sins. It shows how guilty we are because our hearts were told out in what men did to the blessed Savior. The only man who never sinned in Him was no sin. He did no sin.
He who delighted to do the will of his Father, he would have always pleased God, he who honored his Father.
In the midst of a world where we had dishonored him.
That one that grew up as a tender plant, as it were, to the glory of God. And everything he said and did perfectly, displaying the heart of God. As he passed through this scene, he could say, He that has seen me, has seen the Father. He came to make known the heart of God so that we might share His joys. He dwelt in the bosom of the Father in the past eternity, knew the joy, that fellowship, that love of the Father.
He and his delights were with the sons of men.
He desires.
That you be saved far more than I do. I care about you. I desire that you'd be saved. I can think of nothing more solemn than passing into a lost eternity.
Nothing more solemn.
How awful the cost if my soul should be lost and I die in my sins without Christ. But there's no need for anybody here to pass into a lost eternity. I can remember when I had driver's head and.
If we want to, they wanted us to encourage us to wear a seat belt belt so they.
Showed us they had a highway patrolman on there and there was this car just beat up.
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And totally smashed up but.
The officer said. And the girl that was driving, a 16 year old girl, had passed into eternity. She'd been killed in an auto accident, he said. I see this car beat up, he said.
Totally smashed up, but he said I can still see, He said there's room in there for someone to live. If that person would have had a seat belt on and stayed in there, they would have lived.
I want to say God has provided room for you. That girl she would have done was fastened her seat belt that night before she went off in her car.
All you have to do is come as a needy center and put your trust in the Lord Jesus. There's room for you to live. Why we die.
Lord Jesus, the word of God tells us I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that he turned from his evil ways. God delights in mercy. God.
Longs for your salvation. And that's why he's given his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus, and those three hours of darkness. He bore the judgment of a holy God against sin, stroke upon stroke as God's wrath awoke.
Fell upon him for me, for you.
God's beloved Son bore the judgment.
Stricken, smitten, and afflicted, he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed.
We're passing on. We're quickly passing. Where is your faith? Is it in the Lord Jesus? Have you ever seen yourself? I see.
I look around the room, I noticed there's still some boys in the backroom and they're not listening. I want to say.
Listen.
Your soul is at stake. God now commands all men everywhere to repent because He's appointed a day in which you will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, were given assurance into all men, and that He has raised him from the dead. There's coming a day if you do not trust the Lord Jesus as your own Savior, You're the one that came to die as your Savior.
Is going to be your judge and you are going to burn in hell for all eternity.
There's weeping and willing and gnashing of teeth. I don't like to speak about the judgment of God. God has done everything so that you don't have to pass into that a lost eternity. But you will go there if you do not receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior.
Turn turn you. Why would you die? There is a way that seemeth right into a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death, and that's eternal death.
He that believeth on their Son hath everlasting life, but he that believeth not the Son shall not see light, but the wrath of God abideth on him. There's nothing more solemn than going into a lost eternity. And the Lord Jesus bore that judgment so that you wouldn't have to bear it.
On Jesus, God's just vengeance fell that would have sunk a world to hell.
He bore it for a sinful race and thus became their hiding place. Will you trust him? Only trust Him, only trust him, only trust Him now. He will save you, He will save you. He will save you now.
Oh, will you trust him?
You know God loves you. He doesn't want you to perish.
He wants you to be saved.
I know I sound like I'm repeating myself, but these things are important and God repeats Himself in His Word. I'm thankful that I heard many gospel meetings when I was a boy, but you have no guarantee that this will not be your last. Please listen.
And obey, obey, I beseech you, the voice of the Lord, so shall be well with thy soul, says in Jeremiah, Oh, will you listen to the gospel? Will you trust the Lord Jesus, that dear loving Savior? Receive him this moment, and peace shall be thine.
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You have everything, story is told.
Captain an army that was a believer. He heard some men talking.
After.
They heard the gospel and they were talking about what it would cost them if they did, not if they if they became Christians. And he said, man, that's the wrong way to look at it. Think of what it's going to cost you if you don't believe the gospel. You have everything to gain if you trust the Lord Jesus as your Savior and you have everything to lose.
If you don't trust him.
The Son of God hung on a cross for you.
To bear the judgment that you deserved and also to share to show you how much he loves you.
Be saying those words this morning there from his head, his hands, his feet, Sorrow and love flowed, mingled down Did air such love and sorrow meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
He suffered all that for you and for me.
Will you trust him? He's worthy of your full confidence.
He faileth not.
He will never let you down.
Even those of us, those of us that know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we have failed him many times, even in our witness for him and things that we do, but he has never failed us. And he says, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
I have loved thee with an everlasting love.
That's the kind of savior we have, one that loves us perfectly.
And wants the very best force. You know, before we're saved. We think we know what's best.
And after we're saved, we find we have the Savior that knows far better. His way is perfect.
He will never fail.
The Lord Jesus hung there in three hours of darkness. He bore the judgment of the sins of everyone that will trust Him.
If you trust him as your personal savior, you can say he bore my sins in his own body on the tree.
He suffered force that just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.
After the Lord Jesus suffered.
Tells us he said it is finished and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost he had exhausted in those three hours of darkness. He exhausted the judgment of a holy God against sin.
That judgment that we deserved for all eternity, He has borne it.
For you and for me. Have you ever thanked him for it? Have you ever come in simple faith and trusted Him said. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for dying for me.
You trust the Lord Jesus, you will never be sorry.
Will you trust him tonight?
Thankfully, men took the Lord Jesus down. They put him in a.
They put him in a tomb, but after three days where Jesus rose again, mighty victor or the power of the grave through death, he might deliver them to who through all their all their lifetime were in fear of death. We no longer have to fear death. Death has lost its sting for the believer we know.
We're absent from the body and present with the Lord. We have something better to depart. To be with Christ is far better.
Are you going to be there? Are you going to see the face of the man who died for you?
00:35:01
Will you trust him?
You'll never be sorry. He alone can satisfy your heart. He alone can take away all your sins. All your sins so great, so many can be washed in the precious blood of Christ if you simply trust Him. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Oh, we trust him.
God commandeth his love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because the God sin is only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Lord Jesus said, I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
Oh, will you come to him in simplicity, receive him, and he you can go on your way rejoicing.
He will take care of all your sins, so great, so many in His blood can be washed away.
See, our time is running out.
Let's just sing a hymn.
#2.
Come to Jesus.
And play.
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Know our time is past.
I'll just coat two more verses, or three more verses, because there is wrath. Beware lest he take the away with a stroke.
In a great ransom cannot deliver thee.
Whosoever will let him take the water of life freely, let's pray.
Our blessed God and her Father, we thank thee for the gospel, Thy grace, thank thee for thy love. Thank you for the full and free salvation thou has provided through that work that the Lord Jesus accomplished. We do just pray for thy blessing. On thy word we pray. Lord, we fear there's still, there's still someone here.
Yet lost in their sins, we pray that thou it's working their hearts.
Oh Lord, we just cry earnestly for them. They might have no peace until they put their trust in the Lord Jesus, that they might do it before it's too late. We just pray for Thy blessing on thy word. Thank thee again and Jesus precious name, Amen.
The Promise Might Be Sure
Talk—Stan Froese
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.
You know, I think.
Every time I go to a young people's hymn saying.
I have to say this to myself or to them, what an encouragement it is to hear you sing. It's not possible to sing. I just love it that the singing out and not just mumbling along, it's great. So thanks for the privilege to be here. Let's pray before we open the scriptures.
God our Father, we give thanks for this happy time together.
Here tonight and throughout the weekend that we've had, we give thanks for that.
Wonderful theme we had through.
The readings of salvation by grace. A perfect and complete salvation.
And we pray our God that every soul in this room here tonight would be in the present enjoyment, the present possession of that.
Salvation. We give thanks and we ask help now as we open the scriptures one more time.
That it would be a little encouragement to help us.
Continue on in the path of faith and we pray it in Jesus name, Amen.
I want to start. I've got 3 scriptures I want to turn to.
And start with Psalm 130 and verse 3.
Psalm 130, verse three. If thou Lord, should mark iniquities, oh Lord, who shall stand?
But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
That's one of my favorite verses in the songs. That last one.
There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.
That's not the fear of being afraid.
Of trembling.
It's that fear of reverence.
That fear of love.
And I want to tie this in with.
A story in Matthew, and I hope I can.
Can make it understood.
There is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared, if God wouldn't forgive us.
Where would we be? Would there be any point in fearing him?
Not really.
We'd be doomed, but there's forgiveness with him. That's the kind of God we have to do with, a God who forgives.
So let's go to Romans 4.
Another of my favorite verses.
And verse 16.
Romans 416.
Therefore it is of faith.
That it might be by grace to the end, the promise might be sure.
To all the seed sort of stop.
It's of grace.
It is of faith that it might be by grace. That is, God's salvation is offered to us on a basis that's not depending on me. We heard a lot about that this weekend, and I want to encourage all of us to go back over those chapters that we had.
They're the foundation for Christian life. If you don't have a good grip of what God thinks of you and how you stand before him, you really can't live as a Christian ought to live.
And I think the story that we're going to go to is going to help us with that understanding.
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God wants us to be sure.
If it depended on me, it would not be sure.
It'd be really shaky all the time because I do pretty good one day and the next day I don't do so good.
And God's salvation is good every day, all day.
I can bank on it, I can put my feet on it and it'll help me when I want to go out and do something for him.
And I hope that, and I know that each one of you, with that new life within you, you want to do something for the Lord Jesus.
Matthew 25.
We'll just read from verse 14.
For the Kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered them unto them his goods.
And unto one he gave 5 talents, to another two, and to another one to every man, according to his several ability, and straightway took his journey. Then he had he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. Likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his Lord's money. After a long time the Lord of those servants comes and reckons with them. And so he that had received 5 talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliver, it's done to me 5 talents. Behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
His Lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things.
I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou delivered stun to me two talents. Behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His Lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant, thou hast been faithful over a few things. I will make the ruler over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.
Then he which had received the one talent, came and said.
Lord, I knew thee that thou art and hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown.
And gathering where thou hast not strode. And I was afraid.
And went and hid thy talent in the earth. Lo, there thou hast, that is thine.
His Lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strode. Thou Artest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it to him which have 10 talents. Well, maybe we'll just stop there.
We had a term.
Mentioned in the meetings Eternal security.
And.
The weekend I was here about 3 weeks ago, Curtis had a nice talk here on peace.
Not too far off from eternal security laboratories.
He could have been using that term I think.
That is.
Because I'm trusting in the Lord Jesus.
I know.
That he's for me.
I know that.
He's going to Take Me Home to be in the father's house no matter what.
That gives me confidence in my life.
I know that he's good.
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This these first two.
They made investments, you know I'm not any.
Buddy that knows much about investing, but I think I know this much that if you make an investment you are taking a risk.
That investment might turn out, and it might not.
And so they had somebody else's money and they were taking a risk with it.
Why?
I think they trusted him, they knew him, they believed that it was OK to take a risk.
With what he had committed to them.
So they took the risk and it was worth it.
Do you feel like sometimes when you step out to do something for the Lord, you're taking a risk?
You might say the wrong thing, I sure do.
But it's really helpful to remember.
That no matter what how it turns out, he's on my side, he loves me, he cares for me, and I can take that risk.
OK, I fall on my face. He loves me on my face.
But the man.
At the end that got one talent, it wasn't because he just got one talent.
That he buried it. That he did nothing with it.
To produce anything for this man that gave it to him.
It was because he didn't trust him.
He said you're a hard man.
You're gonna I'll be in big trouble if I take a risk for you.
He didn't know it.
I think maybe at this point I'm going to.
Share a.
Not exactly a story. It's the.
The project of building the Golden Gate Bridge.
Part part of that project I don't know.
All the details of the Golden Gate Bridge, but it's pretty impressive. The towers are about 740 feet high.
The road beds at least 200 feet above the water.
The cables that hold it are three feet in diameter.
They're painting it constantly to keep it in good shape.
Can you imagine working?
At 200 feet above the water all day.
And the road beds not made yet. It's just partly there. The framework might be there. You're walking on a beam.
And it's 200 feet to the water. You fall, you die.
Well, the.
The chief engineer said.
That they figured at the time it was in the 1930s and that bridge was going to cost $35,000,000 to build.
And they figured that every million dollars they spent on a bridge project, they would lose a man.
And he said I'm not gonna lose 35 minutes.
So once they got a certain amount of the superstructure up, he ordered a net built out a 3/8 Manila rope.
And it was on 6 inch squares and it was huge, $175,000 worth of net. That was a lot of money back then. And they stretched that net underneath where the men were working mainly.
And then they took 400 LB weights and they threw it into the net just to show them in that it would hold them and that would sag way down and come back up. They pull the 400 LB weight off of there and say, see if you fall, you're going to be okay. You'll get some rope burns maybe, but you'll be OK.
So they worked on that bridge.
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And the inspectors would come by and they would look at those men working on the bridge and they'd say those men work as though they're not afraid. They're not walking like this on a six inch beam. They're just striding along and they get a lot done.
So I like to compare that to having eternal security to be unlike these first two that trusted their Lord.
Rather than the fellow that didn't trust him.
We can get a lot more done if our confidence is in him.
Well, there were 19 men that fell into that neck.
They got saved.
From falling into the water.
And it's too bad what they called themselves.
Anybody have a guess?
They formed a club and they called it the Halfway to Hell Club.
Not a good thing to joke about, right?
Anyway.
He didn't lose 35 men.
There were some men that fell and died not into the neck it was they were where the net was not but.
They did lose 14 men, not 35.
Anyway, my point is.
If you don't have that solid piece.
Open this book and get into it and see what God really thinks.
Of his son.
You, trusting in him, see what he thinks of you.
Because if you do, you're going to find out that you are eternally secure if your faith is in Jesus.
And you're going to find out too, that you don't have to step out with trembling to serve him.
You don't have to. Sometimes we still do, but.
He's not going to beat you if you fall.
You might get a rope burn, but you won't die. You'll be OK.
And it's worth serving him.
So that's all I had. Let's pray.
God our Father, we give thanks for the Lord Jesus.
For that work he accomplished.
We give thanks.
That.
We have this assurance in your word that the believer in him.
Is good for all eternity.
And that relationship as children of God.
Is sure.
And eternal.
So we pray, our Father, that everybody in this room here tonight.
Would have the Lord Jesus as their Savior, and that we might be growing in our confidence in Him as we would grow in knowing Him, but we would trust Him.
Both for our eternal well-being and for the difficulties of each day.
So we pray this and give thanks in Jesus name, Amen.