Lassen Pines Family Camp: 1997
Table of Contents
God's Purposes #1: Why am I here?
Address—Doug Buchanan
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Like to continue with Ephesians?
Chapter 3.
Ephesians 3 verse one for this 'cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ, for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which has given me to you word how that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery, as I wrote a four and a few words, whereby when you read, you may understand my knowledge.
Of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit, that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body and partakers of his promise in Christ.
By the gospel whereof I was made a minister.
According to the gift of the grace of God-given unto me by the effectual working of His power unto me, who am less than the least of All Saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the beginning.
World has been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ, to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in 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, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him.
Wherefore I desire that ye faint not.
At my tribulations for you, which is your glory for this 'cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man.
That Christ may dwell.
In your hearts by faith, that ye being rooted and grounded in love.
May be able to comprehend with All Saints what is the breadth and length, and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly exceeding abundantly above all 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 in Amen.
Let's all say it. Amen.
It's true.
What a wonderful purpose, what a wonderful council.
Made one in Christ Jesus.
Well, where we begin in verse one, Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ for you.
It's nice, beloved, to go back and read a little church history sometimes and appreciate what it costs some of our forefathers to hold the truth and to preserve it for us. These Bibles and we have in our hands, you know they cost something. I'm not just talking about the leather and the paper between them.
I'm talking about.
Resisting the efforts of the enemy to stamp it out.
And blot out the purpose of God many lives.
Many lives.
Were given.
Among those Paul himself.
Now doesn't speak here of his martyrdom, but history tells us that perhaps he was martyred, but it does say he was a prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles. Now that includes us.
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I believe if we went back and read through that book of Acts, you wouldn't notice that when Paul began preaching the gospel.
That was given to him. There was a great resistance to it, especially by the Jews.
And let's go back and notice in the 22nd chapter the point, the point at which they really rise up in in anger against him.
In Acts 22.
He is recounting his conversion of his conversion. How that light from heaven.
Struck him down there on the way to Damascus.
Before he was saved and in verse.
21.
He's speaking about the vision that he had, and he's recounting it before those that are resisting him. And he says, And he said unto me, That's the Christ in glory, depart, for I will send the far hints unto the Gentiles. And they gave him audience unto this word, and then lifted up their voices, and said, away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit.
That he should live.
This was the point.
The Jews. Neither did they want the ministry that Paul was bringing.
Neither did they want him to give it to the Gentiles. They hated that even worse. But Paul was faithful and so here he says he was a prisoner for you, Gentiles, for our sakes. He paid that price in faithfulness to God. He couldn't hold back from giving out this mystery of God that had been given to him by revelation. He saw.
That it was given. You know, sometimes we're not too faithful about carrying on, you know, the ministry that's given to us. But Paul was faithful even unto prison.
So maybe it'll help us have an appreciation for it. It cost him something to do this, and he mentions it to these Ephesians.
If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, that is, it's those of us who have heard it. And we've heard it, beloved. You've heard it in your home assemblies, in your families, many places, in your own personal readings of the Scriptures, the ministry that Paul gave us, a special instrument chosen of God. And so we're debtors to him. We're debtors to the Lord who sent him.
The grace of God.
How that by revelation He made known unto me the mystery?
Here we get him coming up to the the grand point of his revelation, the mystery of God and we've spoken on that. The mystery is described here in these somewhat in these following verses that Christ and the church are made one all throughout the Old Testament. This is never revealed and we spoke a little bit about how God tried man in the past dispensation before this.
And he went through various trials of men and now as we look back on it.
Through Prowl's revelation and the unfolding of the whole plan of God, His purposes and counsels, we see that God had in mind bringing out this mystery, this plan that He had to have a bride for Christ.
Not only here on earth, not just the people around him, like a king with all the Kingdom around him and a beautiful place of peace here on earth, but we see that God had a higher plan to have a people with him in glory around his Son the Lord Jesus, to dwell with him and to relate to him and to share with his counsels and his conversations and his purposes.
And all the attributes of God to have someone to share it together with.
We are those chosen ones. The mystery of God. It's unfolded now. It couldn't come out until Christ came. It wouldn't have made sense for God to speak of these things before Christ came. The known relationship between God and man, the incarnation of Christ. He had to become a man first. Before he could have a relationship with us like he planned to have in glory. He had to become a man like us.
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So that he could make us people that would be able to be with him there in glory. And so he's done this.
By revelation, you know, we depend on God to make himself known to us. There's never been anybody, anybody in the world that's gone out with the brilliant mind and began studying and searching with telescopes or microscopes or books or encyclopedias and has found out anything about God.
Unless God has chosen to reveal himself.
Oh, he has revealed himself in the creation. In many ways, it says God has spoken.
In Hebrews 1.
Divers places and manners. And he has. But when it came to the revelation of the real precious thing that God had to give us and to share with us, he chose Paul.
You know, it's interesting to consider who who God chose to write the different books.
You take for example the four gospels, the book of Mark for example.
It presents us the servant in all this power here on earth. He chose Mark, John Mark, who was an imperfect servant, and he wrote that book when he wanted to write about the Son of Man, when he wanted to make himself known as the Son of Man, he chose a doctor, a physician.
Luke and he wrote, and so he has a purpose in the in the vessels. When he wanted to write about the Son of his love, he chose perhaps the youngest of the disciples, John, and the one who had leaned on his bosom, the one who is perhaps the nearest and to him at least.
Showed an appreciation for it, John.
It's interesting that he didn't choose Peter to write any of the Gospels. You know, Peter was along with him.
But you know the Peter denied the Lord.
And the Lord didn't use them then for that ministry of that previous to that, Oh, we have much of it recorded.
But he did use Peter to write about other things later.
And he chose Paul.
That zealous man that went beyond many others.
In his cause, but was totally opposed to what God was planning to do. He picked up a man who was directly in conflict with him, turned him around 180°. He said. Now I'm going to make you the minister to unfold what my my plan is.
For this age.
Or for all ages, the mystery of God.
Oh, it's a great contrast. It says in Philippians, he's a pattern. And we spoke before of how God, you know, to make known the riches of his grace, he chooses lost sinners.
And raises them up into heavenly places and makes them family members, the household of God.
Quite a contrast, isn't it?
So we have. By revelation, God has come out and revealed himself to us, to our hearts. Wonderful.
He wants to make himself known to you, dear believer.
To each of us.
He desires our company.
Not just now.
He likes us so much, he wants us to be with him forever.
You know, you know I, I heard this council.
I'll just throw this out because I think it's good.
You don't marry somebody because you think you can live with them all your life.
You marry someone because you can't live without them all of your life.
That's what God.
Came sent his son down into this world, for he wanted us to live with him for all eternity.
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But he had to do various trials of man first in order to bring it out by grace. Otherwise you might say it wouldn't have been fair. You know, I, you know, I like it when I see a little bit of that going back and forth, the words of how, what rules we're going to use to play our games. Different ones have different opinions. You know, how it should be done.
And I appreciate you respecting how it was decided upon by those who made the rules here. And there's some adaptations maybe to fit Lassen, and that's great.
Well, the Lord He has chosen to be to reveal himself to us.
By by through Paul.
Verse 4.
Whereby when you read, you may understand my knowledge and the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, that is, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.
It's nice to see that the other apostles and prophets are mentioned here too. Would seem that they though principally it was Paul that got this revelation, but they must have acquiesced and given their testimony to it too. And so the whole body of Christ as it began there, the apostles and prophets, they were unanimous in this. They saw that it was of God. It was rather difficult for them to.
Accept Paul in the beginning, you know, of course, this is much later, and Paul had proved that his ministry was real.
And so it isn't just Paul that made it known.
He's the one that largely wrote about it. I presume that the others took it around by word of mouth.
And carried it.
And the grace of God allowed Paul to be a prisoner. Probably one of the reasons that we would seem from Scripture was so that he wouldn't just carry it by word of mouth. But when he was in prison, he was forced to write it down and to send it out.
And that's why we have it written down in black and white.
That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs and of the same body and partakers of the promise in Christ by the Gospel. Now this was written by a Jew.
And you notice in the New Testament there was a struggle that went on because God had only been dealing with the Jews up until that period of time. And now that the gospel was beginning to go out to the Gentiles, there was a resistance to it and there was difficulty even by the believers.
And whether the Gentiles should be as circumcised or keep the law of Moses. And all these things came into question. They had to hash it out. They had to find out from God what God's order was for this age or this new dispensation when the church was being formed.
The mystery that was being opened up to be seen and understood.
Out of both bodies, or that is, both nations, the Gentiles and the Jews, one body.
But you know, as we look on it back, as we look on it, back on it now.
I really feel that, beloved, it's a greater privilege to be a gentile.
Than even a Jew, because God did use those Jews to prove a lesson.
And he's going to fulfill all those promises made to them. But God's real purpose, beloved, wasn't first of all their blessing here on earth as He's going to fulfill.
But as it were, he had to set some of these things aside and so he could bring out his real plan.
Christ and the church and the people in heaven. And so I believe, looking at it from the New Testament perspective, now that we've got this issue of where the Jews are and what God used them for, they were kind of like the trial sheet, the trial run until God could bring out the real run, the real thing.
Christ and the Church, one body, a people with Him, and that he could unfold the riches of his grace and the riches of his glory, and shower it abroad upon a people to enjoy it together with him.
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Verse 7.
Where? Whereof I was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God-given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
Unto me, who am less than the least of All Saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
Paul here speaks of it as a gift given to him.
He was made to realize, you know, that he didn't deserve this place. What a privilege it was to be the instrument that would unfold this revelation from Christ.
From ascended glorified head, there in glory the Lord Jesus Christ.
Through Paul to make known now.
All this great mystery.
In First Corinthians 15.
That speaks about He was. That is, Christ was seen last of all by Paul. That is, I believe perhaps Paul was the last one to see Christ.
After his resurrection, well, actually Paul really saw him. After his ascension, the heavens opened up and Paul was taken up there and he saw Christ in glory and he made this revelation known from from there.
It's a miracle. It's God's working.
A gift.
Well, 11 can't help but feel beloved that it as it was a privilege. It was an act of grace to give Paul that privilege of carrying out that ministry, making it known. And so it is for us. We didn't deserve this. We didn't deserve to be the dispensers of A2 and to pass it on from one another.
God could have done it and just showed it to a few.
And then said, yeah, that's good, great. Up to here now no more that's I've got enough. But he's chosen to pass these things on from generation to generation for one believer to another. And Paul speaks about that to Timothy. That which thou hast heard of me among many faithful among many witnesses that commit thou also to.
Going to have to. I'm going to have to read it. I guess I'm getting it quoted wrong.
Second Timothy 2 and the verse two and the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also. Beloved Paul has committed it to us or to others and the others have committed it to us in a certain sense and in one way we go right back to Paul because we.
Right down from him here. Well, if it was an act of grace for him to do that, it is for us too, beloved.
To carry it out, to appreciate it. The truth of God in the New Testament isn't given in such a way, so you can just assent to it mentally.
And then verbally communicate it to others also. No, beloved. You got to get it in your soul. And Paul got it into his soul and he lived what he preached. It was real to him.
You know, sometimes we're asked and we got into this little discussion about this in our cabin, you know, Well, it hasn't God-given the gifts to all the church and are we therefore privileged to go and just to listen to anybody who has gift? Well, I believe we see in here in this verse.
And Timothy that.
Yes, it's true, God has given many gifts.
But it's one thing to have an understanding of the Scriptures and it's another thing to walk in it. And which if if you have two people here, one's very knowledgeable in some truth, and then you have another person who's not only knowledgeable, but that he walks in it, which one do you really want to listen to?
Which one is least likely to lead you astray?
Well, I don't think I need to answer that for you. And so that's true of these things. You know, the children, like the children of Israel in the land of Canaan, who physically went in and possessed the land of Canaan. It was all given to him, It was all theirs, and they could take it and use it.
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And the enemy could never resist them if they win in faith or in obedience to the Word of God. And they did conquer as long as they were depending on the Lord. But if they didn't walk in it, they didn't really possess it. If they didn't plow those fields up and plant them and sow their seed, it wasn't really theirs. And that's the way it is today, too. And that's why a brother spoke, you know, about getting the Word not only in our head, but in our heart and.
Feet, same thing.
And so here we have Paul, and it was given to him to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. This reminds me of the case back in the Old Testament Genesis when the servant was sent out by Abraham to to find a bride for his son.
And so he goes, and he goes back to the land of his father's nativity to find a people.
To find a bride, someone compatible, someone of the same likeness.
For Isaac.
And that servant, he arrives there, you know, and he seeks the Lord's guidance. And we've often enjoyed that, that chapter. And it's got many principles even for finding a, a, a spouse and in this day and age.
What is it that the servant does when he meets Rebecca and he believes that she is that chosen 1?
He opens up his treasures and he pulls out of his bags those gifts, gold and silver, and put some upon the bride, and he also gives to the family.
Oh beloved, that's what the Lord wants to do today.
The unsearchable riches of Christ. What does Christ have now, today in glory? Oh, he's got everything. All the kingdoms of the world. Heaven is all subject to him. The inheritance is great. It's grand.
Everything that we look at on here today, here at Lassen, the Lord is in possession of it all. It's all his.
He's got control of it and he's going to put it all in order one day. We see not yet all things put in subjection under him. It says in Hebrews, but we see Jesus. That's what we see. And as we look at him there, let's let's consider the unsearchable riches that he has. We're a wealthy people because we're married to Christ.
We're chosen the bride.
And everything that belongs to him is ours. He's honorable. You know, that's, that's the way it is. And, and, and most lands when you marry someone, everything that each one owns is common. Your joint heirs, not just half as one and half as the others, your joint heirs together. And so it speaks in Romans that we're joint heirs with Christ.
But if we do not?
Discover these riches, these treasures. If we don't discover how rich our savior is and the the virtues that he has. It's not just material things, but it's the virtues of his character, of his nature and everything about him. He's wonderful.
If we don't discover those things, even though we're the richest people in the world, we're going to go through life like a beggar, like a a pauper.
As a Christian, I say, and so that's one of the purposes of reading. That's why we have here these verses up on the wall to direct ourselves to Christ. That's why it's so important that we lay hold of who he is.
Isn't it wonderful to think that way back in the Old Testament when Moses prayed there in Exodus, show me thy glory.
You know God was going to answer that prayer.
What he did there to Moses was just only a little preview, only a little something to to to get him by until God could really bring out what he wanted to show the glory.
He had in his plan all along.
That he was going to send the Lord Jesus down, and that he was going to gather together in one all in Christ.
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And so the Lord has answered that we see Jesus.
How wonderful.
Verse nine and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ. It brings even brings in even the the first creation. Here God's purpose even in creating the first creation was so that he could have a people in the new creation.
For himself.
First, end to the intent that now.
Unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be made be known by the Church, the manifold wisdom of God. We spoke of that the other day. The other beings in the heavens learn the counsels of God, the purposes of it, in what Christ is doing with His people here on earth.
Verse 11 According to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord, this was His plan way back in the beginning, the eternal purpose.
Nothing new, but it was recently unfolded. It couldn't be unfolded until Christ was risen.
In whom verse 12 we have boldness and access with confidence by faith, by the faith of Him. And so we have the preaching the gospel here, here each night.
How wonderful the Gospel brings us into all of this, Beloved. The Gospel isn't just the forgiveness of sin, a fire escape from hell.
Its entrance into the whole plan of God, his counsels and access. You know, I don't know if any of you let me just have a show of hands. Has there been, is there anybody in this room who has personally visited a president of any country or a Prime Minister here? We've got one.
Two.
Two people. Interesting. Just only two out of this audience that have personally visited a nobility or president or king and so or so forth.
I don't know. I don't expect maybe I'll ever have that privilege either. But I did. I did witness and gave a track to a candidate one time in Peru and in Bolivia, and I considered that a great privilege. But you know that when that when we have high nobility or people of importance.
It's hard to get near him and I've had a very difficult time getting close enough to some important ministers or or department heads. Sometimes a lot of you business people will know about this or maybe the salesman is even more. Yet it's pretty hard to get access sometimes to the high ups, the beloved, we have access.
We ask access. You know, I remember story once about a man that wanted to get access to important man and he couldn't. He went and the secretary turned him back and the guard turned him back and everybody else turned him back.
Finally he found a little little boy that was a friend of the one of the family members. And so they came along, you know, and this little family member of this important person, he just took them and they walked right straight on you. And none of the guards ever asked the question. The secretary no straight on in. Why family member access?
None of you ever knock on the door when you enter home, do you?
Access confidence. That's what we have in Christ, even though he's a holy God for all that sins washed away. Access confidence. No Fear. There's No Fear in love. Perfect love casteth out fear. Well, our time is running out here. We want to get down to this prayer.
Wherefore I desire that ye faint not that my tribulations for you, which is your glory. For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now we have the second prayer of this book.
And this prayer, you might say, now the truth has been revealed, their eyes have been opened up to see the mystery of God, the purposes and counsels of God. He prays first that that that the the message would get inside in chapter one, the prayer, but now the message is inside. They've got it now how are they going to carry it out? How they going to have strengths to go on in this?
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And this is what this prayer helps us for. Oh, you know, it's not only necessary to get these things into your hearts, but.
To go on, beloved, in the good of what God has given us.
There's there are enemies, we've had a ministry about it, there's a conflict here in all these things and how are we going to have strength in as those privileged ones who are the nearest and dearest to the Lord?
And not lose it, or not give it up, or not go astray.
Oh, the apostle prays here for them that verse 16 that he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man. It's the Spirit of God that gives strength. He sent the Spirit down to indwell us. We have the resources. The problem is when we don't depend on Him.
As we had this morning in the prayer meeting.
That's when the difficulties come in, the interruption, the lost confidence, the lot that the lost sense of what our position really is in Christ. And so this is our this is our strength.
Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.
Will as long as a believer is trusting in the strength of the Lord by the Spirit, he will never fail. The failure comes when we trust in ourselves or something else.
And so the apostle prays for them. But notice here the, the, the other part, I, I think it's beautiful to hear, to notice here how that love comes in. You know, love is the main string, the principle string of Christianity. It's the motivating power of Christianity.
And I want to, I want to, I want to add another compliment or a comment to you, dear young people, about your conduct this year. I, I want to 2nd what was just said at the beginning of this meeting. I've noticed it and I appreciated it and I believe I have seen.
That love here is motivating you. It isn't the rules and regulations. Wally hasn't spent very much time at all, only a few things as he really mentioned.
And you have gone beyond his word. It isn't just the just how far we can go and before we get caught here. It's love constraints us and that's the that's the way it is in Christianity and that's why Paul brings in here the love of Christ. Oh beloved, if what the Lord has done for us on Calvary's cross and in bringing us into this this.
Privilege of being his special people chosen for heaven. If that doesn't motivate us to obedience and following a hymn, what else ever could?
Love, it's love. And that was the failure that came in, in the in the Ephesus.
In the, in the, in the Book of Revelation, thou hast left thy first love. And so this is the point we want to guard, beloved, your first love.
Let me read those verses that Christ verse 17 May dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with All Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.
Oh beloved, the love.
Constrains us and it will keep us in the path strength to go on.
In this great privileged place.
And then he closes with this prayer, with these last two verses, and he doesn't say to them now, Ephesians, I know you can do it.
How often we've been told that, you know?
And I don't say that's all wrong in a natural sense out in the volleyball games or in the baseball and so on to encourage one another and say now I know you can do it.
Now he says unto him, that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.
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According to the power that worketh in US.
He knows who can make them do it and he prays and mentions that. What a confidence.
Is every St. of God going to make it? Why, unto him that is able, and he's going to get all of them there. Well, let's make it so right now too, and so that the Lord won't have a difficult time getting us there. Shall we close?
God's Purposes #2: Life for Dead Men
Address—Doug Buchanan
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Like to continue with chapter 4 of Ephesians.
We'll begin reading from the first verse.
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation, wherewith ye are called with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling. 1 Lord, 1 Faith, one baptism.
One God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in you all.
But unto everyone of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Wherefore he saith, when He ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Now he that ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens.
That he might feel all things.
And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.
For the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.
Unto a perfect man.
Unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie and wait to deceive.
But speaking the truth in love may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supply according to the effectual working in the measure of every part.
Maketh increase of the body.
Unto the edifying of itself in love.
We'll just read that far for now and begin our comments.
We have in this book unfolded to us the councils and purposes of God.
It's wonderful that in the New Testament and in this book.
First of all, God opens up.
What he is and what he has done and after he tells and unfolds it all and gives it all to us by grace and says this is yours.
Then he says, now walk in it.
Now that's just exactly the opposite, Is the of the order in the Old Testament.
In the Old Testament it was this Do and ye shall live.
The doing came first, and it was the measure of how much they possessed according to the law.
That that order has been done away with. It's changed now and throughout all the New Testament. This is a general principle of the New Testament. God gives to us out of his storehouse, out of his blessings what we could never attain on our own means. It gives it to us freely, abundantly.
By the Lord Jesus, by his Spirit, by the whole Godhead working together.
And it's guaranteed to be ours. Now we have the beginning of the exhortation, the putting it into practice.
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called. What is this vocation? This is the heavenly calling of the Church, being called out to be a special people unto himself.
00:05:04
We have a wonderful vocation.
Heavenly people saved by grace through the Lord Jesus Christ and His what He's done on Calvary's cross.
Oh, as we consider this, certainly there ought to be a response in our hearts that would say, Oh yes, I would like to walk this life. It means much to me. Our lives show how much we do appreciate the things of God.
Doesn't mean that some are more blessed than others.
We're all blessed the same with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. God doesn't make any distinction in that respect, but some enjoy it more than others.
Some put it into practice more than others in their life.
And that's where the strength comes in, as we had this last prayer in Chapter 3.
There's where we get the strength to carry out this vocation that comes from the Lord, too. We have all the resources, beloved.
Paul speaks again of himself as the prisoner here who commented on that previously. He wasn't in prison when he wrote this. It was real with him. He did practice what he preached and he suffered the consequences of it. He would have liked, no doubt, to get out of prison, but God didn't allow that to very large extent anyway.
And so it is as the prisoner of the Lord, he doesn't say a prisoner of Rome.
No, he didn't look at the second causes You see in this book. You have God in control and His purpose is always being allowed and accomplished in this world. And that God who purposed eternal blessing for Paul and all the rest, allowed him to be a prisoner. If there are difficulties in your life, young people and we all pass through some difficulties, some more than others. Perhaps God alone knows how to mete out those things.
In our life, remember, it's still part of that purpose.
It may cause exercise and questions and we don't know what to do and we don't know how to get through the problem.
Never forget.
That God's eternal purpose.
Has a way.
Perhaps He wants us to search His way and find it. We all have to do that individually as we walk. And then there's the collective unity together, as we'll get in these verses that follow. Then it goes on in verse 2 with all loneliness and meekness.
I'm rather commented on this these those two words previously. Meekness and humility, loneliness.
I enjoyed it.
I look at it this way, why the Lord brings this verse in here?
In the Old Testament, if a man live righteously.
And if he fulfilled the law up to a point in a certain respect, he had a right and a place to look down on somebody else that hadn't walked his faithfully as that one had. And there were, there are many examples of those who walked in, in a certain measure of faithfulness and obedience to God, and they in a certain right.
But not before God, but before others.
Could look down.
And perhaps have a certain amount of pride in themselves for what they had done. But brethren, how did we get to where we are?
None of us got to where we are in this heavenly calling, being saved by grace through our own efforts, or anything that we ever did. It's been all of grace, beloved, that raised us up from being dead sinners to citizens of the household of God.
The family of God, the Church, the bride of Christ, everything that we have beloved has been given to us.
That leaves no room for pride or boasting.
But rather loneliness and meekness as we consider ourselves, having many of us the privilege of being gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus where He has placed His name. Does that make us better? Do we have a place of boasting?
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Rather the contrary, brethren, it's only the grace of God that has brought us where we are and revealed certain things to us and given us the strength to walk in it and go on.
Certain measure of obedience, and that's why loneliness and meekness.
Is becoming to us. O brethren, we are very, very privileged. We have been called to the most noble position there is, but there is no place for boasting in it.
So you have, as it were, contrasted the highest vocation, and also rightly the very next words, loneliness and meekness, also long-suffering and forbearing one another in love.
Forbearing with one another in love we know.
Oftentimes in the world and those of you who have gotten out into the world and especially perhaps those that have gone away to school or gone away to jobs, it doesn't take very long usually to find out how cruel and how hard and how much strife there is in this world. Strife for attainment, for the 1St place, the best job, the most money.
All these things.
It's not too different from the wild world of of the Beasts where it says it's the survival of the fittest. It's really not too different in this natural world of strife.
Oh, there are many humble, gracious people out there, but brethren in the Church of God, it's not that way.
No, I look out on your dear young people and there's various degrees of capacities.
And I think how the Lord delights to look down and bless the most needy ones.
To care for them. That's been the way that he has chosen to make up his church.
Not of the most noble. It says not many noble are called, doesn't say none, but not many.
It's not the smartest, it's not the strongest, it's not the ones that even necessarily are most diligent, although God always blesses diligence.
God has chosen to call the poor, the needy, the weak, the blind, the lame.
Of them to make a people unto himself.
And so that leaves no place for struggle and of attainment in the things of God.
Now in the assembly it there there ought to be no strife of who is the greatest, like in that there was among the disciples no or bearing with one another. We didn't all get to where we are in one day. It's the grace of God that has brought us long step by step.
And so we need to be long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. God has a way of uniting us together, and it's by his Spirit.
It wasn't that certain brethren got together and agreed upon a certain creed or doctrine or way of meeting together or of order of who was going to be directing things and therefore the Church.
Was formed and blessed. It was the work of the Spirit of God not only on the day of Pentecost, but down through the churches history in the in the assembly where you came from. It was the Spirit of God that worked in souls and United a group of believers together that would begin breaking bread and fellowship together around the Lord Jesus in his name.
That is what holds us together.
And therefore we need to submit to that Spirit, that Holy Spirit in every aspect of our life, and He will always direct us along the right way in unity.
He keeps the Spirit.
He keeps the unity and in the bond of peace. That is, it's not forced, it's not a thing of force, but it it bonds us together in peace. I think what it was one brother said there's two ways to be joined together. We can either be melted together or we can be frozen together.
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Well, I think you get the picture. Here. We're melted together in the bond of peace.
And it's not just putting up with one another, no, it's loving one another and seeing the qualities that God has put in each and forbearing with what is not according to God and seeking to minister.
To that unity in the bond of peace. It's a beautiful way to be together. We have that wonderful Psalm in Psalm 138, I believe, right near the end of the Psalms of degrees. Behold how good it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. And so it is when there is that.
Bond there of of of peace.
Where love flows out freely.
It's very difficult for Satan to come in and to destroy.
But where at brethren are on edge together, and where there are unjudged feelings, and those always come from pride.
I'm going to repeat that those always come from pride.
Not forgiving one another.
Not bringing things out in the open before the Lord and.
Bringing peace.
There is an open door for.
Disunion.
Division problems and so on. This is the recipe here for going on together.
And so we continue on verse four. There is one body, one spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling. It's so good to see this. This is a basic truth that will never change. There never will be more than one body.
Never will be more than one Spirit, never more than one calling. God isn't going to change his mind and make some substitutions here down late in the church history.
We have to go back always to these principles and our faith can always go back and lay hold of this. Do things look shaky in your life or is there much confusion in your life as to spiritual things, as to the direction that you should take?
As to where you should go to remember the Lord in his death.
And meet together.
There is one body.
One spirit. There are other spirits out there and we're told to try the spirits.
And there are many antichrists, there's many false voices, but there's only one Spirit, the true Holy Spirit of God. And He always is there ready to give his direction if we turn to Him. And so you have various onenesses here, and it seems as though they're, they're encompassing.
Circles increase as it goes out, but it's all one A1A oneness here. The difference between Christianity and the Old Testament has been described this way. In the Old Testament it's like a corral with the fence about it, or a wall, and then all the sheep are taken and put inside that and our our maintained in that corral.
That's like the law and all the ordinances, and they keep everything in control and contained.
Lest someone should go out beyond what God ordered, Thou shalt not do this and thou shalt not do that. But in Christianity it's different. God has reversed that. He has put one person in the center, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And there is one flock gathered around him, and we all gather around him. And if we gather to him alone, and if he we have the single eye to the Lord Jesus will be close together and will we will become of one mind about everything. So this is the order you have here in these verses.
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There is one body. The Lord is the center of all of this.
The oneness here.
He is the head of the body, one spirit. He sent the Spirit down, one hope of your calling. He has called us together with this one purpose.
To gather a people unto himself.
To be his bride through all eternity. 1 Lord, 1 Faith, one baptism.
The Lordship of Christ is so important in our lives, and it's, it's important for us to submit. You know that the word Lord here is a title and it, it, it means that we acknowledge him as the authority over our lives.
We can't go on for the Lord if we don't acknowledge His Lordship. 1 faith, one baptism, and then one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all. And in you this would include all that this is that God made all.
It doesn't mean that they're all children, but He is as God and Father over them, and He never loses His place as our Creator God.
Verse 7 But unto everyone of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Now we're coming down to individuals here.
We're all different. God didn't make us all alike. It's wonderful he did. I'm so thankful he didn't make anybody else like me.
He has a purpose in making you what you are, and He has a place for you, and He gives you grace to do what He purposes you to do. Unto everyone is given grace. There is no temptation passed right over verse 131013. There is no temptation taking you, but such as is common to man.
But God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
The Lord only allows beloved.
Temptations or trials or testings in our life?
Into the up to the measure that he sees is fit and it's according to as he sees. Our flesh needs to be tried to manifest something there and to reveal it, to get it out where he it can be judged and where we will acknowledge it for what it is.
And so these things do, He does allow these things to come into our lives, to test us, but it's only as inasmuch as we have the flesh in us that is drawn away after such temptations. If we walked always in the Spirit, there would be no temptation that would draw us away.
So the Lord, He gives us grace to function as a member here of His body.
And what he has given us to do. You know, sometimes we look at one another and it's easy to become envious of what God has given other people to do and say, oh, I wish I could do that or what? Or maybe we have doubts in our mind, Well, what has the Lord given me to do?
We don't all know what the Lord has given us to do from day one and justice start out and and go down that path and fulfill what he has. We learn by trial and error. A lot of things we learn by proving ourselves. I remember the case of Moses. You know how he.
He had to learn first of all that when he came into his heart to deliver his brethren, and when he saw the affliction then there in Egypt, and he went out and he tried to set a a quarrel right, and he slew an Egyptian. And he had to run away for a long time and learn a lot of lessons. And then God taught him some things there, and afterwards he gave him three signs.
That were proof proofs that he had.
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The power of God in his life, practically he had the he had the first sign of the casting his rod down and it became a serpent, and then he took it up again. It was a testimony to his power, the power God had given him over Satan. He had the power to put his hand in his bosom and we drew it out. It was leprous, and then he could put it back in and it became clean.
Power over his own flesh.
Demonstrated there before the people of God and then he poured the water out his blood well I've enjoyed that is a picture of our over the world you know God has given us as believers strength to go out and conquer these three great enemies and Moses practiced that before the elders of Israel before he began any work of.
Carrying them out. And so it was only as he was in control of those 3 great enemies that he could be useful.
To God in delivering the people from Egypt. And I believe there's a parallel for us too.
We need, brethren, to prove in the little things what God has given us to do.
Then become victorious in that way by faith in the Lord and strengthen by the Spirit of God to walk the the path of faith in this vocation of being heavenly citizens, not dragged down to the level of the world and becoming worldly minded people while we're talking about having a home in heaven, you see.
Our We'll lose our power when when we.
Lose that distinction of walk a separation, but God gives us grace according to the gift of Christ and then we have the gifts following down here.
Verse 8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he left lead captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. This is the Lord Jesus, the one who ascended up on high. We have a man in glory, with power and authority.
And control.
Up till this time the world was was controlled by Satan and his host. There was no man that perfectly was able to resist Satan and to form a Kingdom.
He that committeth sin is the servant of sin. And if you're going to be liberated from Satan, you have to walk a sinless life. Otherwise you will become a puppet of his hand. And all he has to do is dangle a few things out before a person, and that person is going right after those things because he doesn't have the power to resist those things.
But the Lord Jesus when he came.
I want to write at the very beginning of the ministry of the Lord Jesus. It says He was led in the wilderness to be tempted of Satan and we all know those 3 great temptations that were put before him and the Lord Jesus was victorious. There was nothing in him that responded to those temptations. He was perfect. He could not sin and He did not sin.
And Satan had no hand or leverage against him. But not only did he do that here on on earth as but also he did it even a greater thing, the Lord Jesus.
He caught the enemy by surprise by going down into death.
Which was the power that Satan had?
Or through sin, and the Lord Jesus went down, died and rose again, came forth victorious with power over death, the the greatest strength, the sword that Satan had and had wielded for years, a soul that sinneth it shall die, have been, it says, And there wasn't anybody that hadn't died. But when the Lord Jesus as a sinless one went down and died and rose again.
He led captivity captive.
Oh, there is a place of refuge and safety where Satan can no longer touch the believer, and that is on resurrection ground. That is our deliverance. And that is the way that the Lord can pour out these gifts and He can send down to His church these various gifts and.
Do His work right in the midst of a scene. A world where Satan still is working. Yes, but the Lord has power.
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And that's what he said at the time of his ascension. All power is given me on heaven and in the earth. Go ye. Therefore he thought his disciples, and then he sent them out with power and authority. Well, that was his that was still here on earth. And baptism was one of the things that he he commissioned at that point, teaching and and in baptizing.
But not only has he done that, but I believe even through the apostle.
From heaven itself He has given gifts.
And so here you have the Lord, not only has the risen man here on earth, but you have him as an ascended one in glory, dishing out gifts to the Church in order to build it up, in order to make it function, in order to have a people unto himself in the end, in glory.
That's why he ascended on high. The same one who went up in heaven is the one who went down first into the lower parts of the earth. You can't get too low, beloved, where the Lord can't reach you.
Death is as low as anybody can go, and it's a comfort to those who have lost loved ones to think that the arms of the Lord Jesus are able to reach down and to bring that one up again.
In all your problems of life, difficulties, decisions, you can't get in a position where God cannot or the Lord Jesus cannot help you. He went all the way down and he went all the way up and he's given gifts and many times he uses those gifts. So those those Saints of God.
That he is raised up to do that and so we have all different gifts here.
This all came from Ascended Christ. This was something totally new.
It's interesting that once on the when the Lord was even here, before he had ascended up in heaven, when the Lord was doing all these miracles and the scribes and Pharisees saw it, they said they asked him, by what authority doest thou these things? Where did you get this power? Who gave you this ability to do this? They couldn't understand it because he hadn't graduated from any of their seminaries. He hadn't been one of their disciples in their schools.
Oh, he got it from God himself. He was God himself.
And he had great authority. Now from heaven as a man, he dishes it out and he gives it out to us here on earth, on the earth. And so don't forget, the Lord is in high, He's on heaven and he is in control.
And he gave some apostles, verse 11, and some prophets, and some evangelists.
The apostles and prophets were the 1St, and as we know from Corinthians and other scriptures, they are the ones who began the work and laid the foundation, brought out the first principles, Paul himself being one of those chosen especially to do that.
Then you have the other gifts too that have continued on today. I believe we don't have apostles and prophets in the same sense as they were given here.
Today we do have profits in another sense, like in Corinthians.
But the prophets were specially to help those first believers when they didn't have the Word of God and situations arose and they needed prophets, those who could communicate the mind of God to their needs. Right then, present today, we have the whole Word of God. And so we do have the apostles and prophets in the sense that we have their writings, the book, the Word of God here.
But we do have the others that continue on today, the evangelist, pastors and teachers.
I really believe these are the three principal gifts that are used of God to form church at the assembly or assemblies in different localities. And you notice in reading through the book of Acts how that first may be an evangelist would go out and preach the Word and souls would get saved, and then along would come a pastor and comfort and exhort them to go on for the Lord.
Barnabas was one of those.
And we need that kind of people. We need those that will help us and shepherd us along, help us when we don't understand everything about Christianity yet. And then last of all, you have the teachers. They are the ones who unfold the scriptures and make it known to us. And so it's nice to become a full grown Christian where you understand why you do things the way you do. God didn't just lay out.
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Plan here and expect us to just to follow along, really not knowing why we're doing this and so forth. When you begin in the Christian pathway, that ought to be enough and just to be attracted to the Lord Jesus and gathered around him for many souls in the beginning, it's enough to realize I can remember a case of a brother down on Lima, Peru, who.
Walked in the meeting room for the first time in his life, he was already a believer.
But he had been in various places and and didn't seem content to. He walked in there and sat down in the I believe it was the the breaking of bread and possibly a reading meeting following.
And he said to me afterwards, I knew after that meeting that this is where the Lord was.
He didn't wait. Nobody had unfolded to him the truth about how to gather only to the name of the Lord Jesus or the apostles. Doctrine hadn't been ministered in the truth of the Church. But no, he had a sense in his soul the Lord Jesus was there.
Wonderful, wonderful.
But then there is the teaching, and it's wonderful to have times like this where we can be over the Word. And so the Lord he gives teachers to.
Verse 12. For the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.
This is the body of Christ. Remember, the head is in heaven and He cares about his body, He cares about his Saints. And he sent these gifts. He sent these different ministries, these services that we too can be occupied in and helpful in, and He has a place for you.
The perfecting of the Saints, the work of the ministry, the edifying, the building up of the body of Christ. Oh, it's so nice to see growth. It's so nice to see as we as we as the years go by, you know, and I here, I've been coming here to last four years now.
And it's so nice to see the same ones come back from year to year and you see growth.
We see growth, we're thankful for it. We realize the Lord is working in your hearts, and I hope you see it in our hearts too. We don't stop growing. Us older ones ought not to. We never arrive. When we are going to arrive is when He calls us home. We're all there in glory around Himself. Yes, we are going to come to a perfect man. This thing is going to work out perfectly.
How often people?
When they set out on a big project, you know, building the house.
A job project.
Complicated thing, you know, sometimes.
You get all get an architect and so on to drop all these things and you get lists of all the material and all the job allotments and who has to do what and go along the way. And all of a sudden you find out, oops, you forgot about something and you have to go back and maybe redo something.
But God isn't that way.
No, he's working all this together.
And he's going to have every single one of his Saints there in glory, with him in perfection.
In perfection we know the end of the story. It says in Romans are all things work together for good to them that are called.
All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.
He has told us the end of the story. He has told us how it's all.
So we spoke about that the other day a little and of the need to help in this. It is delightful, brethren, that the Lord would allow us to play a role in all of this, in helping one another. And he delights to and the love of our hearts delights to share in the what the Lord is doing.
With His people. And how wonderful it is then to function with the gift that the Lord has given us. And there's no need, beloved, to be occupied with what gift you have. Maybe in a certain sense, we might have some idea what our gift is.
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I I think of that verse, Whatsoever thy hand find us to do, do it.
Not through being occupied. What your gift is that you're going to perform well. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it. And you'll learn to do it better maybe. And you'll go on and there will be growth. And I believe there is such a thing as improving one's ability or one's gifts, what the Lord has done through use. But if you sit back and just let everybody else do it.
You're not going to really prove what the Lord has given you to do.
Will suffer and others will have to fill in and do what perhaps you could have done much better.
Than they can and oftentimes.
Since there is so much disorder here in in Christendom, we do have to fill in, you know, and do those things which have been left undone.
Till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.
Oh, how wonderful. We're going to know God.
I'd like to turn back just a verse in Matthew 6 just comes to mind right now. Matthew 5 rather verse 8. Matthew 5/8.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
The next one too. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Well, perhaps those verses are a little bit different than ours. Here it's no God.
We shall know, as we are known.
Wonderful. There's not going to be any limitations or in glory we're going to know as known.
To the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that is the whole body, Christ and His Church, one together there in glory.
That is the end and that's how all things are going to come out. Well I'd just like to make it 1 little more brief comment on a a verse down below. It says verse 15. But speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things, which is the head even Christ. And then notice the 21St verse we didn't read. If so, be that ye have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus.
So we have the truth as it.
The truth in Jesus.
And we have speaking the truth in love. This is the way the truth of God is communicated. It's communicated in love.
Not harsh commandments, but in love. And it's communicated in Jesus. The truth as it is in Jesus, it's always associated with a person.
Now there are many other ways to communicate truth or good things. There are many philanthropic organizations and things to improve society, to improve ones own life in this world. And in a certain sense, there's a certain benefit from those things. But what I'd like to point out here, beloved, is that.
In the Church of God.
God wants His truth communicated in Himself, not independent of our Head, the Lord Jesus.
And so to use human techniques to get things accomplished or get things across to people to make their lives better, it may produce a certain amount of change in somebodies life. But is this really what God wants? Does he want a lot of people here that are behaving real well but separate from Christ?
There may be a certain amount of that accomplished in organizations here on earth, but what He wants in His people is that these things be learned in connection with Christ, the truth as in Jesus. And so I believe this is the way that we ought to communicate the truth of God.
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Always associated with the Lord Jesus and and and in in the.
Really, I believe it's only through Him that there will be real, true blessing. Well, may the Lord bless these comments.
And may he fill us with Christ.
And realize that all is centered in Him, and that He is going to have us all there with Him in glory. Shall we close with prayer?
God's Purposes #3: The Mystery Revealed
God's Purposes #4: Our Greatful Response
Discipleship #1: Follow Me
Address—Dave Spence
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.
People about following Christ.
And perhaps the first one will be a very simple talk concerning the two precious words the Lord Jesus spoke to Peter, James and John and Matthew, chapter 4. But we're going to turn first of all to Luke Chapter 5.
And read the experience.
Where Peter met the Lord Jesus Christ. Or we should say where Jesus met him for the second time.
Luke, Chapter 5, verse One It came to pass that as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Genesaret.
And saw two ships standing by the lake, but the fishermen were gone out of them and were washing their Nets.
And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simons, and prayed that he would thrust out a little from the land.
And he sat down and taught the people out of the ship.
Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your Nets for a draft. And Simon answering, said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net.
And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes, and their net break, and they beckoned under their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them.
And they came and filled both the ships so that they began to sink.
When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus, knees saying depart from.
Me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord, for he was astonished, and all that were with him.
At the draft of the fishes which they had taken.
And so was also James and John, and the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
And when they had brought their ships to land.
They forsook all and followed him.
Now for that verse in Matthew chapter 4.
And then we'll turn back to Luke.
5.
Same experience here. Matthew chapter 4.
And verse 19.
And he saith unto them.
Follow me in the previous verse tells us who it was.
Simon.
Peter.
Andrew, his brother.
They were fishers, and Jesus said to them both, follow me.
Well, we know that. And those of us who know our Bibles a little bit beloved. We know that this experience here was the second time. The Lord Jesus, as far as we know, met Peter and had a little time with him. The first time was in John chapter one.
Where Andrew it says of him verse 41 and 42 of chapter one it says first findeth his own brother Simon.
Some of us have brothers very dear to us, and we have perhaps have desired the salvation of their soul, our younger brothers. Or if you have a younger brother and you've sought to speak to them about the Lord Jesus Christ.
And this is very natural in family relationships, and Andrew was interested in having his brother introduced to such a glorious 1.
And he brought him to Jesus. Touching words, he brought him to Jesus.
Brought him Wasn't that Peter, so to speak, had energy to come on his own, or desire to come on his own, but he brought him to Jesus.
And there were many in the Scriptures in the New Testament that were brought to Jesus. There was even a man who was carried by 4 and let down through the tiling of a roof into the midst of a home where the Lord Jesus Christ was preaching the Word, seemingly no interest. But there was one man who had a need, and he was on a stretcher, and they carried him to Jesus. Well, there are many that were brought to Jesus, no doubt the lame, the sick, and of those who couldn't make it in their own strength.
Were brought to him, and he healed the mall.
But Peter experienced something the first meeting that umm no doubt spoke to his heart a little bit, because as Jesus beheld him, it says there in verse 42 of chapter one of John Jesus beholding him.
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It's a wonderful thought, isn't it? He beholds him.
He looks at him. It was just the previous verses where it says John the Baptist beholding Jesus, he said Behold the Lamb of God.
His heart was taken up and enthralled with and ignited with, could we say, the blessed person of Christ? But let's look at the thoughts of the Lord Jesus Christ concerning his.
Beholding you and me.
Peter's just an example of this.
He beheld him.
The Lord beheld another we read in Mark chapter 10, but this man went away.
He was a dear young man, a very upright, morally upright young man.
But he refused to take the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. He refused to follow Jesus, and he went away sorrowful.
But Jesus beheld Simon, and he changed his name that day to Cephas, and that is Peter, which means a stone or a Pebble.
Yes, if we put our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we are all living stones. The scripture says in First Peter chapter 2. Living Stones to a Holy Priesthood that says to OfferUp spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.
Can you imagine, beloved Saints, what heaven is going to be like?
The hymns may be lacking in our expressions of them, the beautiful hymns, whether up at the fireside, there and at the lake or here, but not in the glory. The praises will be full to the fullest degree. I can not imagine what glorious singing there will be in that coming day to the worthy one who deserves our praises, who deserves our lives.
Well, when Peter's name was, or Simon's name was, changed that day to Peter, there was little expression, if any. I don't know that Scripture doesn't record that there was any. And his name, Simon, means hearing with acceptance. So evidently he heard wonderful things. Just a few words. The Lord Jesus spoke to him, and the Lord put a claim on his life. In other words, it was new ownership. That day He had a new master. He may not have come into the fullness of joy of that or the good of that.
But he had something, no doubt in his heart, that really touched him, what Jesus said. And most of all, he had a new life.
And Brother Doug mentioned something this morning that is very interesting that should really make us stop and think about what we have in Christ. And it's all in Christ. We're accepted in the Beloved 1.
Chosen in God before the foundation of the world, that we might be holy without blame before him. In love, yes.
We have a new life that can enjoy him and that can enjoy his presence.
The carnal mind, it says in Romans chapter 8 is enmity against God.
There was a family member who said when a little child was born into our family, she said. That child naturally loves God. You can see the way she acts and walks and talks. She has a natural love for God. Can't you see it?
Well, if she did, then she doesn't today.
She's grown up to be an atheist.
She rejects the whole idea of God.
She did not have, nor do you have, nor does any of us have, a natural love for God.
There is none righteous, no, not one.
There is none that doeth good. No, not one. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. And even as Christians we have to drift, perhaps in a certain direction, and go a certain distance from the Lord Jesus Christ to realize what prodigals we are in heart and spirit.
And our brother Lundeen used to tell us right here, as he has talked to us many times, all of us in the glory will be 500 pence debtors, no 50 pence debtors. There will all be 500 pence debtors.
And no doubt, Peter, that day when he had an introduction to the Lord Jesus Christ, this blessed one didn't begin to enter into the glory of his person.
And we don't know where he went or what he was occupied with or what his thoughts were. Scripture doesn't really tell us and come till we come to Luke Chapter 5. But you know something that's like the two on the way to Emmaus, the Lord Jesus Christ followed them.
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Because he had a claim on their life too.
And he was following Peter the day that he put a claim upon his life and that new ownership took place. The Lord Jesus Christ would not stop following that dear man. And no matter how far you have drifted from following the Lord Jesus Christ, if you've even started, he will never stop following you because he wants your heart and life. He has paid too much for us to cast us to the wind and say, well.
They are saved now and they are going to be with me in my home in glory and that's all that matters.
Not so.
In fact, in John 17 he said, if Jesus ever expressed his own will or desire, it's expressed in John. 17 He said, Father, I will, that they whom thou hast given me may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.
And in the measure that we behold it today and have it introduced to us today, or it breaks through the darkness and night in our life.
Because Peter had experienced some night here in this chapter.
When it breaks through, it's going to win our hearts.
And he will not stop following us.
It's true that there is a sin unto death.
And I believe that the Lord removes.
Perhaps some of us, some who?
Sad to say, have turned their lives over to following the enemy of our souls. And it's tragic to think of Solomon who it says he he loved many strange women and then he followed the idols of his wives and they took away his heart. And the devil does not care what agency he uses to ensnare your heart and life to keep you away from following Christ, not only to give you happiness and joy.
And blessing, but to take away the glory that he deserves, that we're going to give him in a coming day.
All the value He places on your life, can any of us estimate the value He puts upon your life? And he that hath begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. It is true. When you have life like Peter did, he's going to be there. You're going to be there with him if you have life in Christ. He that hath the Son half life, and he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life. That life will always be yours in Christ, and we can't enjoy Him.
We can understand him, we can walk with him, we can communicate with him. Because before we never had a life. It was a carnal life. It was an enmity with God.
And now we have a life not only that can understand him, but that can enjoy him. And even the prodigal who came home from such a great distance away in the pigpen, so to speak. His father embraced him. And what did he do? He clothed him. He put a ring on his finger, shoes on his feet, and sat him down at his table to enjoy fellowship with him. Unbelievable. These kinds of things are not understood in religion today.
But this is God's way.
He rescues those who are down in the dirt, so to speak.
We heard a tape on the way up here about a man who said.
The Lord picked me up the most filthiest thing he could find. He took me up from that horrible pit and he set me on the rock Christ Jesus, and he gave me a new life.
And he's blessed me beyond beyond all of my.
All of my ability to understand.
But Peter now comes to this point in his life where he has to have another, another introduction to the Lord Jesus Christ, because it's kind of a step by step process with some of us.
And discipleship involves, of course, following him. That's what discipleship is following Christ.
And there are several qualifications for discipleship, and they're mentioned in Luke chapter 14. And not to turn there, but just to make mention.
Of three or four of them.
First of all, it says if a man forsake not all, that he hath even brethren, sisters, mother, father, children, wives, whatever the case may be, he cannot be my disciple. That's the first one. He deserves the preeminent place in your heart and life. Discipleship is not being saved. Discipleship is following Christ after you're saved. It's true that many have followed Jesus.
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Who were not saved.
But if you're a Christian and you're not following him because you haven't forsaken some family relationship.
Jesus said to you, it's more important that you put me first.
Than to follow a family member.
If he despise, In fact, it says that if he despise not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.
Is to be despised in contrast to the glory of this person. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God. We've just been singing that together. One of the most popular hymns here at the camp this year. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you, That in all things He might have the 1St place. And in contrast to everything in this world He is to have the first love of our hearts.
Is that true? That's the first qualification for discipleship and it goes on to say. And his own life also.
Is there something you're saving your life for in this world that you want so bad? It's keeping you from following Christ? I don't know what it might be.
It could be a relationship with one of the opposite sex.
Maybe he or she is not a believer.
And you pretty well made your mind up that this is the way you want to go.
The next one is.
Taking up the cross rejection with Christ.
Stepping out from the world, carrying his cross, so to speak.
Not his cross. May I clarify that It's your cross. Nobody could take his cross. Nobody.
He bore our sins in his own body on the tree that was his cross.
But we're identified with his cross and that's what the world did to him. They got rid of him by way of the cross.
And the fourth thing is we have we have to count the enemy, we have to calculate the enemy, we have an enemy.
We have an enemy, your adversary, the devil that says walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour and if he's seeking to devour anyone beloved. And Peter spoke that to the believers. First Peter chapter 5, Adversary. And he's seeking to trip you up to bring shame and dishonor upon the precious name of Christ which deserves all the glory in your life and mine.
And the fifth thing is, have you calculated or counted the cost?
The cost? All of those are mentioned in Luke chapter 14. There is a cost to you.
There was a missionary whose name was Jim Elliott back in 1955, and he was associated with several other missionaries, and he set out. I knew him personally, even as a little boy. He set out to follow the Lord Jesus Christ in the way of full-time service, and he went over to try to get into the ink engine tribes.
And bring the gospel to them. And we know, perhaps some of us know anyway, that at 35 years of age approximately he had to give up his life and there were five missionaries total that were willing to lay down their life for the Lord Jesus Christ. They did can't came out of an airplane and they were killed and and sadly it looked like it was a hopeless situation but their wives did not stop.
The gospel penetrated those dark barriers of unbelief in spite of what they had done, the tribe had done to their husbands.
And the gospel got into that area and many were brought to Christ. The whole tribe in fact was changed their whole way of life. So many were converted.
But Jesus is worthy of that life of yours, and my life does he have it. Are you following him? The Lord Jesus Christ comes to the sea of Galilee. A beautiful seashore, the western seashore of of Galilee, where Beth say it is is situated there, very populated area it was in that day.
And Basaya, that means the House of fish. And that's exactly the profession that Peter had taken up and those that were associated with him, Andrew and James and John.
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And they no doubt were looking forward to a fairly prosperous business, as we all do in our lives. And I'm sad to say that many of us get the wrong start in our life.
By focusing so much of our attention, not that there is something wrong with undertaking.
A good education to have an occupation to support your family, but many times it becomes primary instead of secondary.
I know a young man who began to be exercised when he was younger.
To follow the Lord even into full time service. And he got caught up so much with his education. He did very well. He excelled in his subjects and then he got into the business world and he excelled in the business world.
And his heart began to carry him away. Got married. Got a family. Nothing wrong with that.
But he lost that desire.
I'm not saying it was of the Lord, but he did have an exercise to follow the Lord Jesus Christ in an official way. Or should we say, into full time service?
To preach the gospel and to go where the Lord wanted him to go.
Is there any here that have the slightest inkling that they would like to follow the Lord and and I'm not saying that it would always be His will, that you would give your your lives to him in full time service, but should you negate that?
And say, well, it would never be me.
He is looking for laborers. It says in Matthew's Gospel that he might thrust them forth into his fields of harvest. I don't know how much time we have before Jesus comes. It's perhaps very short, but let's not just drop everything and forget about serving him. Whether it's full time or whether it's part time. He should have both. He should have first place in both cases, should he not?
The Lord had to get Peter alone here.
In order to demonstrate to him what could not be demonstrated in any other way, and he has a special way of demonstrating to you something that will win your heart, Has he tried?
I know of example after example of brothers or sisters who I could see the Lord was seeking to woo them and draw them to himself and win their hearts because they were going off in another direction and they didn't hear, they didn't listen.
And many are in the world today.
I got a call from a young man who was in fellowship at the Lords table many years ago as a companion of many of us.
And sadly, his life is shipwrecked.
His life is shipwrecked.
I don't even know where he is in his soul.
And at one time he sat at the Lord's table. He partook of the emblems, as we had the blessed privilege the other morning.
The Lord wants to get alone with you.
Not to just exercise authority over your heart and life, but he wants to win your heart. He wants to win your heart. And this is exactly what happened to Peter that this day.
He told Simon to just thrust out from the shore a little bit, to use his boat for a pulpit, to preach to the audience on the on the seashore. And it's interesting to see that that Jesus sat down. Isn't that wonderful? I think if the Lord was here in person, beloved brethren, he would sit down with us and just talk with us.
He makes us feel comfortable in his presence.
He draws our hearts to him. The language of the Song of Solomon is draw me and we will run after thee. This is what the Lord was doing here to Simon Peter. He had put a claim upon his life. He had given him life, eternal life. There had been no or little response from the life of Peter. He was engaged in business. He was too busy, perhaps.
The Lord says, I want to use your boat, Peter.
And I'm going to pay you good for it, too.
I'm going to pay you for the use of your boat.
The Lord will never short us because when He puts a claim on our life.
Remember, he has a claim on everything we own, and Peter didn't realize that it was the Lord's boat.
But Peter, but the Lord asked Peter, launch out with your boat. I want to use it for a platform to preach on. But really while the Lord Jesus was speaking to the audience that day and the the message was the parable of the sower where he's talking about the seed that was sown. Some fell by the wayside to the careless hearts, the sea that was sown to into the hearts of the the calloused ones.
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The Stony soil.
It didn't take root and the scene that was sown to the carnal hearts.
But finally, the seed that was sown.
Into the heart that had been plowed up.
And many, no doubt we heard the word and perhaps many were saved. I don't know.
But the Lord had Peter in mind that day.
Verse 4 Now when he had left speaking, he saith unto Simon, Launch out in the deep, and let down your Nets for a draught. And Simon answering, said unto him, Master.
We have toiled all the night.
And have taken nothing. Nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net.
Let me ask you dear young folks.
Have you been toiling?
In your life without rest and peace.
Have there been struggles to the extent that you feel at a distance from the Lord Jesus Christ? And the clouds have come in to dim the lover of your soul from your eyes and from your vision?
Has that been the case with you?
Peter no doubt was weary at this time, and maybe there are some weary here who can't keep their eyes open. It's difficult.
Peter was probably tired, fished all night.
But he got a real awakening. It's coming.
The Lord graciously deals with him, He just said, simply let down your net.
Peter finally obeyed.
He had to take a place of separation from his companions. Nevertheless, at thy word, I will let down the net, no matter what human reason would tell me. No matter if it's the wrong time of the day. The night time is the time to take your Nets out and fish. We used to do it back in Iowa. Night time was the time to do that.
Peter obeys the word of the Lord.
The entrance of Thy word giveth life. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Thy word hath I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee. And Peter has a life that can obey the word of God. And he does, even though he has some doubts about it. He says nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net. He separates himself from his companions, and perhaps some of you.
Have been drawn away by your companions.
And the Lord wants you to step out.
And take that place of dependence and obedience completely upon the Lord Jesus Christ.
Young brother was telling me just the other day that he was involved in a little group of men where he was for training.
And there was a butterfly caught in a spiders web.
And he had told them about his faith in Christ, and he shared that with them, and wanted them to know how much the Lord meant to him. And he let them know it the first day he walked in there as to where he stood, lest he should get caught up with somebody putting him under pressure to just come with them or go with him or companion with them.
And they made fun of him. They said, oh, yes, pray to your God to get the butterfly out of the net. Perhaps he can do that. And they make fun of him. They reproached him for that there will be reproach if you take a stand apart from your your companions. And you obey the word of the Lord Jesus Christ. You obey his word, you make it yours personally. You take a stand for him.
This may not be quite the same, but it's still obedience to the word of the Lord.
Later on, this young brother.
Was sitting in his bunk and they came over to his bunk and were going to sit down with him until they saw him reading his Bible.
And they decided to go somewhere else. One by one, they just skirted his bunk. If you ever want to keep separate from companions, that may be a bad influence in your life. Hold up the weapon of the word of God.
It's wonderful. The word of God is power, quick and powerful. It's alive, sharper than any two edged sword and the world knows. As our brother Doug intimated this morning, this book is complete. It's all we need. If it is the word of God, let's obey it. And as a preacher said one time, it's the only book in the world that deserves a leather binding because it's complete. Every book in the world you have to add something to a leaf, to a page, to or whatever. This is complete. It is the word of God.
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The entrance of Thy word giveth light, and Peter got light that day he did, he got light.
He let down the net. That's the first step.
When they had done this, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes, and their net break. He let down one net, the Lord said, Let down your Nets. He let down one. Perhaps his faith, or his faith may have been lacking in that way a little bit.
But the Lord doesn't care. Obedience to His word was what was important, and Peter obeyed it. And He catches a multitude of fish. Now the Lord could have put half of the amount of fish in that net, could he not?
And Peter would have been impressed.
Or we might say this, that if Peter the night before had caught some fish.
He may have been in different circumstances to obey the Lord.
And said, well, Lord, we got enough fish last night we really don't need anymore, thank you anyway. And sometimes the Lord will create a drought in your life or circumstances in your life that will cause you to want that which He's offering to you that you by any other means would not get.
You know what I mean?
You say all these things are against me. Like Jacob said in his life, all these things are against me. No.
If God before us, who can be against us, it just seems like he's against us because the circumstances are adverse.
Even when the Lord came walking to his disciples on the water, they looked at him and they said that's a spirit. And sometimes we say look at what the devil is doing in our lives and we have all kinds of distractions.
So the circumstances here are perfectly arranged so that the Lord can when when.
The heart of Peter, He could have said to Peter. Peter, where have you been for several months?
I introduced myself to you some time ago. I changed your name, and you know what that means. New ownership. You have life eternal. Where have you been?
Because there were some that the Lord Jesus met. In fact, was it Matthew? He came to Matthew sitting at the receipt of customs and he said follow me and he rose up. He left all says rose up and followed Jesus.
It's not the same circumstances with each one of us the Lord uses, but He wants all of us to follow Him.
And so now we find the net is full and the net begins to break. And then they had to bring the other boats out to put all the fish in and they begin to sink. So the net was full. The boats are full now. And I'll tell you something else that was full, and that was Peter's heart.
That's what got the greatest feeling was his heart. And the Lord wants to win your heart.
Maybe you say the circumstances are unfavorable. They were in Peters Fishing Experiences expedition this night. He didn't catch anything and maybe you've caught nothing, so to speak. Maybe you've never really gotten what you want to get out of this life.
You fished a long time in this world, or a few years at least. And you've had certain objectives and desires, things that you wanted for your life and for your heart, something that would make you happy. You've tried to get those things. It could be a relationship.
It could be possessions.
It could be there aren't favorable circumstances in some of your friendships that you have.
The way you feel about some of the things your parents have told you that are right, but you are chafed by these things. There is a multitude of things.
That can make you feel very uncomfortable, that you consider unfavorable, or you might even use the words. These things are unfair. It's unfair. I'm really not getting.
What I deserve?
My wife some time ago invited some black.
Missionary people into our home.
They do not have the blessings, may I say, of the truth that we enjoy.
They don't have the great wealth of ministry we enjoy and the truths that have been given to us. Even the security of their salvation perhaps is lacking in some of their teachings. But these young girls are devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ I was.
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I just, I must say it was an experience I hadn't had for many years to see, their devotedness in following the Lord Jesus Christ. They had deprivations in their lives, a multitude of deprivations, the food they eat, the clothing they wear, and the all the temporal benefits that we take for granted. The modern conveniences they didn't have, they don't have.
But their hearts were on fire for the Lord Jesus Christ. They were following him.
In the majority of the truth we might say that they knew. They used it to follow him, to glorify him in their lives. And how much do we have, Beloved, We hold in our laps? We have heard for many years the preaching of the word of God, the truths we take for granted. And some of us don't want these things. We we cast them off. We walk away from it. We don't obey the word of God. The truth does not set us free.
I'm afraid that we live on Christianity. Easy street.
Peter that day had an infilling that caused an uprising in his heart.
When he fell down at Jesus knees, when he saw this grand display of the Lord of glory, he fell down at Jesus knees. And he said, depart from me, for I am a sinful man. Oh Lord, you say, Well, why didn't that draw him close to the Lord Jesus Christ?
Because that was the purpose of Jesus, to have him follow him.
Because Peter had really never seen what he was, in contrast to the Lord of Glory.
Job never saw what he was. In 30 some chapters in that book of Job, he never really saw what he was and he was a very righteous man. He would put us to shame, no doubt, by his righteous life. But here is a man Job.
That it says I've heard by the hearing. Hearing of the year.
I've seen with the eye.
And now I abhor myself and repent and destination.
Isaiah said. I saw the Lord high and lifted up.
The King of Glory.
And the Seraphims gave glory to the Lord.
The whole earth is full of his glory, they exclaimed in Isaiah chapter 6. And Isaiah said, Woe is me for him a man of unclean lips, and dwell in the midst of a people with unclean lips.
For I have seen the King of Glory.
Peter saw the King of Glory.
And Jesus had not even brought before him one single sin.
Peter had obeyed him, in fact.
But he saw what he was in the light of his glory.
He beheld his glory. He didn't feel worthy of even being close to the Lord Jesus Christ. And what does? What does the Lord say when the When Peter said depart from me, he said fear not. Verse 10. The end of verse 10. Fear not.
In other words, no, Peter, I'm not going to go away. Fear not. In fact, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all and followed him. And the words in Matthew chapter four are very clear, beloved. And they're not only to Peter, they are to you. And they're just two simple words. And they are follow me.
Have you made those two words your own personal conviction? Have you heard his voice? Wooing you, drawing you, winning your heart? I know you. You may have gone through some tough circumstances. I don't know all of the the way the Lord has arranged the circumstances in your life. Every one of your lives have a different arrangement of circumstances. I do know that the majority of you, and including the speaker, have been blessed abundantly to hear such wonderful things all of our lives.
We are greatly responsible, but we are to make the word of the Lord our own. Follow me, he said, and he looks at you this afternoon with the same love that he looked at Peter way back. When he first met Peter, he beheld him, and he knew that at that moment it was not appropriate for him to say follow me. He had to wait till Luke chapter 5, when Peter had spent a night toiling, so to speak, trying to get something for himself. And now he gets his boat full.
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And he has the greatest grand opening, you might say fish sale or opportunity to have a grand opening for his business along the seashores of of the seashore of.
Of Galilee, The sea of Galilee. What does he do? He abandons his business.
He follows the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord knew how to get him to win him into a position, to win him, to draw him, to fill him, to show him his glory, who he was, the only one that could have drawn those fishes into the net. It had to be the Lord of glory. It had to be the Messiah of Israel. And here he is asking me to follow him. What can I do?
He was a young man. You're young men and young women here today. He loves you. He wants your life. He deserves it. He wants your heart. He wants your worship and praise. He wants your service too.
But listen to him speak to you.
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.
Follow me.
You'll never be sorry.
No, we just close and print.
Discipleship #2: A Threefold Cord for the Heart
Address—Dave Spence
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.
Yesterday we spoke a little bit about following Christ in the pathway here as believers.
There are no age restrictions.
For following the Lord Jesus Christ, whether you're three or four years of age here today and you have received him.
Perhaps at your parents side, if you've received Christ, you can walk with him and follow him and hear those words that we read of the other day yesterday when we had the word open.
Follow me.
It doesn't make any difference what the difficulties might be. Peter had difficulties in his life.
It doesn't matter what the distractions might be. Yes, they are hindrances.
But he wants you to hear his words to your heart. Follow me. And to continue a little bit more with that subject before us, I'd like to speak a little bit today about a threefold cord for the heart, a threefold cord for the heart of one following.
That blessed one John, Chapter 8. For just a verse or two, the first of the threefold chords or the threefold cord is the word of God.
John Chapter 8.
And verse 29.
And he that sent me is with me. The Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please him.
As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him.
If he continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed? And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
And Doug referred in his talk, perhaps to this verse. Let's read it verse 34.
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever commit a sin, as the servant of sin.
And the servant abideth not in the house forever, but the son abideth ever.
If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free.
Indeed.
You know, beloved young people, it is a wonderful thing to think of a life that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.
As something that has set us free.
Those of you who have been saved a little while, you know the conflict of the pathway.
The spirit lusteth against the flesh and the flesh against the spirit, so that you cannot do the things that you would. It says in Galatians chapter 5.
There is a power that struggles within you against that new life that you have. But when there is complete surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ, and we'll talk a little bit about that today, there is liberation.
And you know, no matter how old we are, we all experience some measure of conflict.
Because the old nature would seek to bring us into ******* continually, I say us.
I speak of my own heart as that which is the new creation.
The life I possess in the Lord Jesus Christ and the enemy, of course, is one who works upon the lusts of the flesh.
But if they are crucified, were set free, it is one thing to think of the Lord Jesus Christ and the work that he has done upon the cross and it's finished. No one can add to it. He has been raised from the dead. And when the blood is applied to our life and we have life in Him, we experience a liberty and at first a first love that is so tremendous.
And sometimes it's not always this way because as we said yesterday, we all have different experiences.
It may come later in your life, but it's that first love condition that the Lord wants us to look at or look for or cultivate, may we say in our relationship with Him because it is love that will take you over. The tough times in His presence is love.
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If we can be simple.
It is the love of Christ that constraineth us. It persuades us. His love, enjoyed in the heart, produces that reciprocal response in our hearts to Him.
And an overflowing heart has no room for the pleasures of the world.
And you have spoken to, I'm sure, your peers. Or you've seen someone saved and you've seen the freshness of first love that has been so tremendous and powerful in their life. They have given up the habits, the idolatries and those things in their lives that have held them in ******* the little while or the long while that they were sinners apart from the salvation of Christ. That is what will liberate us.
By the power of the Spirit, forging our souls into a blessed relationship as we are occupied with the Lord Jesus Christ as the object for our hearts.
It is a love so wonderful, beloved young people that our poor vessels, our bodies, cannot contain it. And we have that in the Song of Solomon chapter 2, where the bride says, for I am sick of love. Now it's not how we might think of it in terms of being sick of something. In other words, she could not contain the love that she was enjoying in her heart.
That love is so wonderful. How could any of us fully enjoy it and enter into it?
Reread of it in in Ephesians Chapter 3A. Love that is incomprehensible, but any measure that it is enjoyed, we will find our spirits buoyed up and lifted above some of the problems. Because we are loved, we are embraced.
The eternal God is our refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms, and we find those arms.
So blessed and wonderful to be loved.
No matter what we pass through, He orders all of our circumstances for us in the heart of perfect with a heart of perfect love. And then He loves us in the circumstances, draws us near himself through the server because of the circumstances, and he'll give us the difficulties in our lives many times, so that we will.
Be comforted by him, otherwise we wouldn't be. And you say why Lord this and why Lord that?
And what's Why do I have to go through things that I see my other friends in Christ? They don't have to go through those things. And I seem to have a very unique kind of problem.
Because he can only reach you through the circumstances that he has designed for your life.
And Peter found that out that day that he was tired as a young man, working all night trying to earn a living.
And not having much success as he was so busy all night toiling all the night and catching nothing. And the Lord saw to it that he didn't catch anything as we said yesterday.
But he kept him from that catch so that he could give him a catch that he would never forget.
He had changed his name some weeks or months before.
And now he changes his occupation because Peter is down at Jesus knee saying, depart from me for I'm a sinful man, O Lord.
He's occupied with the one who is so glorious.
His love is so wonderful and the power that he has demonstrated to give him.
What he wanted in his occupation and more.
He gave it up.
Because Jesus said, Now I want you to follow me.
And so Peter set off in his pathway, feeling no doubt his unworthiness. As we do.
Because of the glory of his person.
Sometimes Satan twists things in our lives and in our minds to think that now that the we belong to the Lord. And of course Satan is behind this because he hinders us. In Galatians it says, Who hath hindered you? Satan hinders us from coming into complete emancipation, from the ******* of this life and of our own hearts and the idolatries of life.
But he wants us to realize that.
The fullness of the blessing he has for us can only be had in a pathway of following Christ.
In John chapter one it says of his fullness have we all received and grace upon grace, and when the heart has received any measure of the fullness of Christ, as we said before?
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It is dissatisfied with everything else that it finds in the world to preoccupy it. Dissatisfied.
And any dissatisfied heart is that seeking to be satisfied by anything in this world will only find dissatisfaction.
And especially the heart of the believer, because the heart of the believer.
Can only be satisfied by the Lord Jesus Christ and how much time we waste. And I say we, I say me beloved young people we've wasted in going our own way. We've heard the word fall follow me, and we have sadly strayed from the path.
Not only the path of service, but the path of fullest enjoyment. Peter had a word spoken to him that day that he never forgot. And no doubt he thought, If obedience to the word of my Lord means such a fullness of blessing in my life, no matter what the cost, no matter what the circumstances might be in my life, I want to follow him because I want to be blessed.
And have the fullness of blessing that he has for me, because I've never had such such a full heart.
That day I met him.
On the ship when I had such a tremendous catch.
And so it's the word of God that he obeyed.
And it's the word of God that we need to hear. That was just the beginning for Peters life as he started off on his pathway to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. But he had learned from henceforth he was going to catch men. And I don't believe there is a believer in this room whom the Lord.
Would not want to be a testimony in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul said. I'm not ashamed of it. And in the measure that we follow him, we will want to share the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Michelle Whitehouse was, I'm sorry, Michelle Kelcup was telling me, just a little while ago.
About a 7 year old little girl, seven years of age. She died of cystic fibrosis and she got in some trouble before her death at school because she was testifying to other boys and girls about the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the teacher called her on the carpet about it and gave her a little talking to and after she had given her a talking to this little 7 year old sick girl said to her.
Do you have Jesus?
Have you received Jesus yet? After being reprimanded, she wouldn't stop in her young life. How old do you have to be to become a witness for your Lord and Savior? How old do you have to be before you start catching men and women, so to speak, or boys and girls for the Lord Jesus Christ?
Seven years old.
I know of a 5 year old boy who stepped up to talk to a brother who was going to preach the gospel one night at a conference meeting.
And he confessed Christ to that brother. He said, I have been saved just a short time in my life. And he said I just wanted somebody to know that what a testimony that is. How old do you have to be? How old do you have to be to be saved? There's no particular age. How old do you have to be to witness for the Lord Jesus Christ? And Peter decides.
After no doubt setting his heart and mind on an earthly occupation that would make him somewhat prosperous.
You had a pretty good business going, no doubt. I don't know.
He decides to enter into a vocation of greater spiritual prosperity and something that would give his Lord the fullness of glory. Now we don't have to stop working in order to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. We're to continue on in that vocation wherewith we have been called. Continue on in the First Corinthians Chapter 7.
And maintain honest trades. You don't have to stop working to put Christ first in your life and to follow Him in the pathway of service that he's marked out for you. But He wants you to give him that preeminent place of following Him in your life. And if you go down the mountain back to your home assemblies or back to your homes, having those two words fixed in your heart and mind, follow me.
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And obedience to the word of God in the way that Peter did that day, I want to tell you.
There is none of us that could.
Comprehend the measure of blessing that will be ours.
If we simply follow him, but it must be according to his word.
And disciples indeed were different than disciples. Here we read of those who continued in his word were disciples indeed. And there were other disciples if you if you read in John chapter 6 followers of the Lord Jesus Christ who went back and followed him no more. So you don't have to be a Christian to be a disciple. Did you know that?
Are you in the pathway of following Christ in unreality? Are you a false disciple?
Judas was.
Lot was a disciple, we might say, of the Lord who was unhappy, vexed with a filthy conversation of the wicked.
But he was not really being a testimony for his Lord.
He wasn't really following the Lord.
And here the word of God is emphasized to continue in His word. And let me ask each one of us the question Is there any area of our lives that we've departed from the word of God?
Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven. Psalm 100 and 1989. It's settled in heaven. But is it settled in our hearts?
Are we grounding our lives, our hearts, and the direction of our lives on the precious word of God? Oh, we're saved. We're on the rock. That's wonderful. But we learned that where from the word of God. And now we're to continue in the word of God. Continue. That's the first of the threefold chords.
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way, but by taking heed?
According to the word of God.
We need cleansing by the word.
That we might be sanctified, it says in Ephesians chapter 5. Sanctified and cleansed by the washing of water, by the word. Every day we read the word of God, it judges me, it says Dave, you've been wrong and this thing you've been allowing in your life.
It judges me and I say, Lord, you're right.
I confess that that's the way we're cleansed.
Confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive us. But confession means self judgment. We need that.
Peter had to learn these things as he went along the pathway following his Blessed Lord.
And the Lord said in Islam 138 verse two, I have magnified my word above all of my name.
And what does that mean? Isn't the name of the Lord Jesus Christ supreme?
He says he's magnified his word above his name because it's the word of God that's preeminent in one sense.
Jesus is the word personified, so they're synonymous.
But it is the word that will judge in the coming day, he said. There were those that reject me.
But those that reject me will be judged by the word that they've rejected in a coming day. That's how great, that's how high, That's how powerful his word is. He's magnified it above all of his name. Should we set it aside and take a path of our own choosing, dear young people?
The word of God should have a preeminent place in our lives.
Now let's turn to Luke Chapter 9 and read verse 22. Luke 9. We were there this morning.
Hear about the Lord Jesus Christ in prayer.
In two points in that chapter.
And this is just before the area of the mount of Transfiguration that's spoken of 22.
The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected of the elders and chief priests.
And scribes, and be slain.
And be raised the third day. And he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for my sake.
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The same shall save it.
Here we have beloved young people, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ before us.
When Peter obeyed those two words that day, he found himself.
Leaving his Nets and the boats and the fishes behind, as well as his partner James and John Andrew, no doubt his brother, following not a theology or a doctrine, but a person.
It is the person of Christ that is the second part of that threefold court.
The Word of God directs our attention to one blessed person.
The Lord Jesus Christ.
In Hebrews chapter 2 and verse eight we often read that we see Jesus.
We see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he should taste death for every man. And there were those Greeks, those Gentiles that came up in John chapter 8 at the feast. And they said, sirs, we would see Jesus. The word of God points as we were singing together. It points to Jesus the Lord Jesus Christ. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And as Peter begin to follow this one he knew at the outset.
Of his discipleship, that he was following the Son of God.
Is there a greater calling that we could ever have in this life, no matter how high up?
The ladder of success one has arrived at.
If he calls you, let's say the president of the company that you work for.
Would it ever compare with following the Lord Jesus Christ? And yet we become neutralized in our Christian life, do we not?
No man can serve 2 masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other, hold of the one and despise the other.
No man can serve 2 masters and it is the devil's attempt and he is so successful so many times.
To keep us not only from following Christ, but from living on Christ.
And we can't follow him except we live on him, except our eyes are turned upon Jesus. And as the hymn we were singing in the little flock, Oh, fix our earnest gaze so holy Lord on the.
That with thy beauty occupied we elsewhere none may see, is there any kind of a comparative attractive object for our hearts like him?
None.
And when we get to glory, will we be awakened as to what we missed in this world?
As we gaze into his blessed face.
I glued a verse in my Bible many years ago and it says for me, O Lord, the world is all too small for I have seen thy face.
Were thine eternal love eclipses all within the holy place? And when you have seen the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I mean by faith in the power of the Spirit.
Your heart will be raptured to such an extent that the world.
Is too small for you. It's not enough, but he is enough. And we were singing about that Jesus, thou art enough. And Peter begin, no doubt to find that out and his love begin to to be stirred for the Lord Jesus Christ and our brother Tim. I think it was at the scene the other night talked about Peter's love and faith that caused him to step out of the ship, which might represent Judaism or any kind of a natural support that we like.
To rest on. But his only rest was in Jesus. His only support was in Christ. And he could even step down out of the ship because of his love for Christ and faith too, that took him to the presence of Jesus. And he would rather be in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ than in a boat where he's he's held up by the by the. The furnishings of man. Isn't that tremendous? Oh, I know, he began to sink. It's OK. He still went to Jesus on the water. And he learned another lesson that he had to keep his eye upon him.
So every step we take and we fail in, we aren't to be discouraged because the Lord is going to show us another step to take.
And Peter said, Lord, save me. And Jesus caught him and pulled him up. And if you're sinking today because you don't think the Lord cares about you anymore, or you think that somehow he's left you in the dust, you don't qualify for his Kingdom or for the pathway of following him. Let me tell you, every member of the body of Christ is equally valuable to him, and He has something for you to do, beloved young person, that no one else can do.
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Except you do it for him, and he hasn't given you a heart that can only worship him, that no other heart can take that place.
And Jesus said, if any man will come after me, you see, it's coming after him, it's having the person of Christ.
Before us.
Let him take up his cross, deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. And it has been said, dear young folks, that he is taking us down a pathway not only to serve him, but he's taking us where?
To show us his cross.
And I know the cross represents separation from the world here. And it's our cross, it's my cross, it's your cross if you're a believer. But we're to take it up daily as something that we need to remember that we do not belong to this world. We are not our own. We are bought with a price. And the cross that we may be carrying in a spiritual sense reminds us of the cross that he suffered and bled and died on.
And I assure you, if you wake up in the morning.
And you read the word of God and something maybe concerning the sufferings of your savior.
And you get down on your knees, and you say, Lord Jesus.
I want to bear my cross in memory of what you bore for me.
It will keep your heart all of the day.
Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, it says in Second Corinthians chapter 4.
Always bearing about in the body, the dying of the Lord Jesus taking up the cross daily. And when there is the embracing of this, of taking our cross, we remember His death. We remember how much He loved me in order to pick me up from the dregs and the pit of hell, so to speak.
He wants us to remember him and his sufferings every day.
And I know when I've been discouraged.
And I have turned to everything else to help my pain.
Or sorrow.
When I remember there was number suffering.
In this world greater than his suffering. And it was for me at such a cost.
I can only see him looking at me and saying Dave remember.
Of the cross I bore for you.
Are you willing to take his cross?
Your cross, not his, but your cross.
Paul said I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth within me.
There is something that perished when you became a Christian.
And there is something that persists.
When you became a Christian, that old man has done away. It's planted in his death, Romans chapter 6, and likewise we're planted in his resurrection.
There is something that died when you accepted Christ.
There is something that lives when you received him as your personal savior.
There is something in you now that loves to serve not only the Lord Jesus Christ, but others. And we see so many serving others in the body of Christ. It's wonderful, it's so encouraging. But that old man that died loves to be served.
And Jesus said that he came into this world not to be ministered unto, but to minister, to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many. And when Peter set out on that day to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, little did he realize how full his heart would be to be able not to just serve his Lord, but others in the body of Christ later on after his ascension to the glory, after the Lord's ascension to the glory.
Could we turn now to Matthew for the last one, Chapter 11?
The third item of the threefold cord? Just something that's been precious to my own heart.
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Is.
His yoke.
Matthew Chapter 11.
Verse 28 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 ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
After we found rest of conscience, we might say, in coming to Christ.
There is the second step of taking his yoke. Not our yoke, but his.
I believe Peter did that that day when he set out in the pathway to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. No, he didn't realize everything that was involved.
He couldn't see ahead to tomorrow and the next day. However the Lord did show him that he was going to take care of his household because remember Peters wifes mother became sick of a fever and so the Lord simply goes down to Peter's house to show Peter, Peter you don't have to worry about your needs being met and anyone that's serving the Lord and depending upon him.
For financial sustainment, it's the same today as it was in Peter's life's history.
And it was like when the Lord went down to Peter's house, he was showing him, I'm going to take care of all of your matters, Peter. And he healed his mother-in-law.
And she rose up, and ministered unto them.
Wonderful to see that, but Peter, I believe, stepped into a yoke with the Lord Jesus Christ.
And one of the most beautiful examples, perhaps in the Old Testament, of one taking the yoke of the Lord, is with Elijah and Elijah.
And we know that when Elijah came to where Elijah was plowing in the field.
He threw his mantle upon Elijah.
And he knew of what that mean, What that meant.
And Elijah said, follow me.
Great honor to think of him following the prophet Elijah.
He found such a tremendously attractive object in Elijah, we might say.
That he took two oxen and he slew them and.
Boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen and gave to them that were with him to eat. In other words, he got rid of everything here that would have been a hindrance, and turned it into the pathway of service.
The Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, the scripture says, and the violent take it by force. Why is that? Why should that not be our case today, beloved young people, to violently deal with those things that are obstacles in our lives in following Christ?
Like Elisha did that sound. That sounds rather extreme, doesn't it?
But then we find him following Elijah so closely.
And Elijah said. Now I'm going to depart and go down from Gilgal to Bethel, and you remain here.
And he said, I will not leave thee three times over. He said I will not leave thee.
He had joined into a yoke with Elijah. He was walking with Elijah from Gilgal to Bethel to Jericho, and then finally to Jordan. Through the Jordan it pop parted its its waters there because of Elijah's hand.
Simply a picture of one following Christ, making him the object, and learning the various lessons along the way. And there are lessons to be learned at Gilgal, Bethel, Jericho, and Jordan. Read about them. Sometimes they're so instructive.
But now, as they cross the river, Elisha says to Elijah.
Or Elijah said to Elijah. First of all, ask me what you will, and I'll give it to you.
And Elijah said, Give me a double portion of your spirit.
And he said, Thou hast asked a hard question. Nevertheless, at your word it will be so, if you shall see me when I am taken up.
In the chariot of fire.
Beloved young people, the thought is this. If Christ in the glory becomes our object, reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press towards the mark. Who is the mark? It's Christ for the prize of the high galling of God in Christ Jesus. If our eye is upon him, if we're living in resurrection power, looking at Jesus as the object of our faith, of our hearts, then we will experience.
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A power, a deliverance.
Like we've never had before. And we read the story about Elisha. He did see Elijah go up.
And He was endowed with power.
He went back across the Jordan and the waters parted. That's the only way we can live in this world, is by having Christ as that object as well as the example for us. As we said earlier, He is our example who left us, this example that we should follow in His steps, who did no sin.
Neither was Nile found in his mouth. Who, when it was reviled, reviled not again, who. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him who judgeth righteously. Oh, what a spirit to have, But it can only be had by having Christ as that object and stepping into the yoke with him. A yoke is not which holds 2 animals together in check. They're joined together. We've seen the yoke. My brother had one hanging on the wall, A yoke for oxen.
That was used for two oxen plowing many years ago.
And it was used in training, oftentimes the younger.
Of the animals.
And it was like when you put a young animal in that yoke, it was taking the yoke of the older, more mature and experienced animal.
When we take his yoke, yes #1 #1.
We must have a broken will.
The yoke is to bring us into that subjection to him.
That one who is everything, The one who is the object of our hearts. The one who is the patient, spotless. One who our hearts in meekness, trained to bear thy yoke and learn of thee that we might rest, obtain. And that's exactly what happens when there is a broken will. And perhaps if there's a struggle in your life about a problem, about a relationship, about other things that trouble you in your home or in your assembly.
Or things that you see that the brethren doing you do not understand. I've been through some of those things. Dear young people, when there is a chafing against the will of God in your life because of your will or my will, there is unrest. If any man will to do his will, he shall know of the doctrine. John 717 But we must be willing, And Peter had a lot of lessons to learn, and many times he made a mistake. But he was willing to be adjusted. He was willing to be corrected.
And many times he would say something like this. Well, at least he said this once. Well, Lord, thou shalt not surely die when the Lord was talking about his death. And Jesus had to correct him by saying, Get thee behind me, Satan.
Satan was using Peter as a mouthpiece to speak against the necessity of his death to bring in redemption for him and for us, and the glorification of God in all this.
Peter was saying spare the flesh. The cross of Christ comes to us and says we must be crucified with him.
Reckon ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, as our brother Doug mentioned this morning, It's only through death that there is an escape from the master of sin. And you by you saying, and by me saying, I have died with thee, Lord Jesus, to that sin, and to that idolatry in my life that has displeased thee, and to my own will, and I accept thy will.
As the only will that should instruct and guide in my life.
And we learn as we walk with Jesus how meek and lowly he is.
Meekness is showing no resentment. When you're put down, were you put down on the basketball court guys or on the?
Volleyball court at all? Is there someone that was put down?
Well, it's showing no resentment when you're put down. That's meekness.
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Loneliness is taking the low place to Jesus. Yes, he did. He was the meek and lowly one. And when you take the low place and you're on the volleyball court and somebody does put you down, doesn't hurt.
And the Lord Jesus took the lowest place. He went all the way down. Man pushed him down, but he was willing to go down. And he humbled himself unto death, even the death of the cross. And how badly did they put him down, beloved? They spit in his face. Have you ever been spit upon?
Maybe somebody's put you down or made some snide remark about you, but have they ever spit upon you? And if so, how did you feel when they did that?
Have you ever been crowned with thorns?
There are those that heroically take the cross, you know, and they may have nails pounded through their hands, and we've heard of such experiences like that.
But none of us could take his cross.
We need to take it daily and we need to take his yoke daily as well. It's not something that we do as a one time kind of an experience and I'm sure Peter found that out that he must step into the oak every morning of his life. Do you just like the little animals or the the mature animals than the younger animal that are waiting for the yoke in the morning it's put upon the little one and out to the field he goes to be trained by a mature, experienced 1.
It's going to teach him some lessons that day.
And at the start it looks like there's a lot of struggling and chafing going on and resistance to the will of the older one, and sometimes it's that way with our lives when we're young.
But if you go down to the field in a month or two, you'll find that little one beginning to walk along with the older animal, with his master, may we say, And that little animal, the younger animal, finds rest.
To its soul by just.
Obeying the will, so to speak, of the older one and the lessons that needed to be learned.
Many of you know.
Or knew John Harkins.
Dear brother was here at camp, I think several times.
And I was given a little story just yesterday and I would just like to relate it to you as a young brother who I believe.
Set out in his life to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe he had heard these words, and some of you follow me, and some of you know the testimony that was exemplified for his Lord in his life.
He is with Christ now, but he left behind a tremendously powerful testimony.
That should speak to all of our hearts as to what we should do with our lives. When we're young, we don't have to wait till we're we're old and you. Many times we said, and I've said it too, when I was young, well, when I get older, when I get older, all enter into those things.
No, it doesn't happen that way. And sometimes, as our brother Doug intimated this morning, God will have his way with us. And oftentimes when we don't step into those privileges, and I look at Christianity in following Christ much different than I used to. I look at it as a privilege.
To follow Jesus in some little way.
And to be in a little corner for him, and that's where Jim was up in Gresham.
Serving his Lord and he was employed by a master, a supervisor who was not very kind, and as a result there were many who were employed for a while and then they left because they could not stand or take the abusiveness of the supervisor.
But Jim stuck it out. He felt that the Lord wanted him there. He had given him that form of employment in that particular place. And no matter if he had a a kind boss or an unkind boss, one who received the gospel or who didn't, he wanted to stay there.
And he was praying for that man that he might be saved.
Well, we know John's death came unexpectedly.
You say. Well, why?
We don't know why.
However, there are some hints as to why maybe.
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And we should pray for these things, that the Lord will now begin to work in the supervisors life, because this dear man had a problem.
Of course he had a soul problem, but he had a physical problem, and Jim knew it.
And used to go home and tell his parents, as I understand the story about the problem. And when Jim passed away, his parents went down to speak to his supervisor.
It gave him the gospel. Perhaps he was in the field, out in the field somewhere, and they found it where he was. And they said to him, we have something for you.
And he said, well, what's what's that? Well, we know that from what Jim told us, you have a a bone problem and you need bone chips in order to take care of that problem in your life, to meet your physical needs.
I don't know all that's involved. All I know that this man who was hardened.
And of course, not very humble.
Had never been seen to cry before any employees.
Turned away with tears streaming down his face.
That someone would think of him.
To the extent that they would want to give.
In that form, after Jim had passed away, his parents wanted to bring in the face of the way he treated Jim.
Returning good for evil. That's what Jesus did. He was in the yoke with the Lord Jesus Christ, and he wanted his boss to come into the family, no matter what suffering or reproach he must take.
He wanted his boss and of course, his parents saw to it that his wish and desire was fulfilled.
I don't know any more than that.
The man was heartbroken to think that somebody would think of him like that, and he spoke of Jim. What a testimony he had.
Shall we pray for him? I think we should, but we should pray for ourselves.
We don't know how long we have here in this world, beloved friends.
If tomorrow was the last day that we would be on this earth, would we be able to say, I have followed Jesus, I have taken up the cross, I have made His word preeminent in my life. I have taken His yoke upon me.
I believe Jim.
Could have said that.
Is there anything better in this life?
Now shall we print?
Discipleship #3: His Dwelling Place
Address—Dave Spence
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.
Could we turn to John, Chapter 12?
For a couple of verses. In fact, let's read 3 verses here, John 12 verse 25.
He that loveth his life shall lose it.
And he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
If any man serve me, let him follow me, And where I am, there shall also my servant be.
If any man serve me him will my father honor?
Let's turn over to the first chapter of John, and then we'll turn back here for a few moments.
And verse 34. And I saw and bear record that this is the Son of God.
Again the next day after John stood and two of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus as he walked.
He said. Behold the Lamb of God.
And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. And then Jesus turned, and saw them following, saith unto them, What seek ye?
They said unto him, Rabbi, which is to say, being interpreted, Master, where dwellest thou?
Saith unto them, Come and see, And they came, and saw where he dwelt.
And abode with them.
With and and abode with him that day, for it was about the 10th hour.
We can turn back to John Chapter 12 for Justice a moment.
Like to just share with you beloved friends.
The question that we've just read.
Concerning following the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is to his dwelling place.
Following Jesus to his dwelling place.
Yesterday we spoke a little bit about taking his yoke upon us and learning of him, and thereby he shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light, and we spoke about the importance, the preeminence, of the word of God in our lives.
And taking the cross and having his person before us as not only the one who bore the cross for us.
And bore the penalty of our sins on the cross, and also was made sin for us.
And whether we realize it or not, we are crucified with Him. Have we owned that in a practical way?
Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth within me. And have we yielded to the old nature? And is that what has been being lived out in my life?
Sad to say, much of the time it's true.
Paul said for me to live is Christ, and he said that Christ might be magnified in his body. That is the kind of magnifying glass that we need, that Christ might be magnified.
In our bodies. And if that's true, then we must acknowledge our death with the Lord Jesus Christ reckoning ourselves to be dead in need unto sin, but alive unto God.
Know ye this therefore, that your old man has been crucified, that the body of sin might be removed. It says in Romans chapter six, that ye henceforth shall not serve sin, because he that is dead is justified from sin, or freed, set free from sin, and that is the only channel through which we can be set free from our old nature that enslaves us. And of course the simple picture, and the beautiful one of the beautiful pictures is in the Old Testament.
Where the children of Israel.
Were set free from the tyranny of Pharaoh as they crossed through the Red Sea, a picture of the death of Christ, the waves as a wall on each side, and they pass through on dry land. And they escaped from the Egyptians, Speaking of the world and the lusts of the flesh. And through the death of Christ, so to speak, we make our escape, because the master of sin will not let go, no matter how much we try to apply.
Some kind of discipline. In our lives, we discipline ourselves, and Christian disciplines are probably okay.
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But what we need is the application of his blessed death that censors my own will and my nature and friends. His yoke is easy and his burden is light.
Dear brother Dean was sharing with me just yesterday about a dear Christian who was in Siberia in prison for two years I believe if I remember correctly.
And she said, there is one thing I learned in the Siberian prison, she said his yoke is easy and his burden is light.
And the more we walk in that yoke with him, the more we will find that out, even though it may bring suffering, as this dear sister in Christ experienced.
Paul and Silas were in the Philippian jail with their backs bleeding from the stripes they had experienced and they were singing praises to God at midnight. Now here there is physical suffering involved.
And if they could step forward, they would say his yoke is easy and his burden is light.
We little realize beloved young people, and I say this particularly to my own heart, the power of the Spirit of God.
To take my heart out of this world, to emancipate me, to deliver me from not only the world, but myself, and all that enslaves me in the flesh. But it cannot be other than through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and saying, Lord.
I have died with thee.
Brother Bob Brimlow was telling me about the necessity of not bothering a cocoon.
And opening up the cocoon so that when we think it's ready for that little butterfly to come out, we can get it out a little bit earlier so we can watch it and and then watch it fly away. Well, we know what happens if that's the case.
We open up that cocoon too soon, and that little butterfly will never fly.
We must go through the processes of God according to the Scripture, that we might know Him, the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death, and those that we spoke of that have suffered, whether it be Paul and Silas, or this dear woman in the Siberian prison, or the martyrs that gave themselves to Christ for the cause of Christ in the early centuries of the Church.
They experience something like what we have in this verse here, the power of his resurrection, and I'm sad to say.
Some of us never learned to fly.
Because we take another route.
Other than through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The scripture says if I'm crucified with him, nevertheless I live.
Yet not I self is gone. It's buried. It's, it's it's planted in His death. And we've been planted together in His resurrection. And that's what baptism pictures simply to us. And when the children of Israel went through the Red Sea, here they were on another seashore, completely alienated or separated from the enemy. And they sang praises unto the Lord. You see, they were in a new position. They had peace.
Delivered from all of their enemies.
And we have been too, by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. But why doesn't it work?
Why doesn't it work? And I'll tell you something, young folks, that I believe is true, that I heard many years ago.
The problem is, we're not sick of ourselves.
Think about that. The problem is we never get to the point that we become sick of ourselves.
And I believe the process in Peters life brought him to a point of complete self judgment, repentance and surrender. Because all the way the Lord wasn't hard on this man. His yoke is easy, his burden is light.
And Peter learned to rest in his love, enjoy his presence, and no matter how much He failed, and no matter how much all of the disciples failed, they felt free to be very near the Lord. Isn't that wonderful? Some of us were talking about that yesterday, And sometimes we make it a little bit hard for people to come into our presence because maybe they don't measure up to a certain spirituality that we think they should, and we make it make them feel a little bit uncomfortable.
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To be near us.
Not the Lord Jesus.
We are all at different growth levels in our lives, and he knows that. And we are to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's true, and that's why we're here.
But, you know, we have to go through that process like that little butterfly.
We do. We have to go through the death of Christ, and as He brings this heavily upon our hearts, no matter what we press pass through, He brings us to feel not only our inadequacies and our emptiness and our unworthiness, but we cry out, as we have the language in Roman Romans Chapter 7, All wretched men that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this stitch.
It's true, there are pleasures connected with sin. We all know that. And the enemy is always there to prompt sin in our lives and and to appeal.
Make something appeal to us, attractive to our hearts. And he knows exactly our weaknesses and how to make us fail and fall, because he really doesn't want us to be happy. John, Chapter 15. Jesus spoke these words. These things. Have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full, but we have to go through the process of death.
Always say I know he died for my sins and I'm thankful. According to First Corinthians chapter 15 he died for my sins. According to the scriptures he was buried and rose again the 3rd day. But he also died to put me away, to put me away.
That's when the Spirit of God can bring Christ fully to my heart, when I become sick of struggling and striving with the problems within and the attractions. Without that, I come to a point where I say Lord.
What is the answer? What is the answer that Jesus that the Lord Jesus Christ gives us in Romans Chapter 7? When Paul said Who shall deliver me? The answer is almost in the question.
And he says, I thank God through Jesus Christ, my Lord, who? It's Jesus. It's occupation with him having a single eye for Christ, realizing that we're dead in the death of Christ, with him, buried with him, raised again with him in newness of life. And we are a new creation in Christ Jesus. Therefore old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. And when we step into his yoke, we take his yoke upon us.
Our will is subjected to his and we say Lord, like he said, nevertheless not my will.
Because our will has only taken us down a pathway of unhappiness. And if you stop and weigh and consider these things and contemplate where your will has taken you and where my will has taken me, I have to own it's nothing but to a place of sorrow and emptiness and disappointment. Isn't that true?
And we have the full potential, just as much as the Apostle Paul did to become.
Not only a servant for the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's very important.
But to say, as He as He did for me to live is Christ. And if we had something of the fullness of His love in our hearts and the importance of His work, His cross applied to our lives. We take up our cross and follow Him, having Him before us and letting His word judge us.
It's only judging us because it spoils our happiness, that's why. And we need guidance through this world, and we're given the various things in the Epistles, even, that tell us how to live. It's not that we if we obey all of those things, we'll be happy.
It simply tells us how to keep our lives in check so that when we do tell a lie, or we show anger or lust or whatever it might be, those things break communion with the Lord Jesus Christ and the only way back.
Is repentance confession owning the failure? And that brings us back in the blessed communion of his love? It's not as we were saying the other morning.
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That if we keep His commandments then we will gain His love. We will arrive at fellowship with him. No, it's confession of the problem that joins us to the Lord in fellowship.
And that's only maintained by continuing by keeping His word. Continuing in His love is only maintained by obedience to Him.
Is there anyone here that?
And I asked this question to you because we've been talking about the the yoke of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Is there anyone here contemplating?
In unequal yoke.
We've heard over the years our brethren bring before us the unequal yoke of business.
In ecclesiastical way, joining ourselves to an organization, a religious organization.
And those that do good in our community called a philanthropic organization something like that. But is there anyone here?
Considering.
A friendship, or possibly even even marriage.
With one who is not saved.
The scripture is very clear in Two Corinthians chapter 6, and I know you've heard it. Read it many times as I have. Be not therefore unequally yoked together with unbelievers. It's very clear.
Stop dear young people, and consider living a lifetime in an unequal yoke with someone who cannot enter into the precious things of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you could go a step further, as our brother suggested the other day, one who doesn't appreciate the fullness of the truth.
Of Christ and the Church, and the Assembly.
Do you want that kind of life?
You say, well, I can make it with a believer as long as he or she is a believer. And that may be true, but you're going to miss out on an awful lot.
Nothing like being joined together as husband and wife and enjoying the same thing spiritually, the same truths, the same precious things and the treasures of the word of God that we had before us this morning of Christ and the Church. The unsearchable riches of Christ. They they, they are unsearchable. And to have that joy of sharing those things together is unspeakably precious.
And Satan is out to ruin that in marriages today, even among Christians.
But there is another thing that I think we should consider, and that is it says in First Corinthians 6, we're living in a world where the enemy is desensitizing you by heart and mind to the sin that is out there in the community.
And in your place of education?
And everybody talks about the immoral things that go on just as though marriage doesn't mean anything anymore.
But remember what the scripture has said. First Corinthians chapter six. He that hath joined himself unto in harlot is 1 flesh.
Knowing not that you are joined to the Lord, it says First Corinthians 6 minutes verse.
Flee fornication.
You see, the enemy reduces the level of importance of abandoning those things in your lives. By having all of these things and materials that you can read and look at and what you hear every day, it just sort of reduces the importance of keeping yourself from all of those things.
And it will spoil your testimony. And I've seen it turn young people into the world. Never recovered. Never recovered. Going on in a pursuit of that for many years without being delivered from it. Sad.
The scripture says knowing not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost.
And that you are not your own, and you're bought with a price. Imagine the Holy Ghost living within my body and your body. And whatever we do with our bodies, we connect the precious.
Person of Christ in the form of the Holy Ghost to that.
In John chapter 12, we've read the verse that if any man serve me, let him follow me. Notice it doesn't say if any man follow me, let him serve me. There are many who are following the Lord Jesus Christ and trying to serve him, but they're really not serving him.
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And serving the Lord Jesus is not necessarily doing a great deal.
Is following him.
You have seen bedridden Christians, and I could share some cases with you, souls that have been on a sick bed for many years. And you say, what can they do for for Christ. Surely they're not in a position of following him. Oh yes they are. And that's why this verse said, if any man serve me, let him follow me. The Lord has introduced that kind of an affliction in a life to create, you might say, a greater capacity.
For his love and also a testimony for it in that life.
I know a woman who was.
Spoken to me by a brother, Eric Smith many years ago who was in a on a sick bed for years and she had sent out the most beautiful poetry throughout the area there in Melbourne, born Australia.
And souls were blessed by it.
And one day he thought, well, I'll look up this dear soul and I just would like to, to encourage her and have a little visit with her. So he knocked on the door and he heard this voice say, come in and he walked in the door. That's when they didn't used to lock doors in those days. He stepped in and here was this dear woman.
Flat on her back.
In a bed of affliction had been that way for many, many years.
And he couldn't believe his eyes.
All of the production of this lovely poetry that had been a blessing to the Saints.
Emanated from a heart that.
Was so full of Christ and yet suffering in body.
For many years.
We often gauge the ability to serve the Lord by maybe our physical well-being and very comfortable circumstances that we are in. Not so.
The Lord has chosen for you to follow him through a certain pathway to do something for him that no one else can do.
And you'll have to find out what that is. But remember, the scripture says he's given a gift to every man. I Peter 410.
Just give him a gift to every man and every woman.
And I wish we had time to go into the importance of living.
In a responsible way concerning the gift that he has given you to exercise.
Matthew chapter 25 talks about it a little bit.
About the Kingdom of of heaven, one who.
Was umm.
Had charge of servants, and he's likened unto a man who.
Delivered to his servants various things like.
10 talents and five talents and one talent according to their several ability.
The Apostle Paul had a natural ability that surpassed many in his particular day.
He doesn't expect others to have that same capacity because he didn't suit them with it.
But it's according to their several ability. In other words, he had a capacity to be able to deliver the truth in an orderly and a wonderful way. As we read the Epistles, we can see that.
And to preach the word of God in a wonderful way. It must have been a great experience to hear him deliver the word and to get it down to a level where the Saints could understand it and enjoy it.
But he also received a gift from the Lord when he was born into the family of God, and the Spirit of God controls that gift.
It's not through the natural ability. Yes, there is a natural ability, but the spirit of God controls it, you see, and works through that vessel that has been given a certain capacity to exercise.
And so with you, dear young people, you have been given something that I haven't.
And others haven't. That's important to the Lord. And when this one came back to review his servants.
As to what they had done with the 10 talents and five talents and so forth.
He said, Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. And he said that with the 10 and with the five, because they've taken the 10, and they got other 10, and the five, and they they made other five talents. They used what the Lord gave them, and they were responsible to use it.
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And the honored and glorified the Lord. In doing that the other one took it.
And dug a hole and put it in the earth.
He forgot about it, Didn't didn't want to be concerned about it. It was too interested in making a living, perhaps, and doing other things.
There are two ways in a coming day that we will perhaps be reviewed before the judgment seat of Christ, and one is did you use the gift that I gave you to use?
While you were in the world.
#2 is were you faithful to me? And that's the pounds. I think that's Luke 19. I'm not sure, but that's the pounds that were delivered. And so forth. General faithfulness to the word of God. And again, we cannot be faithful to him without walking, taking the yoke of the Lord Jesus Christ in obedience to his precious word. And notice here there is a lovely expression.
That's it here in verse 26.
If any man serve me, let him follow me, And where I am, there shall also my servant be.
And that leads us to the thought of his dwelling place.
We have discussed the subject of worship and service, perhaps many times What is more important and we put one maybe above the other.
And we try to understand which that which should occupy us in this world. But notice that following the Lord Jesus Christ as being where He is. And it's not only where he takes you in this world if it's to a mission field as our brother Dean is over there and.
A country so far away from us, or someone else right here in a local area, that he has a place of service marked out for us.
It's being where the Lord is, but I believe that this goes beyond that.
For direction to his dwelling place where I am, there also shall my servant be. Do you really want to serve the Lord?
Then follow him to his dwelling place.
Some of us were speaking last evening that something to this effect, the greatest privilege is perhaps that we have and share.
As being gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ is that heritage, if we want to put it that way, that we've been given these truths have been just dropped right into our laps.
Have you ever heard of other Christians speaking about Christ in his church as one?
The one body, and the importance of that and owning Christ is our head in heaven. Do other believers occupy with those kinds of conversations? And it's not to be critical. No, beloved, because there are very few who are in the enjoyment of those precious things that have been given to us.
Very few.
We're responsible. They've been given to us. His body. We read this together. This was it yesterday or the day before his body, which is the fullness of him that filleth All in all his church. The body is the full complement of the glory of Christ. Isn't that marvelous when you think of it?
In other words, the full display of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ will emanate from and through his body.
When he comes to be glorified in His Saints, and to be admired in all them that believe.
His glory is so great it can only be told out through the millions. That will be one with Christ when that full complement is with Him. And that's the moment that he waits for.
Isn't it only fitting that while we're in this world, we should find and be urgent and anxious to find out where He is, so that we might share something of that oneness now? And He prayed for it in John chapter 17. He prayed that they whom thou hast given me might be 1.
Even as we are one that they might be one in us, that the world might know that thou hast sent me, he prays for that oneness to be lived out in our lives, beloved. It's not just kind of a a secondary truth. In the Bible, Jesus prayed first of all that there might be one in communion. John chapter 17 you can read at verse 11.
And further down he talks about oneness or Unity in testimony.
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Where is that today? Where is the oneness and testimony today? You and I, by His matchless grace, have stepped into that oneness, we might say through the truth that's been given to us. We may not realize it. We may be simply in a position of it outwardly, but not in the enjoyment of it inwardly. But it's He that is joined to the Lord is 1 Spirit. We are one with Jesus right now, whether we know it or not.
We are one with him one.
And then later on in John 17, he talks about the oneness or the unity that he's going to enjoy in the glory when he has his bright home.
And this little story. Here we read about John the Baptist beholding Jesus as he walked his.
Just glorious.
It's wonderful to read as a story and justice kind of leave it in that form.
But the truths that are brought before us here are immense and perhaps are beyond our ability to even enjoy or explain.
John chapter one. It says after the next day after John stood and two of his disciples.
And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold.
The Lamb of God.
Has there been a next day in your life?
Beloved brother or sister the next day.
The first day was when he said, Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.
And that brings in redemption, because Christ was going to the cross. And he saw this blessed 1 The Messiah of Israel. And as to the work that he was going to do. And he declares publicly, declares, preaching, you might say, behold, the land saw Jesus coming unto him. And he said, behold, the Lamb of God taketh away the sin of the world the next time here, the next day after, He's just standing there.
In blessed contemplation of the glory of the Lamb of God in his heart is near the breaking point.
As he beholds the glory of the Lord, he wasn't preaching. He wasn't teaching anything to his disciples. We might say John was simply retiring from service.
And he's about to go to prison, as we well know, and be beheaded. There would be no rival when Jesus came on the scene. John, the greatest of all prophets.
And there he is that the next day just enjoying Christ.
Has there been that next day in your life?
I believe for you and me to have.
Any desire to follow him to his dwelling place, there must be that enjoyment. You may be there without that enjoyment because you've been born into it. And we've read and heard many stories of those who have paid an awful price for the truth, and one of them is back there in the form of a tape by our brother Dan Anderson. And I would recommend to the young people that they, they get a copy of that tape. It will make you appreciate.
How the spirit of God works in a man's life clear over in Africa, much like those in Malawi that our brother Dave Whittaker has put a tape out on, which was very encouraging for some of us to hear it as we wrote up in the van which shows how the Spirit of God works and Drew, Brother Anderson, Brother Whittaker.
Out from the systems of men, and to step into another independent group, and finally to find out that was wrong too, because they didn't own the discipline in one gathering to apply to another, and through a variety and a maze of circumstances they prayed and the Lord brought them to that place called His dwelling place.
This is truth, beloved, that is precious to the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And two of his disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus.
It was the enjoyment of John the Baptist's beholding Christ that caused the others to follow Jesus. And if you want to win souls to Christ, you can do it in a very wonderful way, and that is by living Christ. Not only preaching, but living. Here is a man who is living Christ.
Beholding the Lamb of God, there was an enjoyment in his heart and life that could be seen and felt, and two of John's disciples just checked out with John and followed the Lord Jesus Christ.
He was the focus of John's ministry, Brother read to us. And the other morning in the prayer meeting, he must increase, but I must decrease.
You see, that was the tone and the character of his ministry. He stepped back in the shadows, and brought Christ before the heart. And these two just simply followed Jesus, because of his his enjoyment of him. Jesus turned, and saw him following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? And they said unto him, Rabbi, which is a saving interpreted master, where dwellest thou?
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He didn't say whom seek ye.
Lord was waiting. He knew where they were. He knew that they were following him. He wanted them to follow him. But he didn't want to put words in their mouth whom seek he, he said. What are you seeking?
What?
And they said, where dwellest thou? We're interested, Lord, in where you dwell.
And he saith unto them, Come and see.
And they came and saw.
Where he dwelt, there is no address given here. I know we've heard some of these things before. He could have said now just go down the street, make a left turn two blocks, make another right turn. Is the 1St house on the next corner on the left.
And the reason that is so beloved, I believe, is very simple because.
It is not connected with this world at all. It is no sanctuary in this world that we are directed to as we have in Hebrews. It speaks about an earthly sanctuary and there are many beautiful sanctuaries in this world, but it's without place or without name.
It's like the upper room that we have in Luke Chapter 22, and the man bearing the pitcher of water, the Holy Spirit.
Guiding by the word of God to the upper room, a place that is out of this world. Because the Lord Jesus was a stranger here, he didn't have a place in this world. The foxes of the have their holes, and the birds of the air have their nests, but the Son of Man have not. Where to lay his head. He was a stranger here. He had been rejected, and this was not for the world.
This was for those who were interested in finding where he abode.
Where he dwelt are you?
How much do these precious things mean to you? And I know they perhaps have been discolored by some of the problems in your life or in your assembly, and you have sort of been a little bit turned aside by problems and some of us by.
The division some years ago.
Isn't that true? Don't these things hurt?
When we realize the the joys that were ours as a company going on for many years as families enjoying precious things together.
Fellowship.
Keeping the unity of the spirit.
Spirit of God indwells each of us and brings us together as the body of Christ. But many of our brethren are in different places.
But we have the responsibility to maintain the unity of the Spirit, and that is owning Christ as our head.
And Paul spoke to the Corinthians, and he said, I beseech you, brethren, that when you come together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that there be no divisions among you. Is Christ divided. Some say I'm a Paul, I'm Apollos. Others said I'm of Cephas, I'm of Christ.
He prayed for oneness. He prayed for unity, that we might keep that unity, so to speak. The unity of the Spirit. Has it been kept.
Even by brethren who are privileged with such treasures of truth and having a greater responsibility to maintain this unity.
Now we failed, we have failed, we have contributed to this unhappiness, this unhappy condition of things.
And I believe that there may be some here with hearts that are broken and don't understand why the Lord allows this. And maybe you have relatives or friends on the other side, or another group that you miss and long for their you miss their company and long for their fellowship.
I do.
Remember what we read earlier when it said if a man hate not his father, mother, wife and children, sisters or brethren or his own life also.
He cannot be my disciple.
When you follow him to the place of his dwelling, there is connected with the precious person.
Responsibilities that are according to the word of God that can direct us in a path.
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That will keep us from division.
And when action has to be taken, it is not happy many times.
In Matthew 18 says, where two or three are gathered together under my name, there am I in the midst of them.
We gather to that precious name, but connected with that precious name, the worthiness of that precious name that not only saves, but it's the gathering center.
There is the truth of the one body to own him as the head.
We must receive everything in the assembly from the head, and so therefore we don't have one man standing up and taking charge, one man whom all the gifts are found in, and he can exercise that to the to the audience sitting by.
Those at Colossians had lost the good of that. They didn't hold the head, they were disconnected from the head.
The other thing is something that's very difficult to bear, and that is discipline, separation from evil. Let him that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
I know of a young man in a church nearby my home that got involved with a young lady.
They got married.
They weren't even disciplined. A church that no doubt preaches some fundamental truths.
A little leaven. The scripture says leaveneth the whole lump. These are the qualifying factors for where the Lord Jesus is.
Do we value?
Some of the other factors such as music and and a gifted man to stand up and give us a word and there are many gifts out there more than the truth that Christ set before us has to maintaining the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
According to his word.
The assembly is the ground and the support or pillar of the truth. The truth has to his person and I am thankful, beloved, and I I shared with this with some of you last year. Perhaps I am thankful to be in a place where his precious person is held in the esteem.
Of the Word of God according to the Word of God.
He did no sin. He knew no sin in him was no sin. And there are many out there that say I don't know if Christ could sin or not. I'm not clear on that fundamental, so-called fundamental preachers.
And there are many things we could talk about. The person, the work of Christ. One moral mention. Then we'll quit.
And that is the sovereignty of the Spirit of God.
Isn't it a marvelous thing as we sat together here Lords Day morning?
The joys of that hour still go with the sentiments go with my heart and I'm sure with many here.
And some of us said after the meeting that it was such a precious hour.
That none of us dare say anything or do anything out of the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is true that the assembly is the habitation of God through the Spirit, and the Spirit of God dwells in the the the body of believers throughout this world.
But he is not allowed to have his place, and that's the difference. Lord's Day Morning, thankfully.
We tried by his grace to give him his place.
A brother gives out a precious him. A younger brother gave out of him. A younger brother prayed. Another brother broke the bread. Sisters were worshipping, rejoicing in Christ. Could we think of fabricating something according to our own imagination?
And natural understanding or intelligence that could be better than that, That's what it's going to be beloved like for all eternity, and we just have the privilege of having a foretaste of it now.
I can't think of anything better and I don't know.
If I'm going to be gathered next week, and I tell you that very frankly, because I can't trust my own heart.
There are some brothers here who witnessed a brother, very faithful in these precious things.
Spoke of Matthew 1821, Lords Day and the preciousness of that verse and the truth of it. To the Saints in Buena Park and the next Lords Day he was out of fellowship.
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We can't trust our own hearts. We cannot.
Keep the truth. Paul told Timothy, to keep that good thing which hath been committed unto thee. How by the Holy Ghost. But he spoke to him personally. He said. Timothy, he said, I know you've shed many tears, and some of you have shed many tears about the the division and the problems. And there were many that were turning away from Paul, and and Timothy was associated with this reproach. All they in Asia have turned against me.
And Paul said. I know of your tears, Timothy, but keep that good thing.
Keep it. It's been committed to you, and that is the treasure of the truth.
Keep it only you can only keep it by the Holy Spirit walking in communion with the Lord Jesus Christ, with the Spirit ungrieved in your life.
Can you and I go back home? Honestly, even if we have to go back to a problem or two or more in the assembly and we don't really understand these things, can't we go there with the desire in our hearts to say this is his dwelling place?
This is where I come to meet him as we did Lords day morning.
And to enter into the holiest, and behold the glory of the Lord, gazing on him in glory.
Beloved, there is no greater privilege, as some of us said the other day, no greater privilege on the face of this earth and dear Brother Gene and shared that with me many times. Dave, there is no more wonderful place and privilege.
Then, coming to where he dwells and remembering him, shall we pray.
Discipleship #4: Failure and Restoration
Address—Dave Spence
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Our shepherd is the Lord. The living Lord who died with all His fullness can afford. We are supplied. He richly feeds our souls with blessings from above, and leads us where the river rolls of endless love. Our souls he doth restore.
And keeps us in his way. He makes our cup of joy run o'er from day-to-day.
Through love so full, so deep, anointed is our head. Mercy and goodness us shall keep wherever we tread.
So this afternoon we'll just devote ourselves a little bit, dear young folks, to the subject of failure and restoration. And if any of us have been in the pathway of following the Lord Jesus Christ any measure or any time at all, it could be a short time. It could be a longer time with some of us. We know that we fail, and sometimes we almost despair because of such failure that comes in.
And we know when failure comes in, the enemy of our souls occupies us with that departure, with that sin in our lives. And I wonder if you have come here to these meetings this year, this time at Lassen 1997, being occupied with yourselves, with your sin, with a problem that is very deep down in your heart, that you have not disclosed to anyone else.
But I will say this, there is a remedy.
The problem is we continue to go on maybe for months or even years with a non disclosure of that problem.
This is what will destroy our not only our testimony for the Lord Jesus Christ, but it will destroy our joy in the Lord and keep keep us from following Him in the pathway of faith. And He wants us to follow as we've had before us.
So let's turn to Luke, chapter 22. And these are very simple things, but precious things. Practical things.
We're so thankful for the truths have been brought before us in the morning meetings. Those things are so vitally important, the blessings that we've been blessed with.
In the heavenly places, those spiritual blessings in Christ, and they are all ours available to us. But the enemy of our souls is so busy to bring about impediments in our relationship between our hearts and Christ, and it is unbelievable how long we can go on. And we say to our hearts. And I ask you, if you have not said the same thing to yours tomorrow, Lord, it's going to change.
Tomorrow comes and you say tomorrow, Lord, it's going to change.
And the next day comes and this kind of commitment, if you want to call it that. And I don't believe in commitment necessarily.
But that kind of commitment goes on and on and on, and no change is affected because there is a deeper problem in our lives, and the Lord knows how to undo that problem to bring it up to the surface. He did this with Josephs Brethren, did he not? There was one time in their lives when they said we indeed are true men.
That was their estimate of themselves. They had buried the problem of the sin in their life, but when Joseph dealt so graciously with them for at least later, perhaps earlier, he had to deal roughly with him. It says he spake roughly to them, and then he dealt graciously. But sometimes we have to go over the road in order for us to go down, down, down to search for the real root problem in our life.
So that they speak this way.
We are verily guilty men.
When we saw the agony of our brother.
You see, beloved brethren, young people, all sin is against the Lord.
David sat against thee, and thee only have I sinned. It may be true that you have hurt someone else and brought pain into the life of someone else because of the sin that you've committed.
And you've brought harm and pain to your own life as well. But many times we try to cover it up, we smother it and we think it will go away.
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It won't go away.
We've talked about scars in the Christian life, scars that we bring upon ourselves because of acts of disobedience, and we fall and fail, and we have to bear those scars, some less and some more. It's better to learn the lessons of the Lord in private rather than to have the problem exposed publicly. And we know that.
But I would say this. You know what is worse than a scar?
A wound within the heart.
That never heals.
Until confession is made of that sin.
And we're living in such a time beloved young people, when there are so many things all around us. It's not just you who are young that feel that. We who are older feel these things too. With all of the things that press in upon us to attract our natural hearts, we feel the natural bent of our own, of our own frame, because we we give ourselves many times our minds first of all, to these things.
And then finally, as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. It'll come out oftentimes, that sin.
But maybe it's still hidden and you can go an entire lifetime smothering covering that sin. And the scripture says in Proverbs, if you cover your sin, you will not prosper, but who, whosoever confesseth and forsake of them shall have mercy. And we're going to read about a man very near to the lives of all of us, as our brother Tim mentioned at the scene the other night. And that's Peter. We're going to go back to Peter, who originally had this marvelous experience in his life.
Of having such a fullness of heart, of blessing, that was just poured out to him, and now he has followed the Lord over three years.
But he's carried along in his heart a problem that has not been dealt with. You know, it doesn't make any difference what the problem Satan brings into your life is, as long as he can use it to divorce and alienate your heart from the preciousness of Christ, He will bring anything in between you and Christ in following him just to dissuade you.
That this is the path of happiness and he is so successful.
He is very successful. He's a master of of deceit as well as imitations and he gives us all kinds of things to fancy our hearts, to attract and allure us and take us down the road. Even if it's the sin is we're going to read about here of self-confidence because it will lead to a greater sin. And you say, well that's not really too bad, is it the sin of self-confidence.
We all have that, don't we? And in fact all around us. The world preaches self esteem, so it's good. It's good to have some self-confidence, isn't it? And the schools and education today promote having this thing of self-confidence. So we are really waging a war so to speak, inside with all of these teachings and influences from the outside, whether it's educational circles or occupational circles, whatever it might be.
They do bring these thoughts upon it, and pretty soon we begin to think that way.
Well, here's a man in Luke chapter 22 and verse.
24 that we'll read about who was given to this problem of self-confidence and pride.
Luke 22, verse 24. And there was also a strife among them. Which of them should be accounted the greatest verse 31.
And the Lord said, Simon Simon, Behold, Satan hath desired to have you.
Think about young folks.
There is an attack being waged against you by the enemy of your soul and my soul. He desires to have you.
Just the minute that you get up out of your seat and go outside, many thoughts come into your mind.
That will take the precious things that you've heard in this meeting away from your heart. The minute you go back home, they all start to come back back again. You have companions and friends that were an influence over your life and other things too as well. And perhaps that sin that you're covering, you're covering up is still there and haunting you, so to speak. Because it does. I know.
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Satan desires to have you, that he may sift you as as wheat. But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not, and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee both into prison.
End to death. Now here is one point we see here, beloved young people, and it's a very difficult one to.
Perhaps understand or accept in one sense.
The Lord saw Peter needed sifting.
In such a way it brought tremendous sorrow into the life of Peter.
And the Lord prayed for him, not that he would be saved from the sifting, but that he would be saved through the trial, that his faith would not fail. And I believe that simply means that he prayed that Peter would repent.
Judas Iscariot has also sinned against the Lord. He had betrayed him, but he went out and hung himself.
And the Lord prayed for Peter that his faith wouldn't fail, that it would bring him to repentance, to a complete self judgment of that root problem within his life, which is suggested in verse 24. There was a strife among them as to who would be the greatest, you say? Well, that doesn't sound too bad.
But it goes back to Chapter 9, when they reasoned among themselves who would be the greatest.
There had been no self judgment in any of them.
Not only Peter.
As to who would be the greatest?
This was the thin edge of the wedge, as we say, that came into Peter's heart and life.
That the Lord was putting his finger on. That Peter had not put his finger on it yet. He didn't look at it as a very serious problem in his life. And maybe there are things in your life that you don't think are very serious, but it's the thing that the problem grows into, because the little fox soon becomes the roaring lion in your life. And in my life, it's the little foxes that spoil the vines. There are so many things that nibble away at our fruitfulness for Christ that just takes.
The joy of the Lord out of our hearts, and the praises to him that should be expressed every day of our lives. Singing praises to him that he looks for.
He looks for that fragrant Christian, and we've seen fragrant, overflowing Christians that are right here among us, happy in the Lord. Their cup is overflowing like we heard the little group sing to us last night. I enjoyed that hymn.
Cup just overflowing with love, overflowing with the preciousness of Christ. A vessel that is really enjoying Christ within the heart, that Christ might dwell in our hearts By faith, there are those that express that. It's wonderful to see that. And many of us who have grown up in the assembly, and not only in the assembly, but other Christians too, have been happy. We've seen happy men and women in our lives that impressed us.
That tells US1 message that Christ is the answer. He is the answer.
And so we find the the Lord telling Peter, warning him ahead of time, there's going to be a problem. Satan, first of all seeks to sift you. And the Lord prayed for Peter that his faith wouldn't fail, not that he wouldn't fall.
But his faith wouldn't fail.
And he says, when you're converted, strengthened thy brethren. You see, he goes a little bit beyond to encourage Peter that even though there is a fall coming, there's going to be a time when he will be restored to the the blessedness of fellowship with Christ, that he'll be useful again.
Isn't that wonderful?
So he talks about the problem. He talks about Satan's business, and he talks about the fact that he's prayed for Peter. But he goes beyond that and says, Peter, there's going to come a time in your life when I'm going to use you again. You're going to strengthen your brethren and young folks. That's the kind of God we have.
A God of love, yes. A God of light as well. But one who is a God of restoration? It's it's something we don't hear a lot about nowadays. But I do believe this problem of our wandering away as Peter did, falling in, afar off, and finally falling into a sin. I believe believe this kind, this these kinds of things have affected the health of our assemblies. Am I not right in that?
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Sometimes we relegate the problems in our assemblies, and it's true to a state of soul. We're in a low state and we just pass off the fact that, well, these are days of declension, days of decline, and we're not in first love. And that's true.
But let me say this, dear young folks, if there is a sin in your life that needs to be confessed.
To your brethren.
It will continue to be a wound in your soul all of your life.
And it affects the assembly that you're connected with.
Do we, as brethren, provide a platform of grace?
Do we for one who has failed and who has missed the path and maybe fallen into a moral sin, do we provide a platform of approachability?
To us concerning these things.
Could we ever think of the Lord Jesus Christ himself as one that couldn't be gone to with a certain problem, no matter how great?
So that the heart could fully confess it and pour out the problem to him, and he would just sit down and understand and perhaps pray with that one.
Have we put fear into the hearts and lives of our beloved young people and older ones too? Because if they fail or if there is an exposure, it's ruined their lives.
Have we?
That's not the kind of God we have.
Judah was a.
Was spoken of in Jeremiah chapter 3 and verse 10 in the days of Josiah. It says of them.
That they returned not with a whole heart, but faintedly fainted.
You cannot return to the Lord with a whole heart until you get to the root of the problem in your life, I know.
Nathan came to David, and he said, thou art command, and David had been covering his sin for how long?
Quite a while. He must have been miserable. That wound was just oozing with pain and discomfort in his life.
And then he said, I have sinned, and Psalm 51 read it. He says against thee, and the only have I sinned.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be whiter than snow, and so wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
And then at the end of the chapter, how wonderfully he goes into the blessedness, that he can build the walls of Jerusalem again, and offerings and sacrifices can be made, there will be complete restoration. And think of the sin of David, the sin not only of adultery, the sin of murder.
The Lord loves to magnify his grace.
Where sin abounded, grace doth much more abound.
But the way the Lord reached Judah in this particular problem, we mentioned in Jeremiah chapter 3 in the days of Josiah, when there was a tremendous outward revival, a tremendously wonderful revival, he says. They've returned not with a whole heart, but faintly.
How does he restore them? How does he seek to reach them, I should say.
The Lord says I remember thee.
In the days of our youth.
When thou wentest after me in the wilderness.
He remembered their first love.
And he brings before them what they were. And that's what we have in Revelation chapter 2. It says there that thou hast left thy first love. Remember. Remember from when thou art fallen.
And repent.
It could be a loss of first love. It could be that you've fallen into a sin in your life. It could be simply declension, defilement. Whatever the case may be, there are different states of soul represented here in this room in all of our lives.
The Lord wants.
Us to return.
A brother read to us the other night in the singing up at the fire in the lake. Return unto me. I believe that was Brian. Thank you, Brian. Return unto me. Not just return unto the path of the truth, return unto me. Those at Ephesus and Revelation were going on well outwardly. But the Lord said, I have somewhat against thee.
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You've left your first love.
Do you want that, dear young folks?
Do you want a love so full and so rich?
And so eclipsing to everything else in this world that you'll go home with a satisfied heart because you're walking with Jesus.
And you're following him. He has won your heart. That thing that has come between you and Christ has been judged. It's been removed. There couldn't be anything happier to ever be affected in the life of an unhappy Christian that's fallen into a sin, or one that simply departed from.
First Love.
It says in Hosea Chapter 7 that strangers have devoured thy strength, and thou knowest it not. There are many thick strangers in our lives, things that come in to our lives at home, a multitude of things, strangers that devour our strength. And we feel powerless. We feel without strength, and we know that I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me. We quote those verses, but we feel powerless.
And also in Hosea it says.
Here and there there are Gray hairs upon the.
Thou knowest it not.
There's nothing like a vibrant Christian, whether he's 7080 or 90 years of age, that maintains that youthfulness of first love, so to speak, where there is a such a testimony of joy in his or her life. It affects all of us and it is infectious. We want that for our lives. We've seen that in our older brethren and perhaps in our younger brother, because I've seen it and it infects me. I've seen it here.
I've seen it right in my own cabin.
It's true.
Can we go on with that thing that is dispelling the joy, the victory, the gladness in my heart and life?
Can we go on with it?
And find happiness. No. Peter however, had to go through the process. In fact, here he initially he was reasoning in Luke Chapter 9 and in Luke 22 he was striving.
The third thing he was boasting. In fact he says right here I'm ready to go both to prison and to death with the verse 33 boasting. And then we find that he was sleeping in the garden. You see it's a continual path. The thin edge of the wedge leads to a greater departure. We say just a little problem with Peter self-confidence. What's wrong with that? He was he was trusting his love for Christ because.
One reason is he thought he loved them more perhaps, than the other disciples, and he wanted to be the greatest one. They'd been arguing about that. Who was going to be the greatest?
So we find him sleeping.
And then he's fighting. He cuts off the ear of Malchus, and then we find in.
Perhaps it's. Oh, here it is in verse 54. He's following afar off.
And then the next thing is the seventh thing is he's denying Christ in the verses that fall.
And the Lord had said before, the **** shall crow, thou shalt have denied meth rice, Peter. He let's him know the exact thing that's going to happen.
It shows you, beloved friends, how helpless we are in the hand of the enemy. And Peter was walking in the flesh, so to speak, with Satan seeking to sift him. We are a helpless victim in the hand of the enemy. We think, oh, it's just a little thing, but if we're not walking in fellowship.
With Christ in independence upon him for His strength and power in our lives, strong in the Lord and the power of His might, we're a victim. We are victim and will be victimized by the enemy of our souls. And let me say this, let's not just blame the devil for it.
Because we have a nature.
That is incompetent, a nature that is despicably, incorrigibly wicked, that cannot be converted, and oftentimes that leads a young believer to doubt their own salvation. Your intellect begins to work instead of your faith and trust from that new life that you have in in the Word of God. And the conflict is so great. You see, I can't be a Christian because there's confusion.
00:25:21
It's many times because we're walking in the flesh and not in the spirit.
Verse 62.
I'm sorry, verse 61.
And the Lord turned and looked upon Peter.
Beloved friends, this is a marvelous statement. May we spend just a moment to say something about it?
The Lord Jesus Christ was.
Being engaged by a crowd that was plotting his death.
They were mocking him.
And they were going to soon spit upon him and buffet him.
And they were arranging to get rid of this blessed one.
That's what he was engaged with, but he had to turn around and look at Peter.
Because he remembered Peter and his failure.
And that's what occupied his heart. Does he ever forget you?
When you fail and fall, does he say, well, I'll have to write that one off? I I expected that there was hope for this one or that one. I have to write that one off and he goes on about his business and maybe takes up the business that he would have you take up with someone else.
Never I have loved thee with an everlasting love.
You are as valuable to the heart of Christ as the Apostle Paul.
Oh, if it's like a young man who started off his college career and had set out to.
Put the Lord first in his life.
And he every morning he would get up and read the Scriptures and enjoy the Lord and and have time with Christ. His heart was filled to overflowing, and he left day after day with his burning heart, seeking to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. And he did.
But as the pressures from school became so heavy upon his life and he was distracted by so many things. And of course at the end of the semester the tests came and.
He just felt he didn't have the time.
And one morning, he walked by the door.
Of the study where he used to go in and sit at the feet of Jesus.
And he looked in there and he saw Jesus. Not literally.
He went in and sat down.
And he had a little conversation with the Lord.
This unseen guest, one who had been dwelling in his heart, occupying his time, and that was such an object for him to live by.
And Jesus said to him in so many words.
You know, son, you've been thinking about what you can get out of our relationship together and the time that you spend with me. But I want to tell you something.
I want to tell you how much you mean to me.
And how much that time that you spent with me when you were so happy to sit at my feet like Mary and to hear my word, how much that meant to my heart.
The fragrance of those moments will never be forgotten. That first love and that first joy that evident flowed from your heart when you became a Christian and you sat at my feet, I will never forget.
That's why he turned and looked upon Peter. He would not let Peter go.
Not only did he want him to become a valuable servant, but he could only become a valuable servant based upon that intimate relationship with him that would be maintained.
And Peter had fallen. Peter had denied the Lord, and not only denied him three times, but with oaths and curses. And so you see how the sin of self-confidence.
Degraded into the sin of oaths and curses.
And the look that he gave Peter was a look of wounded love.
00:30:02
In a wounded heart. Because he had dishonored the Lord, yes, but he had broken fellowship with him.
Let's keep our priorities straight, beloved.
He wants intimacy. He does not want familiarity. Judas had familiarity with the Lord. In fact, it speaks of him in the Old Testament as his own. My own familiar friend, Christ wants intimacy.
And we can hold truth over the heads of one another and say do this and do this, don't do this and don't do that.
No power there. I know We're responsible. That's another subject. But where power comes in the Christian life is through intimacy with Christ, the enjoyment of the love of Christ.
Will give you power and love to live for him and worship and service in your life for him. Verse 62, Peter went out and wept belief. One look from the Lord undid all of the devil's work.
It caused Peter to weep because he saw that he had sinned against love.
A lot that had won his heart in the very beginning, and a love that was fully displayed to him in his life, in his relationship with the Lord, in his pathway here while the Lord was here.
He had sinned against not just against God, but against love. And that's the worst sin.
Dissent against God and dissent against God as love.
Now we know. As time went on, Peter went out. I don't know, don't ever read of him being at the cross. Perhaps he was weeping.
And after three days, we know the rest of the story. Perhaps we'll just look at the verse in Luke 24.
Verse 34 The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. Now dear young folks, you know that after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The first one he appeared to was Who?
Mary Magdalene.
Here is a heart that had been won by Christ.
She would not let anything come in between her soul and the Lord Jesus Christ.
And she was seeking him, and he reveals himself to a seeking heart.
And secondly, those two on the way to Emmaus. Those were the second two he reveals himself.
To them on the way to Emmaus, and he makes them seekers of himself. They return that same hour and go back to Jerusalem.
Here's the third one the Lord appeared to.
And it was Simon.
Simon's heart was broken. It was burdened.
And there was only one way that it could be taken care of.
And that was by getting into the Lord's presence.
But remember, it was not.
It was not his seeking the Lord. It was the Lord seeking him in this case.
Perhaps I'm wrong and some brother could correct me. Perhaps Simon was the second one that he sought.
Is that correct?
But anyway, the point is Simon was sought by the Lord.
He would not let him go.
His heart was broken and burdened with his sin.
And the Lord saw fit to urgently bring him back to himself.
You know that meeting is never disclosed that the Lord Jesus Christ had with Peter never disclosed as to the intimate conversations that went on. I wonder if the Lord didn't reveal to him what he suffered for him on the cross.
He bore his sins in his own body on the tree and Peter. This is the righteous basis by which you can be brought back.
Because I have paid the penalty for your sins.
I don't know what went on.
And that old nature, or that old man that you have, was judged and condemned at the cross.
So that the very root of the problem can be taken care of. Now if we turn to John chapter 21 lastly.
00:35:03
We find that there is evidence that this man has been restored. John 21 and verse seven Peter at this time, and it's interesting just to make a note of this, Dear young people have seemed to go back to his previous occupation after the Lord Jesus had called him to be a Fisher of men.
And he takes others with him, he said. I go fishing, And there were these others at the beginning of the chapter who accompanied him on the boat.
Was he thinking it was all over?
Was he possibly thinking that now he would not be fit for service again?
Or since the Lord Jesus Christ was going away, he was ascending.
That this was the cessation of his service.
I don't know.
The point was in verse 7 after they had fished all night and caught nothing again as the first experience was in Luke chapter 5.
And the Lord saw to it that they caught nothing.
Because he was going to have breakfast ready for them on the beach or on the seashore.
But here when John said it is the Lord, he's the one that had perception because he was nearest to the Lord Jesus Christ and he identifies it as Christ. What does Peter do? He girds his fishers coat about him and he casts himself into the sea and he swims to shore to get to Jesus. There was nothing between his soul and Christ. That work of the conscience had been taken care of. The sin had been confessed, no doubt to the Lord. Peter had wept with repentance.
Bitterly. And that's the route we must go, beloved young people.
Repentance not godly sorrow, which worketh repentance not to be repented of. And that man in First Corinthians 5 that was put out of fellowship in the second epistle of of Corinthians. It's chapter 2, I believe.
Paul speaks to the Saints there. Confirm your love to him, lest he be swallowed up over much sorrow.
There had been sorrow and bitterness and weeping. No doubt in this man's life, as well as Peter's repentance is necessary. Tears need to be shed. A broken and a contrite spirit I will not despise, saith the Lord. Psalm 51 Peter's heart had been broken.
And now the healing process.
In Numbers, Chapter 19, the Third Day, the ashes and the water were applied the cross of Christ.
Comes into view. The word of God comes to our conscience, to cleanse, so to speak, to cause us to judge, to confess. But it's all in the light of what Jesus bore upon the cross. That sin has been paid for, but Peter had contributed to his suffering.
And when you and I sin, it's not just a matter of confessing, but it's owning the suffering, the added suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross that we put him through in the agony from just one more sin that we've caused him to suffer.
That's how serious sin is. It should be to the heart of the believer.
So Peter goes to shore, and he founds finds as the others, that Jesus did have breakfast ready.
Didn't need to worry about fish. The first fish that he caught for Peter was several boats full, and here he's got fish laid on coals and he feeds them.
And then he has something to say to Peter. Isn't it wonderful the way the Lord speaks to hearts?
Here it's public restoration.
But he has something to say for to Peter because he wants.
Peter to express that he's judged the root of the problem. And I say this to you and my own heart, dear young people, when we have judged the root of the problem.
In our lives.
We can follow Christ in a much more intimate.
And a wonderful way.
Peter had followed the Lord, but it was checkered somewhat by self-confidence, his own strengths, his own ideas about things. And here we find a heart, a man with a heart, completely broken.
Yes, he's still in the yoke, but now see he's come a long ways. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. He's learning not only of the righteousness of the Lord, the holiness of God, but he's learning of the love of Christ.
00:40:02
His patience, his kindness, his restoring grace.
And sometimes we must and I don't condone you going into a pathway of sin, because I've seen some never restored. But it's sometimes we we have to go through a problem.
Like a fall.
We have to. Peter did.
He was sifted by Satan, but remember he was wheat and the Lord wasn't going to let him go.
Is going to bring him back and make him a useful servant. But we have to go through that sometimes to learn Grace. Our brother Doug was speaking about Grace this morning and he said to me personally, we don't know too much about Grace, and I think that's true. Here, Peter learns.
Where sin abounded grace stuff much more abound.
So verse 15 When they had dying, Jesus saith to Simon Peter. Simon, son of Jonas, Lovest thou me more than these?
He saith unto him, Yeah, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee, he saith unto him, Feed my lambs.
He saith unto him again the second time, Simon the son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yeah, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee, he saith unto him, Feed or shepherd my sheep.
Saith unto him, the third time, Simon's son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved, because he had said unto him, the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him.
Feed my sheep.
Now we could put what we've read together.
In this simple way.
Lovest thou me more than these? That was the first question. Second one, lovest thou me? The third dearly lovest thou me?
I.
The first answer is Simon's. Thou knowest that I dearly love thee.
The second answer the same Thou knowest that I dearly love thee.
The third is Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I dearly love thee. The first two times when Jesus asked, Lovest thou me more than these, And lovest thou me it was divine love.
That divine, the highest love, the greatest love, God's love.
Peter would not arise to that. He simply told the Lord that he was attached to him.
Dearly.
Lovest thou, man? Jesus comes down to that in the third question. Dearly lovest thou me? He couldn't get Peter to boast anymore. Is is the point.
He had judged the root of the problem.
Couldn't get him to have any self-confidence anymore. He just flung the door open up his of his heart and he said, Lord thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I dearly love thee, that I'm attached to thee. He wasn't boasting in his love anymore. That is self judgment.
The Acts have been on the surface. The Acts of Peter Acts had been on the surface and now the root, the root cause, the root problem has been judged.
And it can be judged in your life.
We need the washing of the water by the Word for defilement. We need the restoring grace of the Lord if idols have.
Some somewhat come in and taken over in our lives, like with Judah, that we might be restored to first love, because he says remember from whence thou art fallen and repent.
Can you imagine what this company would be if we were all in the joy of first love? That's normal Christianity. I believe that we are far below what normal Christianity can be, but it is a potential if our hearts are right with the Lord Jesus Christ and he always seeks to reach the heart. And now Peter is going to express love to Christ.
By feeding his sheep. There are some here in the business of feeding the sheep.
And we've enjoyed it this year at Lassen.
We express loved, he said. Lovest thou me feed my sheep, shepherd my sheep, feed my lambs. We express love to him by encouraging his sheep to be drawn after him, to follow him, to walk with him. There is no substitute for an experience like that in our lives.
00:45:06
The first words that Jesus spoke.
That we read were.
Come in, John, Chapter one, come and see.
And they followed to his dwelling place, and justice to make mention of that.
May we not get the ideas. Our brother Doug mentioned this morning that we are a special people in God's sight and we will be in heaven.
Will occupy a place in the glory because we were gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we're sort of a special company up there.
No, but we have special privileges here that others do not enjoy, that we need to enter into and take advantage of. And as our brother mentioned, any truth that's taken into the heart and enjoyed will humble us. It won't make us proud.
Now we read the last words of the Lord Jesus, and justice quit right there.
Verse 22 The last words that he spoke.
The last three words.
To Peter, who all of a sudden became occupied with his brother, which shall this man do? And now the end of verse 22 Jesus said, Follow thou me.
Beloved friends, he's come down to the individual.
Our individual lives.
He's speaking to you no matter how old you are. You follow me?
Lost in the Jungle
Gospel—Dean Rule
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Tomorrow at the end of the meeting that will finish at about 2:30.
There's a scheduled hike.
Going up, I understand some 25 miles or so up the road toward the peak of Lassen.
And.
The desires to go and have a happy time together, to enjoy being outside.
So there's also another desire, probably not thought about very much, but that's that everyone who's on that hike come back.
April 20th of this year at the end of Breaking of Bread, 1 Lord's Day.
A sister, Martha or Relive, came up and said.
I'm concerned.
Well, why? Says my son Pedro. Next Saturday goes on a school field trip with this class.
He's never been away from home. Peters, about 15 years old.
Never been away from home? They're going to be gone for a couple of days to the jungle near the town of Nanegalito.
It's a town. The area is going down the western slopes of the Andes Mountains. This area is within two or three miles of the equator in an area that's a cloud forest. Basically what happens is the moist air comes across, sometimes evaporating often over the Pacific Ocean and coming across the flat land, sometimes falling as rain and coming back up. And then it it hits here with the altitude starts to rise.
An area that's most afternoons foggy.
Most days it rains, probably gets in the neighborhood of 200 inches of rain a year, 3 downs vegetation, she said. He's never been on something like that before and we're concerned.
To be honest, didn't think much about it during the week.
He wasn't there. I kind of forgot why the following Lords day what had happened, but then realized yes, he'd been on a field trip.
In preparation for the field trip, they needed to get together all the things that you would carry along on a trip like that. The sleeping bag, a compass, a Lantern, all of those sort of things.
6:30 at night Monday I called home to tell my wife that I just finished an appointment at something that I had been at and that I would be right home.
10 or 12 People were at this meeting that I was in.
And my wife said Pedro's lost.
And I sort of did a double take on the phone. What do you mean? She said. Well, he was supposed to be home this morning.
Most of the students came home.
Pedro didn't come home. Martha's here in the kitchen. Can you get home as quickly as possible?
I didn't stop to say goodbye to anyone.
I In the culture in which we live, it's a very rude thing to not say goodbye to each person individually that's there. But there was something more important than being rude. There was someone who we know knew very well who was lost.
Tonight, there's one very important question that I would like to ask you. Not the person next to you, but you.
Are you saved? Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior? Or are you lost?
Well I got in the van we have and went home as no I didn't get in the van, I'm sorry I wasn't driving. Went down to the street and got the first taxi I could find and got home as quickly as I could possibly get home. Went into the living room and there in the living room.
Along with our daughters with Martha and my wife talking.
And when you walked up and you could see Martha, you could see, here's a mother that said, well, with some fear and trepidation, I'm going to let my son go on this field trip. And here she is now, 3 days, 2 1/2 days after saying goodbye.
00:05:07
She has just come from the school.
The whole crew of the group of students, which was said to be about 100, I think it was probably a little more than that. The whole group of students had come.
Back.
With the exception of 12 students.
12 students didn't make it back.
I'd like you to stop and think for just a minute.
If you had been one of those 12 students.
If it was your mother and your father, they're waiting, wondering if they would ever see you alive again.
I'm not talking about the person next to, I'm talking about you. You.
Because when it comes down to it, you're the one who has to make a decision before the Lord Jesus Christ. Someone has to obey what He's asked you to obey tonight, to repent and believe if it came down and it was just you.
Among the 12 and your parents were there waiting.
What thoughts would be going through the mind of your parents at that time? Would your parents be able to say, I know for certain that if something happens to my son or my daughter that they're going to be with the Lord Jesus Christ? Or would it be a position in which they'd say, oh, I hope they find him?
More than that, I hope he or she is ready.
Well, we were standing there talking for a little bit of time.
And.
Word came through.
By a telephone call because the school or a family member have gone to the school, had our phone number, word came through that eight of the 12 students who were lost.
Had been found.
Perhaps you've been at a time in your life and you kept saying no, or someday, tomorrow later, and you've seen one friend after another who's been your companion. Say yes, Lord Jesus, I repent, I believe. Save me.
Oh, Martha had hope. Her hope started to go up, she said. Well, maybe Pedro is among the among the eight.
So we waited and prayed together, going to read you a verse in a minute. The verse that came to Mike, my mind, my heart at that point in time.
When the call came through, within 15 or 20 minutes, they said the 8 have arrived.
Pedro is not among them. Pedro's not in the group that's arrived back at school because there had been a group that had gone back to find out, including.
Pedro's father won. They had gone back to the area an hour and a 15 minutes, an hour and a half away, had found eight students that had come in one little clearing where someone had planted some corn.
Now there were four that were left 6:30 at night on the equator.
Year round it's getting dark. Daylight day length basically doesn't change.
There's a verse I'd like to read in Psalm.
Chapter 34, Verse 4.
I thought the Lord and he heard me.
And delivered me from all my fears.
Verse 6.
This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.
The Angel of the Lord and campeth round about them.
That fear him and delivereth them.
I'd like to read that last verse again. The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. Here we were standing, three people, each of us knowing the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, and with one thing of comfort.
Pedro feared the Lord. We were sure of that, because we had seen not only from the words of his lips, but from his life, a young man who knew, absolutely knew with certainty where he was going to spend eternity.
Do you fear the Lord? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And what is the fear of the Lord?
00:10:04
Are you going to take one step tonight? Do one thing on your own? The fear of the Lord means to walk. Afraid of doing anything without the Lord Jesus, but having total confidence in Him. And so here we were. We were thinking, well, let's count the days Pedro was out. We didn't know it at that point in time, but he had spent basically all night Saturday night out.
And in this area, it it gets sunny in the morning. Usually in the afternoon the fog rolls in and it's starts to rain.
And then in the evening, because of the altitude, because of being a highland jungle area, and during the night, the temperature may drop down to 12 in Fahrenheit of 54565860 degrees, maybe higher than that, but depending upon what the winds are. So he spent Saturday night out in those conditions. There was no word from the teacher.
He had spent Sunday night out in those conditions, and now here it was.
Monday night fall, and he's still out.
Not very pleasant conditions. And so when you begin to think about it, if you went and had to sleep out Mount Lassen with it raining every afternoon and the temperature of the nights dropping, what condition would you be in after 2 1/2 days?
Not very good. And so when we started to think through it, naturally speaking, it didn't look very good. The the ones that came back said, well, his name is is Pedro. His last name is Roman. And because it's a military school, they call them by their last name, Roman. They said, when did you last see Roman? They said, well, we last saw him Sunday afternoon. We haven't seen him for 24 hours.
What was our comfort?
Our comfort was two things. Knowing absolutely, with peace in our hearts, that Pedro Roman was ready. If the Lord Jesus were to have come in that moment, he was ready. Are you ready?
Are you ready? The question I'm not asking the person sitting next to you, I'm asking you, Are you ready? And the second thing is this, the Angel of the Lord, well, no one there could do anything to take care of him through that night. And you don't go traipsing off in the dense vegetation if you don't know it very well because of of all the potential things that are there, not being able to see, to slide, not knowing where to go because it was spread out now over a large area because they had been wandering around.
I'll explain a little more in a few minutes with the Lord's help. They've been wandering around, but the only thing we could claim and we got right there on our knees or prayed, perhaps standing up, I don't remember. And said, Lord, you've promised in your word that the Angel of the Lord will camp around about those that fear him and deliver them. Pedro fears you. We just pray that you'll deliver Pedro.
We've talked about prayer a lot this week. We've heard about it. I haven't talked about it, but others have talked about it many, many times.
You know, when the time comes, people in a time of distress, they pray. But what about the times where there doesn't seem to be much of A distress throughout the week? I have to confess that not one time did I pray for safety for Pedro on that trip. I forgot about it, prayed about him and started the list of them people in that family, but never prayed about him specifically.
For his need in that week. But there was this promise.
Well, what happened?
I was in total inability.
To do anything to help.
On two crutches, having had an operation not much before.
Inability to be able to help and anything that could be done physically.
The only thing I could do was pray there were others that could help. Physically, I couldn't.
And so I have a just a little thing for those of you who know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior to think about.
The thing that kept running through my mind in the next 24 hours was.
All I can do is pray, but perhaps the thing that should have been running through my mind is the most important thing.
That can be done is pray. And so we pray and then we started to think, well, prayer, prayer takes action. So I can't do anything. So I'm going to get on the phone. There's a brother named.
And the military, he spent 10 or 12 years of those 20 years.
In the jungle and actually the eastern jungle of the country, someone is very familiar with maneuvering and that sort of territory and so.
00:15:09
679346 His telephone number was dialed immediately in Gallo. Pedro's lost.
He went on a field trip with his school. He's lost.
Will you come help look for him? Well, what are the details? And so I went through some of the details I've given you. We didn't know very much at that point in time. Went through some of the details I've given you and he said I'm going to need someone. I'd be very happy to go look. He said, can you call my boss to say that?
I won't be there tomorrow, he said. I don't have boots here. Do you have boots I can use?
They said I'm going to need someone as a guide to find Pedro.
Well.
Tonight.
If you're to be found.
A lost sheep headed on the way to an eternity in the lake of fire. It has to be someone beside me and someone beside the person sitting next to you to guide you there. But God by his Spirit will work.
He desires to work. I can't do anything in your heart. I can't speak a word, nor can the person next to you, nor you without help from the Lord Jesus Christ. And so they off, they headed down the hill and he came in a taxi to come across town. Mario, the brother of Juan, the father of Pedro the father and the uncle actually of the young man, He came from the South end of town.
Martha the the mother said I've got to go.
I've got to go. So the three of them went off and Mario's pick up headed down to Nanegalito arrived there.
Somewhere around between 12:00 and 1:00 in the morning.
Nothing they could basically do at that time of night. Talking to Dalla later in the day, he said Marta kept saying Gallo Mario.
Is it 3:00 yet?
Said every 5 minutes. She was asking over a 2 hour period. Why? Because she was concerned about the life of her son. She realized that her son was now out, perhaps dead or dying. You heard about death last night and she had no, absolutely no idea in that jungle area, the mountain above and around her where he could be.
I'd like to read a verse in Isaiah.
Chapter 53.
Verse 6.
All we like sheep.
Have gone astray.
We have turned everyone to his own way.
And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity.
Of us all.
Doesn't say many. It says here that all we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned everyone to his own way.
More reports began to filter in during the evening. What had happened? I won't read the verses because our time is going, but if you went to John 10, it talks about two kinds of shepherds. It talks about a shepherd who gave his life for the sheep, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. But it also talks about one who's a hireling, that when the wolf comes, the hireling runs.
What had the teacher done?
The teacher had made a promise with the school. I'm going to need so many people. Each student is going to have to pay so much money. With this money, we are going to pay the bus. I'm going to pay the people to go along with me. I'm going to make sure that everything is properly organized. And the school said, OK, fine, that's fine.
So off he goes. But Saturday when he leaves, he didn't take a single person with him. Not a single person. He went alone. He said, well, you know, I'm going to fill the wallet a little bit more if I don't have to take anyone one along and everything's going to be right. The higher length did it to fill his pocket. What did the teacher start to do on Saturday?
The students that were there and came back first said, well, we saw the teacher start to slip a bottle out of his bag and start to drink. And so by Saturday night, one teacher in a rather potentially dangerous area is going along.
00:20:12
With 100 students, 100 or plus students, by Saturday night he's probably half drunk.
Leaving him out there.
Ask the students well, what had happened, They said, well, the teniente, the Lieutenant said to us. When things got bad and we got up there, we were the first group and we were marking the trail for the others that the Lieutenant said, hey, it's every man for himself.
And he took off with his Lantern, and he ran away down the hill and left them outside.
Students. Twelve students. The others were already backed down, but he abandoned them.
If you are depending upon anything else but faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for your salvation, you are depending upon someone like that, Lieutenant.
Has the money in his pocket. He's done, he said. Keep moving. His message, His last message was to them. Keep moving because if you don't keep moving, exposure to the cold and the wet will kill you. Goodbye Sunday night. He kept him out Saturday night, bathing in the river, fully dressed after sliding across the mud in the field.
With punishment for everyone kept him out in the river.
The one time they gave him any food date was Sunday morning, a bowl of oatmeal. And so now he says on Saturday night to those that are there, keep moving. And they said, but Lieutenant, shouldn't we stay together? Said, no, keep moving.
All we, like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way. If you turn to your own way, if you listen to instructions like that, if they not listen to the Lieutenant because he gave him lousy, dangerous instructions.
Things might have been different, but they listened and they started to move. They went in their own way. They tried to retrace their steps, but by now it was too dark to see anything. And the few that would still be able to be in contact said let's stay here together as best we can.
The Lieutenant went down. They didn't even go with the students. He drove his own car Monday morning. He pulls out of there.
Doesn't bother to place a call to anyone. I say again, are you following a hireling, someone who may be a friend at school who says, forget what your parents are telling you, Forget what they're telling you in that place that you go to those Bible meetings? Forget it. Are you listening to those voices?
All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way.
It says in Proverbs chapter 14 verse 12, there is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
The teacher gets back to the city. No telephone call. The parents arrive 8:30 in the morning on Monday, waiting for some sort of news. The bus is supposed to be there. They assume everything is OK. No bus. You assume, well, maybe in the area there, there are sometimes landslides and things, the fairly main road. So those will be cleared off. 9:30, 10/30, 11:30, noon, noon passes. The parents are beginning to be concerned.
Finally, a telephone call comes through in mid afternoon from someone who had gotten off.
Before they arrived at the school and gotten off in the north, farther north part of the city called the school and says, well, we're finally here, but we're coming. 12 students short.
The telephone calls go out to the parents of the 12 students.
Again, I ask you, if you had been among the 12 students, if the telephone call had come to your house, there would have been two questions that would have been going through the mind. I can tell you as a parent very quickly, the first question or the second question, and I can't say which order.
Well, the first question I think would be if he doesn't come back.
Where is he going to spend eternity? The other question is will they find him?
If the first can be answered with the Lord Jesus Christ, there's peace.
Yes, anguish, but a different kind of feeling from someone who has no answer.
And so the night went on. Now four students still missing.
00:25:03
We got things together. My wife got out a recipe to make an oral rehydration solution where you put sugar and salt and water and that sort of thing, sort of a Gatorade type of mix, because that's what a person should get if they've been out for a while and dehydrated.
We went and said, well, can you give us his oldest pair of tennis shoes?
Will take his oldest pair of tennis shoes down because if they're dogs, the dogs may be able to sniff that and and help find the trail and in those sort of things.
By this time, Juan had come back to the city to try to get more help. The father, the parents of the eight who had gone down with one, their sons were their sons were fine. Now they were in the home. They were recovering satisfactorily. So they went home.
Never saw anything more of those 88 parents.
The reason why Wally and Dolores have this time this week is so you might grow.
No, Physically, naturally. You're not their sons or daughters or nor am I.
Grandson here there who would be related? But even though their own sons and daughters have been found, they care about you. Tremendous effort goes into a time like this. Why? Because they don't want to see you left behind.
So tonight now turns into mourning. Paul Robert helped me because I couldn't drive to go try to see if some other people could come help. Car stalled out. But finally we got back. The last things were together, made some final arrangements and left early and just at at dawn in the morning and driving down. My wife was driving. I was sitting in the right seat and Juan was sitting behind us.
And I can tell you.
That there wasn't anyone thinking, oh what beautiful scenery it is along here.
Wonder how things are you go by the monument right where the equator is. Wonder how the might be interesting to stop in at the shops and say the things that are there. None of that.
All along the road.
Wet eyes because we were there with.
The feeling of what's happened to Pedro.
What's happened? Where is he? What are we going to find when we get there in the morning?
Periodically stopping and going back to reading this verse. If you need comfort in the situation, there's one place to find it. It's in the Word of God.
And and so that the the day went on or the time went on and we came to a place.
The first place I saw that was up the side where I thought I said, oh, let's stop and call his name.
And not very wise, but they pulled over to the side of the road and yelled down into this Canyon, Pedro absolutely, with the loudest voice we possibly could. And one was sort of standing back there.
Went down to the edge and called, but I didn't bother to ask. I thought we were already in the area and we were still a ways up from where he would be. So we got back in the van and went downhill. But I have a question for you tonight. Do you hear the Lord Jesus calling your name?
Not audibly like we would call out a name, but speaking to your heart saying Are you ready?
Will you respond to His love?
Well, we got down to the area and Juan said, well, here's the area that that that they left from. Here's the camp. So we pulled over there.
By this time one meets.
Marta, who had been there all night, Gallo and some others come up in a vehicle and they're bringing out a young man.
Now was down to three lost. But here's one of the three last name Sanchez. They're bringing out Sanchez. They called him that. It used his first name. So we found Sanchez. And so here they are. They bring him in half delirious, not making any sense. He is. He had had ants crawl inside his pants during the night and to get away from it, he just had his underwear on. He had taken those off.
He was scratched up.
Semi coherent, but not very coherent. He said he'd been in a hotel with a bed and those sort of things and so immediately out comes the bottle of oral rehydration solution and it's given to him and then they take him off in a Jeep up to the city.
00:30:03
Martha's running over and Martin Juan and they're hugging, they're crying, but they run over to Sanchez and say.
Did you see my Pedro? Did you see Roman?
Again, I'm going to say to you, and if I don't get anything else through tonight and I can't get it through, but the Spirit of God can, if you refuse the Lord Jesus, you're going to break, you've broken the heart of your parents because there's nothing worse, nothing worse than to stand by a casket and say, I see the body there. But where are the soul and the spirit? Well, she said, where's my Pedro? My Pedro? Have you seen him? And young man wasn't in any shape.
Give an answer. This is 8:30 in the morning. Now the search goes on. Finally a helicopter comes to search but the helicopter couldn't see down below. So the helicopter starts doing. But I thought well this is high but with the wind currents and the clouds and everything else.
But finally about 11:00 in the morning.
We see the helicopter come in and land. And then what could I do during the day? Just one thing. Debbie was driving all over, taking people here, taking people there, going into town, offering people a reward for coming out and helping looking. I was just sitting there beside the road praying. That was all I could do. Perhaps the person next to you is questions as to where you're headed, and they're sitting next to you praying now.
Well, we were praying for Pedro, but in comes the next young man.
I have been talking to his parents. His father had driven all night after getting the word from a city that's Guayaquil, that's 10 or 11 hours away from there. Driven all night. There are the parents are standing is just leaning against the fence thing. You know what's happened to my son. All of a sudden the helicopter lands.
And we go off.
Say, well, they've got someone.
It was as if 97 of the sheep were found.
98 of the sheep were found with Sanchez. 99 of the sheep were found because it turned out that it was his son. 11:00 in the morning and if we could read excuse me in Luke chapter 15.
I'm sorry about talking so long on a story, but.
Has a lesson? Listen to the Lord Jesus here in Luke chapter 15 and verse three. And he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you having in 100 sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the 90 and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost?
Until he find it.
If you were a baseball batter and you were batting 990%.
900 Ninety 99% but you had a batting average of 990.
You could play on any team you wanted to play on because no one has batted much more than 400 in the major leagues in all the history. But here you could say, well, 99 out of 100. That's not a bad average.
You think that's what we thought sitting there? You think that's what his parents said? Well, you know, they found all the others. It's not too bad.
It's between 150 and 200 people in this room.
If the Lord Jesus were to come in this moment and there was one person left and it was you.
That would start an eternity of being alone. Do you understand what the word means to be alone?
I'm sorry, but it's a horrible thing, and you and I do not understand what it's like to be alone. Yes, separated from people for hours. Perhaps someone here has been in a place isolated for a day. Separated from people. We're not talking about hours or days. We're talking about eternity. Alone. Alone. The most alone that anyone has ever been in all the history of mankind.
Up to this point, was the Lord Jesus Christ.
Three hours, 3 hours, someone who had had unhindered communion with his Father up to that point in time. It wasn't that his communion was broken, as it were, between father and son, but in that time, the especial relationship that was going on was a righteous, holy God and the one perfect sacrifice that we heard about on Lord's Day, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that the thing that happened between those.
00:35:01
Two, it wasn't a father punishing a son. It's a perfect son. How could the father punish the son? A lot of songs that say that now, but it's not what the Bible says.
But it's a righteous and holy God who might, who had to punish my sins that were born, that were taken on by the Lord Jesus Christ, and your sins, if you'll accept him, he couldn't be left.
Situation was one like that, that he couldn't be left and the Lord Jesus doesn't want to leave you as one alone. But if you say no to the Lord Jesus alone for all eternity is how you will be in the lake of fire.
You know, one of Satan's many lies, and he's only a liar. He's only a liar because even what he might tell that is the truth is the truth with a lie mixed in, a truth to make the lie more palatable. And one of his lies is this. His lie says, and I hope no one here believes it. My friends are going to be there. This is not the kind of group that normally would say that.
Yeah.
Friends might be there if you say no to the Lord Jesus Christ, but you'll never see them again. The last face you'll see for all eternity is the face and the hands of the One.
Who died so that you could be saved? Are you ready? What does it say here? Go after that which is lost until he find it. Well, it's now 11:00 in the morning. The clouds are starting to come in. The helicopter flies away.
Some of the people have been searching now for many hours and they they try one more time. One is sitting there. We start to talk, we pray again as we prayed many times together throughout the morning. The answer to 1 is that Juan, why don't you go help look.
That all people have been saying, we just sit here. No, it's the one. Why don't you go help look.
A father said, oh, thank you, said people have been telling me to sit here, said I want to go look. He said, I can't sit here any longer. I want to go look. I want to go help try to find my son. Martha had been up all night and so she was taken over to a house that was nearby to try to get some rest. Some of the others that have been looking longer came in and.
And the hours passed and I'm sitting there just at a place where the road turns up to go up the mountain.
This main road goes by, people come by and say, well, what's the news on the students? I say.
All but one, All but one have been found. Pedro Roman still lost.
A man comes by.
He's selling a tray full of beans.
Said to the man. We're offering a reward. If you find Pedro, the reward is 1,000,000 sucrates. A million sucrers is a little over $250.
He said oh handed his tray of beans to someone else.
And he said I'll go look, I know the area.
Hannah's tray of beans to someone else and he went with one and with a couple of the students and they started to look. I have a question for you who know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior and for my own heart.
What pays better?
Selling beans.
Are finding lost shape.
You know, we sell beans in one way or another to get through this earth.
But you know what this world will tell you? One of the great lies of this world is the bumper sticker that you see sometimes on the back of a car. The bumper sticker says he who dies with the most toys wins.
In the United States, a country that, compared with almost any other place in the world, continues in an economic expansion that has really surprised many people for how long it's gone on in the lie to you is who you Who dies with the most beans wins?
You heard that, Not those words.
But what's the thing? I just saw a statistic coming on the plane the other day.
They asked what the goals were to North America and United States young people.
98% said ahead of having a good marriage, ahead of this and ahead of that, 98% said I want to make a lot of money. 98% said I want to die with the most beans. This man had a reward that he saw was better. He gave his beans to someone else and he said I'll go look.
00:40:23
Just a message, perhaps, to our own hearts. A lost sheep. You and I are surrounded by them every day.
Those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior, what's worth more? A pan of beans.
Or lost soul.
And so they they went on.
They went up and looked.
Sitting there, Debbie comes back with some of the different searchers that were tired and said, you know, they haven't eaten now since yesterday basically, except for a few things that we had taken along. So I'm going to take him into town and get them something to eat. Would you like to go along?
Honestly, I didn't have hunger.
So said no, someone needs to stay here for any news. I'm going to stay here. So I sat and through the day.
You know, again, every time I thought about that young man, thought he's back there somewhere, I can't do anything. And that's the hopelessness that I feel in the part of any of us who are here tonight. We can't do anything, but we can pray.
Are you ready? Are you ready for the Lord Jesus Christ to come? Are you ready for death?
John chapter 14 verse 3. Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life.
We knew that there was one who holds life in his hand, the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's the one that we had to turn to during the day. But here's one. Marta is saying, hey, everyone else has been found. But our Pedro, we said that Juan and Marta, this is hard. I know, we know it's very hard. We can't understand it. We're not his own parents. We love him, but not like you love him. But we said, you know.
There's something unusual that's happened today.
99 sheep have been found, but perhaps they were all lost.
Perhaps everyone of those other sheep was on their way to a lost eternity. 1 sheep. One young man is still lost, but we know he's lost in the jungle, that he's saved. He's on his way to heaven.
Juan was really a mixed up man. Dan knows him quite well, has talked to him for many, many hours.
One a few years ago got into Tao.
An Eastern religion that's a mixture of a whole bunch of things, and it's a religion of don'ts. Yeah, they open the Bible. But if you don't do this and you don't do that, you don't eat this and you don't do something else, and you try to live the best you can.
And one is a miserable man.
An absolute miserable, unhappy man. But what was his response?
He broke down and he said to his wife.
I'm the responsible one for this.
Said I have to feel that God is speaking to me and during that day he didn't pray to some Eastern idol.
There was as death as the piece of metal.
Or foam that you're sitting on that couldn't do anything for him, he prayed.
To the true God in heaven. He knew that when it came down to it, that was the only one who could answer the prayer.
Psalm Chapter.
Verse 14.
Offer unto God Thanksgiving.
Not to men. Offer unto God Thanksgiving, and pay the vows under the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble. I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. He called on the living God. We were calling on the living God. What happened? 12:00 passes. 1:00 passes.
2:00 passes. 3:00 passes.
The clouds are now very dark. It's four hours since the 99th sheep has been found.
4:00 comes.
Five hours.
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Starts to rain.
So here we are, sitting in the van, they brought some food back. It was pouring down, raining, and I looked at Gallo and Galo looked at me and.
The question now was.
Should we go downriver?
Because of these dead, his body is going to be washed downriver, and if it goes down and goes into the rivers that are down below, it's going to.
Literally the rivers in that area down below are piranha filled and they would view it as just one more tasty meal coming through.
And so the question of bones washing down and eventually perhaps out into the Pacific Ocean.
Never to be found.
Late in the day, people have looked all over. It seems like they've combed the hillsides. No sign of Pedro.
Again, I say if it had been you instead of Pedro in that position, where, where would you be headed?
We were sitting there and Mario, his uncle, who he's very close to, because Mario knows the Lord Jesus is his savior. And in some ways there was a relationship with them that he didn't have with his own father because they didn't share the most important thing in common, Mario sitting there.
Debbie sitting there. I'm sitting there.
And we're talking about going and looking for a body.
Not a very pleasant conversation. And I'm sort of saying, well, you know, I'd gone through the time during the day, sitting there praying and finally said, Lord, you know exactly where he is and you know exactly where those who are looking for him are.
The only way I'll ever be found is if you bring the two together.
Well, let's go back and let's find out what happened to Juan. If I can go on a few minutes, I'm sorry, going overtime, but one.
Went up the mountain and they had some disagreements to where to go. And finally one of the students said let's go right back on the right in the path they were on. Go right back on the path they were on. And so they followed this path. They could see tracks for a while. They came to an area where they looked across a Canyon about 1/3 of a mile across.
And one said, you know, my son is not going to be in very good shape if we find him and so.
He said I, he said. But maybe he can reach a leaf and shake the leaf.
And so he yelled out in Spanish, waving leaf, move a leaf and shouted across there and looked at a plant that looks like a banana tree but it's a heliconia. So went back and looked at it and he saw a leaf starting to move on that plant.
And.
Someone said, well, maybe it's just the wind, He said. No, you know, if it's the wind, the wind will only blow one leaf.
I mean, it'll blow all the leaves, he said. This is just one leaf. And so they said, well, let's, let's see. Stop. Relief the leaf. Stop.
They went to another man and I talked to him independently, the man who'd been selling the beans.
And with one not right there, I said, well what happened? He said, well one said move the leaf and the leaf started to move. Then he shouted out stop the leaf.
And at least stopped and they said I wasn't sure. So he said I did it. I said move the lead and yelled across the Canyon and the leaf started to move, stop the leaf. The leaf stopped, set off maybe Pateros under that. And so a few, a couple of them went down across a very difficult terrain and came up to where this was near a Ridge.
No sign of Pedro.
What could have moved it?
I can't tell you exactly, I'm just going to quote the verse again. The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him.
And Delivereth them, they went across to where that leaf was. The others went on a sort of the Ridge and met up with them. They didn't see him. When they realized where it was, they realized that to move the leaf, he would have had to reach up to an altitude of about where the top of the crutch is. No way to reach that. But they went there and they went over the edge. And what did they find? They found it looked like someone had slid all the way down.
A distance of several 100 yards toward a river. And so that at that point they followed that trail. You guided them to where this trail was and they followed it down the hill.
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He promised to deliver, and if you'll believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, he'll deliver you from a situation worse than Pedro tonight.
Something move that leaf. I think I know who it was behind that.
But that got into where this trail was and, and they came down to a river and the river, I mean, the, the, the path stopped and it was just kind of an opening through the, the, the branches in the jungle and, and below there was a thing of rocks.
And so they started to follow. They looked. There was something else that guided them.
They looked and Juan said, look, there's blood. And they started to follow drops of blood.
And he said that blood must be the blood of my son.
I was disturbed earlier in the day when I'd seen some of the rescue police that came. They'd come out with a deer. They'd not just been looking.
What are you doing this for?
You shouldn't be hunting deer and say that to him, but in my my heart, I said, well, you know, you got your priorities all mixed up.
But I'd like you to think about two things.
There was a tree put up on Calvary.
The leaves have been stripped off of it, the branches have been stripped off of it, and my Savior and the Savior of many here was nailed to that tree almost 2000 years ago. If you want to have direction, go back to that tree.
This plant, sort of like a tree at the bottom, started them. They went on down. What happened on that tree?
The Lord Jesus Christ shed His precious blood. The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. They followed that path of blood and one said later he said this. This became more and more difficult because it said it started out as drops and the drops got bigger and bigger and bigger until the final drops it was.
Whoever was doing it had to have been coughing up blood because the blood was mixed with spittle.
Often what happens when a person is.
On their way to die. So here they're going along and we're sitting on the other side of the Ridge, two ridges over, I think.
Although I've never been in there as I couldn't go in, we're saying, well, what's happened?
But they start to follow this in one that you know.
I mean the cry, and I think we heard it earlier this week if I remember correctly, the cry of David with his son.
Absalom, my son, my son desperation thinking that at the end of this they would find his son dead.
So they followed the trail. He's now out. It's Tuesday afternoon, three nights out, three days exposure. No idea of whether he had food or anything like that.
And there was another group that was coming in from the other side, right near where the drops of blood ended.
They got a shout.
We found Roman.
Shouted across the area very close to where that was. They had been guided by a leaf.
And buy some drops of blood and they're close by Was Juan Roman.
Found. What condition was he found in?
Someone went up, the first ones that had come from the other side in another direction and they met up with him and the ones that shouted put their hand on his wrist, took his pulse. 15 year old young man, good shape. His pulse was 22.
Wet from exposure, delirious, semi conscious.
But found.
But one is there in a you know, initially, can I believe it? And he goes and finds out, yes, it is his son. His son is basically incoherent. They took his shoes off to get the wet part off and they said that the pores in his skin were sunken.
He tried to move when the first ones found him a few yards, but he couldn't do it. He collapsed.
And So what did they do? They put them on their shoulders and carried him. Can we go back to just for a few minutes, to a minute or two to Luke, chapter 15?
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Luke chapter 15 and verse five. And when he hath found it, he layeth, and on his shoulders rejoicing.
And when he cometh home, he calleth together as friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, That likewise joy shall be in heaven over one Sinner than that repenteth more than 90 and nine just persons that need, which need no repentance.
We were sitting there in the back of the van, talking in the rain.
Starting to eat the rice and stuff that Debbie had brought and up comes a vehicle.
Someone pops out and says we found Roman.
OK, let me finish my rice and.
And when we're done eating, we'll come and find out. Absolutely not.
The bag that was on my lap, you know the two crutches. I grabbed the two crutches. The bag that was on my lap went flying. There was rice over all the back end of the.
The vehicle where I was sitting, the only thing you want to see is did they really find him? And you know tonight if you would accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior if you receive him, as many as received him to them gave you the power to become the sons of God.
Forget the refreshments, forget anything else. We'll rejoice together because the lost sheep has been found. Are you a lost sheep tonight? It could be found tonight before it's too late. Everything else disappears and insignificance. And that point in time say, well, OK, now let's let's run up. And you know, a block and a half up the highway was the house where Marta was went in and Debbie ran over and said they found. They found.
Pedro.
So she comes out, gets in the van, and she starts to clean up the rice. She's like, she couldn't believe that if this has happened, I said no, you get out on the road. They're going to be going by with an ambulance in in just a few minutes because the city had sent an ambulance out. They're going to be going by in an ambulance and your son's going to be there. So she goes over and Juan and Martyr, just the two of them, are sitting in the back of the van rejoicing, but shaken too, because Pedro is not in very good shape.
Well.
Soon as we could get to a phone, they go roaring off to the hospital. As soon as we could get to the phone, we start calling the family and saying he's been found.
Could someone go out to that telephone tonight and be able to call home to your parents and say your son, your daughter who was lost, has been found?
You think that would cause rejoicing at home? Well, nothing like the rejoicing that there would be in heaven, but it would cause rejoicing at home. I'm going to read you. It'll translate it from the account that his father that Juan and Pedro typed out.
What had happened to him? He had gone out fallen.
Lost in the night, slid down the mountain, something he does can't explain it, but he said he slid down and he stopped instead of going over into the rocks. Lost consciousness, woke up, went down. And every time he tried to move, he was just more, less and less of energy. But here's what it says. Insulated, it says.
The last two paragraphs of what he wrote, he said last Friday night.
This is now the Friday. After this Monday they released me from the hospital and my parents took me contented to the house where I returned to sleep in my bed. I want to.
Give the no my infinite thanks to God.
That knew how to take care of me, to preserve my life.
And the companions of my platoon.
In this moment I remember, and this was written a week later or so when he sat down to type it out, he was out of the hospital. I remember that falling from the mountain.
And when I began to try to go back up, the same I saw with my eyes.
The telephone of my house.
And upon seeing and I took it, and I called the house where my father answered.
And I told them to come see me.
And I heard him say that he was already on the road. They put down the telephone.
Close my eyes and the telephone disappeared.
And I continued in the direction of trying to go up the mountain.
We could just read one last verse.
And shalt believe in thine heart, that God hath raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved.
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For with the heart.
Men believeth unto righteousness.
And with the mouth, confession is made.
Unto salvation.
Have you ever confessed the Lord as your Savior? Don't leave us in doubt. Confess Him tonight before it's too late.
And for those of us who know the Lord Jesus as our Savior who is calling out to you tonight, come and find me.
The Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost. Could we pray?
The Reality of Death
Gospel—Neil Adkins
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.
Like to turn to.
Past 26.
It's a very familiar portion. We've all read Paul before King, Agrippa.
And he put before him.
The history that he had when he persecuted the Christians.
And he lays out a faithful testimony. We will pick it up in verse 23, that Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should show forth light unto the people and to the Gentiles. And then we skip down to verse 26.
For the king knoweth of these things, this is King Agrippa.
Before whom also I speak freely, for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him.
For this thing was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, believeth thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.
Then Agrippa said unto Paul, almost without persuadeth me to be a Christian.
I wonder if there's somebody in the room tonight.
That is almost persuaded.
You know I have two things on my heart tonight.
The first would be.
Gospel harden young people and maybe even older ones too that have heard it hundreds, probably thousands of times and still rejecting, maybe saying, almost persuaded and the other.
Would be to.
Maybe meeting hardened?
Christians.
Ones that are saved, but their hearts are hardened.
I have those two things on my heart this evening.
We trust it'll be from the Lord when Wally called me up to.
Take the gospel it was.
With much fear and trembling.
And.
After he called me, I said I'd pray about it and went to the dinner table and my family wanted to know what was wrong because I was kind of Gray in the face.
And so they asked and I told them and they their simple answer was just say no.
But I do feel that there's something.
That the Lord would have us put forth this evening, and we just pray that there would be ears.
To hear and that it would be an exercise.
And an encouragement to the speaker's heart as well as those that are in the audience.
Maybe we could just look to the Lord for help.
Well, we just had some and and acts before us about.
Ones that are almost persuaded and I'm just wondering.
You know, with hearts that are hardened.
And we know what our hearts are like. Our brother Dean had a message with a little about the heart and kind of like to take that up a little bit further.
Maybe we could turn to the very beginning of the scripture and to see what hearts were like, maybe we could turn to Genesis. Genesis chapter 6, I believe.
Verse 5.
This is this is before the flood. We're going to pick up what man's heart was like before the flood and just directly after.
And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
So we see early on what the heart was like, and we don't have to look any further, do we, than our own hearts. We know what's in our own hearts apart from the goodness of God, the grace of God. We know what our hearts are like. We wouldn't want a book opened up.
So the rest of our family and our brethren here could see what our hearts are like. We know, don't we?
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Let's turn over to a portion right after the flood, Genesis 8, verse 21. We'll pick it up in the middle of the verse for the imagination.
Of man's heart is evil from his youth.
So this is after the flood and we see the proclamation. It's evil from his youth.
Now we know what our hearts are like. They're evil from the youth.
And that's God's view of it. I wonder if we could turn to Romans 5 verse 12. And this is what started off early in the garden with Adam, 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. It's quite a solemn verse, isn't it? We have the word death here two times.
And you know, we just had word this afternoon of a death.
Our Sister Carol Witty passed away.
A couple days ago apparently, but I just wonder.
If we could tell you that you had a couple minutes left in this scene.
What would your heart be? What would your reaction be?
You know, death is a solemn thing.
I was introduced to to death at an early age, my dad.
Was an assistant to the pathologist.
And he would always tell me to knock before I come in. It was in a place that I really wanted to go that much.
But I would come in every once in a while when I shouldn't and there would be metal trays that would be pulled out.
And bodies with sheets over them, with their toes tagged Death.
Solemn thing.
And it says here.
Death.
Passed upon all men the sentence of death. Young person here tonight.
How many times have you heard the Gospel?
How many times? And yet maybe there's one or more that can say almost persuaded.
Or they can say yeah I heard that before but really had no effect.
And justice kind of passing by, passing off as a Christian.
But not, you know, the last few moments.
Of a person's life.
I believe puts forth.
A person's state of soul.
Peace. Is there peace?
Or is there absolute horror and fear?
There should be horror and fear.
If you have not taken the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you know there's a there's a tract and I hope you'll excuse.
Reading part of it, but it's affected me greatly.
And.
It's.
It's written a long time ago.
And I'll just read part of it.
And it's about the two words that we had in Romans 5 and death.
Death.
Many preachers.
Are giving up the old ideas about the fall and total depravity of man.
People are not often plainly told that they are guilty sinners before a holy God. The sermons of our forefathers, who used to press this so constantly upon their hearers, are looked upon as relics of the dark ages. There is, however, one preacher left of the old school.
He speaks today as boldly as ever.
Not popular, but the whole world is this parish and he travels over every part of the globe.
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Speaks in every language under the sun. He visits the poor.
Calls upon the rich and preaches to people of every religion.
And many of no religion.
But the subject of this sermon is always the same.
He's an eloquent preacher.
Often stirs feelings which no other preacher could reach, and brings tears into eyes that seldom weep. He addresses himself to the conscience and to the heart.
His arguments? None, none are able to refute.
Nor is there any heart.
That has remained wholly unmoved by the force of his weighty appeals.
Most people hate him, for many quayle in his presence, but in one way or another he makes everybody hearing. He is neither refined nor polite. Indeed, he often interrupts the public arrangements and breaks in rudely upon the private enjoyments of life. He frequents the shop.
The office. The mill.
He appears in the midst of legislators and intrudes upon fashionable and religious gatherings that most inopportune times.
Can anybody here?
Here, tell me what that preacher's name is.
Depth step.
It's a solemn thing.
Young person tonight, what would you do if you presented with the last few moments?
Is there peace in your life?
If you bowed the knee, you know there was many brothers praying tonight.
For the souls of the young people, it's an encouraging thing to see.
But yet, you know, we're all taken up in so many different things. But it seems like that old preacher death is one of the few things. Sometimes it really gets our attention.
We see it every day like we have here or almost every day we go down the street.
And there's a procession going by and we think about it.
But you know what's really sad is to see how the world.
Deals with death.
I wonder if anybody here has heard the word fanatology? Fanatology.
It's the study of death.
And as far as I'm concerned, I think it's straight from the devil.
You know there was an article in the paper and you have to forgive me.
Of bringing in a track, but I trust it was from the Lord.
In this article because it really puts what the world thinks of death and how they explain it away.
And this article.
What caught my attention, it was a high school very close to our house, not where our boys went. It was a very rich high school on the other side of the tracks, Los Alamitos High School.
And they were teaching a course.
In thanatology study of death.
And you know, is this right after?
Gone over this track and it really hit home.
The teacher.
She said that she had just lost her father and that it was a life affirming class. It was more than any other class that she had taught. And it gives you the ability to be grateful and appreciate the time. We do, we do have, and you know as I read the article that it was not one mention.
Of the Lord.
More of what is after death.
And she went on to say.
The best thing that she could teach in this class was to these young people was to seize the day.
Seize the day.
Live each day as if it's your last.
So if you get hit by a truck, you've lived each day with happiness and you can say I'm sorry and I love you.
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Sad commentary. That's the best the world has to offer.
That's how they can explain away death. Don't really worry about it too much, just live each day to the fullest you can.
And they interviewed a couple of the kids in the class. One of them said society doesn't really teach you or tell you much about death.
She said. You just see it on TV.
And so the teacher summed it up. She says people need to realize that death is just part of life. It's something they perhaps don't look forward to.
But they need to realize it will come at one time and that's a comfort and a reassurance from being prepared.
Being prepared, it says in the scripture, prepare to meet thy God. Not one mention of God was in that article.
Prepare to meet thy God and you know young people, what's really.
Exercise and concern me is that.
Year after year you can come to Lassen, you can go to your home assemblies, you can hear the gospel, the good news from the Scripture.
And have a lot of truth.
Have a lot of truth.
But you haven't made it your own.
You know, there's a, there's a hat that we've seen here and it's, it's a humorous hat, it says.
Seen it?
Been there, seen it and done that, but you know if you haven't.
If you if you've seen it.
And you haven't done it. What good is it? You know, you can sit here for all these years and you're no better off in your soul than these poor kids in this class.
If the Lord were to come.
If we would hear the shout in a few seconds and it's very possible.
And you haven't made it your own and you're sitting in your seat and there's nobody left.
You'd be no better off.
Than those kids in that class with all.
The truth.
All the privileges you've had and if you've rejected it.
No, better off. You know, we talked a little bit this morning.
Life is but a vapor. It is, isn't it? It just seemed like a few days ago I was playing basketball out on the courts.
Now I can hardly get around to it. Life is a vapor.
We don't know what's ahead of us either.
Like Dave with the accident today, got up this morning.
Last thing he ever would have thought of would have been that he was going to be in a cast tonight.
Prepare to meet thy God.
What else does the scripture say?
Maybe we could turn to Hebrews 9, verse 27.
And as it is appointed unto men wants to die. But after this the judgment. It would have been wonderful if somebody could have stood up in that class.
Quoted a verse like that.
It would have stopped the teacher I'm sure dead in her tracks.
Prepared to meet thy God, it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment.
So it's a solemn thing.
To have your hearts.
Gospel Hardened.
After all these years.
And you know, there's another, there's another exercise that I had tonight and we'll, we'll pick this up again in a few minutes.
But it's it's a burden that I have and it's for young people.
That are saved.
And that are meeting hardened.
You know, I can just go back just a few years.
Say that I've been there and done that.
And you know, I would, I would just warn.
The young people that are here tonight.
It might not take just a little bit to get off course and to get a little downstream away from God's Word.
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But sometimes it's years, years before you come back.
And there's scars to your scars.
There's a price to pay.
You know, sometimes we can sit in meetings and be really indifferent.
Talk. Just do anything that comes into our heads.
But what are you going to do with the opportunity that you've had?
One to hear the good news of salvation. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. It's a promise. You can't have promises like that in the world.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. It's as simple as that.
Gospel.
Means good news, and it's simple.
And you know, for those that are saved.
I would just plead with you.
Not to harden your hearts.
And I want to look at some scriptures that I've had on my heart all week. And you'll have to excuse me for bringing in a little bit of.
An address to mix in with the gospel, but it's something I trust is from the Lord.
Maybe we could turn to 2nd Kings? Second Kings 22.
It's about King Josiah.
It's an encouraging story. I just don't want the whole message tonight to be of death. It's a solemn thing, but I want there to be encouragement as well for the many that are saved here tonight.
And it really is an encouragement to me.
And many here, we've talked about it to see how many.
Are going on for the Lord.
It's a vast majority, but I would I would just send would like to put these scriptures before us here in Second Kings 22.
About maybe some that their hearts are hardened.
To the meetings into God's Word.
The first verse, chapter 22 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 30 and one years in Jerusalem.
And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.
And walked in the way, in all the way of the David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left.
At an age. A young age.
He didn't turn to the right or to the left. He didn't have to go the hard way like some of us have gone.
Consistency. He didn't turn to the right or to the left. I don't think he deviated a whole lot in his life. And it came to pass in the 18th year of King Josiah that the king sent Chaffin, the son of Isaiah the son of Mushulam, described to the House of the Lord.
So we see that.
At the age of 16, he sought after God.
I put that before you young people tonight. Are you seeking after God and His things?
Or has the world so clouded your thoughts?
That you really can't say that you're seeking after God. You know, I think of that, that him turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full, and his wonderful face.
Look full in his wonderful face, and what happens? The things of earth grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
And we have here a faithful king that at a young age.
He sought after God and so in verse 13 he says, go ye inquire of the Lord sought after him and for the people and for all of Judah concerning the words of this book that is found.
Maybe we'll go down.
To verse 19.
And what? What does the Lord say? It says because thine heart was tender.
And thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord.
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Things.
That were going to come in.
The Lord put that aside because why? Because his heart was tender and now has humbled thyself before the Lord. That's what I would put before you tonight.
Is your heart tender?
Have you wept over the scriptures before?
You know, I used an illustration one time. It's a week, but it's.
It came to my mind at the time and that is 2 plants.
Two plants. It was at a Sunday school picnic one time.
And there was one that was withered and there was another plant that was full.
And we took out of a bag a pot.
And poured water on the plant that was full.
And it said the word of God.
And the other plant, it was withered and on the pot it said the pleasures of sin for a season poured onto the planet, the withered plant.
That's what your life, your heart will be like if you leave the Word of God out.
Dried up and hard and hardly the the word of God has an effect on it.
We know it's true, don't we?
But.
King Josiah, his heart was tender and he humbled himself.
And you know, there were some verses that I had before me in the Psalms. You won't have to turn to it, but.
To have.
A heart that was tender and humbled before God, I believe.
This verse Psalm 6618 If I regard sin iniquity in my heart, he will not hear.
If we have things in our lives.
That we have not judged and we have not confessed to the Lord.
We're not going to have a tender heart.
And it says plainly that he will not hear.
There's another verse in Psalms that talks about a clean heart.
Clean Heart.
Another one that says harden not your hearts.
And in Joshua there's a scripture that says, incline your heart unto me. And in Exodus.
35.
21 I believe there's a verse that talks about the heart that was stirred up and made willing. I wonder if there's there's hearts here that need to be stirred up.
And made willing I speak to myself, believe me.
We need to be stirred up and to have our hearts tender. David talks to Solomon, his son.
He tells him if you have a pure heart, a willing heart, he will be found of the excellent advice to a son. Pure heart and a willing heart.
So I would just put a few of those scriptures out to you as well as to my own heart that we would, we would have a tender heart, but we can't if the world is filled it up.
And we the things have become dim of the Lord's things.
You know.
Back to the track.
The preacher of the old school.
I really, I really believe that death brings out reality when it has it before you.
Our Sister Carol Weighty, she worked down at our work.
Wonderful testimony.
She had complete peace about where she was going to go and everybody knew it.
As the many parts in her body started to shut down over the last month and 1/2 or so, she had peace. She had peace. Young people, can you say that tonight that you have peace in your soul?
It's a wonderful thing to have, but what an awful thing if you're a child.
The parent of the Saints that have been in the meeting for year after year.
00:30:05
And you've rejected it. What an awful thing. I can't imagine a worse thing.
Than to hear the cry, the shout, and they'll be gone and you'll be sitting in your seat.
And just like that one verse.
Lord, Lord, open unto me too late.
Too late, all that truth.
All that liberty and rejecting it. There's a verse that says God commendeth his love.
Towards us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. You know, if you were going to put, if you can look forward to see and see your tombstone and what will be written on it, you know, there's a verse in Hebrews that says died without mercy.
Died without mercy? Is there somebody here that if the Lord came right now or you were taken, you could say that you died without mercy and have the privilege of hearing the word, the gospel?
Or would it say in Hebrews 11/13 died in faith, died in faith. Let's turn to second Peter one verse 11 in connection with that diet and faith.
Two Peter, 111.
For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. An abundant entrance if you die in faith and you're going on well.
That's an abundant entrance.
And that's what you can have tonight, an abundant entrance. You know, there was an old brother in our assembly and brother Dan Jacobson, over 90 years old and went to be with the Lord just a short time ago.
And I went and visited him, our family along with other relatives about a week, week and a half before he passed away.
This is a brother that whoever would come over.
And he was dying. His life was slipping away. He would share with them a little bit of the word of God.
Just a little bit of the word of God, just a little nugget for him. They go away and they'd say that was worth it. That was worth it.
And so we were over there and quite a bit of the family had already left and he motioned for me to come over and he said he said it's real. It's real and me being.
Thicken the head. Took me a couple seconds to figure out exactly what he meant. It's real.
Getting out to the car, it hit the full force of it. It's real. Death is real. It was right before him, but he also had the glory before him. The glory.
What a wonderful thing.
And he was about ready to have an abundant entrance.
Death was real.
There's a verse in Deuteronomy says, oh, that they were wise.
That they would consider their latter in young people. I would put before you tonight. Oh, that you were wise ones that have not taken the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior.
Or that you were wise that you would consider your latter end? And what would it be on your deathbed when everything else it doesn't matter, doesn't matter?
What do you have for reality in your life?
Died in faith.
Wonderful.
There's there's a book that I've enjoyed, BT puts it out as well as the track that I read.
It's the last words of remarkable people.
And I don't want to set forth any man up here tonight other than our Savior, but.
It really struck home and I'm going to read maybe two or three.
And you can figure out for yourself if you can put died without mercy or died in faith on these.
This was a man named William Hunter, and he was a martyr.
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In 1555.
The sheriff told him, if thou wilt recant, thou shalt live, If not, thou shalt be burned.
I will not recant, God willing, was the reply. He then prayed, Son of God, shine upon me.
The very last thing that he said, Lord, Lord receive. My spirit died in faith.
You know, we read and I think Acts 7 about Stephen died in faith beholding the glory. And that's part of our brother's wish here this week at camp that you would see a little bit more of the glory, but I would see a little bit more of the glory.
It just amazes me to talk to some of the young people here. Makes me ashamed to see that, the way that they're going on.
At that age compared to what? Where I was?
It's wonderful.
There's another passage.
Doesn't have a date on it.
A friend saying to him just before he died, minutes before, how hard it is to die.
Oh no, he replied. Easy dying. Glorious dying.
I have experienced more happiness in two hours today when dying than in my whole life.
I have long desired that I might glorify God in my death.
For the next sentence, just kind of you just shake your head.
But oh, I never thought that such a poor worm as I would come to such a glorious death.
Died in faith.
One last one. This was a doctor in 1521.
A little before his death, worn out with fatigue and weakness, he began to read. The New Testament should give you a clue right there. He began to read.
And on pursuing.
Through the 5th, 6th and 7th chapters of Matthew's Gospel, he threw the book from him with much violence, exclaiming either this is not the Gospel or we are not Christians.
Solemn.
Throwing the book away minutes before he passed into a lost eternity.
He wasn't a Christian.
Died without mercy. Put it on his epitaph.
Is there one here tonight that is wavering back and forth?
You're not guaranteed. You've heard it so many times. Maybe you're sitting in your seat still saying.
Yeah, I've heard that. But you know, before we close.
There's one.
One thing that I would want to bring up and.
I would be remiss as putting forth the gospel if we did not put before.
The audience tonight about the precious blood.
Of Christ.
You know.
What speaks to the world? What speaks to the world? Power, money You think of of gold comes to my mind. Gold.
And there's over, this was taken a few years ago, this statistic that that was over I think 100 and maybe 20,000 tons of gold bullion stored up.
I think 50,000 tons were by private parties around the world and the rest were held by governments. And you know, I believe 24 karat gold is the most purest form and they call that 1000. Fine, that speaks to the world, doesn't it?
Pure gold like that.
But even as pure as that is.
There's an impurity in it and you cannot compare it with what we have as being said, the precious blood of Christ.
Washing away every stain of sin.
And there's a couple verses.
That will go over real quick.
First, Peter.
00:40:00
11.
And there's the verses I'm going to read. There's going to be just a couple thoughts that we want to take out.
First, Peter 119 It says with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
That's the one that we would seek to put before you tonight.
A lamb without spot. And the old preacher death. How could it speak any louder than when our Savior hung on the cross? And stroke upon stroke upon stroke?
Of judgment was poured out.
Could never speak any any clock clearer or louder or plainly than that when he was on the cross.
Precious blood, The precious blood. And there's another in Hebrews 9.
Verse 22 The last part Without shedding of blood, there is no remission.
We also have.
In Ephesians.
17 It tells us about redemption.
With his blood.
In Ephesians 213 I believe it talks about that were brought nigh.
That song that tells us nearer we could not be.
It's brought us right into his presence. That's what that blood has done.
And the last one in Colossians tells us that we have peace. We have peace.
And I would just beg and plead with any young person that's here tonight that doesn't have that peace.
Consider the latter end.
And could you say that the Lord left you here?
And you were on your deathbed that you would have peace with God.
Because of that precious blood that was shed? Or would you be as lost as those poor kids were in that class that were being taught thanatology, the study of death? Seize the day. Quite a difference.
Died without mercy, died in faith.
It's your decision tonight and we could just bow our heads.
Ye are an Epistle
Special Singing 1
A Beautiful Woman
Address—B.Brimlow
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.
The Lord together but before we do it like to sing a song that I think from the Little Flock hymn book. It tells about joy.
Joy. You know Paul in the 5th chapter of Romans he says, God my exceeding joy.
There's no higher joy, beloved, and that's what the psalmist was in the enjoyment of when he said my cup runs over. It was running over with the joy in his heart of knowing the Good Shepherd. And you know, that's the wonderful thing about being saved, to know the Good Shepherd, to lay down his life for the sheep. He says, I'm the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
But this song #135 and the little flock hymn book of which you just sing it?
For a moment or two, because it says we join God and we sing of that love, that love. You know, in, in the Old Testament, we, we hear about a time that David had in trouble. David had in trouble. He was a rejected king. You and I, in some sense we share the rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our rejected king right now in this world. But we're looking forward to the day when he'll be crowned.
And that verse will come to pass. Every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. We look forward to that day, beloved, but in the meantime, we have the enjoyment of that Kingdom and His glory in our hearts. Well, let's see #135 together.
We joy in our God, every single God divine.
Exhausted and brave, you have satisfied.
When lost, our God lives all the way in love.
He's always.
From Harsh and.
And spare.
We praise.
Riches is great.
And his presence?
In Jesus.
Shall we have a little time together? A prayer dress? A few verses in the 5th chapter of Ephesians? We've had the book of Ephesians brought before us this week.
And it's in my heart to make a few comments.
We read in the 25th verse of Ephesians chapter 5 something that is so special to the heart of God.
It says their husbands love your wives.
As Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, in the middle of the admonition to the husbands, we find this beautiful truth that there was an object in the heart of God.
A bride for his son, a companion for the Lord Jesus Christ. The first picture we have of it is back in the book of Genesis where we read that the Lord God said is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a help meet for him. And so we read that he openly caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam.
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And he took from Adam's side a rib, and he made the woman the first picture of Christ and the church, beloved.
Of that which came from God's heart to tell us a picture of the future that is so glorious and so wonderful. And so we come to this beautiful truth here. Many people get occupied with the way the husbands should behave themselves. But the burden of this verse is that Christ also loved the church.
Gave himself for it. Where did he give himself for the church was on the cross.
Where those hands were lifted up.
To die. And so the Lord Jesus gave himself.
He says, No man taketh my life from me, I'll lay it down of myself. But there's a purpose in the next verse. Verse #26.
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.
You know, we had on our little meeting this morning, the 20th chapter of Acts where the Apostle Paul was about to depart and he wouldn't see those Saints at Ephesus anymore. And they came down to the ship to say goodbye to him. They wept because they knew they wouldn't see him anymore.
But you know what he said. He said the brethren, I know that after my departure shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not spurring the plaque, and from among yourselves shall men rise up to draw away disciples after them.
He said, I have not shunned to commend to. I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole council of God. The whole council of God is in these verses, beloved, a few verses. Christ also loved the church, and gave himself forth that what he might do presented to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. In Titus 213, it says, Looking for the blessed hope.
The blessed hope when the church is going to be caught up and see Christ and the glory.
And then it says something else in that same verse, and the glorious appearing of the great God our Savior.
The glorious appearing beloved is when Christ will be exonerated before the universe, and He'll have someone at his side.
You know he'll have it at his side, his church, his bride, his friends of the bridegroom, John the Baptist. He says he must increase, but I must decrease. He says. The friend of the bridegroom rejoices when he sees the bridegroom coming. He called himself the friend of the bridegroom. That's the Old Testament position of the prophets.
Of all those that were before the church period, but I want to take you back for a little glimpse in the Old Testament. We'll go for a picture pictures what stay with you. The Lord Jesus used pictures all the way in his ministry and the apostle says what things were written aforetime were written for our instruction and learning and admission that we through comfort patients in comfort of the Scriptures might have something.
You know what the something in is? It starts with the letter H.
Age.
Paul says hope maketh not ashamed because something is spread abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. What is it to spread abroad in your heart and mind by the Holy Ghost? The love of God. In the 15th of Jean the the ninth verse. Paul, John, the apostles, the Lord Jesus said these wonderful words. As the Father had loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love.
You know, we've had some of that this week. What's called my love, the love of God shed abroad. We go to Numbers. No deuteronomy #31.
I'm going to get a little a little window here.
I've spoken on it before, maybe you heard me before speak about it, but anyway, I've enjoyed it.
Did I say 31? It's 21.
21.
Christ also loved the Church. One, did he love the church? Oh, we know. Chosen him before the foundations of the world.
Chosen in him before the foundations of the world, he saw the Church, and he told those Corinthian Saints. He says, For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for whose sake he became poor, for your sake he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. The hymn writer says, Rich in glory thou did stoop.
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Then says all thy people's hope thou wast poor. When was he poor?
This when he was poor on the cross and you know the little chorus on the cross for who you know it makes it very personal. Me on the cross for me dying there and I can eat. Jesus paid the price himself. The sacrifice on the what the cross for me. Can you say that this morning, dear friend, if you can't watch out.
There's judgment ahead for this Christ rejecting world and God is long-suffering, not willing that you should perish if you're still outside of Christ.
But here we get this narrative over here.
This Hebrew warrior, Let's go down to verse.
Verse 10. Verse 10. Deuteronomy 21 When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God are to deliver them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive. The Lord Jesus was that warrior that went forth against the enemy of our souls, and he subdued the power of Satan and of death and of hell.
And he arose the victor, He arose the victor from the grave, and here he is. And what is he doing now?
He sees his church, a beautiful woman.
What does it say?
When thou goest forth to or against enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, and seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and has the desire unto her that thou hast hammer to thy wife. Rice loved the church, and he saw her in view.
But the Father had said something. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission for sin.
It's as if the Father said she said her sins from a past eternity and in the eternal counsels of God, the Lord Jesus said.
I'll go, send me, I'll go. And so we read. The Father sent the Son to be the savior of the world. Is he your savior this morning? Let's see what else happened.
Among the captives of sin, that's where you and I were beloved. Sin is by nature, by practice, in that second of a patience that says without God and without hope in the world. But then it says, but God who is rich, rich in something, rich in what? Mercy.
For His great love, wherewith He loved us even when we were dead. Let's go on and justice. Get this little picture here. Then thou shall bring her home to thine house. You know you and I come, have come to the household of faith. I'm just making an application of this scripture here. I don't want to give the direct interpretation because it has something else.
Another earth, a more earthly view of God's earthly people. But let's go on and make the application.
The household of faith, what goes on in the household of faith, we learn about somebody. You know what the Lord Jesus said in that 11Th chapter of Matthew? He said come.
First he says come. Have you come? He wants you to come right now if you haven't come. And then he says something else. Come unto me, all you did labor and a heavy laden I'll give you something rest. I'll give you rest, rest of conscience, rest of heart.
He brings you into the house.
And then what happens? She shall shave her head. You know, in the New Testament, the apostle Paul says if a woman would have her head covered, you know, and sometimes they want to argue about it. We don't have any argument. The apostle Paul says we don't have any argument. We have no such custom to contend about it. We just submit to it.
You know the churches to submit herself to the Lord Jesus to his authority in the midst he says where two or three in the midst there my are gathered unto my name Durham in the midst of them and the women are told to have a head covering. You know Paul said something else though he said if she won't be covered, let her be shaved. If you won't be directed by the grace of God, dear sister, dear brother, you know it comes both ways, the sisters and the brothers submission to God.
If we wouldn't be submissive, we'd go back right under the rules and regulations of the law. And you know what the law will do? Feel only condemn you.
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It will never give eternal life. Let's see what happens. Shave her head, pair her nails, and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off of her and shall remain in thine house. You know the captivity. The raiment that we carried is the 17 of them. In the 5th chapter of Galatians. The works of the flesh are manifest. Which are these?
And the Lord wants you and me to put them away. You know one of them is anger.
You know one of them is anger.
In that chapter in Ecclesiastes it says, Rejoice, O young man, and thy youth, and so forth. And then it says, Put away.
Something in the margin, it says anger. In another another translation that says vanity, vanity and anger. There should be no room in your heart of the Christian for any of that stuff. And you'll find when you get a departing from the truth of God, you'll be angry. Am I right? You'll be angry.
You will be angry at somebody because you didn't want to submit and so we find this woman's in the house.
To set aside her glory, her beauty, to learn of him. That's the picture we get here. Remain in thine house and shall be whaler father and a mother. The Lord Jesus says he that loves father and mother more than me, you know what's the rest of it not worthy. The Lord wants you and me to follow him. He says take up the cross daily and follow me. It says a full month.
And then after that, that was going under her and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife. Let's turn to the where that happens.
Revelation 19. We've got to see the end of the story. The end of the story, beloved, is glory. I went to visit a brother recently and he says, did you come to, what did you come to tell me about? He thought I was going to trip him up. You know, I said, I came to Todd tell you about the glory of Christ. Well, he didn't know what to say when I told him that. You know, that's the last thing that I want to talk to you about this morning, the glory of Christ.
That's what we're heading for. And so in Revelation 19 we get the words verse seven. Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb is calm, and his wife have made herself ready.
And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine linen is the righteousness of the Saints. And he saith unto me, Right blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. Let's go to Colossians. Just a few words here, and then we're done.
Colossians, how do I respond? That's the that's the question. How am I going to respond to the goodness of God? The 1St chapter of Colossians and we get down to verse number.
There it is, verse 10.
Verse 10 that he might walk worthy of the Lord unto all, pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. That's the walk. You know we can have lots of talk, but the Lord says, I want you to walk worthy. Then the what's the next one? That's the outward testimony. The next is strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power unto all patience and long-suffering and joyfulness.
That's the inward What does it say? There's something about joyfulness.
My cup runneth over. With what joy we join our God. Then we sing of that love no higher joy than what's the next one. Giving thanks unto the Father. That's upward, outward, inward, and then there should be a response upward. What is it? Looking and giving thanks unto the Father who hath made us meet or fit to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints and light.
And then we get from verse 13 to 22. I counted 40 attributes of Christ. I'm going to leave you to go home and prove me wrong. See if you can find 50. Let's go on to the next verse that I wanted to read in verse seven of chapter 2. Colossians rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith.
What does it say just before that something verse six as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord.
So walk ye in him. We've got three walks in this this book. Let's go over now to the last chapter.
The last chapter.
Verse 5.
Walk in wisdom toward them that are without redeeming the time. And verse six, let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man. Sometimes we get assault ahead of the grace. And some of us older brothers, we need to be admonished. Don't get the salt ahead of the grace.
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Grace seasoned with salt and the Lord Jesus said yeah, the salt of the earth.
Let's close with one song. It's over in 318 in the Little Flock Book. It's a prayer. It's a prayer in view of that moment when we're going to see the Lamb in glory according to Revelation 4:00 and 5:00. But let's sing this song. Let's stand as we sing it together as a prayer.
Oh Lamb of God, still keep us close to thy tears.
Oh.
The last verse.
Sunshine.
Shall we close in prayer? Father, we thank you for this time. We thank Thee that we have time in this world to praise Thee ere thou just come. Lord Jesus, may our hearts be filled with a fresh sense of worship and the response to that love that took Thee to the cross and shed Thy precious blood to put away all of.
Sins and guilt, We thank You for this time together. As we separate, we would pray for Thy journey. Mercies as we travel, Lord Jesus, and give thee the thanks and the praise, for we ask it and thy precious and worthy name, Amen.
Gospel
Gospel—A. Cantrell
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.
#23 In our hem sheets behold, behold the Lamb of God on the cross, on the cross for us. He shed his precious blood on the cross. So here the overwhelming cry.
Eli Lama Sabachthani, draw near and see the Savior die.
On the cross.
Like to turn to Ephesians chapter 2 to begin with this evening.
Ephesians chapter 2, beginning with verse one.
And you?
Hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins?
Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the Prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children.
Of disobedience, among whom we all, among whom also we all had our conversation in time past, in the lust of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others but God.
Who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us?
Even when we were dead in sins hath quickened us together with Christ.
By Grace.
Ye are saved, and hath raised us up together.
And made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus, or by grace. Are ye saved through faith in that? Not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man.
Boss, For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them.
Precious portion this is of God's holy word, and these.
First verses that we read in this chapter. The 1St 3 verses.
Present a pretty black picture of the state of the human race by nature. And as I speak of these verses, I want to make it very clear that I'm not just speaking about people who are lost in their sins. This presents the state of each one of us who is present here in this room tonight.
Everyone of Adam's children comes under the category of these first three verses.
Apart from the grace of God, this is the picture that is painted.
Of you, my friend, and of me who I'm standing here this evening.
It is not a pleasant picture that we have. First of all, it tells us.
That we are dead in trespasses and sins. You like to see dead people.
To me, it's not very pleasant thing to see a dead person. I can still remember when I, as a young boy, went for the first time to a Funeral Home to see in a casket a lady I had known in life, and she was laying there dead.
It's not a very pleasant thing to think of death, but you and I.
In our natural state before God, we're dead in trespasses and sins. Death always speaks of separation.
Physical death is what we are perhaps most acquainted with, and that's the separation of the spirit and soul from the body.
But there is spiritual death when God told Adam in the first.
Of the book of Genesis, that in the day that he would eat of that tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he would surely die. He died that very day. Not physically, no. Adam lived to be 930 years old. But that very day there came a separation between him and God.
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He died spiritually that very day.
And my friend, if you are without the Lord Jesus Christ, perhaps you have.
A lot of knowledge of the Lord Jesus.
But if you do not know the Lord Jesus personally, your state before God tonight is.
Dead in trespasses and sins.
Then IT tech talks about in verse two that we walked according to the course of the world.
According to the Prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
This world is on a course.
And everyone who does not know the Lord Jesus is being carried along the course of this world. What kind of a course is it? It's a course that leads to eternal perdition through eternal damnation in the lake of fire forever. That's the course this world is on. God sent his Son into this world.
To be the savior of the world. And what did they do?
With that savior, they took him, and they nailed him to a cross.
They wanted nothing to do with the Christ of God. They set their course. And my friend, if you are walking in the course of this world, you are walking in the direction of eternal perdition in the lake of fire forever.
How's solemn? And then it speaks of the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience.
It scares me to see the willfulness that is evident in so many children, young people today, people, young people think I have a right to do what I want to do and nobody's going to tell me no because behind that attitude.
The enemy of your souls is leading you right down to perdition.
Be careful, be careful. We have an enemy that is very.
Very wise. Not all wise, thank God, but he is very wise. He has.
Nearly 6000 years of experience of ruining men and women in perdition. It really makes me sad when I see beautiful young people.
Think they can have their way and they go in the course of this world for a while and they get totally messed up and maybe in a few short years they look haggardly. Sin takes an awful toll.
But I say if you want to do your own will.
You are characterized by what it tells us here in verse two, children of disobedience. You don't want to obey, not have to confess. That's what I was by nature before God as well. I have that same nature.
By God's grace, He's given me to see that there is salvation from the course of this world.
Which direction are you heading? Are you walking according to the course of this world?
Dear young person.
Dear children, dear older folks here this evening.
And then it speaks in verse three of something else that is extremely serious and that everyone of us has to admit in our own lives by nature there is something that is called lust, lusts of our flesh, desires of the flesh and of the mind.
Every one of us has those lusts in our hearts, naturally speaking.
Desires, sometimes uncontrolled desires, and Satan is an expert at knowing what those desires are in your heart and in mine. And he comes and he sets up the special circumstances and takes us the way he wants to go. Sometimes I've given the illustration of a horse.
00:10:07
And before a rider can get on the horse's back.
He puts a bridle into the horse's mouth, and then he mounts, and the horse is not looking at the person mounted upon him, but as he goes. He might think he wants to go One Direction that horse, but because of what's inside his mouth, that rider can pull One Direction and another and make that horse go just like he wants him to go.
And that's what Satan's doing to so many people in this world.
Because of those lusts, those desires, those uncontrolled desires of the flesh and of the mind in your heart.
That you do not judge. Satan is taking those and taking you in the direction that you may think you can change at any moment that you're not going to be able to when it comes down to it.
I remember a young man down in.
The little mining town of Siete Suyos, Bolivia, Napanohai El Deplano of Bolivia. We went there for a conference one time, and the brethren told us about what had occurred just a few days before. There was a young man, perhaps 19 or 20.
And he lived according to the course of this world. The desire that controlled him was a desire after.
Strong drink beer, whiskey and his mother got quite irritated at him because he was coming home drunk all the time.
And one day he comes home drunk and his mother gets after him. She was an unsaved woman as well. Didn't know anything about the love of Christ.
And she got after him and provoked him to such a terrific fit of anger that he said, you're going to repent of what you're telling me right now.
And he goes.
Up the road that leads to a point above that little mining town, it's kind of a building, a valley, and at the top there is a little hill where they have the siren that blows.
At the time, the workers have to go to work, and as he's going up there, he pulls off his sweater and throws it to one side.
He takes off his shirt and throws it to another side and when he gets up to the top that point.
Above the town, there's a gully down beneath. He takes a run and he dives off into that valley, under that chasm underneath. He ends up at the bottom, broken up in pieces on the rocks down there, dead.
Satan used the lusts of his heart to take him right down to perdition and I just don't know how many.
Here of you, I know a lot of you by sight, but I don't know the condition of your heart. I don't know what kind of lust that you are countenancing in your own life. It may not be.
Strong drink like it was that young man. It may be other things, but Satan is a master at taking you in the direction you're not aware of. We have another example in scripture of one of the Lord Jesus's own disciples.
Who countenance a lust in his heart It was a lust.
For money. And that's a great lust in the world we lived in, live in today. I can't see your heart. I don't know if that's in your heart or not, you know?
It's not money that's the problem.
It's the love of money that is the root of every evil Scripture tells us. I sometimes ask the poor people down in South America what kind of a person has love of money, A rich man or a poor man? And they always say a rich man. I say, doesn't the poor man love money too? Sometimes they have to admit that it's true.
It's something that is very common to the human breast.
A love of money Judas Iscariot was a man who loved money.
00:15:04
The 12 apostles that followed the Lord Jesus during his life down here.
There were There was a treasure, what we would call a treasure, one who carried the bag. That was Judas Iscariot. Maybe he was good at keeping accounts, We don't know. But the Scripture tells us that he put his hand in there and took out for his own purposes. He was a thief. That's what Scripture tells us.
And one day before the Lord Jesus went to the cross.
They were in the House of Simon the leper. And a woman comes to anoint the Lord Jesus feet. And Judas Iscariot raises a complaint that could be sold for 300 tenths and given to the poor. That's a waste. And all the disciples kind of joined in with him too. But the Scripture tells us it wasn't really that Judas Iscariot cared for the poor.
It was that he had the bag and was a thief and took from it.
There was a love of money there and Satan knows that. He studies, he knows what thing interests you and so.
Judas Iscariot. Perhaps we should say we should attribute it more directly to Satan because he entered into Judas's heart later on. But Judas is scared. Got an idea?
Perhaps he thought in this way.
Jesus has walked a lot of a lot of traps that they put for them when they've laid weight for him. He walked right through him and gone his way.
I'll just go make an agreement with the chief priests that want to take him.
And then I'll betray him, and when he walks out of the trap, I'll have the money in my pocket.
And nobody will never know anything, that's what he thought.
And Judas Iscariot went and sold Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.
And then he went and betrayed the Lord Jesus. An awful, awful thing to do.
And then when Jesus didn't escape, he saw what an awful thing he had done.
But you know, money doesn't bring a lot of comfort to.
An accusing conscience and Judas Iscariot thought he'd end it all by going and hanging himself his death was an awful one acts chapter one tells us that when he hung himself, he fell down and burst in the midst awful, awful end to a man who.
Was one of the 12 apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. You profess to be a believer in the Lord Jesus. I want you to search your heart in the presence of God tonight. It's not a matter of presenting yourself at these meetings as a nice person, as a nice Christian that doesn't hold any water with God.
It's what you are in your heart before God has that heart of yours open to the Lord Jesus to own Him.
As Lord and Savior? Or haven't you done that yet?
We're not here to entertain you. We're here to bring you into the presence of God. You have to do with God. You don't have to do with me. You can run out that door as soon as the meeting is over. Be done with it.
But you have to do with God, and you cannot get away from God. Impossible.
I really am scared sometimes when I think about it, what scripture tells us.
About those when?
In Matthew Chapter 7, those in that day that are going to say from the outside of a closed door, they're going to say, Lord, Lord, open unto us.
We prophesied, we've cast out demons, we've done many wonderful works in my name.
And he will say to them, depart from me. I never knew you. Is there someone like that here that's going to end up on the outside of a closed door for all eternity?
00:20:01
I plead with you tonight to search your heart in the presence of God if you are a real believer or not.
Some time ago in Bolivia during a conference, we had the theme in our readings.
Of the Lord's coming, and there was a.
I thought a sister.
Who came up after one of the meetings and said to me.
She was baptized. She was breaking bread.
But she said to me, you know, I just realized I'm not really ready. When I first started coming to the meetings, I did what they expected me to do.
But I didn't really understand what they were talking about. I want to receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior now.
She knelt down and received the Lord Jesus right there. The fact that you are baptized.
The fact that you may be breaking bread.
Old snow water, as to eternal salvation, saves no one.
You must have a personal relationship yourself with the Christ of God.
And I ask you, how is it between your soul and the Lord Jesus?
That's the condition. It's pretty bleak picture that we have here in the 1St 3 verses of this chapter.
And then we come to verse three or verse four. To me, this is extremely precious.
I love this verse.
But God who?
Is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us so. How wonderful.
The picture completely changes when you bring God into the picture. Thank God we have good news of salvation. In spite of what I am by nature, in spite of what you are by nature, God has come into the picture. But God, what kind of a God are we talking about?
A God that's requiring you to do a whole lot of things, no.
The God we're talking about is a God who is rich in mercy.
Too rich to us of us poor ones.
Were too poor or too poor.
To merit anything from him.
Were dead in trespasses and sins. We've come short of the glory of God, but God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us. I want to stop here at this verse.
A few moments to speak about.
This great love of our God, the Scripture says.
The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
The Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, came into this world.
You know, I think it is a tremendous thing to think about it, how that God came into this world right where we are in the person of His own beloved Son.
The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, the Lord Jesus.
Took human form. He was born of a virgin. He had no human father.
He was born in the Angel that announced it to his mother said that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. We are all born, we heard this afternoon in the Reading meeting. We're born in sin and shaping in iniquity, but the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, was born of a woman, but he had no human father.
He was born of the Holy Ghost. He was holy from his birth. We are sinners from our birth. He was holy, and the Lord Jesus grew up here as a man in this world.
He was a small child. Tremendous to think of. What has told us there in Matthew chapter 2. How after? It must have been some time after perhaps.
Something shy of two years after his birth. Wise men come from the East.
00:25:06
Searching for him isn't that amazing. His own people had no idea that God had entered this world in the person of the Lord Jesus. Here comes people from way off in the east that must have been a long ways away because they took so long in getting there. And they inquire of Herod. Where is he that is born king of the Jews?
And they come to the place where he is, and bow down and worship him.
Can you imagine wise men? Really wise men? They recognized who that child was. Do you recognize who he is? But for the Lord of glory there was no place in this world. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. The world was made by Him and the world.
Knew him not.
And there's still no room for Jesus. You know they celebrate.
His birth in large measure in this world.
But.
He has asked us to remember him in his death. He never made a request to remember his birth. He did make a request to remember his death, but people remember his birth and his death is often neglected entirely.
Far greater wonder than his birth is the story of his death.
There's no room for Jesus in this world. Now I ask you, dear young people, do you have room for Jesus?
It scares me sometime when I see young people who say they are believers.
But when it comes to the practical everyday affairs of life.
Becomes quite evident that there's not much room for Jesus.
What about it, dear young person? Have you really seriously thought out the issues?
When it comes to a matter of your interest, your studies.
Your business.
And perhaps the matter of getting to the weekly prayer meeting or reading meeting.
Which is first? Please answer that question in your heart before God tonight. Which is first? Is there room for Jesus the Lord of glory? Is your business more important? That's the end of side one. This tape continues on side two. Please turn your tape over at this time. Scares me sometimes when I see.
So much time for pleasure.
So much time for other occupations, but when it comes to opening the precious word of God in the home.
No time, no time.
I want to really, seriously challenge you, dear young people and children. Is there time? Is there room in your life for Jesus?
When he came into this world there was no room for him, no room. And I fear in the large mate, in the large percentage of those who are called Christians, that there is very little room for Jesus yet.
About it.
The Lord Jesus grew up and to me it is amazing to think about his life down here in this world. 1St 30 years of his life perhaps were spent mostly in the Carpenter shop. At least in Mark chapter six he is known as the Carpenter.
So the Lord Jesus had physical.
Occupation in the Carpenter shop.
Forming pieces of wood into useful things in this life. Can you imagine? It just makes me marvel when I think about it. The creator of the universe, the sustainer of all things. Where is he? He's down in Nazareth. Where can we find him? Down there in Nazareth? He has a carpenter's shop. You go in there and you see him working pieces of wood.
How long of his life was that?
Up until he was 30 years of age, to me that is a tremendous thing, thing to think about.
00:30:07
Then he had a time of public ministry for three years and 1/2 when he went out to preach the good news to the poor, when he went out to raise the dead, to heal the leper, to give sight to the blind, to loose those that were in oppression.
And everywhere he went, he healed. He raised the dead. He showed.
The love of God on every side.
But you know, they didn't want him and the very people that probably benefited from some of the things that Jesus did.
We're probably there at that last moment when they took him.
To pilot and they cried away with him, crucify him. Man naturally is an enemy of God. That's what we are naturally. It's easy to say.
And then I remember as a young believer brought up in meetings like this that I accepted that in a mental way. But it's a different matter when you realize really, truly down in your heart that it is so. Man is an enemy of God.
Let's go to that city of Jerusalem, that awful, awful day.
When Jesus was taken by those Jewish priests, those priests were supposed to defend the innocent.
And they sought false witness against him to put him to death. Think of it. The hypocrisy of it all. I don't think there's anything that rankles me more as a person than when people accuse me of things that are totally false. That really hits a raw cord in me that there were those Jewish leaders.
Looking for false accusations, they couldn't find anything that was true. They had to get something that was false.
And then they took him to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor. They weren't allowed to put anyone to death, those Jewish people. And Pilot tried to defend him, but finally he saw that they were determined.
In crucifying Jesus, he takes a basin of water and washes his hands.
Water is not going to wash Pilot did not wash Pilot from the guilt of condemning Jesus to the death of the cross.
They take him outside of that city. He, bearing his cross, went forth through a place called Golgotha outside that city. He's LED up. His hands are stretched out. Can you imagine the pain as they nail?
Spikes through those hands and those feet, and hang him up between heaven and earth. His head was crowned with thorns. His face was bruised from the beating of those Roman soldiers who hit him in the face.
His face was running with their spittle. His back was plowed upon by the Roman.
Scourge.
There he hung for three hours while they made fun of him.
Why didn't they make fun of those thieves that were on either side of him?
No, that didn't interest the Jewish leaders. What interested them was the man on that center cross.
After three hours of torture from the Jewish people and the Roman soldiers.
God clothed the whole picture with darkness. It got dark right at 12 noon. For three hours no one saw what took place on that hill of Calvary. Isaiah the prophet tells us what took place in those three hours of darkness.
He says he was wounded for our transgressions.
He was bruised for our iniquities, The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed all. We, like sheep, are gone astray. We have gone everyone to his own way, and the Lord Jehovah has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
00:35:22
Here stands the guilty Sinner. There was crucified the holy Savior.
And God southern that he could be able to forgive me as a guilty Sinner, took those sins of mine and laid them on the spotless head of the of his own beloved Son.
And all marvel of marvels, so that he could be glorified in his righteousness.
As we've been hearing today, God let fall on the head of his own beloved Son the fury of divine wrath. He bore it in all its fury for three hours of darkness. On that cross He went down to the very bottoms of the mountains.
That's how much she loves you, friend. That's how much she loves me. At the end of those awful, awful hours of darkness. During those three hours, all is silence.
No cry the end of those awful hours. In an awful moment of abandonment, God turns his face from his.
Sun on that cross, in an awful cry, rings from his soul.
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why? What's the answer to that awful question?
Oh, my friend, it was There was no other way that you and I could be saved. No other way. Somebody had to pay that awful price, and Jesus paid it in full. He suffered the full vengeance.
Of divine wrath upon sin during those three hours.
Jesus died, he says in First Corinthians chapter 15 and verse three. Christ died.
For our sins, according to the scripture, he died as a sacrifice for sin. There look at him hanging dead on the cross. Who is that?
None other than the creator of the universe, and this is the way he wants you to understand how much.
He loves them, loves you. You know, I've often thought.
That there were other times in the history of the world where capital punishment wasn't so terribly atrocious as crucifixion. He could have easily chosen another time to come into the world, but specifically so you could understand how much he loves you. He came in that time when that awful.
Excruciating, painful death was the mode of execution.
By the Roman Empire and he died for you, he died for me. He paid the price in full. A soldier came up that that hill of Golgotha after he had given up his spirit to God.
And he had a spear. And he was instructed to dispatch anyone that was still alive.
And he walks up to the first.
Malefactor that was on one side and breaks his legs in the malefactor dies and the other one, the other thief on the other side breaks his legs and he dies and he comes to Jesus. He's dead already. He takes his spear and plunges it into his side and out of his side blows blood and water without shedding.
Of blood there is no remission of sins.
There could be no forgiveness for your sins apart from the shedding of the blood of a God. Acceptable sacrifice. And that sacrifice was satisfactory to God. It not only satisfied his just claims against as a sinners, it glorified Him.
00:40:07
And God was so satisfied he did not leave Jesus dead.
He raised Him from the dead. He was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father.
He was delivered for our offenses. He was raised again for our justification. I say if God had not been satisfied with the payment made, he would have never raised Jesus from the dead. But the fact that Jesus rose from the dead, not only in sacred history is that an established fact, but I understand even in.
Secular history.
It is one of the most well established facts that Jesus Christ rose from among the dead.
There is a man now in the glory of God, a real living Savior. You know, sometimes I think we talk about it and it seems so far off it almost is left as if it's not real that I want to say to you, there is a real living man, a flesh and bones at God's right hand in the glory.
Able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God.
By him Are you saved? I want to tell you tonight.
That right there where you sit, you can come to Him tonight by faith and open up that heart of yours and receive him as your Savior to them that received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name. I want to get down a few more verses in this chapter. That's the story of God's love.
Is the wealth of his riches of mercy, His great love wherewith he loved us? Oh, he should never, never tire of that story. We'll we'll think of it for all eternity, I often think, when we get home to heaven.
Each one of us got so many wrinkles on us right now and so many scars and and so many different defects in our body. When we get home to heaven, every one of us who are redeemed by that precious blood are going to have complete whole bodies. No wrinkle, no spot, no blemish.
Only in one in that eternal day will there be some man made wounds, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Really touches my heart to think about it. Oh dear young person, have you met Jesus? I really think sometimes that a lot of the problems that young people seem to have.
In older people too.
Are because they don't know the Lord Jesus yet.
Do you know him? Do you really, truly know him?
Here it says in verse 5 Now even when we were dead in sins.
Hath quickened us together. Those who are dead, what do they need? They need life. Quicken is an old English word that means to give life, and that's what he's done. He's given us life.
By grace are you saved? We're quickened together with Christ and hath raised us up together. I love that it's not only quickened together, but raised us up together. You know, one time Jesus stood in the cemetery outside of the little town of Bethany.
There was somebody that had died that he loved. His name was Lazarus, and he raised Lazarus from the dead. Do you think Lazarus kept on living at the cemetery after he was raised from the dead? You know, he didn't. That's the place for dead people, not the place for living people. I'm sure there was another place that he lived after that. And sometimes young people don't understand that when you get saved.
When God gives you new life, He gives you a new position.
You do not longer any longer belong to this world. You have a new position. You have been quickened together with Christ. You have been raised up together, completely lifted out of that position of death.
And furthermore made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ.
00:45:04
So sure is our salvation of being completed that God looks at it as if it is already done. We are seated together.
In heavenly places in Christ, for what purpose? That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Oh, I love this. You know, when Satan was tempting the Lord Jesus, he took him and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And it says it happened in a moment of time.
But when God starts showing his.
The riches of His grace, it's going to take ages to come. Ages and ages are going to roll on, and we'll never get to the end of the riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Verse 8.
For by grace are ye saved through faith. How do you get this? How is it that you get this salvation? What we're talking about? It's by grace through faith. Faith is the hand that says I believe, and that reaches out simply to take what God offers so freely. The price has been paid.
Nothing remains for you to do except receive it for yourself, and that's faith.
Tremendous to get a hold of that.
Last year in Bolivia had the joy after a trip into the South, coming back to Cochabamba, a young man who lived across the street from where we do down there came over. I'd known him for quite a while. He's a law student in university there in Cochabamba.
And he came over very evidently under the conviction of the Spirit of God.
And said I want to be saved and I don't know what to do. The brethren told me I have to repent. And he said I don't know what to do.
So we read the first verses of John's gospel verse 12 verses. We got down to that verse 12 That says to as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God to them that believe on his name. Since he was a little bit of a thinker. I said when he got to verse 12, I said what does that say that verse say you have to do.
To receive him, what do you have to do? Does it say you have to pray?
Or do something else. He looked at it for a little while and he said believe on his name. I said exactly. That's it. Do you want to pray? Fine, we can pray. But remember, pray. Praying doesn't save you.
It's faith in Christ that saves you. It's that link that connects you with the Savior. There's no power in me. There's no power in you.
But faith is the length that connects you with the Savior. Sometimes I've given the illustration of a train.
The locomotives up front.
The cars.
Behind.
And those cars don't have any motor. What power do they have?
To run at the same speed as the locomotive. No power at all in themselves, but they are coupled with the power up front. And that's faith. Faith couples you with the Savior, with the power. Religion can't save you. There's no power and religion to save you. Jesus is the Savior if you don't know him. I want to say with all my heart tonight.
Before it's forever too late.
All those I'm sure who are true believers in this room join with me in this invitation.
Say, don't wait any longer tonight while there's still room. Be reconciled to God. He has made him to be sin for us. Who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God and Him.
For thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe.
In thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou.
Shall be saved, Let's pray.
The Ed of Christ-Rejectors
Gospel—K. Fournier
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.
First I want to read a verse and Peter.
I think it's first Peter.
This verse was.
Polluted by the children in Sunday school not so long ago.
First Peter 4.
And the last half of verse 17, first Peter 417 raises this very important question and very sobering question. What shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel?
I think we get an answer to that question in the 73rd Psalm. Let's turn to that Psalm 73.
In this Psalm, David contemplates the wicked and the ungodly.
Verse three I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
And then verse 12, behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world. They increase in riches, has troubled him. They wonder how come they're so well off. I'm seeking to please God and I'm not doing all that well.
Verse 14 All day long I've been plagued and chastened every morning. So he suffered. I suppose we could save some persecution. Verse 60 Now he contemplates this and says, when I thought to know this, it was too painful.
For me, until I went into the sanctuary of God and understood I there end and you know, it's the end that counts accountants. They say it's the bottom line that's important, but it's the end of the past. It really is important young people and.
We have to remember that we might have a great and joyous time in this world, but what about the end of our course? Well, Peter, or rather David says in verse 18, well, let's look at verse 17. He, he, he thought about this and he was too painful for me until I went into the sanctuary of God, God in the presence of the Lord.
Began to think about it, and the Lord revealed to him the end of those.
Who were in such a case? Verse 18. Surely they always set them in slippery places. Thou casteth them down into destruction. How are they brought down into desolation? As in a moment, and are utterly consumed with terrors? I believe that's the answer to the question posed by Peter. What shall the end be of those who obey not the gospel?
Now you might be wondering, you know, here we've been at camp, which is four days.
And.
Here we haven't yet another gospel mean. Lord had four gospel means. Why should we have another gospel mean haven't had enough gospel? You know one of the young people at the prayer meeting, I think it was last night.
I prayed.
And made this statement that we who know the Lord never tire of hearing the gospel. It's true. And if it troubles you, if it bothers you, if you're tired of hearing the gospel, I have a verse for you. It's in the end of Second Corinthians.
2nd Corinthians 13.
And verse 5.
If you don't enjoy.
Hearing the good news of salvation, hearing what God has provided for a ruined man, I can lift the poor Sinner up out of the dunghill and set him among princes. If you don't enjoy hearing that story.
Then you better consider this verse. Second Corinthians 1330, Fifth verse five. Examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith. Do you really know Christ as your Savior? Can you say that Christ died for my sins? Can you say He bore the judgment that I deserved on account of my very own sins there on Calvary's cross?
It's important that you be able to say that.
You know, why do we, why do we worry about this? Aren't we all Christians here tonight?
00:05:03
There was two prayers in the prayer meeting tonight for the gospel that mentioned the possibility that they're just one here tonight in the audience. Just one. It hasn't yet accepted Christ as his or her own personal Savior. And you, my friend, might be that one.
Ponder it, examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith. What a question. Two questions. One, we've had answered much of the envy of the those that obey, not the gospel. Utter terror and destruction.
So the second question, examine yourselves, whether you be in the faith. It's not a question, it's a statement, but it's a good question to put your to yourself, prove your own selves and so on. Well, let's read the rest of it. Prove no, prove your own selves. No, you not your own selves, how the Christ Jesus Jesus Christ is in you, except you be reprobates.
If you know not the Lord Jesus as your own personal Savior, you are, as it says here, reprobate.
I want to tell you that it's not safe. Brother said this the other night. I think it was the first gospel night at the prayer meeting, Brother said to the one who was going to speak. Don't assume they all belong to Christ. Don't assume they're all saved. I'm going to tell you a story.
It's a very sad story took place in Hemet here recently. There's a young man named Bobby had been coming to the meetings in Hemet for nine months. He came with his relatives. He came faithfully and they brought him. And I don't it seems like he scarcely missed a meeting, Prayer meeting, reading, meeting, Gospel high school, breaking of bread. He was always there.
Not in fellowship, but it seemed like he was just one of us, you know?
Seeing the hymns had a reasonably happy expression on his face. He would say, well, he's probably he's probably saved well now on large day morning, he came with a young lady, went to the morning meet to high school.
And in between meetings, he was out outside there in the parking lot. And I, I asked him, I said, Bobby, who's this? Who's this young lady that you brought this morning? Oh, that's a friend I met at school. Oh, that's nice. I said, Does she know the Lord Jesus as her savior?
Anybody said he was just like this, he says. I don't know.
I thought, wow, what a response. So I was relating this to somebody and they said, well, doesn't that make you wonder about Bobby? And I said to him, it sure didn't. And that was the very question I put to him. I said.
Well, Bobby.
How about you? Do you know the Lord Jesus as your own personal Savior? Exactly the same response.
I don't know.
It was a fleppant response. It was like, what difference does it make? You know? Why do you bother to ask?
Well, you sought to be faithful in speaking to him.
The Lord knows, then they're his. Maybe he was in a bad mood or something, but I just can't imagine that kind of a response for someone who really knows and loves the Lord Jesus. And yet for nine months he scarcely missed a meeting. Now, how is it with you young people? Are there those who've been faithful at the meetings but yet have never made it their own? The gospel message is to you.
Isn't going to do your you any good.
Mother and father are saved and you're not. It's a blessing to be raised in a Christian home as I was privileged to to have. And many, if not most of you have had that blessed experience too. But doesn't save your soul. You need to know Christ personally as your own personal Savior. You need to accept Him. And so I would hope that you could give a positive response to that question.
Now I know there's none here tonight that haven't heard the gospel several times.
And I doubt if there's one here that couldn't tell others plainly enough the way of salvation. But the real question is not if you know these things, but do you know them in your heart? And have you made them your own? Have you made Christ your very own Savior?
Well, the Lord has his way of getting to us, let's say.
00:10:01
We have to do with God about our sins. Let's turn to the book of Habakkuk if you can find it.
When I was a kid we had a Bible Lotto game and we used to memorize the the minor prophets because they.
Are the hardest books to to learn.
I don't mean we memorize the whole book.
We just memorized the book, the names of the books, but name Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah Malachi or Habakkuk if you'd rather chapter one and verse 13.
Says.
I'll wait till I don't hear any more pages, but everybody found Habakkuk. 113 speaks of God says thou art a purer eyes, and to behold evil and cance not look upon iniquity.
So that God is holy and he cannot allow sin in his presence. And so how is a hell bound?
Hell deserving Sinner ever going to come into the presence of God in peace.
Requires the work of another, because we, as otherwise hopelessly lost and held deserving sinners, cannot merit salvation, cannot merit presence of God. It has to be done through the work of another. And that's that perfect one.
The blessed Lord Jesus who came to give himself as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. Now how about our sins? Do they trouble you? Your sins bother you? Want to look at some verses that have to do with sins? But I want to tell you a story about a fellow whose sins really did bother him.
And pardon me if you've heard the story before, but I, I hope it is, is worth repeating. It has to do with an inmate up at the conservation camp where we go there in Hemet. His name is Eddie. He, Eddie was a Puerto Rican.
And he came to this country, became quite interested in fishing. I used to like to do night fishing. And so he and four of his companions, 1 winter night, I think it was in November, maybe December, went out on the on the jetty there in Los Angeles Harbor out of San Pedro is a huge jetty. You can walk on it for a mile at least. I walked on island.
Years ago, anyway, they packed up their lanterns, their fishing gear.
Their Nets and all that. They were after lobsters as well as whatever else they could catch at night. Hike all the way out to the end of the pier or the jetty and we're busy starting to fish.
But as they were fishing, Eddie looked back up on the jetty and he saw sitting up there a boy there wasn't there when he hiked out there. And and you know, they should have registered with him that hey, something's going on out there in the in the seas because that boy got up there somehow or other well.
He he just sort of dismissed it from his mind. And so they went about their fishing, the five of them.
When, without the slightest warning, one enormous wave, tidal wave I suppose we would call it, or a tsunami, came roaring over the jetty. And I mean roaring because it washed all five of these folks out into the harbor.
Stripping them mostly of of their all their gear, but also some of their clothes. Well, this is a winter time. The water was anything but warm. Two of them could scarcely swim.
Here's 5 floundering out there in the water, three of them trying to help the other two and.
In a, in a, in a bad way, because it sees was it were exceedingly rough, even though this was inside the jetty. And So what they tried to do of course was a struggle back and they had their winter clothes on, they struggled back to the rocks.
And help the two that could barely swim back. They know Senator got back to the rocks when the next wave came, just like the first. Washed them all out into the harbor waters. Same thing. So they struggled back again and begins to shed some of their clothes so they could swim better and help the others even though it was very cold.
Well, Eddie, one of these five, the one that I knew.
Begin to think about his sins.
00:15:02
I don't know if he'd ever gone to any kind of a Sunday school or anything like that before. I don't know.
But I know he knew that he was a Sinner. Let's look at a verse.
In Romans.
Everyone could quote this verse, no doubt. Romans 323.
For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Now, do you think that would suffice if you were to just admit that I happened to be one of the all and everyone has sinned and so we're all sinners? Is that all that God requires that you do to admit? You're part of Adam's race and we're all sinners?
Well, I think that's the first step at least.
Let's turn back to Numbers chapter 21.
This is the story of the children of Israel in the wilderness, and they were complainers like we would have been, I'm sure.
And they?
Complained constantly against God and against Moses. First four of Numbers 21. They journeyed from the Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea to come to the land of Edom. And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way in the people speak against God.
Against Moses. Wherefore have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there's no bread, neither is there any water, and are so low that this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and much people died. Therefore the people came to Moses and said.
All have sinned. Is that what they said? No, they said we have sinned. Now that's a little closer to what God wants to hear from your lips.
But.
You know, if you just say, well.
I born into a family and.
We're all sinners in our family. It's not quite what he wants to hear. Let's hear what the Prodigal Son had to say.
Luke 15.
This is a wonderful story for use in the gospel.
About this certain man that had two sons.
They were quite different, as my two sons are.
And.
One of them decided he wanted to venture out on his own when he did. And we know this story. We won't read it all but part of it. We know he went into a far country, spent all that he had, began to be in want. It doesn't say that one ever, ever ceased as long as he was there.
Well, there's a There's a critical verse in this story, the 15th of Luke in.
Verse 17 When he came to himself, I believe this is when the work of the Spirit of God began in his soul began to cause him to realize that he made a dreadful mistake in deciding to to leave his father's house.
Came to his South and said and began to think about where he came from.
And what it was like for when she came. But most importantly, let's read what he said to his father in verse 21. Not quite exactly the same speech he had prepared, but similar He said to his father. Well, let's talk about what he didn't say first. We're all sinners in that country. Our web is full of nothing but sinners. All of us were there sitting. No, he didn't say that.
And he said what you need to say, my friend tonight, he said.
I have sinned.
Have you ever said that? Have you ever said that?
To God, I have sinned, and it's important that you do that because there can't be any repentance until there's recognition that I've sinned. How can I turn from sin if I don't think I've sinned? But you know in your heart you have sinned. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and as soon as you admit that you are one and have sinned, your candidate to be saved.
00:20:18
I have sinned, he said. And we know the rest of that story. His father welcomed him back into his house with open arms.
And the Lord is willing and anxious to save you. He wants you to come to him and acknowledge to Him that you have sinned.
Well, Eddie was beginning to think those kinds of thoughts. He knew he had sinned, and he also knew he had sinned against God, because all sin really is against God.
Well, two things were happening. That was one, he was beginning to get worried about his condition and that he was about to meet God, but he was also getting very cold. Hypothermia was setting in, I suppose you could say.
And along comes the next wave. It's not maybe not quite so intense as the one before, but still enough to wash them off the rocks. So since they shed most of their stuff, they begin to swim as best they could towards shore. The long ways though, they were out at least a mile.
But the closer they got, the less the intensity of the waves. Little by little they struggled up enough off the rocks to get out of the of the hazard of those waves. By then they were practically naked. I don't know how many cars they had to drive there, but they only had one set of keys left among them. And.
Eddie convinced his friends that the only thing to do is to go find somebody.
That could give them the gospel.
And they by now was the sun was about to come up. They went their way up to Norwalk and found a little Chapel and they were able to rouse a godly man who led them to Christ. I know Eddie for sure was saved, but I think he believes his friends were saved too.
Now what's God going to have to do to bring you to himself? Our brother Doug said.
The other day that God has a plan for each of us, but he also said don't give God a bad time about it.
Yield to him.
The little hymn that we sometimes.
Says, says, let's see. Yield to him in simplicity. Yield to him your heart. Peace through all eternity shall be your part. Once you do that tonight, yield to him, Say to God, as you know it's true in your heart. I have sinned and receive Christ by faith. Thou shalt confess with thy mouth.
Jesus as Lord and believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. That's a simple story of salvation.
God has to go to extremes sometimes to bring us to our senses, to bring us to Him. I want to tell you another story.
First, let's read a verse in Job.
33.
And verse 14.
God speaketh once we ate twice. He had man perceiveth it not.
There was a Japanese fellow at work that this, this wasn't the story I was thinking about that this fellow was scheduled on a flight to South America, Delta flight, I think it was. I'm not sure what it was. But anyway, at the last very last minute, his his reservation was changed and he didn't take that flight, but that flight went down.
All aboard were killed.
He was a Japanese fellow, David Watson Navi, his wife was a believer. And I said to David, God speaking to you.
Wasn't long after that he was scheduled to take Los Angeles Airways. That was a helicopter that used to fly from Disneyland to Los Angeles.
And for some reason, that flight was changed, his ticket was changed, and that helicopter went down, killing all 18 aboard.
So I quoted this verse to David. I said, you know God spoke once to you already, and now he's spoken again. God speaketh once, yeah, twice. Yet man perceiveth it not. He admitted God was speaking to him.
00:25:16
But I wish I could say receive Christ as his Savior. I can't say that he has. We had assurance his wife was saved. But what is God going to have to do to get your attention, dear young people?
I want to tell you another story. This was a fellow that I knew through work.
He was born over in Beaverton.
That's just West of Portland.
In a Christian home where the Bible was read regularly. His name was Terry. He was a bright young man. In fact, his parents told me that he actually learned to read when he was three years old, and he learned to read by reading the Bible. That is in the family. I suppose they read around and they would help him. And little by little he picked up words. Pretty soon he picked up verses.
It was only three years old. Amazing.
And what a privilege to be raised in the Christian home where the Scriptures are read daily.
Well, the parents recognize that Terry was a bright young man, and so they arranged for for his education. I don't know where he went to undergraduate school, but he he eventually went to Stanford and and got his doctorate in rock physics.
Rock physicist is one that likes rocks like you know, these are igneous rocks, mostly some sedimentary rocks there on top of the mantle.
Rock physicist takes a little cores out of rocks and likes to measure things in those rocks for whatever reason. And eventually where I worked, we hired Terry because we were interested in measurements that he liked to make in rocks. Because if you can determine rock samples, how acoustic waves travel through rocks and little samples, then you can extrapolate that into the Earth. And when you make seismic measurements, you can make some predictions about what kind of rocks the size of the waves pass through.
So it's quite interesting to make those measurements. Terry was very adepted at doing that sort of thing and in the theory became quite quite well known in the scientific community for his ability to to deal with rocks. He also became an avid rock climber.
Andrew could relate to that. He gave us a little demonstration this afternoon of some of that sort of thing. It was kind of fun to watch him and his Co climbers.
Terry engaged in a lot of rock climbing.
And.
One day he and four of his three of his friends.
Launched out on a trip across the northern Cascades. I think they probably took the boat up to Lake Chelan and drove way up there as far as you can go and hiked a lot further. Not exactly sure if that's where it was but it was on the eastern side of the northern cast cases are exceedingly rugged and so they they were headed for.
Some really technical climbing, but in the course of getting there they had to traverse some trails that were certainly not hazardous.
Kendrick This was in the summertime, maybe early summer, when the snow hadn't all melted, but there wasn't any snow where they were hiking, or at least not on the trail. There were three of them, two fellows. Terry was the 3rd, 4th behind Terry, walking just along. This is a Cliff they walked along.
And without the slightest warning, not a not a sound was heard.
The rock the size of Terry came off that Cliff and the 4th man in the in the in the line. He looked up and he gave a shout. It's too late. It snuffed out his life in an instant.
No warning whatsoever.
Now, Terry was born in a Christian home. I was privileged to meet his parents after that and talk to them. We visited in their home there in Beaverton.
And of course, they were shocked beyond measure. What had happened, they could not understand. How is it that our Son, whom we've raised in the truth of the gospel, they felt sure was saved?
00:30:08
Why would God do this?
Well, I knew Terry pretty well, but I never did discuss spiritual things with him. I regret that. I think it's unfortunate.
But I don't know that I would have said that he was a Christian. I fear that those with whom he associated.
Were no help to him spiritually.
And the scripture does tell us evil communications corrupt good manners.
Those with whom we associate have their effect on us, and we know that, and so we need to use good judgment in whom we choose as our companions.
Let's read another verse in Job.
Chapter 36.
And verse 18 Job 3618 Because there is wrath. Beware, unless he take thee away with his stroke, and a great ransom cannot deliver thee.
What is God going to have to do to get your attention? Terry's life was snuffed out and I wouldn't want to say but they were saved or not, the Lord knows. Perhaps the Lord wanted to keep him from going into further departure from him, and so he took him home by this extreme action. I don't know, it could be.
But maybe He refused those tender offers of mercy that have been extended to you repeatedly, many with from your youth. And have you refused them? Have you not accepted Christ as your own personal Savior? You know we don't have any guarantee for tomorrow.
All we have is today and we don't even know if we have the rest of that. The Lord is coming, and He may come before this day is over.
And so it's such a vital thing, dear young people, to have to do with God about your sins. And our prayer is that you won't be able to sleep tonight until you've answered at all important questions as to your sins before a holy God. You have sinned. You know that. Have you confessed that to the Lord? Have you repented of those sins? Repentance is a change of mind. It's not doing anything. It's simply.
Seeing God as that holy one who cannot look upon sin.
And seeing yourself as a sinful 1 does not fit for God's presence. Owning that before God and turning to Him and accepting Christ by faith, that's the way of salvation. That's what Paul preached. Repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
Well, we haven't read a lot of scriptures and we have told a few stories, but I do want to read one poem before we close.
Those who you know of you who know my son Fell, know one thing about him. He preaches a short gospel message, and I've never heard anyone complain about that. And so I want to read this poem in closing.
It's entitled. What will you do without him?
And this is the way it reads. It came from Echoes of Grace several years ago. I just might make a pitch, incidentally, before I read this poem that men at the jail loved these Echoes of Grace gospel papers.
So if you have any that you'd like to find a place for, we can use all that you'd like to send to him it but I want to read this one poem. What will you do without him is the title. What will you do without him? When death is drawing near, without his love, the only love that casts out every fear. When the shadow valleys opens.
Unlighted and unknown.
And the terror of its darkness must all be passed alone.
What will you do without him?
When the great white throne is set, and the judge who never can mistake and never will forget, the judge whom you have never here as friend and Savior sought, shall summon you to give account of word and deed and thought.
What will you do without him when he has shut the door and you are left outside because you would not come before?
When it is, no use knocking, no use to stand and wait. When words of doom toll through your heart a terrible too late.
00:35:09
Fellows at the jail can relate to to what it's like to stand before a judge. And of course it's said that if you're really innocent and if the case is obvious, you should ask for a trial by court because the judge will see to it that it's obvious that you've been falsely accused. It's no big problem. But then they say if you're really guilty, you better get yourself a good.
Journey and ask for a trial by jury because if you have a clever enough attorney like Johnny Cochran or someone, maybe they can get you off.
Well, let's suppose this case. Let's suppose you are guilty.
That you're not giving any any option, That you have to stand before a judge. You're not offered a defense attorney. But not only that, the judge you have to stand for knows everything there is to know about you.
That wouldn't be a very comfortable circumstance. That's not a court you'd want to have to be in, but is a court that you well be in, my friend.
If you reject Christ as your Savior.
Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Abraham said.
In First Timothy it speaks of the Lord as the righteous judge.
He's the all knowing judge. He's the one that will have no option.
But to condemn you to hell if you reject his offers of mercy? Oh, we have a merciful God. We have a merciful Savior. He wants to save you tonight. He wants to make you His very own. Won't you receive Him by faith and know what it means to go on your way rejoicing? And again, I say our prayer tonight, is that not?
One, if there is only one here tonight, doesn't know Christ as his or her own personal Savior, that you will have no rest tonight until you accept Him, owning your sinful condition, receiving Him by simple faith. Let's pray.