Lawrenceville Conference: 2009

Table of Contents

4. We Beseech You

John 15

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First Peter chapter 5 and verse one.
The elders which are among you I adore, who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. He or shepherd the flock of God which is among you, taking or exercising you oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but have a ready mind. Just that little expression in verse 2.
Feed or shepherd the flock of God.
To begin the conference that in the first stanza with him, Speaking of our Lord Jesus with him is all our business now.
And that him had a very personal.
Reflection. Really.
In the relationship of our individual souls with the Lord Jesus and our business with Him. The first scripture that was read was in Colossians 2 in the prayer meeting as well. And the thought in the scripture was our head and the nourishment that we received from himself.

00:05:05

We just sang about the Lord is our shepherd and the one that feeds us, as well as the Scripture and first Peter.
With that.
But the Lord has brought before us. Brethren, I suggest that we take up John's Gospel, chapter 15, where we have the Lord both shepherding us and nourishing us with instructions in view of the time, like now when He's not physically present with us as He was preparing his disciples for such a time.
I think that would be very nice. Done.
John, Chapter 15.
I am the true vine.
And my father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit he purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye abide in me.
I am the vine, ye are the branches, he that abideth in me, and I in him.
The same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me you can do nothing.
If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered.
And men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye may bear much fruit, so shall ye be my disciples.
As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in my love.
If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love.
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
This is my commandment, but you love one another as I have loved you.
Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what is Lord doeth. But I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
He has not chosen me, but I have chosen you and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain.
That whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
These things I command you, that you love one another. If the world hates you, we know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own. But because you're not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord.
If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
If they have kept my saying they will keep yours also.
But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin, but now they have no cloak for their sin.
He that hateth me, hateth my father also.
If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin.
But now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law. They hated Me without a cause. But when the comforters come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

00:10:45

The Lord Jesus spoke these words to his disciples.
At the end of his life, before he went to the cross.
And these disciples have been with the Lord Jesus.
Most of them perhaps for 3 1/2 years or so.
And they had been brought into a relationship with the Lord, that with him was all their business. Their daily lives were completely connected with His life. Their lives were connected with His name.
And now the Lord Jesus knows that he is going to leave them to go to the cross, and from there to return to the Father's house. And so He's making these provisions for them for the time when they will be absent physically from each other.
But what particularly brought this scripture to my mind is that He is still divine, and there it's a necessity for them that they have the daily nourishment from Himself.
And that they be able to have that fellowship with himself. He had shepherded them, He had fed them, and now he makes a way in which they will continue to be shepherded.
And to be fed and we fall into that place, we need the Lord. And here in this chapter we have a provision that was being made for them and being made for us this morning that we may have that necessary.
Nourishment from the Lord Jesus with whom is to be all our business. Think how much it their business was with the Lord when you think that.
A couple of days after these words were spoken, they're in a in a room and their doors are shut. The Lord Jesus has been crucified, and they're afraid.
What made them afraid? They were identified with the Lord Jesus in that world and in that city where they were and is so identified with the Lord Jesus. He had been put to death. What was going to happen to them? Were they going to lose their lives as well? Well, whether we're conscious always of that truth or not, it's the same with us. We bear the name of the Lord Jesus and whatever his place in the world, as he teaches us in this chapter and throughout the the New Testament.
So is our place in the world as well. And so we have something that the Lord can use to feed our souls this morning.
And it's particularly, I suggest, in connection with testimony to the world that this chapter really begins.
In the previous two chapters, which are also part of what we have often called the Upper Room ministry, the Lord is perhaps more concerned with their relations with Himself and with one another. But then there's a break at the end of the 14th chapter, isn't there? And the Lord says, arise, let us go hence. And so it would seem that although this is still, and I believe the term is a right one.
It's still part of the Upper Room ministry. Yet it seems that this discourse was delivered on the way to the Mount of Olives. And there's a break here because the Lord has referred, and we were talking about it, some of us earlier this morning. He refers to the Prince of this world. He's referred to him before in that way in the 12Th chapter. But as has often been remarked, the Spirit of God doesn't call Satan.

00:15:06

Either the God of this world or the Prince of this world, until man rejected the Son of God.
It was true that Satan had a lot to do with man's workings, his evil workings in the Old Testament. But when man crucified the Lord Jesus, and it looks here in this this gospel as if that had already taken place, then the Spirit of God uses the expression of what Satan, the God of this world that is perhaps more religiously and the Prince of this world that is politically.
And so, as you say, Brother Don, they were facing a hostile world.
It had been hostile before, but now, having taken and crucified the Lord Jesus, they were going to have to face that which was diametrically opposed to anything that was of God. And as you say, that is the kind of world that we live in. It's the kind of world the disciples face. But the Lord says, under those circumstances, I will give you everything necessary to be able to produce fruit for me.
And.
The Old Testament Israel was the vine, wasn't it? In Isaiah chapter 5 he says it clearly.
Verse seven it says, For the vineyard of the Lord of four hosts is the House of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plan. And he looked for judgment, and behold oppression for righteousness, but behold a cry.
When you look for fruit in Israel, they brought forth wild grapes.
Now the Lord Jesus comes, and in John's ministry especially, you have him in connection with the family of God. That life that characterizes the family of God is eternal life, but it is only in Him that we have that life.
Fruit bearing is spoken of a lot in this chapter 15, but I like to think the theme of the chapter is not so much fruit bearing as it is abiding in Christ.
Fruit is the result of abiding in Christ, and it's beautiful just to get it in that context. So it's the life that we have in the Lord Jesus.
That eternal life, and as in the vine, the SAT flows up the vine into the branches and produces fruit, so it is in us now. And how important it is that we abide in the vine and so that that will produce his life in us, that will produce that fruit that he wants to see.
Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. Hmm hmm hmm hmm.
I think that's very good to keep in mind because.
Fruit does not require effort on the part of the vine or the tree to produce it, does it?
It's its nature to produce it, and if given reasonable conditions, sunlight, water and so on.
It will produce fruit.
We can prevent its producing fruit by depriving it of some of those conditions, but the fact remains that it is the nature of the vine or the tree to produce fruit. And so here, if you and I and I believe we do, each one that is truly saved have new life in Christ. It is the character of that new life by the energy of the Spirit to produce fruit for God.
God looks upon the world as His.
And as a whole world, he wants to see it fruitful.
And by fruitful, we're speaking particularly the people that live in it.

00:20:01

He wants them to.
The people that he can have pleasure in, whose lives reflect that which is pleasing in his sight. And so we know, as Bob just read in Isaiah chapter 5, God separated a people from all the filth of the world around them and set them apart for himself and said, now I'm going to treat these people as a vineyard.
And I'm going to shepherd them and I'm going to feed them and I'm going to look for fruit from them.
And so it's a picture of man in his natural condition before God. Since Adam sinned, is there anything in us as natural people that God can find a pleasure in as we are? And Israel is the test case. Israel is the one that God used to see if there's any fruit for himself. And his conclusion is no, no.
I did everything possible to get fruit and even sent mine own son.
Into the vineyard to see if there was to be or could be anything that would produce fruit in man. And the answer was nothing. And so here in this chapter, the Lord Jesus himself becomes the vine, and in him and all that are in him are now capable of bearing fruit for God. As he says later, without me you can do nothing. So there's no one in this room.
Whose lives can be fruitful for God unless their lives are connected by having new life through the Lord Jesus Christ without having his life, without being in the vine, there will be no fruit for God in your life as it was with Israel. He said, I'm going to cut the, I'm going to cut the vineyard down. If it's not fruitful for me, it's not, it's not worth anything. And so there may be a life or lives in this room this morning.
That are not connected to the Lord Jesus. And if that's the case and it stays that way, then eventually that life is going to be cut off and forever removed from the presence of God. But each who does belong to the Lord Jesus, then his work is ongoing to make that branch be more fruitful.
It's nice here in this chapter and all throughout the Gospel of John to see this lovely term that's used the father. I'm a true vine and my father is the husbandman. I like that little term in It's used in Colossians chapter 3 in connection with.
Husbands and it says in Colossians chapter 3.
It says in verse 19, husband, love your wives and be not bitter against them. And so the husband is a master of a home and of a dwelling and it's the home is to be a place of fruitfulness for God. There is to be a family in an environment that a brother would have in the home that there might be fruitfulness for God in that home.
And here we have the Father, He's the husband, and there is that sphere in relationship that we have to him that we're going to have fruitfulness and it's going to be in connection, as we've been saying, with the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us.
And so the Father is really brings before us the affections and the relationship that we have with God and his desire is to work in our lives that there might be fruit and it's going to be through his Son That says in first Peter chapter one and verse seven that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire might be found under praise and honor.
And glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. And so we know that the Lord is working with us and his desire is that there would be fruit in our lives. And the blessed thing is that the fruit is his. And He wants an abundance of fruit. And if there's anything in your life and mine that is going to hinder the production of that fruit, why he desires to deal with it. And that we might rejoice together at his appearing, that there might be that glory that he speaks of in first Peter chapter one.

00:25:22

That fruit, I think you spoke of it in the Gospel meaning last year from Galatians 5. Just to mention it, The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, love. To think of it as the manifestations of the life of Christ in the believer. And that's what God wants to see.
And so often in our lives, there's perhaps a lot of show, lot of leaves.
That really takes away from the life of the vine to produce fruit.
Rather, we're not here to show what we are. I hope not. I think we have to confess that oftentimes that may be the case, but we need to judge it if that's the case because the father is there to prune that. He's the husbandman. Sometimes we don't understand why he allows the things that happen in our lives.
Well, we don't really have to understand, brethren.
Just to understand this, that the father is the husband and he knows what he is doing in our lives and to accept things from his hand. It really impresses me, brother. And so often when trials come into our lives, we tend to analyze and say, well, it was because of this person or that group of persons or this set of circumstances that had happened.
We're being short sighted if we if we take it that way. We need to look at a father's hand and sometimes the pruning process is rather severe according to our estimation, but there's a purpose in it that we bear fruit for God. We're not here brethren, for our own purposes, we're here.
For his purposes and his purposes that we bear fruit.
It's interesting to me when I've traveled over in Europe, in different places, they have different ways of pruning.
The grapevines and in Spain, traveling through there, they prune the vine almost completely, right down to the ground. It really looks severe, but they have a purpose in that. And so our father has a purpose. And we live in man's day, and so often we get our own purposes in view. What I'd like to do.
The way I feel about it, brethren, let's get beyond that.
God's purpose, He's going to prune us, and He has something in mind when He does, whether we understand it or not.
We have this.
Praise this verse. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, you take it away. We have a scriptural example of that. I'd be helpful to schedule example presented. Mr. Darby says that Judas scriptural example of it.
They if you go back to the Old Testament, to Isaiah chapter 5, you can see in the of which this is taken from that thought to the Jewish mind that all Israel was in outward relationship with the Lord Jesus. They were all connected to the vine of which they were to bear fruit for God.
But because there was no fruit from them.
Then.
Jehovah said he was going to remove it.
And the Lord Jesus became the true vine, and Judas became one who was in relationship with the Vine.
But there was no proof being produced in him because there was in reality.

00:30:05

No true connection between his soul and the Lord. And so in the 13th chapter.
Judas is receives the soft the Lord says to him, that what you're going to do, do quickly. Judas goes out and it's night and then the Lord says now is the Son of man glorified?
And in that act, in the 13th chapter, it was the final separation between the Lord and his relationship with Judas. It was John, the practical fulfillment that in God's ways he was taken away. And so it's possible that there is somebody in this room who is professedly in the vine. That is, you say I belong to the Lord Jesus. I have put my trust in the Lord Jesus. And as a result of that.
You're looked on it by others as born again and a true soul in the vine. But if it's not reality, there will be no fruit. And if there's no fruit, the time will come and you will be first from the vine.
So do I. So do I take it then that from the first part of that second verse, referring to the branch you take it on, that that is referring to a person who is a professor but is not a true believer?
I'll I'll just defer to better judgment, Mr. Garvey suggests and uses Judas as an example of it.
What about verse 6?
Sometimes these verses have been referred to by others about being saved and lost again.
Can we have some help in connection with the is that is referring to a person who is a professor in verse six as well. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered, and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned.
Have to be a little careful how we sometimes look at scripture because we like it to be.
This or that so that we don't have to be exercised about this or that. And I think it's important to see that sometimes Scripture is written so that it will exercise us as an individual if we're not walking as we should. Or as someone has said, God never gives comfort to a careless walking Christian. And so I say that because in verse six and in verse two, it's intended to.
Exercise us as an individual, that is 'cause our own consciences to be.
Before God, if we're not walking as we should, but on the other side of it, from God's perspective, God knoweth them that are His. And if we're real, we will abide in the vine and we will produce fruit. Every single believer who is in the vine is going to produce some fruit for God. There won't be a single fruitless soul in heaven, and they may not have very long to produce the fruit. The example of a person who.
Only had less than three hours of life left. Was one of the thieves on the cross. And I say well, from the time he was put on he had six hours or more or less to live. And sometime in that period, I guess in the first three hours he saved.
But he immediately is a fruit bearer because he is the one person that is given to us at that point.
To give a testimony to the Lord Jesus as to who he was and his perfection as a person. God looked upon that testimony of that thief and said there's some fruit for me. And so in these verses there will be if there's reality, there will be fruit and if there, there will be purging too as needed. But the other side of it is there's a test given and.
Profession may appear to be part of the volume.
Time that will be separated from it.
A believer by definition there is fruit because faith is one of the fruits of the Spirit.

00:35:02

Just like to call attention in, in verse 2, there's a couple of words that are slightly different to verse six and I'll just read in verse two it says in me, the branch in me, but in verse six it says not in me.
And so perhaps thy word is exceeding broad, that commandment is exceeding broad. I just suggest to you an answer to the question that's possible, that this one here in verse 2 might be a believer and he's not bearing fruit in the way that the Lord would desire him to bear fruit. And in disobedience, direct disobedience to the word of God, there's a course of departure from the Lord himself and he's dishonouring Christ. And it says, I'll just read first John chapter 5.
And verse 16 and it says there, if first John 5, verse 16, if any man see his brother sin, a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask who shall give him life for him? Them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death. I do not say that he shall pray for it. And so there's that recalling. Perhaps someone has said a recalling of the ambassador, one that is taking the name of Christ and has perhaps at one time really upheld.
The truth of God and walked in obedience and with a real heart's affection for Christ, and then in an outward way dishonors the name of Christ in such a way that the Lord finds it necessary to remove him and to take him. Well, perhaps that might be in connection with verse two. He's really in me. But then in verse 6.
It's one that is not in me, one who never was true perhaps as you say, a professor professing to know Christ as Savior and going on in an outward way along among Christians, but then it says he's cast forth as a branch and is withered men gather them and cast them into the fire and they were burned. Well, we know that he never was a real believers, not in me. And so I just suggest those two wording differences in these verses that perhaps might speak to us of one.
Who really was a believer in verse two and got away from the Lord? How necessary it is for us to keep close to the Lord on a daily basis, that we might desire to bear fruit for Him day by day, hour by hour, to abide in Him close by. But then one who doesn't have any appreciation really for the finished work of Christ, never knew the Lord. He abides not in Him. He's not His.
In 36 there's a. It says if.
A man is talking about the person. I think that's helpful to distinguish that it's the person there. And I think Judas obviously was never a believer, and he was.
His whole, his whole being was.
Corrupt he was awakened from the the core. But in verse two, there are two kinds of branches. It's not talking about the whole vine. It's just talking about.
A branch, and I believe there are, there are all of us, as Dom says, there's things are put here to exercise this. We have branches, we have parts of us that are not fruitful and the Lord cuts them off. And the second part is there are branches that have some fruit, but he also prunes them so there'll be more fruit. And so the Lord knows what each one of us needs.
It's a wonderful thing when your Lord's dealing with you to know that there's a wise husbandman that's cutting the branches.
I don't know if I can. I know what a husband is.
I I studied animal husbandry and I wasn't very good at taking care of animals, but.
There is the word.
It needs to be used here in connection with clients.
So it it certainly suggests maintaining a relationship with the.

00:40:05

What you're dealing with if, if you're going to be good with animals, you have to like them, you have to love them. You can't just do it as a job doesn't work. And I believe that even applies in in dealing with plants. You're not interested in that you might not be very good.
But our, our, our father is good and he cares about this. But I see you have some fruit trees beside your house, Doug. And I see that they're pretty well pruned this year.
That husband Rick, there's you got to know which branch, how far to cut. I, I learned this from the racing family. They there's what is called fruit wood. This is apples, not vines. And it's the 2nd it's wood that's been there in the second year.
And the buds on it will bear fruit. What grew the fruit just one year old never bears fruit on an apple tree. It's And so that's the parts you cut off and you leave the fruit was.
I suggest just not as an extreme depth or not as a so I say an expanded definition, but the thought of husbandry is the taking care of something with a view to allowing it to produce its full potential.
And that's true of taking care of animals. It's true of taking care of plants.
It's true of a husband taking care of his wife. His object ought to be in every case, to allow whatever is under his care to produce its full potential in the case of.
Vines and so on. As we mentioned, there is pruning. That's part of it. There is the providing of proper nutrients and care in every way. The pruning must be done very carefully. I grew up on a fruit farm and I used to prune grapes and it had to be done with care. You had to assess every vine, look at the amount of vine that it had produced. In some cases you even took a cheap scale out to the vineyard and weighed the amount that you cut off and then you said, OK, now this vine is produced.
This number of pounds of fresh growth in the past year, therefore I can leave 40 new buds for this year. This vine has produced more growth. I can leave 60 buds on that one. After a while, of course she got so you could eyeball it without the scale, but the point was you assessed the potential of the vine according to what it was able to produce and gave it the number of buds to produce fruit based on that assessment.
God does the same with you and me, doesn't it? And so it's a very, very careful process. But as Doug points out, there has to be a care. You can't do it with a kind of a distant, abstract view of things. If all you've got in your head is the business of it, something won't work, right? There has to be that care. And that's the way God the Father's care is for you and me, isn't it?
And so just one more comment. We don't want to belabor the point. I've appreciated what was said and we can take things in these first few verses in different ways.
But I remember an old brother now with the Lord, he made this comment. He said, Remember that in Scripture there are degrees of communion with God.
And degrees of abiding in Christ. And he made the same point that Dawn has made, that there is no such thing as a believer that produces no fruit. Yes, there may be one that so dishonours the Lord that he has taken home a sin unto death, but there is no believer in that sense that will have nothing in a coming day to show for his life. Down here the question is.
How much am I abiding in Christ? How much communion is there? How much fruit is there? Not that I should be occupied with the fruit, That's not the point. But I should be occupied, and I believe Bob put it well with abiding in Christ and then there will be much fruit. Well, is that still possible today? Indeed it is. Indeed it is, and it's not what we do that counts. Again, quoting our beloved late brother Eric Smith.

00:45:25

Not what you do that counts. It's what you are. If what you are is right, what you do will always follow suit. But if you are something wrong, if what you are is not right, then what you do will never be right. And so every right thought, if we could bring it right down to basics in your heart and mind toward God's beloved Son, His fruit for God, That's not the only thing.
But every believer can produce fruit. The Saint of God that's laid aside on a sick bed, not very pleasant, but that can be some of the most precious fruit for God. Then there are those whom God gives the ability and the strength to go out in the active for him, Precious fruit for God.
But whatever is the result of that new life in Christ, in you and me?
Is fruit for God and that's what he looks for.
When I was a child, very common question is the family arrived at the dinner table for a meal was my mother would say to us children, have you washed your hands? And if we had not, we were sent back to wash our hands.
Through my mother believed that it was important for us. We were going to be picking up food.
And eating it, that we not contaminate it or spoil it.
Lord Jesus here in verse three says, now you are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you in the 17th chapter in His prayer to the Father, he says, Sanctify them through Thy truth. Thy word is the truth. And I believe we have in this chapter a principle that is very important to us, and that is when God is going to produce fruit in something.
He sanctifies it, He sets it apart from that which would contaminate it.
And that which would hinder its growth and its fruit fairy. And so it's the work of the husbandman and it's a work that is ongoing in our lives. And it's a work in which we should be exercised ourselves, that we not seek to get nourishment from the Lord Jesus as part as being in the vine and at the same time think that we can live.
An unsanctified, unholy manner of life.
It works against the very work of God to produce fruit.
And when in fact in in the example of Judas, the Lord was disturbed at the Last Supper until Judas went out and recognized that one who was unclean had left the presence, and then his heart was free to flow in a way that it had been restrained up to that point among them. And so the heart of the Lord Jesus is restrained toward us.
If there is that working in US which has not accepted the washing, that is necessary to be cleaned.
Those versions in the 5th chapter of Galatians are helpful to most of us are so simple I think.
Relations.
5/22.
The fruit of the Spirit of the Spirit is.
Love God, he long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, page weakness, temperance. Against such there is no law, there is that.
They have, they have, our Christ have Christified the place with the affections and love.
Then he says, if we live in the Spirit, and we do, you're all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus in the third chapter.
If you live in this church, let us also walk in this year.

00:50:04

Could almost say that. Did she live in this spirit?
Why don't you walk here? And then the very last thing he said.
To take it personally, the last person, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. They go together.
That's crazy.
And dividing in divine everyone of those.
Things that are mentioned there in verse 22 and 23.
Are passive, aren't they? They're not actions in themselves, and that's what fruit is. Sometimes we talk about being fruitful and we think it's all we've done for the Lord. It's not doing so much as what is produced by the Spirit of the God as we abide in the vine.
That's the thought in fruit. And so like Bill said, somebody that's laying on a bed ill.
God can produce fruit in that person if they are abiding in Christ, in the enjoyment of that life that we have in the Lord Jesus. That is the automatic result of abiding is fruit bearing. And I enjoyed what Brother Eric Smith used to tell us too. He used to talk about the different forms of discipline in our lives.
This, in John 15, is productive discipline.
He proves so that we will bear more fruit. Sometimes we say, why does the Lord allow these things? What did I do wrong?
It's not always because we did something wrong that He allows pruning in our lives, brethren. Sometimes it's because of what He wants to be produced in our lives, and that's fruit. So these are important lessons.
Our brother Harry Ho said to us a long time ago, we ought to read this night first for ourselves. Every day of her life. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Continue. Yeah, my love, the first spirit of love, the 1St.
How important. I'd just like to emphasize what Don brought before us of the word. Now you're clean through the word.
That I have spoken unto you.
What concerns me is that we seem to neglect the word so often in our lives. We live busy lives, just don't have time.
I don't know what we can say to encourage especially our dear young people to be in the word. We're passing through a contaminated world and we pick it up the contamination without even realizing it at times. You walk through a park and you're not watching where you're walking, you'll pick up contamination.
Why we need the word to cleanse us on a daily basis.
And it doesn't take that long to read a portion of the Word of God.
And God mentioned that before. But young brother in Bolivia who I really value, I asked him one of the last time, one of the times I was down there.
Are you reading the scriptures? He says yes, sometimes.
I say, what do you mean by sometimes? Well, maybe two or three times a week.
I said, brother, we need it more than that. Why don't you read more? I'm just too busy. I said come on now, let's address this in our mind. And I say, how long does it take to read a chapter? He wasn't busy then. So we sat down and read a chapter together and we didn't read that fast.
And I said, I'm going to calculate how long it takes this. It was about 30 some verses that chapter. It took us 7 minutes. 7 minutes is not very much time.

00:55:01

Can't you take at least that much time to read on a daily basis? Set aside time. If you don't have time, set aside some time. It is so important in the world we're passing through.
To give some undivided attention to the Lord.
I said to another young brother or a young mother, young person, I don't remember if he was a believer or not. I said to you, read the Bible. He says no, I always pray.
They say well.
He says, I don't have any time to read the Bible. I said, well, that's like saying to God, God, I want you to listen to me, but I don't have any time to listen to you. Does that sound good? You said, well, it kind of sounds lopsided, doesn't it? Yeah, I think so. Let's take some time to listen to him, give him our undivided attention. Oh, it's so important. It's so vital in a world we're passing through. The enemy wants to drive wedges in between you and the Lord because he knows.
If that happens, there will be no fruit, no abiding fruit in your life.
Don't let him do it.
Lord help us, dear brethren, dear young people, They're older ones too. Sometimes we allow that to happen.
Click to read one verse in the 138th Psalm.
It says there in verse 2, the 138th Psalm, verse two, I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for Thy truth. For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. And so there is often times a great profession of trying to live for the Lord, and so on. But we cannot do it independently of the word of God, can we?
And so here it says you're clean through the word, which I have spoken unto you. And so we have a great emphasis sometimes on portions of Scripture that are our favorites perhaps. And I'm as guilty as anyone else.
But I think this particularly speaks to us of the blessedness of habitually reading the Gospels and seeing from the words that the Lord Jesus spoke the perfection of all of his ways, and how the Spirit of God presents Christ as that holy man that was perfectly fruitful in this world and in a barren world. We need the Word of God, and it will have that cleansing effect in our lives. And it is that word that first imparts life to us.
And we cannot do without that word until we get home to glory. We'll see the Lord Jesus. He is the living Word. We'll have the Word in person throughout all eternity.
There's a verse in that, say in 119 Some by thy word, if I kept me from the past of the destroyer.
Had me stronger than we think.
That's by the word God will be kept in the past, the destroyer. Another verse in that same Psalm says wherewithal. So a young man cleanse his ways by taking heed thereto, according to thy word. So it's it's very important and wonderful to read. Also important to take heed to it, to apply it in our lives.
Abiding involves 2 directions.
There's 4 abide in me and I and you.
Just as Bob commented on the two directions and.
Prayer is talking to God and reading His Word is God talking to us, and we need both sides of that in connection with abiding in the Lord Jesus, our whole place and position for before God is in him. We would have nothing with God if it was not for Himself, if we could not abide in Him, and we will abide in Him in that way for eternity. But we need the other side as well.
Need that fruit, that food that comes from himself to ourselves, that comes to where we are and meets our needs and enters into the circumstances of our lives as we are and and nurtures us, feeds us, directs us. And so it's important for us to abide in Him and for Him to abide in US. He is in us, our very life.

01:00:16

The new life that we have in Christ, Christ in you, the hope of glory. When Christ, who is our life shall appear, then shall we appear with Him.
So the Lord Jesus is forever now connected with us. We will as true believers I speak. We will never be disconnected from himself.
That word abide.
Occurs a number of times in this chapter.
And I noticed it occurs.
In first John two as well, which is the same author of course.
Abiding.
I'd like to hear your comment on that expression, Don. What does it mean to abide?
Not positive but I think maybe in John chapter one where it says.
When they came to the Lord Jesus and the question was where dwellest?
The expression where as well as thou and the expression abiding, I believe have the same common thought to them. And there is where do I live?
Do I live in with? Do I live with him before God?
Where is my heart rest?
We're dwellers. Where's my heart dwell? Does it dwell with himself or do I have other interests, as he says in the chapter, Except you abide in me and I abide in you. You can't have any fruit because it's bringing before us the thought that it's impossible to be fruitful apart from yourself.
If I don't dwell with him and he with me in the everyday communications and place of my heart in life, and then looking at it in the practical application of it, then there's going to be nothing. My life is is fruitless.
Unless we dwell together in a practical, everyday sense of the word, that I get up this morning and have fellowship with the Lord Jesus as as being with Him, or no.
So it says, he says in another place in my father's house are many mansions. The thought was I want you to abide for eternity where I live. I want you to be where I am. And I think that's kind of the thought in in the expression is that where do you live?
Where do you dwell? Do we dwell with the Lord? Does He dwell with us in the everyday matters of our lives? And if we if we don't walk in fellowship and communion with each other?
Then there with us there's some sort of independence of will or action, and then I'm not abiding, practically speaking, in the mind, I'm walking in independence of the vine and I am going to be a loser or the Lord.
The Father, the husbandman, is not going to have the fruit that he desires from the vine, but he says I'm going to have it, so I'll prune the vine. And so things come into our lives that the Lord Jesus can't share with us.
And so.
You can't say, well, I'll do that with you, or we can enjoy that together and the Lord may bring something into our lives so that that thing has to go.
So that we can abide with one another. But if there's anything in my life that's not perfectly consistent with God as light and love, then I can't have fellowship with God in that thing and I can't abide with God in it. And so he will come in.
Sooner or later into my life to remove anything and everything which is not consistent with God as light and God as love.
And that's pretty extensively testing, really, if we're honest about it. Is everything in my life consistent in John's first epistle, first John one, when he he brings about the importance of communion with the Father and enjoying one another and having fellowship with each other, it's on the ground.

01:05:22

Of perfect consistency with what God is, because that's the only ground that God can have any fellowship with us.
And that's the only ground on which the Lord Jesus gives life with us, and we with Him.
So it's really the constant enjoyment of a settled relationship, isn't it, Abiding. And that's why I believe.
You were mentioning about the Word of God, Bob, and I think it's a most needed exhortation. And I would add to it that if you don't feel like reading the Word of God, you don't have an appetite for it. Read it anyway. Read it anyway, even if you say I don't feel like it.
It'll do you good, and you'll find that it's what you need in order to cleanse you. If you don't have an appetite for it, something's wrong.
But the very thing you don't have an appetite for is the thing that is needed in order to put you back where you need to be. But there's more than that here, and that is the sense of the Lorde love. My brother Clem just mentioned it and I well, remember Harry Hayhoe saying that to us.
Read that verse and say it over to yourself every day of your life. And I can't mimic the way he used to say it, but it was with emphasis and.
He said come and see.
That's for us. Come and see.
So the enjoyment of the Lord's love.
I don't mean that that isn't there in the word, but the word, properly read, brings before me not merely a set of truths, not merely a set of right principles, not merely a set of commandments and dos and don'ts. All of that, in one sense, may be there.
But over and above it all, it brings before me the person of the one who a few chapters back said.
Now is my soul troubled, and what shall I say?
Father, save me from this hour, but for this cause came under this hour. And then the answer to it was, Father, glorify thy name, whatever it took.
Is that my prayer? Is that yours, Father glorify thy name? If so.
The pruning may be hard to take, but I'll be willing to endure it if the Father's name is glorified.
The circumstances may be very difficult, but gone through in the sense of the Lord's love will be an experience not to be missed, even though it may be difficult.
And so it's the sense of his love that we need to have. I know, Doctor, time is long gone, so you look at the clock. Sorry.
We have been to be thy pride in thee, Lord Jesus, Amen. I love Nathan.
#31.
Eternal.
Remains on.
The Daily.
Strike.
Angering was a season brilliant.
I reason.

My Children

Address—Don Rule

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Start our time together this afternoon by singing #40 in the appendix.
Hail to the Lord, annoyed great David greater son.
To the time appointed, they're all these years shall run.
He comes to break oppression, to set the captive free. take away Transgression and Rule in equity #40 in the Appendix.
Hail to the Lord's our Lord and grace.
We shall.
Be more.
Exodus chapter 21.

00:05:08

Exodus chapter 21.
And verse 5.
And the if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife.
And my children.
Now for a verse in Isaiah chapter 8.
Isaiah chapter 8.
And verse 18.
Behold, I and the children.
Whom the Lord hath given me.
Now Hebrews chapter 2.
Hebrews, chapter 2.
And verse 13.
And again I will put my trust in him. And again, behold I and the children.
Which God hath given me.
Thursday night my grandson Paul after meeting came up to me or before meeting.
And I received a paper from him. On the backside of the paper he had done a drawing for his grandma and his grandpa.
And the drawing was a house, and beside the house was a tree. And grandpa was up. A picture of grandpa up in the tree, and a picture of grandma riding in a swing on the tree.
Last night.
And on the other side, he his mother had taken down his dictation of a a thank you note.
Last night, in conversation with my brother Ralph Buchanan, he asked me after my children.
Those two things seem similar, and they are similar, but they're different.
In the one case.
I'm naturally interested.
I have a natural love for my children and my grandchildren.
And when someone of my own relatives comes up and one of my children or grandchildren comes up to me and gives me something or talks to me about something in the family, there's an immediate natural response in the heart to them.
And everyone is in a family here or has been in a family. And so you know what I'm talking about.
But when Ralph asked me about my children.
There's a little something deeper in that because Ralph and I are not in the same natural family. And there is also always a tendency for us to be just a little more interested, a little more caring for one of our own than somebody else's own.
Somebody brings you a picture to look at and if it's one of your family, oh there's an immediate interest. If it's somebody elses family, well yes, there's an interest, but it's hard to have quite the same measure of interest in it.
There's always, I suppose, a natural politeness, but.
True heartedness entering into it is not quite the same.
This afternoon it's before my soul to seek to have the Lord use what is said to enlarge our hearts.
Concerning himself.
And his natural family.
We see in Exodus chapter 21.
He says I love my master.
We know we don't have time to develop all these thoughts, but we know in Exodus 21 The Hebrew servant is a picture of the Lord Jesus.

00:10:01

And the Lord Jesus decision to remain a man for eternity. And at this point I'll just stop before I say anything more about it. It's been a great benefit to my soul in the last six months or so.
To take things and turn them around when there's relationships, to take the relationship and not take it from my side of it, but from the other side of it. What do I mean by that?
We read that, we pick up our Bibles and we read them and we think about them and there is a natural tendency in us to say what's in it for me.
And we're interested, according to my blessing, my place.
My future, my anything that's of great interest to us, naturally speaking.
But in the case in which I'm talking about.
What's in it for the Lord Jesus?
In Exodus 21, we learned something about what's in it for him for eternity by the tremendous decision that he has made that he will remain a man for eternity. And we learned that what's in it for him in a coming day is that he will have the opportunity to express forever what's in his heart towards those with whom he has a relationship.
My master.
That is, God, the Lord Jesus will find an eternal joy in His love, in remaining a man, that He might present God to man as He did when He was here on earth.
The Lord Jesus as a man was given a bride. You're part of it and so am I if you belong to the Lord Jesus. And by remaining a man, he is going to be able to minister and enter into.
That relationship for eternity.
As with his bride. And he chooses to do so because he says I love.
My bride.
The third is I love my children and the reason for reading Isaiah 8 and Hebrews 2 is I believe and from other scriptures we would learn that my children are the children, His Hebrew brethren in the flesh, who have put their faith in Himself, and to whom he they have received through Him life.
They're his children.
The children that God has given him.
His natural brethren in the flesh are called my brethren.
And so he is going to have the satisfaction of his love for eternity in his children, his brethren who have put their faith, their trust in himself.
And I would like to give emphasis this afternoon to those that he calls.
His brethren, and those among them who have become his children.
No, you and I don't share the same relationship, but if you will, if a photograph to our hearts of his relationship to another family than ourselves as part of the bride is brought before us, do we politely listen or do we truly in our hearts enter in with feeling?
And desire to know.
Our Lord Jesus heart toward them. That's what's on my before me this afternoon, brethren, that we might.
Have a little better appreciation, a little better knowledge in our hearts of the one we love as we think about those that he loves and to whom he is in a relationship that is different than.
Our own to himself.
Your Bibles are probably open now to Hebrews chapter 2.
And I would like to read a little bit here.
Starting with.
Verse 5. Hebrews 2/5.

00:15:04

For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come whereof we speak, but in a certain place testified, saying, What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the Son of man that thou visitest him?
Thou madest him a little lower than the angels. Thou crownest him with glory and honor. Thou did set him over the works of thy hands.
Thou has put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that He put all things in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under Him. But now we see not yet all things put under him, but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man, For it became Him for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, And bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which 'cause he is not ashamed to call them.
Brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren.
In the midst of, and it's better translated, assembly or congregation, I will bring praise unto thee, and again I will put my trust in Him. And again, behold I and the children which God hath given me. For as much then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part in the same, that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and to deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to *******.
For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
Wherefore in all things that behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to suffer that sucker them that are tempted.
Hebrews was written to the Hebrews. It was not written to the Gentile.
It was not directly addressed. It's written to the Hebrews.
It is written to those to whom at that time.
The word of God was being presented.
They were the Jewish, or Hebrew is a better word, the Hebrew brethren of the Lord Jesus. They were those who were of the same family, according to the flesh as Himself.
And we lose something of what's before me this afternoon if we're not able to put aside ourselves. And these verses as they can be applied to us and have been for wonderful blessing to our souls. But in this chapter.
The ones he is addressing as as my brethren were truly his brethren, those that he wanted to be his children.
In faith, and if they accepted him at that time or if they had embraced him by faith, we're going to be possessors of the heavenly portion and we're going to need to be sustained and maintained as we are in our heavenly hope.
I don't want to be, I hope, misunderstood. Every Gentile today and every Jew today on the face of the earth has the gospel of the grace of God presented to them, and if they do not receive it, they are facing an eternal separation from God in judgment without exception. But the Hebrews as a book was addressed to them, and it not only addressed them with respect to the time then present.
But there are aspects to that letter that look on to a future day when the Lord Jesus and His brethren will be nationally restored to one another for blessing on the earth.
And we learn something here of the heart of the Lord Jesus.
And his natural.
Brethren, the apostle Paul in Romans Chapter 9 he called them.

00:20:01

The natural branches we had this morning about branches in the vine and in Hebrews Chapter 9 we have branches in the olive tree of blessing on the earth and.
The the Lord's family, according to the flesh, according to the seed of Abraham, were natural branches.
You love your brothers, your sisters, I hope if you have a natural and proper feeling toward them, you love your sons and your daughters, and according to nature as well.
Lord Jesus.
Had and has today and will have in the future, a very special, a very personal love.
For those who are his natural brethren.
The apostle Paul entered into that in Romans 9, when he says concerning them, because there was unbelief among them, and they were not entering into the blessing, and had been temporarily and are put aside as a nation. He says in Mr. Darby's translation, I have great grief and uninterrupted pain in my heart.
And goes on to speak about them for my brethren.
The Apostle Paul doesn't exceed the Lord Jesus.
In that respect, the Lord exceeds the apostle in everything. The Lord Jesus, we could say as well this afternoon, has great grief and uninterrupted pain in his heart.
For his brethren.
It's well for us to seek to feel for the Lord in that, to seek to have a sense in our hearts for Himself and that pain that He experiences.
You know what it's like some in this room have perhaps children, or you have a brother or a sister who's not walking as they should.
Maybe an uncertainty in your soul as to whether or not there's faith there or not. Faith or confession of faith in the Lord Jesus. And so you, you have a pain.
A burden, a sorrow that you carry around that's greater in many cases than the ones we pray about publicly, which are those which are connected usually with physical problems and the pain is connected with that.
But.
We want to have something of the realization that the Lord Jesus understands that he has brethren too.
And he's estranged from those brethren, but he loves them.
And he desires their blessing.
Well, here in Hebrews chapter 2 and verse five, it says, For unto the angels, hath he not put in subjection the world to come? That's a term that a Jew understood easily. They recognized there was a world to come that was connected with the Messiah. And so when the Hebrews are being written to, they react to that with their knowledge that He is this man.
The Messiah, and then he quotes Psalm 8 and he says he's put him over the works of thy hands. And if you go back to Psalm 8, which we won't take the time to read, but everything in connection with Psalm 8 has to do with the earth.
We rightly understand and expand the scope of it to take them into the things in the heavens, as we have in Philippians chapter 2. And that's fine. But to those to whom it was written and to whom there was going to be the reaction, there was that sense of.
Oh, he is going to have his place among us.
As Messiah, He is going to have the supreme place over the works of the fish, the flower, and so on. And so they enter into that and look forward to that. Yes, looking for a heavenly portion.
Well, just trying to get the sense of it here in verse 11.

00:25:04

He then starts to quote a number of Old Testament scriptures that have to do with His brethren, and his brethren is those that we have been referring to. He says both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which 'cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. This really, I believe, refers to the Lord being baptized.
By John the Baptist.
The Lord Jesus as a man among men and among his brethren.
Took his place with them he didn't say I'm a perfect one and so I have to stay a little separate from the rest of you let's ask our hearts do our hearts work like that suppose there's somebody in the family circle and they do something that's publicly known and isn't very good and so there's a natural tendency in us to kind of.
Put that a little bit at a distance and make sure that people understand we don't agree with them or we don't aren't happy about the way they're going on or something like that. And so we put a little separation or a little distance.
Let's enter into the heart of the Lord. The Lord drew just as near to them as he could.
When John the Baptist said no, I don't want to baptize you, this is a baptism of repentance.
He said suffer it, allow it to be, and the Lord stands there as it were, and he takes his place as close as possibly could be, and identifies himself with them.
As his brother.
You know, sometimes with fellow believers and the members of the body of Christ, there's a tendency to say we don't act like that.
And we're not part of that.
And so we sort of make sure that it's understood that we have separated ourselves from it personally, individually, and perfectly. The Lord Jesus never was tainted by evil or the sin of Israel.
His brethren.
But in a public sense, he identified with them.
He didn't say it's too bad. It's them, but not me.
And so.
Here he identifies. He says I will.
In verse 11, both he that are sanctified and they that are sanctified, that is all of them at that time who would separate themselves, sanctify themselves from by the baptism of John the Baptist would then in that way identify.
With the Lord Jesus.
Verse 1112 I will declare thy name unto my brethren in the midst of the congregation. Really I will. Will I sing praise unto Thee? That's Psalm 22, isn't it? We read that Psalm frequently on the Lord's Day morning.
It's wonderful in the 69th Psalm and the 22nd Psalm how he identifies himself with his brethren.
Looked at in a future day, there is the great congregation, and he stands in the midst to be the choir leader, the one that is restored at that time. In their relationship together, his love can find its satisfaction. I love my brethren or my children.
And there together, he leads the singing of praise to God.
And in turn, God in the same congregation as it were, looks down, and he said, Exalt my son.
And so God takes the great congregation and separates him as supreme in it and as having the first place in it.
Verse 13.
I will put my trust in Him just to see it. Let's go back to Psalm, first to Psalm 16 and then to Psalm 18 where this is quoted. You go back with me to Psalm 16.

00:30:07

So I'm 16 and in our own chapter we will come to this verse that refers to this Psalm, Psalm 16 and verse one.
Preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put my trust.
O my soul, thou said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord, My goodness extendeth not unto thee.
But unto the Saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight, their sorrows shall be multiplied, that hasten after another God, and so on.
We typically apply Psalms to ourselves.
Which is good as long as we do it in the right way where it can be applied to us. But there's a series of psalms here that are specifically about the Lord Jesus.
As a man on Earth, this is one of them.
He says.
Preserve me, O God, for in Thee do I put my trust.
Lord Jesus took his place among his brethren.
And as a man, his place was one of trust and obedience. He entered in perfectly into the circumstances, in his love for them, and together in his own soul. He could say, Looking upward in thee.
Do I trust?
Then he says.
Thou art my Lord, my goodness, extended not to the amazing statement for the Lord Jesus to make.
Was he perfect? Yes. Was he divine? Yes. Was there sin in him? No.
But here he says, My goodness extendeth not to thee as a man. He took man's place perfectly. He was perfectly man, and man's place is God is the source of all good.
Man's goodness doesn't extend to God. Even perfect man. My goodness extendeth not to the Was it the right place, the right feeling to enter into? Yes, it was.
And he enters into it for himself, and his heart would enter into it with a desire for his brethren, that they too in love, might take the the same place.
But notice verse three, he says, But to the Saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.
No wonder our Lord Jesus has great grief and uninterrupted pain in his heart.
Because those in whom here he could say as a man was all his delight are not happy, are not walking in the enjoyment of a relationship with God. And he feels it and he felt it.
Psalm 18.
I love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom I will trust.
Verse six. In my distress I called upon the Lord. I crawled upon my God. He heard my voice. This is the Lord Jesus.
Yes, we learn in Sunday school, the first verse particularly, and we apply it to ourselves rightly.
But let's not forget to apply it to the Lord Jesus. It's in fact, it's really the interpretation of it. It's the thought of it, he says. In my distress, I call.
Will he understand in a coming day, when his brethren say, in my distress I called? Yes, he will.
Having been through it and experienced it in his own life, he was able and will be able to fully, completely appreciate and the feelings and the distress.
Of the work of God.

00:35:00

Or his brethren.
Let's turn back to.
Hebrews, chapter 2.
Verse 17.
Wherefore in all things that behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation or propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to suffer, suffer them that are tempted.
This is love.
This is a love that would so enter in to the.
Condition of one's brethren.
That one would go through a path.
Of suffering.
In order to be merciful and faithful to them.
In order to understand that a little better.
Like you to turn with me.
Back to I think it's Leviticus numbers, I'm sorry, I think it's numbers 35 or 6, something like that. We'll see. We'll find it. Turn with me to numbers.
Near the end of the book.
Numbers 35.
And verse nine. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them.
When you become over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then shall you point to you cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the Slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares.
And then?
Verse 13 And of these cities which he shall give, six cities he shall have for refuge.
And.
Verse. Verse 15. These six cities shall be a refuge both for the children of Israel and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them, that everyone that killeth any person unawares may flee thither.
And then?
Verse 25. And the congregation shall deliver the Slayer out of the hand of the revenge of blood, And the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whether he has fled. And he shall abide in it until the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil. And if the Slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whether he has fled, and the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge?
And the revenge of blood killed the Slayer. He shall not be guilty of blood, because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the Slayer shall return unto the land of his possession.
I don't want to upset anyone by this next remark, but we want to have the truth of God too.
The return of Israel to its land today is in the providential ways of God. It is not a fulfillment of future prophecy.
And what we've just read applies to the present condition of Israel and the Lord's relationship to them.
When the Lord Jesus was going to the cross, he said these words. Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
That is.
He took their act of murder in the land.

00:40:03

As an act of killing unawares.
And as a result of the statement of the Lord Jesus.
His people.
Were able or could flee to the city of refuge and be spared.
Until the time, as it says here, the death of the high priest.
The Lord's earthly brethren today.
Providentially of God, yes.
But not yet as the fulfillment of the prophecy to be gathered by the Lord into the land have left the city of refuge.
And are subject to the Manslayer.
Without guilt.
It's a solemn thing because the consequence is that.
As we read in Zechariah.
2/3 of them are going to die. Only one third of them will be live through the tribulation.
Lord Jesus feels that.
He did.
For their sake, cry out, Father, forgive them.
But the consequence and I I'll just refer to the scriptures because of the time. You can look them up for yourself if you wish. But if you go back to Deuteronomy 8.
We find there that the children of Israel are just ready to enter their land of promise and the Lord through Moses gives them his Moses last words to them and he says to them, he said Moses is to tell them, look back.
And you will see that the Lord brought you through these 40 years.
And the Lord sustained you for these 40 years.
And now you're going to go into the land and you're going to face a test. And the test is this. You're going to be tempted to say by my might I have arrived here.
And it will be your pride that will lift you up to take the merit or the claim or the honor for having brought yourself into your land and to dwell there.
In Isaiah chapter 2 we see that as still future.
Today, these dear people.
Have pride.
By our hand we have brought ourselves into this place.
This is Isaiah 2. By our hand we have sustained ourselves.
We have kept back the enemy that would destroy us.
And.
Brethren, it's a lesson to us individually. No flesh shall glory in His presence.
We get lifted up collectively, the Lord has to put his hand on it. We get lifted up as a family, the Lord has to put his hand on it. We get lifted up in our souls individually, and the Lord has to put his hand on us. There's no fruit for God in that.
It's of His grace and it's of His mercy.
That we are blessed and sustained by himself, but the moment to our hearts.
Take what God has done for us and say by my might, by my faithfulness, by my whatever.
Then God has to say there's nothing for me in that. There's nothing for me, my glory in that. There's no fruit for myself in that. And so He has to put it aside and judge it. And in fact, in Isaiah chapter one, it says the people will be redeemed.
We're used to that. We're redeemed, aren't we? We love the verse. Redeemed by the precious blood of Christ.
And that's true for Jew, Gentile, every person that individually and personally comes into blessing with God, it's by the precious blood of Christ. But in Isaiah 1, where it's talking about the people as a whole, it says redeemed by judgment. Solemn, isn't it? Redeemed by judgment. And that's what's going to happen. The redemption is going to be through a process of judgment.

00:45:13

That will bring.
Souls to say.
No, Lord, will you deliver us or helpless? We're hopeless without your work or us.
And the wonderful thing is that when God does the work, he does it perfectly and completely. And when the Lord finishes his his work of bringing the brethren into the land.
We're told that prophetically, every single one on the face of the Earth will be there.
Just like every single redeemed one for the heavenly family will be called home, and all the four and 20 seats for the four and 20 elders in Revelation chapter 4 will be occupied, so with the Lord's brethren in that day, every single one of them on the whole face of the earth, there won't be a Jew and as we would call them today.
There will be a Hebrew in the United States or Canada or Mexico or wherever. Every single one will be in the land in their possession at the end.
Something else touches my heart. I hope it touches yours. We read it in several places, but let's turn to.
Hezekiah, Hezekiah. Zechariah.
Zechariah chapter 10. Zechariah chapter 12. Sorry Zechariah 12.
And verse 10.
Then I will pour upon the House of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications, and they shall look on me whom they have pierced. And they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one is in bitterness for his first born. And that day there shall be a great morning in Jerusalem as the morning of.
Had to driven in the valley of Magiddon, and the land shall mourn every family apart, the family of the House of David apart and their wives apart.
The family of the House of Nathan apart and their wives apart. The family of the House of Levi apart and their wives apart. The family of Shemiah apart and their wives apart, and all the families that remain.
Sad words, all the families that remain, every family apart and their wives apart.
Verse eight of chapter 13. And it took on to pass in that all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die, but the third part shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is refined.
And they shall call upon my name, and I will hear them, and I will say it is my people.
And they shall say, the Lord is my God. Now before we comment on this, turn with me to Genesis.
Chapter 40.
To find it.
And chapter 42. Genesis chapter 42.
And verse.
20.
Three. And they knew not that Joseph understood them, for he spake unto them through an interpreter. And he turned himself about from them, and wept, and returned to them again, and communed with them, and took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes. And then over to chapter 45.

00:50:13

And verse one then Joseph could not refrain himself before all of them that stood by him. And he cried, caused every man to go out from me, and there stood no man with him, while Joseph made himself known.
Unto his brethren.
And he wept.
There's going to be a process of repentance that will have to take place between the Lord and those that are His children that He calls His brethren.
There are a lot of tears ahead for the Lord Jesus in that process.
Restoration, repentance, and restoration is generally a very painful process.
And those individually, perhaps at times with respect to the assembly and so on.
And so we read and what's going to happen is the Lord is going to present himself to them. They're not going to yet really know him as Joseph does. And he sees them and he weeps, he turns away because he can't make himself yet known to them. And there will be a process that is going through till.
He's able.
To weep in their presence.
And.
Say to him, my brethren, and they too will weep in response. Their hearts will be touched, and they will return that weeping with himself, and mourn, because for them it's, oh, as it were, our brother only is more than that but our Messiah.
We're responsible for having rejected him and put him away from us and said no. You know what it's like if you've ever had a family member turn away from you in some way and say no, I don't want anything more to do with you. It hurts. It hurts. It's deep in the soul and here. It's deep in the heart of the Lord Jesus and it's going to have to be gone through. And again, brethren, my whole desire is that.
Well, we'll be all happy, you might say, but I don't know.
I don't know, it may be the Lord will allow us.
To go through it with him, at least in a little measure, that is, He is going through this process of being restored with his brethren or they restored to him, that we'll be able to enter into it in our hearts as well in such a way that maybe we'll have our weeping too, with him. You know what it's like to have sympathy for someone else in a situation. I hope we're able to have sympathy with him at this time.
I think we will.
And so here it is. I think there are five occasions. Actually we just took two of them, but there are five occasions where the Lord weeps here. And so it's not going to be just one short little moment, but it's going to be process.
I'd like to conclude with the time we have by referring to a scripture in Matthew's Gospel chapter 25.
This is the day of when the Lord gives out appreciation.
At the end of the tribulation, in the beginning of the Kingdom, and he says.
Um, verse 31 of Matthew 25 And before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left. And the king shall say unto them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of my father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was in hunger, and you gave me meat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was.
In prison, And you came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord.
Windsor weedy and hungered and fed thee, or thirsty, and gave thee drink. Wind saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in, or naked and clothed thee, Or when saw we thee sick or in person, and came unto thee. And the King shall answer, and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, And as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren.

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You have done it unto me.
Right after World War 2.
Some of the people today called the Jews went to Europe to do research to try to find people who had been helpful to them during the Holocaust time.
When they were being.
Seven and a half million of them murdered.
One and a half million of which were children.
And they started a list, which today they call the Righteous Among the Nations. And it's a list that they have been accumulating from that time to this of people that they have been able to find that took in a one of their own and sheltered them or helped them in some way to be preserved from being put to death.
About 1947 they went to South Central France and they found their a minister that had been quite instrumental along with his fellow associate minister something in finding places to shelter the people. Later on he came under the eye of the Nazi people, the party and got into trouble, although his life was spared and.
They went to these people in that area that had sheltered.
These who were called here, my brethren.
At least.
As a people.
They said to him, why did you do it?
And they said for Darbyites.
We have been taught.
That the scripture says that we should be coined. We should, as it would say here, take in the stranger visit, help that person.
We may never have that privilege. I don't know.
But brethren, let's be ready, let's be willing. Let's have that heart.
That recognizes the ways of God in the present.
Recognizes what's coming.
And enters in with the Lord Jesus into his own heart, as he feels today, as he will in the future, as he makes that choice that he has made to remain a man out of love.
For his children, let's pray.

John 15

Reading

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If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you shall ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is My Father glorified that you bear much fruit, so shall ye be My disciples. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue ye in My love. If ye keep My commandments, you shall abide in My love, even as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love.
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants, for their servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth.
But I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you that you love one another.
If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own. But because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you. The servant is not greater than his Lord. If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin, but now.
They have no cloak for their sin. He that hateth me, hateth my father also. If I had not done among them the works which none other men did, they had not had sin. But now have they both seen and hated both me and my father.
But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law. They hated me without the cause. But when the comforters come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me. And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
I wonder if I could ask a question.
In the 24th of Luke there were two disciples that went to Emmaus, and when their hearts were stirred they said to the Lord, abide with us.
And immediately after the Lord disappeared for me.
And I was just wondering about the difference between.
Inviting the Lord to abide with us, or we abiding with Him.
Seems like it's there's quite a difference, isn't there? The Lord's desire is that we would abide with Him. We would be where he is in the 14th chapter he speaks of.
That where I am, ye may be also.
So abiding with the Lord.
It's not a question, is it of?
We're going our own way and inviting the Lord to come with us and to be with us in a position we choose to take. But it's the Lords invitation for us to abide in the path of his choosing and where he is, isn't it?
Good answer.
That's just what I was thinking too. You did it. You gave us a very good answer to your question, Cecil.
Seems to me the two on the way to Emmaus, once they recognized who the Lord was and once they recognized all of the scriptures that he brought before them. It seems the Lord is saying, and now if you want further communion, you have to retrace your steps because you're on a path that I didn't send you on. And that's often true in our own lives, isn't it, if we want communion with the Lord.

00:05:12

It's true in grace He may go with us.
Not that you and I have that right, but the Lord has the right, and He may go with us.
Even going so far as to extend grace to us in a wrong path. But then there comes a point where He makes us realize that we're on a wrong path, and then it's a matter of our taking the action in obedience to do what He has brought before us, isn't it?
Their hearts were warmed and they did return back to where they came from. And so it had the desired effect and that the Lord was the Lord. The focus needed to be from the Lord, and He's the one that chooses. And we follow, don't we? But when we do follow, there is communion there, and then we abide there.
So then there's common thoughts and we can we we think about the same thing and.
The Christian who dwells with the Lord is the only person in the world who can have everything he wants.
So it's a wonderful thing that our prayers and we can ask for what we want because we are abiding in Christ and we want the right things and he gives us those right things.
I was thinking that the turning point of those two, in the way that they may ask, is when they got their eyes opened as to who he really was. And so often souls stray.
Because there's questions and they get involved with thinking about this person and that person.
Brethren, what we need is to have Christ before our souls. And immediately when they realize who it was, they knew where they belonged and it wasn't too far that walk to go all the way back to Jerusalem and they're needless to disciples. And there he appeared to them again.
So I really think that's a good remedy, brother, to think sometimes we try to answer all these hard questions.
What we really need is to have our eyes open as to His glorious person.
I.
Just like to read and in the French translation, Mr. Darby's French translation, he uses this word dwell. And our brother Dawn touched upon it in the previous meeting. So you could read it this way in verse seven, chapter 15 of John verse seven. If he dwell in me, and my words dwell or live in you, he shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you. And so throughout in this chapter, he uses this word in the French translation as well or to live.
And it's the same word in Luke chapter 24 that you refer to. Abide with us means dwell or live with us, dwell with us. They wanted the nearness of that beloved person. They didn't perhaps recognize exactly who it was at the moment, but there was something that attracted their hearts. They wanted him to dwell with him, with them. And so here the Lord Jesus invites them, invites his disciples to that relationship, to enjoy that relationship.
And of nearness and closeness, if he abide or if he dwell in thee. And so there's responsibility on our part. There's every provision made from the heart of the Savior. He does want us to dwell in his presence and with a conscious sense of His approval of our walk in our ways. And so we will know, it says, if my words dwell or abide in you.
And so he brings it back to the Word of God. We're going to know, we're going to have a sense of his approval and a sense of that which is right and that which is meets with his holy approval if we know His word and it dwells within us.
Wonderful thing that a holy God wants to have communion with us and that's not long after being Israel and bringing them out of Egypt, we were to build a Tabernacle well amongst them.
Come to me and not well, bringing in the land of the building permanent temple, but no before that as soon as possible they're mentioned and then we think of eternity where Tabernacle God is just a minute well with them and they shall do this and God himself shall exist to your God. I think that is all through this portion we're taking up the Lord wants more than our works of service.

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He wants us, he wants fellowship meeting with us and we could be still right outwardly against so long and we're out of fellowship with him and that's the all important thing. He wants our fellowship.
In this verse seven, though, it's interesting how it puts it, brother, and I think it's to meditate if ye abide in me. And notice this next part.
And my words abide in you.
Doesn't say if you read the Bible.
My words abide in you. That's why we need meditation. It's not only reading the word, but it's meditating until that word that we read becomes a part of us. It's there. It's abiding. And that's so important in our Christian lives, if we're going to.
The fullness of what life really is in Christ.
Let his words abide in US.
I just wanted to touch on something.
Back in verse five too, that I think is beautiful too, because it talks about abiding there. I'm the vine, year, the branches, He that abideth in me, and I in him the same bringeth forth much fruit.
Or without me, he can do nothing.
Like the link that with another verse in the gospels that says.
With God.
All things are possible.
Without me you can do nothing.
And it really depends on our focus, brother. It's not what we can do, it's what he does. He may use us as instruments, but it's abiding in him so that if he does want to use this, we are ready as an instrument for him to use. It's his work without me. So often I experience my own life.
Have a thought to do something?
And so often in a day's.
Living it seems like I'm just spinning my wheels not getting anywhere.
How important it is at the beginning of the day.
We take quiet time to be in His presence, to let His Word sink into our souls, to realize our portion of being in Him. And it's His work, His eternal purposes, that are going to be fulfilled, Brethren, not my purpose so much as it is His. And then there can be fruit, then there can be.
Positive.
Going forward in the things of Christ. And so in verse seven it is you shall ask what she will and it shall be done to you. Like Doug was saying, and we asked the right things and he could give them to us because that's his will.
And Adam all die.
Because in Adam.
Sinful Adam.
Not a single act of anything that comes from that life in nature which brings fruit to God or glorifies God.
So the only possible way there can be fruit in our lives is if we have a life that can produce it. And the only life that produces fruit for God is the life of Christ. And so God has given to us to share in that life.

00:15:02

He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath not life. We read in first John 5. And so God has given to us, and we have in US the life of Christ.
But let's look at it for a little minute further. When you think of a natural child, that child is born with the capacity.
To know and do its parents will, but it doesn't know their will. It has to be received from them. Communications which explain and express the will of the parent. And we're assuming a willingness, not a rebellion here in the child. Then they can say, oh, I know what my dad wants and they can do it. We receive the life of Christ. And so we have the capacity to be fruitful and to do as well.
But at the same time, we need to listen to him. We need to learn his mind, his words, his thoughts. We know what it's like when something comes up and someone says, well, what's what'll so and so think. And then what we're saying in that is we don't know their mind completely. Or we say we'll ask their wife or ask their husband or do this or that. Somebody that can I say knows them. When Peter wanted to know what the Lord was thinking at the Last Supper, he said to John, what's?
You asked him, he recognized that John was dwelling, if you will, closer to the Lord than he was, and therefore can enter into his thoughts and his word in in a practical sense. And so it is with us when we walk in the what the Lord gives us, then he gives us more and we can grow in the knowledge of his will and his word and and live it.
Why did the Lord Jesus never pray an improper prayer? Because every single request that He ever brought before the Father was in keeping with the Father's mind and will. And God would want us to grow in that same way. As it says in first John, two of the Father, you have known him, which was from the beginning. That is, they had come to know the Father.
And as and they had gone so that you might have gone to them and said, well, what's the father thing? Well, this is what his mind is on this matter.
Just kind of like we prayed this morning. We had a prayer meeting.
And we tend and properly, I suppose we go to the Lord and we're sort of saying, Lord, we're worried about this person, please make them better or please come into their life or please save them.
But as we had a little earlier this afternoon, turn it around.
Let's take Dirk.
In Tasmania.
Who's more interested in Dirk Salvation?
Us or God?
God is more interested by far than we are. It's a privilege for us to share a little bit in God's interest in that persons salvation and we can express.
Our fellowship with the God in something that He is infinitely more interested in than we are. Is somebody sick? Is the Lord more interested in that sick person? Or are we?
The Lord is. And so when we come to the Lord and ask something, we come to one who is far, far more interested and more deeply interested in the well-being of that person than we are. And yet God in his goodness would say to us, I want you to enter in. I want you to ask as one that you might say is in fellowship with my mind and what I'm doing.
And what I think about this matter, and if we were fully in the mind of God, we would always ask, and it would always be fruitful according to His will.
And as you see, Don, there was only one that did that perfectly, wasn't there? There was only one who never needed, we say it with all reverence, a thorn in the flesh. There was only one who never tried to go anywhere, as Paul did a say, to go into Bathinia and the Spirit suffered him not. We're thankful for a Paul that was responsive to the preventiveness of the Spirit.

00:20:16

And so we have to realize, although we don't.
Shall we say plan to fail in it?
But John speaks, as we have often heard in the ads for abstract and in the perfection.
Of what God sees in His beloved Son. We carry out this seventh verse imperfectly, but that's the desire that God has for us, that we might abide in Christ, that His words might abide in US, and that our prayers might be in keeping with the mind of God.
We can come in the spirit of it, even if we don't always have the intelligence.
I think it's good for us to recognize too, that this brings us into confidence where we have confidence if we abide or we dwell in Him and if His word abide in us, there's confidence that says in.
First John, chapter 5.
And verse 14, this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He heareth us. And if we know, or since we know that you hear us whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him. And so there are those desires that we have in our hearts, and we have the confidence to go to the Lord if we walk in obedience to His Word and we have a conscious sense of His presence.
There's a brokenness he desires to respond to that state or that that state that we have. I just suggested in this way is a father and a son. A son that walks in obedience to his father has confidence to go to his father to ask for something, perhaps to ask to buy, to borrow the car, to go out for the evening or something. That's that confidence if he walks in the love of his father.
He understands the heart of his Father. And so in this way we ask as we abide closely with the Lord and we want his will. Paul as soon as he was saved could say, Lord, what wilt thou have he to do? He didn't want his own way. And that's where we stray is when we want something that God doesn't want. Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? We need to acknowledge the Lordship of Christ that we are bought with a Christ. You're not your own. You're bought with a price. And so if we recognize as those that are members of the family of God.
Here and we walk with the Lord if we want what he wants, we're going to get the best thing.
And that confidence can be pretty bold at times. It's beautiful to see illustrations and scripture of that. I think Robert of Elijah, who prayed that it would not rain for 3 1/2 years.
That's pretty old.
And it didn't rain the 3 1/2 years.
Where did he get that idea?
Have the windows of heaven shut.
Was that something that just popped into his mind?
No, that was the word of God. God himself excited. His people would forsake him and go after other gods. He would shut the windows of heaven and Elijah pray. He prayed the Scriptures. Really. He simply asked God to do what His Word had said He would do all the time. And God responded and there were real results, positive results.
So it can be very bold and I don't know, rather than it really seems to me that this is an area we need to be exercised about in our lives. I, I don't know if you do, but I, I find prayer real work.
It's not easy.
It takes concentration. And it's not only prayer that Scripture speaks about. It talks about.
Supplications. Do we know what that means to get into God's presence and supplicate?

00:25:06

To really get into his presence and sense his thoughts about it in the light of scripture, really think this is an area we need to.
Be exercised in all of us younger people as well. You can be a real blessing.
By cultivating fellowship with God.
In reading of his word and prayer. Oh what a blessing it is to see young people that are exercised in this way. There's real profit in it and the person himself generally doesn't notice any change. Others around will.
But let's be exercised. Let me encourage our young people to be serious with God in prayer. Is it just getting down on our knees and kind of saying a few words every day kind of keep things going Normally, that's not what God is interested in. He's interested in real serious relationship in these areas of reading the Word and prayer.
My brother Bob did.
Elijah, pray earnestly like that.
And then, after the time was up, he prayed it rained.
Go ahead.
Well, I was just thinking that God.
Delays to bless his people and its judgment is his strange work. And I think Elijah shared in the thoughts of God that he didn't. He didn't want to stop the rain. It was necessary for the work in the hearts of the people of God. He prayed earnestly because he knew the devastating results that it could have on the people of God. He loved them, but God is so ready to bless them.
It was time for the rain to come. He just prayed and God sent the rain.
But he prayed 7 times, didn't he?
And then the 7th time his servant said there's a little cloud about the size of a man's hand. That's it.
And before he got to was it Israel?
It was.
Full of them.
Of lightning and Thunder.
I'm saying it right, but full of rain. Yes, God does one of us.
The 7th and the 8th verses are connected.
Talking about the second seventh verse and asking.
And in the eighth verse we have herein is my Father glorified, and he names two things in which the Father is glorified in one, that we bear much fruit, and the fact that they would be his disciples. That is, it's always good to keep in mind in our souls with God that when He's going to do something, He will do it according to his own glory.
And if we're going to ask him for something, we can ask ourselves in our own soul, as Bill says, we don't enter in perfectly, but it is well for us sometimes when, as Bob said, his prayers kind of work. Sometimes at times we have to stop and think before we make a request. And when we stop and think about what we're going to ask for, it's well for us to say in our souls, is God going to be glorified?
And what if the result comes out as asked?
Will God receive glory from it? Does he honor himself in it? Well, we look at man. Man's a fruitless creature in himself, but one who is in the vine and Christ and has the life of Christ now can be fruitful for God. And when that fruit is produced in that life, God is glorified in it when there's a person on earth who is a follower.
Disciple God is honored, God is glorified in that we can.
Properly always pray for the salvation of every person and every soul that we may individually pray for, because we have no doubt that as God wants their salvation and so on, that we might pray according to what would glorify Him.

00:30:14

It's interesting that the discipleship is the result of the fruit bearing we sometimes.
Think of it as the rapper's order. We think of ourselves as disciples and then because we're disciples and we want to be bear fruit, glorify the Lord. But here the the it's what makes us disciples is very proof glorifying the Lord. So I think that's wonderful to look at it that way.
I've enjoyed that very much, Doug. I believe that.
The whole essence of being a disciple is to walk in communion with him, isn't it? And as the Lord was saying to his disciples here, he was going to go away from them. He was going to leave this world. But then what? They would be left here. Left here as a witness to what He was, and to walk before this world and to show them what Christ was. And so if you and I are going to be disciples.
The essence of that is a walk in communion with Him. It's not merely, as we said earlier, holding on to a certain set of principles or truths, although that's included very definitely. But it's the abiding in Him. It's The Walking before Him. It's having confidence in prayer and.
It's glorifying the Father, which is the essence of what Christ did down here, didn't He?
Verse 9 The Father, I mean the Lord Jesus lived his whole life in the perfect and complete confidence.
Of being the object of the Father's love.
As a son in relationship to his Father, as the Father hath loved me.
He went through his whole life perfectly, enjoying the love of the Father to him the Son.
And.
He says to us in that verse, continue ye in my life, that is, I want you to feed on my love for you.
I want you to walk in the conscious enjoyment that I love you perfectly, completely, 24/7 in your life. That's what it is to continue in His love and connected with it with us is don't allow anything in our lives that would stop us from being able to enjoy that love.
That would keep us from the enjoyment of it by our own actions, by our own willfulness.
As another is said, don't try to love the Lord more than you do.
Don't try to produce that love in yourself, but be occupied with His love for you.
Want to go back in the same connection to something that was in the morning reading about food, and in that connection we were talking about reading the word of God.
The.
Food, the physical food, is for our bodies.
But the Word of God is the food of our souls.
And you can starve just as much in your soul as you starve in your body if you don't continue to eat. And I think it was Bill that said even if you don't want to eat or read the word of God, eat anyway or read the word of God anyways. It's been said that a person who is starving after a while loses the sense of hunger, as amazing as that may seem.
And what can happen to us if we don't feed on the word of God? We're starving, but we don't feel hungry. We're not conscious of the fact that we are starving and one more along the same line of things and and abiding in his love and so on. And that is.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the essential food of our new life.

00:35:04

The Lord Jesus himself is the essential food.
Of our new life, not only now, but for eternity.
You have some people and they say, well, I don't know. If you took an unsaved lost person to heaven, they want to get out. They would not be happy there because they have nothing in them that is satisfied with Christ as the food of the new man. And so the whole atmosphere is contrary to their will and desires. And such a person would say, how? Where's the door? Let me out of here. There's no life there. There's no satisfaction, there's no food there.
But for us, the anticipation of being with the Lord Jesus is a wonderful thing because at least in measure we have a sense that he is the one that when we're occupied with him, satisfies our hearts and will do so without tiring of it or getting saying, oh, what else do you have for me?
It's wonderful to think from how the Lord Jesus perfectly represented the love of the Father to him. To us. That is, He did not just appropriate some of that love for himself. Selfishly, we're often guilty of that. We take the love of God, enjoy it for ourselves, but we don't pass it on.
We don't represent it to others, we don't show up for it to others. And I believe that's what the Lord is saying here. He he was getting ready to live, to leave and he wanted that flow of love to continue. He had represented it perfectly. And he tells the disciples that the measure that the Father loved me. So if I loved you and I say now you do the same. And the next verse tells us how.
So it's a it's a wonderful thing and we've had already reminded that this is really the secret to the Christian life and that this verse needs to be read frequently.
Being reminded of the of that love that has been shown to us is to give us that power, to pass it on and to show it to others and they.
We are the only Bible, as it's been often said that some people read and sadly maybe they don't get a very good representation of the Bible if we don't live with right.
It's beautiful to connect this verse nine with verse in chapter 16.
In verse nine of our chapter it says the Father hath loved me.
In that nature, he says, so have I loved you.
Now in chapter 16 and verse 27.
He says for the Father himself loveth you.
Because ye have loved me.
In that beautiful brother, the way that that love is shared for one another, and a true believer is one who loves the Lord Jesus Christ.
And because we love him, the Father loves us.
Beautiful the the way they relate together.
I think it is so important to grasp it. Continuing ye in verse nine of our chapter, he says continue ye in my love.
We often is that hymn that says love with love that knows no measure.
Save the Father's love to thee, blessed Lord. Our hearts would treasure all the Father's thoughts of thee. O brotherhood, what a rich portion it is.
You and I are loved, I've been saying, preaching the gospel and present.
You may go to a lost eternity.
That you will never go unloved. You will never be able to say.
Lost Eternity.

00:40:02

That you, no one ever loved you He loves. And how can you put on a measure in God's love? It's eternal. There is no way to measure it.
And it's the enjoyment of that love that is really what will keep us.
Christianity is based on that.
I was thinking of a verse in first John chapter 2 and like to share it in connection with this too.
In the exhortation to the young men.
He says.
In verse 15.
Love not the world.
Neither the things that are in the world.
Now notice this part.
If any man love the world.
The love of the Father is not in him.
So what's put in contrast here is the love of the world on one side.
The love of the Father and as has already been expressed, the Lord Jesus was one person who passed through this world.
Always in the consciousness of the love of the Father.
Did this world have any attraction for him?
Absolutely nothing. Why?
Because he had something so much more supremely blessed, the love of his Father, He walked from the consciousness of it always. Now you and I are in this world, and we have that same life.
This world attracts you.
You know what? It's going to keep us from the love of the world.
The enjoyment of the love of the Father.
The Lord help us these things become a reality in our hearts.
So they enjoy. Excuse me, The enjoyment of that love is conditional on our obedience, isn't it?
And that's what it says in verse 10.
If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love well.
We'll never be able, I suggest, to walk the Christian life in a proper way unless we have a sense.
Of the Lord's love in our souls.
Doesn't matter how much truth I have before me, how many principles of God's word, how intelligent I may be in the things of God.
But I will run out of energy unless my affections are engaged. And that's what distinguishes, if we could say it, Christianity from every false religion. Christianity presents to me a person that not only brings before me.
What He is as far as His Holiness and his life, but also brings before us his love and what God looks for in you and me is The Walking in the good of his love. Well, the world has turned this around and made it into a hesitate to use the term, but made love out to be a fuzzy warm feeling if I might use that expression.
That ignores truth and that ignores principle. Is that true love? Not at all, not at all. That is just glossing over all that is wrong in order to pretend that everything is all right. It doesn't work even in worldly things, and man knows that.
Was very interesting. A week or two ago, I was reading about a young man who was not a believer by any means and not writing from the vantage point of a believer. But he had been living an immoral life and going out with this girl and that girl and as we would say, having the good life. He had plenty of money and so on. And it was recorded in a secular article that finally he said it would be so nice to come home at night.
And have my own wife to come to and know that she would be there every time I came home waiting for me. What did he long for? And established abiding relationship? He longed for what the Word of God would have told him clearly was right. But he thought that he could improve on God's wisdom.
Then there are others that separate the commandments from the love of God, but the Word of God always brings them together. We can't separate commandments. We can't separate truth from the source of them, from the person. And so it's not a question of saying here is a code of do's and don'ts and this is what you want to do and this is what you can't do and so on. It's a matter of saying, as it says here, if you keep my commandments.

00:45:23

Ye shall abide in my love, no more blessed place than that.
And then what are those commandments? Are they irksome as we've had brought out? Are they something that galls on me because I say, but I don't want to do that? No, they're the happy, joyful response of one who says, this is the blessed will of the one who died for me.
His commandment is life everlasting. This is the way of life. His commandments, they're not the Old Testament commandments, are there? They are the New Testament commands I liked.
What AC Brown used to say the difference between the commandments of the Old Testament and the commandments of the new is Simply put as this.
Commandments of the Old Testament were. Do this and you will live.
And the commandments of the New Testament are.
Live and you'll do this.
Think about it. I think that really sums it up. First He gives us the life in Christ and then he gives us the divine directives for that life, His commandments. You can't ignore them. Young people, Scripture says be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, young people, if you're thinking of a relationship, a serious relationship towards marriage.
Don't go with unbelievers. Scripture is very clear about that. Don't let your heart get entangled.
The command is clear. Don't do it. He wants you to have a happy life, and you're not going to have it in ignoring his commandments. So there are many commands of the New Testament. Pay attention. They're there for your own good.
And welfare.
I think it's important to see the connection between verse 9 and 10, and unfortunately the King James Version somewhat obscures this. The word continued in verse nine, and the word for abider, verse 10 is actually the same word in Greek.
In other words, first our Lord tells us of this wonderful infinite grace of God. This love of God is beyond conception. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. And I agree with the brother who said that's a birth to consider every day, his mother so wonderful. And then the thought should be about every believers crime. How can I enjoy this? How can I abide in and continue with it? The same word and verse 10 answers that thought of the latter half of verse 9. How can we continue or abide in this love?
If you keep my commandments, you shall buy you my love and.
Just like that Sunday school him that is so simple and yet so profound trust and obey. There's no other way to be happy with Jesus but depressed ovation. So God's love is grace. It's it's unconditional, it's unmerited but now to enjoy that love. There's a responsibility on our part to be keeping God's commandments and if we're not doing that, we certainly are saying, but we're not going to be enjoying that salvation. There's got to be an obedience if we're not obedient that shows that we really don't trust the love of God doing. We don't need to have some area of our soul and we haven't allowed.
The love of God to really penetrate.
And if you don't have the confidence in this love that you should, we're out acting in discipline. So the love of God is unconditional, but the enjoyment of that is very much conditional on our needs.
Like to read a few verses in first John 4, three and four in action was like before us.
First John, chapter 3.
Verse 7.
Little children, let no man deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil.
For the devil sinneth from the beginning.
For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin.

00:50:10

Where his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. And then.
Down in verse in chapter 4.
Verse 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God, and he that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love.
Everything has a source.
And it's important for us to know the source from which something comes.
And God is the source of what?
The statement God is love, and if that love abides in US and comes in US, God is the source of it.
And it's pure, it's holy, it's according to God's own nature.
And if it's in US and it abides in us, it will manifest itself as we have in First John and as we have in our chapter in.
Its love for the Lord, for the Lord, particularly for us, for our brethren.
And yet to put the contrast on it.
There's a lot, the source of which is Satan. Satan is a deceiver. Satan is lives in enmity of God and he would constantly seek to put in the minds and hearts of people that which is from himself as a source.
Which is a hatred of God and all that is of God.
So sometimes it does come into the heart, as the Lord said to Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan. That is what was coming out of Peter. The Lord recognized its source, and it had to be judged. And so it can be easily with us that we not have thoughts at times, and we stop and we say to ourselves, where did that thought come from?
Whatever made me think that way?
Sometimes, just by repetition, by what the world puts in us, we tend to hear and hear and hear, and the first time we hear it, we don't think about it in any way or not. But if we just listen to it enough times, that can easily form the habit of the pattern of our thinking, and it can often be in reality a pattern which is not of God.
As Bob read the verses in chapter 2, Love Not the World.
Things that are in the world. Why? Because in the end it says for it is not of the Father.
That is, of the world. In other words, the source of it is wrong.
The world stands in opposition to God, and if I love it, then I the source of what I'm loving is that which can't come from God's heart.
Because it is opposed to him and what he is in love. And so the final comment, a brother in my youth, some of us here have heard him say it many times, but he kept saying read the word of God until your very thoughts are formed by the language of Scripture. We need to feed on this word because our very thoughts need to be formed by it so that the source of our thoughts.
Is consistent with God who is light and God who is love. Not consistent with the newspaper or the radio or the television or anything else. It has to be formed by the right source if we are to dwell in the daily practical sense with God and enjoy fellowship with Him.
If we could make one more practical remark.
Never take a step in your life.
That involves clear disobedience to the Word of God. Now that might seem to be an unnecessary statement.
But how many times, and I speak to my own heart, when there are difficulties and there are difficulties in the Christian life. And where we contemplate some kind of a step that might seem on the surface to be going to take us out of that difficulty. And either we see it ourselves or someone else brings it before us that involved in that step, whether it's an association or whether it's something we're going to do.

00:55:08

Is clearly and definitely contrary to God's Word.
And how many times I speak to my own heart have I heard, dear soul say.
Well, but I feel, I feel the Lord, I feel clear, I feel comfortable before the Lord in going, going down this road, or I feel that it's the mind of the Lord for me to do that at this time and so on.
Many times I say to my own heart, I have had to sit back and say well.
Can I say anymore?
But it is not going to result in our abiding in the Lord's love, even if it might seem feasible and plausible at the time.
If we fly in direct disobedience to the Word of God, if we're planning to do that, to use the world's term, we need to go back to the drawing board. We need to go back into the Lord's presence and say Lord.
Somehow I am using my thoughts as Dawn says there's a source here of the plan or the thought that I have in mind that is not coming from the right source.
And I need to deal with it.
You need to have a right attitude to the Word of God as well, don't we? Yeah, I think exists in connection with the Song of Solomon, chapter 2, just a little phrase in verse 8, the voice of my beloved. Is that how I read the Word of God? When I read the Word of God, do I say this is a commandment for my wife? When she says something to me, do I say, no, this is this a commandment? I say when she speaks to me, this is the voice of my beloved and the attitude that I ought to have in connection with the Word of God. The preciousness of it is that this is the voice of my beloved.
And he's giving me instruction here as to a path that will lead to joy. And he wants me to have a path of joy, a life of joy. The enemy is a destroyer, as our brother has said. I'll just point this out in Revelation chapter. I think it's chapter 20.
The enemy is it says in Revelation chapter 20 and verse two. This verse is quoted twice in Revelation. It says in Revelation 20 and verse two that he laid hold on the dragon that old surface which is the devil and Satan and bound in 1000 years. And he uses 4 words to describe the enemy here. And so the dragon first is really his character is a.
Destroyer, and that's Revelation 9, verse 11. He's spoken there as a bad and and Apollyon. He's a destroyer and then he's the old serpent, an old deceiver and its subtlety, it's really his character in Genesis chapter 3.
And then you have his work as Satan. The name means an adversary. And then?
I skipped the devil here. It says the devil and he's a tempter that's really he's desiring to tempt you and I. His work is to destroy and his work is to deceive and attempt and to be an adversary. And so he's going to be an adversary in that way as to what the plain teaching of the word of God is. And so our brother.
Bill pointed out that sometimes you and I can be deceived by our own thoughts. And if we set aside the Word of God and we don't think of it as the word of my beloved, and we want to, we don't have an earnest desire to abide in His love and keep His commandments, keep His word, then we leave ourselves open to be deceived. And we have an enemy that is looking for a little change, just a little gap, just a little departure from the truth of God, just a little setting aside of the Word of God.
And he's an experienced old serpent, and he wants to destroy.
In connection with the source here, we on our versus 9 in 10, we started, we noticed starting out that it's the Father loved the Son, the Son loved us and then they will eat the past of obedience that follows for us as approving of that love. Our obedience proves that we do love him. Then it comes full circle around to where it started.
And notice the last half of verse 10. Even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love, I think this is beautiful to see. You know, sometimes we obey and then we just stop thinking about our obedience, and we stop at that point and don't go any farther. But here the Lord brings a full circle around.

01:00:27

Speaks of His keeping His father's commandments and abiding in his love. So that brings us right around to occupation again with His love.
Like to connect verse 10 now with verse 11 as the Lord says, even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love, and then he brings in joy in verse 11 These things that I've spoken unto you that my joy.
Might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. Speak about the Lord's joy and obedience.
It's a wonderful thing and a wonderful principle.
But it brings in the will, the matter brings in our will, and we'll start with a child. A child.
Learns what his parents will is. It has a will of its own and it would at times like to have its own will and exercise its own will. But the parents will is different than its own, and it submits to its parents will. If it's obedient. It doesn't always make that child happy.
And we've known what a child says when we're adults too. But I'm using a child an example the.
An adult says, well, or child, I don't want to, but OK, I will. I know I'm supposed to obey, so I will obey. And there's no joy because the will of the child is not the same as the will of the authority over it. And so it does it painfully and not very willingly, but yet it cements. And so we say it's obedient. That has been called legal obedience.
But the obedience of Christ, which Scripture speaks about, is different.
And it's an obedience that only comes from the right source, which is having the life of Christ.
And the obedience that we have the capacity now as having Christ as our life is that obedience of Christ where he says to his Father, I delight to do thy will, Oh my God. That is, he found his joy in obedience and not in his own will. He didn't say to the Father, I have a will.
But I come so that I can be a perfect person. I will do your will, and I will be perfectly obedient to you. Rather, the Father's will was the motive of his own heart. There are two things that go together, obedience and happiness. They go together, and especially if it's the obedience of Christ, that character of obedience.
There can't be happiness without it, and that obedience requires that sense of having, can I say, not exercising any will of my own, but rather finding the motivation to act or not act was the will of the Father.
So the Lord Jesus when tempted of Satan and Satan said, well, you're hungry, take some bread.
You have the power to do it. Make these stones into bread. And his answer was, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which cometh out of the mouth of the father. That is, if the father didn't give him a word, he had no will to act. And when the father, as it were, would say to him, he, he ate, it wasn't matter whether he was hungry or not, or whether his, his natural soul would say an annuity was hungry.
But it wasn't a motivation to action. It wasn't a will to say I need Eve. And so that's the obedience of Christ. And that is the obedience that brings happiness in the soul. Not as we would say, oh, I better obey the Lord Jesus because I'm supposed to, because that's what the Bible tells me. And if I do, then I can abide in God's love. Doesn't really work that way. It is necessary that the obedience come from the right source.

01:05:21

And the right source is the love of Christ, active in our new life.
So that oblivion springs what is called in verse 11 my joy that talk about your joy.
If I find my joy is the same as his joy, my joy is going to be really good. It's going to be full, overflowing.
In other words, he's teaching them about what made him happy, what his source of joy was. And he said, if you follow me, if you listen to me, if you do as I am teaching you, your joy will be full. It will produce in you the same joy that it has produced in me.
I enjoy connecting that down with the verse in Hebrews 12 verse two that we often read where it says the Lord Jesus, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the Christ what has been so often.
Suggested that that Joy was going back into the Father's presence.
And saying, Father, I have finished the work that thou gave us me to do. What a beautiful.
Joy was there in that. Oh brethren, we do have been given to do something here in this world. None of us will be able to say in the same way as he did. I have finished the work Thou hast given me to do.
But the apostle Paul perhaps found the closest, he said. I have finished my course. It's a little different.
Is given something for you to do, young people?
Those of us who are older need to feel it too. Soon we're going to be called in His presence.
And we're going to stand at the judgment seat to give an account of our lives.
How's it going to be rather than that day? Our joy then will be in any measure.
There has been something that corresponds in our life to what was in his life.
And it's interesting, Bob, and very searching that in that Scripture in Hebrews 12.
The Spirit of God uses the most extreme example, doesn't it? Who for the joy that was set before Him did what endured the cross? I don't believe it's the atoning sufferings that are in view there. I believe, as you say, it's presented there as an example for us. And so He endured the cross, despising shame with joy. Yes, because it was the Father's will.
Just like to mention another thought that I found extremely precious. Brethren, in John's gospel especially, you often have mentioned the love of the Father for the Son.
Only once. I believe it's the other way around, the love of the sun for the Father, and it's in the end of the 14th chapter.
Right on the same page.
But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, Even so I do.
That beautiful. The only mention, I think of the love of the Son for the Father is connected with obedience to the Father's commandment.
How does that reflect in our lives, brethren? Is our life characterized by obedience?

01:10:07

Lord, of course, always did the will of the Father from.
Very moment he was born in this world, but I was thinking about when he was 12 years old at the temple.
Eight years old, 12, excuse me, 12 years old, he said. I must be about my father's business.
Well, I think our young people.
Think about that, 12 years old. I must be about my father's business. I thought you had to wait till you were older to be the Lord as well.
How old?
Just a little more.
Perfect example is.
That, yeah.
These words verse 11 should certainly touch our heart, especially when you think with our Lord uttered them that it was on the night he was to be betrayed and he faced suffering, bodily suffering such as.
Almost inconceivable, but then he was also prepared that suffering of the statement of God, of our sins. And he's looking beyond his own pain. He's looking beyond his suffering. He's looking towards us, the disciples, and to us and how we can experience joy.
This needs to touch our hearts, particularly when we seem to find that joy, that happiness in this world's things and self indulgence. You know that's not the place where we don't have to use. The place to find joy is in the one we love so much.
Verse 12 he says this is my commandment, that you love one another.
As I have loved you.
We manifest what we have as a life.
We have the life of the Lord Jesus.
Then we can manifest the love of the Lord Jesus.
Independence, not in independence, but the Spirit of God would seek to bear fruit in our lives. The fruit of the Spirit is love, and if that is the true source of our life and it displays itself as God would have it displayed, then there will be a love for one another.
As the love that Christ has to us.
But I would just say we, if we stop and reflect on it, we realize we have a good way to go before that's going to be realized in perfection.
When I don't mean to be funny by this, but it brought before me how far short we really come up displaying his life, we said earlier in this meeting.
Don't be occupied with your love for the Lord.
That be occupied with His love for you. Don't try to love the Lord more than you do, but be occupied with His love for you.
To just turn it around to make us realize that we don't always manifest that love. If it was perfectly seen on us, then the statement might be true. Never be occupied with how much you love your brethren, but just be occupied with their love for you.
Well, when we think about it, we recognize that our own love for our brethren isn't perhaps what it should be. That means that the fleshiness is often at work. And likewise we recognize an occupation with our brethren that that doesn't work either, because often their love for us is not a perfect expression of the life of Christ in them, so it ought to humble us. But God doesn't change the standard by our failure to measure up to it.
The Lord didn't change that standard because they didn't fully live it, He says to them in that verse. This is my commandment. This is what I want you to do. I want you to love one another in the same character with the same kind of love that I love you.
He doesn't say if you feel like it.

01:15:03

It's something that is, like you say, a command, and I think it helps.
To understand that that word love, it's the agape love.
Is a love that loves not because of the object, but because of the source. It helps to understand.
We have another word in the New Testament that's called brotherly love. It's a different word.
Belayo. And it's the mutual appreciation.
Love of attachment to one another.
I've known Don for quite a few years and I think I can say I love you brother. Thank you.
In that way, I trust your love is towards me as well.
But that's not what we're talking about here. This is love that loves when there's nothing lovable.
And if that should ever happen to my brother.
Will you still love me?
That's the love that we're talking about, isn't it? And notice a verse in First Thessalonians chapter 4.
Because both of those words are used.
And I found it very helpful to understand this.
Verse nine, First Thessalonians 4 and verse 9.
But as touching brotherly love.
That's the filet O word.
The mutual appreciation one of another you need not that I write unto you, for ye yourselves are taught of God.
To love one another. That's the agape word.
One other place in second Peter chapter one.
Where Peter is talking about the things that are to be added to our faith.
And at the end of the list in verse seven, he says.
And to godliness.
And brotherly kindness. That's the Phileo. Brotherly love. And to brotherly love.
Charity or agape love?
There might be times when there are misunderstandings between brethren and you don't feel the mutual brotherly love that there ought to be. Hebrews 13 says let brotherly love continue. That's proper.
There should be that cultivating to that brotherly love.
But if there's not that, then add to your brotherly love, love the agape divine lies, love that loves because of the source, not of the object in this world. Like it was mentioned, you mentioned, Bill, that's kind of like a people say is love is kind of a fuzzy warm feeling.
But it's because they love for what they can get out of that person. That's not divine love in line love is love that loves, and there's nothing lovable.
That's the love we husbands are to love our wives with.
That same love. Oh brother, what a challenge to us. And like Don was saying, we're not asked If we would like to do it, then we can do it. We're commanded. And to me it's searching. Brother, in John's gospel, three times we have the command.
And John's epistles. I think it's four other times we're commanded.
Why so often?
I thought we had a nature that loved. Why does he command us to do it?
He commands this because we have that nature that responds to it and that nature does love. And I earlier we were we had before us about it reading in connection with the reading of the Scriptures, the need to read it even when you don't feel like it. What happens when you read the word of God if you're a true believer?

We Beseech You

Gospel—David Hayhoe

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Let's start our meeting tonight with him over 17.
For Jesus.
You aboard the Lord of the sin.
17.
This evening.
Thank Thee for the question that has been asked in this little hymn. Have you any room for Jesus? Oh God, our Father, we thank Thee.
That the door of heaven is wide open tonight.
And that whosoever will may come, we praise blessed God. Their hearts may be wide open to receive.
That blessed man from Calvary, as the Savior of sin, our God, we ask you to help us as we go through this meeting together.
We pray that by the Spirit of God.
Through thy precious word, our God, that thou would work mightily.
In this room.
We pray for blessing from heaven and we ask it in Jesus name, Amen.
20 #20.
Behold the Savior at the door.

00:05:02

He gently knocks his knock before has waited long and waiting still you use no other friends so I'll open the door he'll enter in and suck with you and you with him #20.
Before making a couple of remarks, I'd like to turn to a couple of verses, first of all in Second Corinthians chapter 5.
2nd Corinthians, chapter 5.
Verse 17. Therefore, if any man.
Be in Christ, He is a new creature or new creation. Old things are passed away, all things are become new and verse 19.
To wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself.

00:10:04

Not imputing their trespasses unto them, And hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though what God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ stead, be ye reconciled to God. The expression I was thinking of particularly in connection with these verses here is the last part of verse 20.
We beseech you.
We pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. You know what that means.
Here the apostle Paul who is speaking to them, and he said, we beseech you in Christ's death, that is, Christ was not there. He had died on the cross. He'd gone back to heaven.
And the apostle Paul was given this word. We beseech you in Christ stead, he's gone back there. And in his stead, Paul was saying, I'm standing here to preach to you, to be reconciled to God.
So who was it that gave the message first in this world?
The Gospel, the full gospel that we know. It was Jesus Christ himself.
And the world didn't want him, and they sent him back to heaven. And what does God do? He sends his messengers into the world and says, Be reconciled to God. Now, my friends, I ask you tonight, suppose that it wasn't me or anybody else who was standing here tonight. Suppose that I was Jesus himself.
And you look up here and you saw his hands.
And you saw his feet, and you saw his side, and he's beseeching you.
Saying to you, I died for you.
What would your answer be?
Oh, thank God. I believe that most here in this room are saved. Perhaps there's only one person who's not saved.
And we don't want you to go out of this room without Christ. And we say that ourselves, friends, but think of God, the love of God to me. It brought my Savior from above to die on Calvary. Turn over to another verse, please, in Revelation chapter 3.
Revelation chapter 3.
In verse 20.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him, and will Sup with him, and he with me. Oh, what beautiful words. Here it is friends, the last book in the Bible.
And these words penned by John, inspired by God, he says.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will commend him. You know, isn't it lovely the way God puts us? Any man? He Stoops down to the level of you and me. He Stoops down to the level of the youngest in his room.
He's here to listen to the cry of anyone.
Who would realize that they're a Sinner?
And that they need to see and recognize that Jesus went to the cross for you.
And he yet stands at the outside of your hearts door, and he says, if any man will hear my voice and open the door, I will come in.

00:15:07

I remember one time I got on the computer and I did a search.
You know what? The tall boat, especially the younger ones. A Google search. You know what I mean?
And I looked up to try to find out how many promises are there in the Bible.
How many prongs?
How many you think?
You do a search yourself.
Well, I found 7000. I found where it said 7000 a couple of different places.
I was talking to somebody else and they said I think there's more like 20,000. They did a search some other way and found that.
Now you see here it says, if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him, and will suffer with him, and he with me.
All the promises that God makes in his Word, He promises to keep. He can't deny himself.
You know any other verses in the Bible that says I will?
I will never leave thee, nor for safety. Would you like to have a friend like that.
Is available to you.
You're not going to refuse them, are you?
Would you like to have a friend like that as you walk through this world?
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and I will direct. He will direct thy path. He will direct your path. Trust in Him, He will direct your path.
Are you willing to trust him? You know, when my children were young, quite often they would come and they would ask maybe some special favor, something like that. And when you got a number of children, sometimes gets a little much.
And maybe they asked and just to get them out of the way, you make a promise that you really don't even know if you can take them fulfilled. It's happened to me many times.
Well, you know, God never makes a promise that he can't fulfill.
And any other makes a promise that he won't fulfill.
There's only one thing that separates any person in this room and a person in this world from Jesus. You know what it is? Your sins.
Your sins.
Your sins have separated between you and your God. That's the book of Isaiah.
And if you are still a Sinner in this room and you've never had the blood of Jesus applied to your heart to wash your sins away?
Why, friends, you're in a very, very dangerous situation. Because Jesus is coming soon.
Oh how we feel it and I have heard this.
Since I was a young child over 60 years ago, that Jesus is coming soon. But now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
And the world is getting worse and worse in the coming of the Lord. Draweth nigh. Are you ready? Because Jesus is coming to take his own out of this world.
Well, friends, I'm going to tell you I don't know where to start with the gospel.
I have many. I have several scriptures that.
Are on my heart.
Sometimes when I take the gospel, I get carried away a little bit. I want to turn back to Genesis chapter one.
You know.
We like to enter into the heart of God.
And so the one that you are going to meet someday as to who he is.
His character.

00:20:01

In the first chapter.
And the first verse in the beginning.
God created the heaven and the earth.
Now that word God there.
In the Hebrew language and I don't know Hebrew.
But I've been told this even by Jewish people. It is Elohim, which means God, which is in the plural.
And the next word is created and the word created is in the singular.
So it reads there that God in the plural created in the singular. One time I asked the Jewish lady, I said to her that word elohim, is that singular or is it plural?
And she said singular. And she said then she she knew Hebrew. She said, no, it's Pearl.
It caught her.
You see, it's God brought before us in Trinity.
When God made the world, who was involved in making the world? God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
Created in the singular.
The mind of God.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and all the orbs that are around, but God's thoughts and purposes rested on this one planet earth.
And you and me.
Throughout this world.
God created the heavens and the earth.
Now right from the start here, I just want to read.
That.
A couple of thoughts here that I have in the fifth verse.
And the end of the verse and the evening and the morning were the first day. In the eighth verse, the evening and the morning were the second day. And verse 13 the evening and the morning were the third day. And so on We could go down to finish it off for the number of days, the evening and the morning. Now when you say about the day, what do you usually say? Do you usually say the evening and the morning, or do you usually say the morning and the evening?
I know what I say. I usually say the day starts when we get up in the morning and it's the morning followed by the evening. So why is it in this very first chapter of Genesis?
That God says 6 times over. The evening and the morning were the first day, the evening and the morning were the second day, and so on.
All friends, I, I, I got, I got this thought from another brother who's now with the Lord and I have enjoyed it through the years so much. To me and to him. It was like this, that the morning was the time when God was looking forward to the time when the Lord Jesus would come and this world's history would be over. I am the bright and morning star.
You know the longing of the heart of God for the blessing of mankind right from the very first, before man was even made in this world.
The evening in the morning were the first day he longed for the blessing of his creature man.
And from the very first chapter in the Bible to the end of the Bible where we read in the very last chapter, I am the Bright and the Morning Star, he's coming.
For his own. And that is a day that will never end.
And when God made you and he made me, he made us for eternity.
And you and I are going to live forever and forever.
For the man is going to live forever in one of two places.
No wonder we sing sometimes. At the cross is the center of two eternities.

00:25:07

And I look back to the time.
And I delight as my fellow brethren will hear, that know the Lord is Savior on a Lord's Day morning.
To come to remember that blessed man that died on the cross.
And think of him like he has asked us to do. Remember Me?
And throughout all eternity.
It will be praise and blessing that goes to God alone.
For the gift.
Above every gift.
Will you be there?
Will you be there?
There's nobody that wants to go to the other place.
Our brother was saying in the meeting this afternoon.
About if a person doesn't know Christ as Savior and they don't have the very life of Jesus in them, they wouldn't be happy there, but on the other hand they wouldn't be happy in the other place.
No, what an awful thing to leave this world without Christ.
Or hearts get so burnt sometimes.
When you meet people.
You know.
He read that verse there in Second Corinthians. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. Don't you delight to meet a Christian you've never met before?
Oh, it thrills the heart sometimes. You know, we're going along, maybe my wife and I, and we say, I think that person is a Christian. You know why? Oh, there's something about their demeanor that tells them the life of Jesus is inside.
Why? Because if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. All things are passed away. All things are become new.
You young people, let me ask you something.
Do people know you're a Christian?
Maybe you don't talk too much, but through your mannerisms, the way you talk.
You know what they said about Peter just before the cross? They said you're one of him because your speech gives you away, your speech be raised you because the way you talk giveaways that you're a Christian.
Is the way I talk giveaway that I belong to Christ?
Like somebody said, you walk so hard, you're how's it going? Your walk I so loud I can't hear what you say or something like that.
May the Lord help those of us who normally see here to walk through this world even as He walked.
Even as he walked.
You know, I I'd like to turn.
To some verses tonight in connection with the Lord when he was here.
Of when he wept, when he cried.
You know, even as I'm mentioning that I think there will probably be verses that come to the minds of most in the room. Turn with me first, please, to Matthew's Gospel.
Jesus didn't come to this world as a reformer, you know. He came for sinners.
Turn to Matthew, chapter 23.
Just before he's going to Calvary.
Just before 33 years in this world.
He's about to leave.
And he longs for the blessing, and he sees the rejection of the people of the world, and particularly here, the Jews.
And so he says in verse 37.
Matthew 2337. Old Jerusalem. Jerusalem.
That kill us, the prophets who stone us, them which are sent unto thee. How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hand gathered their chickens under her wings? And ye would not behold, your house is left unto you desolate.

00:30:08

Now if we turned over to Luke's gospel, we would read these words. When he beheld the city, he wept.
He wept.
Jesus, a man 33 years of age as he looks over that city.
That have been given so much from God himself. And then the Savior of the world comes under them, the Messiah. Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
Jesus, the Savior of the sinners, He comes to his people and they reject him and so many times over throughout this gospel. And it builds up and it builds up and it builds up until it comes to this moment, and he weeps over that city just before going to the cross.
And says all Jerusalem. Jerusalem.
Thou that killest the prophets, the Old Testament God sent the prophets to them, and stone us them which are sent unto thee. How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hand gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not.
Now, what does that speak to herself? It's the will of man that keeps him away from Jesus. You know, I remember years ago, our brother Dan Anderson coming to our house and we, our children were younger.
And he made this comment stuck with me.
He was.
Commenting on two different verses. Children.
Obey your parents.
And then another verse in Peter where it says, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God. And he was impressing on us as parents. He said, train your children to be obedient when they're young, because when you train them to be obedient, you're preparing them to receive the gospel.
Obey.
What shall the end of them be that obey not the gospel of God? God commandeth all men everywhere to repent.
So when parents bring their children up to be obedient, they are, can I say, indirectly preparing them to receive the gospel.
Have you set your will against God?
Have you rebelled against him? Don't do it, friend. Don't do it.
I have a nature and you have a nature that delights in rebellion. I was born with that nature.
But friends, you have to deal with God, and God wants to give you a new nature like we've been having in the meetings with a desire that wants to please Him. Isn't it wonderful? There's no, there's no.
There's no recourse for the first nature.
It's never going to get any better. You can't do anything about it.
The nature is corrupt.
So what did God say to Nicodemus? Go to the Lord Jesus. Say don't Nicodemus. He must be born again. You need a brand new life. Have you ever surrendered to Him?
Have you ever come to the Lord Jesus and surrendered?
That nation of Israel which Nicodemus was a part of, he he didn't want to.
God was working in his heart, but He.
I don't know how to say it.
But there was a process of time between the third chapter and the 7th chapter and the 19th chapter where Nicodemus God was working in his soul and there was a brand new life that was that came as a result of Nicodemus accepting Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah of God.

00:35:04

Would you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? That's what's included in that expression. Lord, You know a Lord is one who is over top of somebody else. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Well, let's turn over now, please, to John's Gospel, Chapter 11.
Oh I just, I love these verses so much.
I'm just going to pick out a few verses here.
This is a chapter where there was a man named Lazarus that died.
And in verse 25.
Jesus said to Martha, I am the resurrection and the life.
He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believe us thou this.
So Jesus says in that 25th verse, I am the resurrection and the life.
He that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live when my wife and I were driving here.
From down a little bit South of here.
Driving along when we saw signs of resurrection.
We saw the flowers coming up, we saw, we saw the buds in the trees.
You know what resurrection means? Resurrection means a return to life.
In the fall of the year, it looks like everything is dead.
It looks dare.
Then what happens when it warms up and the sun shines? There's resurrection. The very thing that looked dead comes back to light. The game Jesus said I am the resurrection and the life. He stood at the grave of Lazarus.
He held in his hands.
The key that he himself was the resurrection.
And the life. He had power within himself. It looked like Lazarus was dead and he was gone, but Jesus was the resurrection and the life.
Oh, there he was at the grave of Lazarus. And so it says. We go down a few verses.
And when?
In verse 33, when Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping, which came with her, he groaned in the Spirit and was troubled, and said, Where have you laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept.
The second occasion, I don't believe these are in chronological order that I'm giving them tonight.
But here it says Jesus wept.
Not very many times you find in the Bible that says that Jesus wept and that Jesus cried, but this is another one. Jesus wept.
Why did he cry?
Why did he cry here? Jesus wept.
Next verse Then said the Jews, behold how he loved him. And some of them said, Could not this man which opened the eyes of the blind have caused it? Even this man should not have died.
Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone, Martha, the sister of him that was dead, Seth unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead 4 days. Jesus saith unto her, said, I not under thee, that if thou wouldest believe, thou should have see the glory of God.
Go down to verse 43 and when he had thus spoken.

00:40:00

He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus come forth, and he that was dead came forth bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin. And Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. Now going back to what we had, the verse, we read the shortest verse in the Bible. If I had have asked some of you boys and girls what the shortest verse in the Bible, I dare say that many of you could have told me.
This is it. Jesus wept.
Why did he weep, friends?
Because death came in.
The wages of sin is death. He saw the results.
Of death.
Jesus wept.
Now it goes on to say here.
Where he says take away the stone and Lazarus had been dead for four days.
And then Martha says to him.
If you take away the stone while all the stench and all the smell of someone that has died four days ago is going to come out.
You know, friends, here's what I like to apply this to, and I know this has been used by others, but one day is with the Lord as 1000 years and 1000 years as one day. And here Martha says that Lazarus had been dead for four days and for 4000 years of man's history, from the time of Adam, death had reigned over this world.
And by taking away the stone, all the stench of the sins of this world for 4000 years came out. But only by the exposure of those sins at the cross of Calvary could there be resurrection and be life.
And so the Lord Jesus there on the cross.
With all the mountain of sins of my sins and any other person who accepts him as Savior, were there piled, if I can so say, in a heap.
For Jesus to bear alone.
When he died.
On kelp.
All the stench of the sins of this world.
Of those who would receive Christ as Savior, the mountain and mountain of sins.
Mine were there were yours.
Did Jesus die in vain for you?
If you will acknowledge that that death was what you deserved.
And you receive him into your heart.
Than you can say.
That Jesus died for me and I've accepted him as my Savior.
And so he, and it's the answer really to this question or this command that the Lord gives to Lazarus, Lazarus come forth.
Would you answer the call tonight and come to him, to Jesus, and accept them as Savior?
Know forever that your sins are gone. Have you ever done a friend? Have you ever done it truly?
Now the third one.
Turn, please, to Luke's Gospel, Chapter 22.
Luke's Gospel, chapter 22.
And.
Verse 39 And he came out and went as he was won't to the Mount of Olives.
And his disciples also followed him, and when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that she entered not into temptation. And he was withdrawn from them about a stones cast, and kneeled down and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my will but thine be done. And there appeared an Angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him, and being in agony, he prayed more earnestly.

00:45:20

And his sweat was, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
I was thinking of this portion.
I was thinking of this as we were taking up John's Gospel chapter 15.
In the Bible readings today, the morning and the afternoon meetings, the very same man that said these words is the very same man that said the words in John 15 just a very short time before he said these words.
In John 15 he was occupied with his own disciples.
And he loved them and he had this, this, this.
Concern for them as he was about to leave them and wanted to prepare them for the fact that he was going away.
But in a very short time.
He goes to this garden.
And there is. Can I say his demeanor changes completely?
As he thinks.
And I can't help but think that even when he was in saying those words to the disciples that he was thinking of these things. But to me, it's almost like he kept it in the background when he was being occupied with his own to offer them the support that they needed.
But then here he is alone is easy, praying to his Father.
And he says as he contemplates the cross, when he's going to have to meet God.
There about the question of sin.
And he calls it a cup. And he says all my father, if it be possible remove this cup from me. Nevertheless not my will but thine be done.
Is there any statement, is there any prayer in the whole of scripture that means more than that?
Can you imagine God in heaven as he listened to his Son say those words? And in holy submission to God his Father, he says, Nevertheless not my will, but thine be done.
I think of those words, you know?
In John 316.
And I don't think there's hardly anybody in this room that doesn't know the verse. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.
You know who said those words, Nick, You tell me who said those words? For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Who said those ones? Jesus did.
Did Jesus know the heart of God?
For God so loved the world.
As he lived, can I say, with them in a past eternity.
From the time of the first sin of Adam also down to the time when he came into this world.
And he knew the heart of God.
And he knew of the heart of God and his love for him.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him.
Have you seen it, friends? Have you seen it for yourself that he gave it all for you?
He took your place. Have you accepted him? The gift is not yours if you don't take it.
The gift is not yours unless you take it for yourself.
So we praise this prayer. It doesn't tell us.
And these words here that he cried. But if we turned over and we will not, we won't take time, but if we turned over to the fifth chapter of Hebrews, we would find there where it says that he offered this up in strong crying tears.

00:50:22

The Son of God who never did one thing wrong his life.
Does a father love a son who's an obedient son?
Jesus was.
You think God could ever take the light in punishing Jesus for my sins and all the punishment that he had to bear?
You know, I thought of it tells us that Jonah is a picture of the Lord when he went down into the heart of the earth or into the sea. But you know, when Jonah went down, he was inside the fish's belly. He was protected by that powerful fish. He felt the darkness and everything else, but there he was protected. God put him in those circumstances.
Where he never had to die. It looked like he was going to die, but he never did die. But he was only a picture of the Savior of sinners who went down to the bottom of the mountains when the earth with her bars was about me forever.
And there on the cross, dear friends.
That awful scene of 2000 years ago, friends, there's no seem like it at all of the history of this world.
And forever and forever.
To think of what Jesus had to suffer.
For the sins of any who would come to him.
Never make light of sin. May I never make light of it.
What it cost?
Now he says.
You sure very well may come. Let me just close with one other scene, John Chapter 7.
John 7.
Verse 37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying if any man thirst.
Than him come unto me and drink he that believeth on me, as the Scripture has said, Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
This feast of the Jews lasted 8 days. Jesus had gone up to this feast. It doesn't tell us very much about what the Lord Jesus did. A matter of fact, Scripture is silent, it seems to me.
About the movements of the Lord Jesus during this feast. It was a feast of the Jews, and there Christ was left out.
And there he was, the Son of God, and he moved in and out among the people. I don't think he felt very comfortable there at that feast.
But he was there observing those people and.
As he observed them toward the end, he says, If any man thirst, let him come unto me. Why did he say those words? He saw that the feast of the Jews was nothing that was going to bring satisfaction to those people. It wasn't bringing anything. And he waited to the very end.
Are you one of the ones who can say? I tried the broken cisterns, Lord, but all the waters failed in As I stoop to drink, they fled and mocked me as I wailed. Now none but Christ can satisfy.
Are you tired of all the wells of this world and whatever form? Dear young people? Dear young person?
If any man thirst, let him come to me. Will you surrender to him tonight?
He's waiting.
And then it says, out of his belly shall flow rivers, a living water.
Oh, what a wonderful thing to belong to Christ.
To have your sins forgiven, To know the blood of Christ has washed the mall away. Will you come tonight and accept it before it's too late? Let's sing that hymn just as I am.

00:55:01

Without one fleet.
Anybody know the number?
Well, thank you.
But that thy blood was shed for me, that thou didst me come to thee, old Lamb, God I come #12.
Just as I am.
I shine what I mean I'm I'm.
And stand up and signal us.
About prayer.

Come Down

Children—Cecil Roossinck

DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.

I'm going to get you there.
Oh, maybe there's a switch here?
Well, it's all right. It doesn't work. We can.
OK, who, like, give out the first song? Wow.
Last time I opened Sunday school, I had to. Nobody put up their hand and so I had to skip the first one. We had to start with second one. I think we better start with a girl, don't you? You tell us what song.
27.
That doesn't seem to work. That's all right, 27 it is.
27.
Don't forget to check the Backpage because there's some real nice ones back there.
27.
OK, what if we sing the first and last verse? Then we'll get more people to choose. Is that OK? 27, verse one and verse 6.
My God, I have found the worst blessed, blessed Christ, where life and life, and where life, and where joy, and where joy and joy and drew and true.
Verse 6.
Lord.
Waving my heart.
By the glory.
Boy.
You make it so hard for me to choose this side of the rooms. We're going to get a boy from the front. Get this young lad here, Yeah, Number six. Did you hear it, #6?
All righty.
So we get a lot of numbers versus one of the Force. I don't know any verses one and four.
God and mercy and his heart to the Lord.

00:05:19

We are going to sing some more, but before we do, let's just ask the Lord to help us. We need His help even with the same, so let's.
Bow our heads and have a little talk with the Lord Jesus for joining Father.
Dear loving God, our Father.
We give thanks this morning for the one who died for sinners, one who we've been saying about the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray that this morning he may be exalted and we may be.
Humbled.
We know, Lord, that thy desire is to save and to bless. And we pray for every boy, and we pray for every girl. That's here this morning. May they see never before may they see the need of the Lord Jesus and just receive him by faith in their hearts. We ask Thy help and wisdom. Pray for Thy word wherever it's told forth this morning.
Give thanks in Jesus precious and worthy name. Amen.
Oh, I think we'll have two more songs and then we're going to see if anybody has a memory verse. And it must be a girl's turn this time. So do we have a girl who has a song?
There's a girl, 41.
Sounded good and clear 41.
I was hopefully getting this Backpage because I was planning on saying we're going to sing until we've had at least two from the Backpage and we could be singing all morning. So hearing one from the back, page 41.
All around the throne of God.
Children. December. All four. Goodness.
Glory, glory. Glory. Glory.
Of our mind enjoying worlds upon this way, this one will be our name.
Will it everlasting light and joy with my heavens?
Glory. Glory. Glory.
In the fall.
What brings unto that world I'll never know, so brightly I can bear.
Where I'll be peace and joy as long as the children.
They're seeing glory.
Glory. Glory.
To God.
Because I say yours and it's like super go away.
It's no one anywhere, was president. What? Behold, and why let me?
Say glory, glory, glory.
Good. We're going to have one more than I hope somebody's ready to say their memory verse.
Is a boy and we've got to go back to this **** roll.
#40 #40 There's our second one from the Backpage, so we can feel free to stop saying anytime. Thanks.
Jesus loves me. This I know.

00:10:00

And we sing the first verse, of course.
We're going to stop and we're going to find out how to do some actions on the course after the first, let's say first person. Of course first. Jesus loves me to sign it over.
To live here, everybody is strong.
Somebody.
Already caught on though it's coming next when we get to the course. I thought it'd be fun if if we could try to do it like a deaf person would do. Didn't know how to speak, what they could see. So when we get to the course, it's yes, just like their hand is saying yes and Jesus has veil plains. Jesus is like this and loves, I believe his heart. Thee yes.
Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. And I some of you probably knows better than me, so I probably get some wrong. But he can break me out. And then.
The Bible is Jesus book so.
They'll print the book, the Bible tells me. So you think you can do that? We'll try it together and see how we do on the course. So here's the second personal Jesus.
Life filled down with my life, in my wash, our way, my sins.
Jesus.
Christ, every heart.
Failure slides me.
Here Jesus fuzzy.
There was the 4th verse. Now I was just going to say try to get this straight because when we get the fifth verse, we're all going to make health and we can't hear, so nobody's going to sing a word. So try to remember what we have to do. We'll make out if we're just talking with our hands and not our lips.
But we'll get one more chance to practice on the 4th verse. Jesus.
No, this is the hard part.
Sing the birds When we get to the course. We don't want to hear anybody singing, but we want to see everybody sing. We'll be able to see everybody singing grown-ups as well as Doctor Kirsten.
But a lot of people saw.
Dead side. Hey, let's see what we can do. Jesus.
Must be all.

00:15:10

It will Take Me Home on time.
Very good.
That was very clear.
Everybody glad to hear. I mean, see, very nice. Now, I said. After that song, we're going to see if anybody has a person. I got to admit, I don't know what the verse is for this week.
I was staying over at Nelson. He didn't know reversal there.
So nobody could tell me what the first was.
But I hope somebody knows it, because I'd like to find out what it is.
It will help me out like.
You'd like to start, would you say it in here for me? OK, just come on up here, hold this in your handset right into that mic. So I.
OK.
Thank you, I can't help.
My sheep hear my voice, and I know them and they follow me.
And they give unto them eternal life, and they never perish.
And now unplugs them out of my hand.
John 1027 and 28 That was a long one, and I'm glad you knew it. Now everybody knows what the verse is because of the time is kind of short. We're just going to have one more say it and maybe, Oh my, look at all the hands. I'll tell you what we will do. We'll have one more set and we'll all say it together. Would you like to say it more? My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. And I give unto the eternal life and neither.
Shall any perish? Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Jonathan 2728. Very good. Thank you very much.
Now let's all say it together so nobody feels that they're left out. Okay, you want to leave us, you start us out.
You hear my voice.
Me and I give unto them eternal blindness.
They shall never perish either, shall any man pluck them out of my hand. John, 1027 and 28 Very good. I didn't do very good on that with myself. I remember a couple of years ago when I was a Grand Rapids I.
He asked the boys and girls who wanted to save the version first. Of course, one or two.
First young Cameron, he said the verse first and he did a good job of can't even tell what the verse was now, but it was a verse that the Lord Jesus said when he was down here. So after they said their verses, I was talking a little bit about it and I said no.
Who said that? I was thinking that, the Lord said. When he was here, Cameron's hand shot up and destroyed the way I said.
Kevin who said that? I did. He said, well, he was right. He just said so all I said I.
Good. You did say it yesterday, but I was thinking, who said it first?
So I was thinking.
Way back. Like, who said it first? Cameron's hand shot.
Well, he was right again. That is perfect. Nice to be anxious, isn't it too, to quote the word. I hope that you boys and girls always love both God's precious word. What a wonderful book.
Well.
There's a there's a verse in the void of it.
And it's in Luke chapter 19.
The verse is the story. We're not going to read the whole story because Titus is a little short.

00:20:03

Somebody.
Let's go by that spot there.
Anyway, Group 19, and I think some of you boys and girls probably already know the story in June 19. If you do put up your hands, what's the story in week 19? Anybody 12, 19.
That is exactly right. You're you're good.
No pain. And I'm not going to read the whole story. I only want one verse.
Luke 19.
And verse 5.
There's really 5 words in that verse that I want to talk about, but I'd like to some boy read the whole verse. Or Route 5, Route 19, Verse 5. All right. Would you read for us?
Here we can hear you clear.
And when Jesus came to the palace, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, Make haste, and come down for.
Today I must abide at thy house. Thank you. Thank you very much.
Make haste and come down, both of the words that I was thinking about. Where was that kiss when he heard those words?
He was in a tree. He thought it would be better for him to get up a little higher. And we all tend to think that, you know, we want to, we want to get ourselves up, want to get ourselves up higher.
But the Lord said to Zacchaeus, Zacchaeus, hurry up and come down.
I need to come down. No, that's a little word that I think all of us could learn something from. Make haste and come down, you know, at school. That's how you did.
Make something of yourself. Get up there in that tree.
Flying the ladder and be somebody and be a big hero. Make something of yourself, Lord saying to you this morning.
Make haste and come down.
Haste down, tell us that the next chapter, or the chapter before everyone, that is, all of themselves, shall be a base. He is humblest himself shall be installed.
No, I believe boys and girls.
That's very important. Just the opposite of what you learn in school, just the opposite of what you learn in the world. The Lord Jesus says you humble yourself.
You'll be exhausted. So that is you lying down to that tree. And of course you want to get a good views. That's nice. I'm. I'm still a boy at heart and I always love to climb trees. Don't find so many anymore. You should do. But I've always liked to climb trees. How many boys like to climb trees? Girls don't climb trees, do they?
How many girls like flying trees?
My girl like, the girls like it is fun to find trees that is climbing the tree. But the Lord told me get down out of it. I've been.
Back to four. Two. Somebody else's Lumbery. Well, I don't think the Lord said it that way, that is.
Lord knew just where he was. You want the blessing before you bless him and he comes out.
No, that's not the way that we naturally think. We think we want to get ahead in this world. We want to get a blessing. We want to get something for ourselves. We've got to make an effort and we got to climb, get over to climb the corporate ladder, big wheel.
Well.
The Lord said that he has come down because.
No, that's the way of blessing. Now there was another man in the Bible, in the Old Testament. We won't take time to turn to the second five. And he wanted blessing. And he came with a on a great big cherry of horses servings and he had gold and silver and changes of rain and all these things. He was way up. He was he was an important man.

00:25:22

And you got the message from God's father was.
Drop a little higher, work a little higher, you'll make the top.
What was the message? What did the prophet say to Damon?
Anybody have an ID word? Somebody. Yeah. What was?
You are exactly like go wash in Jordan. Good for you and.
Did name and say, oh, sounds a good plan? I think I'll know it definitely.
This dog.
Yeah, he was looking for some great thing to happen. He thought this prophet had come out and he'd strike his hand into the police and see some wonderful magic words and oh boy, he was just like some wonderful event. The prophet just sent a survey out and said.
Write down Jordan, the river Jordan 30 over.
He was real happy about that one. Oh, yes, Sir, I'm going right away. Didn't say that he was angry, he said. The whole life, that's a trouble.
Thank you. Thank you. Always stay wrong unless thoughts come from God's word. So amazingly went away. And wait, he didn't want to go down. He he was a man in Houston going up. He had probably had stripes, badges, all that was a great warrior. He had worked his way to the very top of the stereotype.
Outcomes the message.
In all the boys and girls you're going to go on to be with the Lord and glory, thank you.
That's repenting.
Oh, the Apostle Paul. He preached two things, 2920.
Was struggling hard to get to the top. Maybe you get a degree in your name. Always, always the first thing. Two things, Paul briefed. And maybe we'd have to ask somebody over.
The first one was repentance.
For God, that's going down.
That's going down saying yes forums.
That's what the Lord is saying is that he's come down, vacation, come down. The Lord would save your heart and mind you not say He says make haste, make haste and come down.
World say work harder to go up.
8 You ever been in Jesus feet? That's the place.
Jesus, come down.
Heading toward my face and what I can do with my strength and my power.
In our Lord Jesus Christ.
You ever ask the Lord Jesus?
Well, it's a wonderful thing.
Come down. Come down to Jesus feet and your sins. That's good. Thank you.
And.
Many man exalt himself.
I love you. Humble yourself.
Hector Vital says unless you come as a little child, you're not enter the Kingdom of God.

00:30:01

And now Jesus? He ever asked the Lord Jesus.
Oh, you're a Sinner and you want to be safe? Oh, he'll live God when he comes.
Just talking about before the Sunday school started to help quickly.
In the 21 I think the floor he was the Lord, Lord.
The Lord Savior to John.
In the Book of Revelation said Come up, hit her, come up, hit her. Well, that's what I'm waiting for.
The Lord Jesus is going to say to every boy and girl who sins are washed away those who've gone down at Jesus feet.
As a Sinner received his salvation saying come up in there.
Take us home with glory. But a wonderful, wonderful time that would be to be with the Lord Jesus. You know when I was a boy, I like to, I like to climb. I see the time has passed. I'm going to tell you a little story. Anyway, it's OK. Forgiven. I hope? I think so. Anyway, when I was a small boy and I can't even remember this I was so small with my dad and mom told me quite a few times and.
I I like to climb. I was I was still in diapers just barely toddler. And we had a leak in the roof in our house and my dad got the ladder out of two-story house, got the ladder out against the roof, way up on the roof fixing the roof. And as he was working on the roof he saw a little head come over with the edge of the roof.
It was me. I wanted to get up. I didn't like this business if I was going down.
I like to go on. So it's a little tiny toddler. I managed up that ladder two-story time and my head beeped over the edge of that roof. My dad got a little excited.
But he didn't tell me to make haste and get down, because he was right there and he took me down anyway. Let's be willing to go down. What a wonderful savior we have who wants to bring us up to glory.
If we're willing to go down at his feet.
Forgive our sins. Give us new life and take us home. Then we'll really go up, He was. The Lord needs us and you bend down so that you can go up.
There's a lot more in the Bible about going down.
Too. But our time is gone. Maybe we can sing one more quick little song before we close your prayer. OK. Did we have a boy last or a girl? I think we had a boy last. So is there another girl that would like a song? Oh, boy. We got lots of boys and boys. Remember the girls here? I'm going to have to look a little farther back to find the girl. Are you a girl? I thought you were a boy. Oh, well, OK. Maybe we'll have to have a boy after all. All these boys got to be a short one. Well, short enough. Do you have one yet?
What one would you like?
Probably just say one verse 46. Thank you 46.
Oh, it's only one verse long, so we'll sing the 1St and the last.
Day as you as I come to you as a.
Let's just pray.
Loving God, our Father.
So we look up and down these rows, we see.
Bright, happy boys and girls. But we don't know, Lord, which ones in these roles are have been down with thy feet.
And had their sins forgiven.

00:35:02

All orders. If there's any here this morning who are still in their own efforts seeking to climb to exalt themselves, may they be a beast, and may they find the Savior.
And be ready to be taken up to the heights of glory. In that moment when the Savior comes, we ask thy blessing. We commend the remainder of the day, and to Thy loving hands, giving thanks and Jesus most worthy and precious name. Amen.
Thank you.
Good morning. I'd like.
To ask you to pass your hem sheets to the two center aisles here so we can pick them up easily. And I don't see the Sunday School papers here yet, but oh, there they are. Put them on the table and you can come get your own papers.
Pair of glasses here was found, so I'll set them on the table here. Or maybe I'll keep them. You can come get them from me.
The next meeting is the breaking of bread at 10:30. I would like to ask that you please try to be seated in about 12 minutes. Start taking your seats in time. There are some refreshments in the cafeteria right now to some coffee and.

Prayer

Address—Nick Simon

DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.

Perhaps we can start our meeting this afternoon.
With him #246.
From every stormy wind that blows, from every swelling tide of woes, there is a calm. A sweet retreat was found before the mercy seat. If someone could stop that police.
From every.
Sort of animals from.
The.
For.
Our souls angry.
Where glory?
Christ.
Looks a lot for his help.
God and Father, do look to thee, as I hope this afternoon as we open up thy word and hear what it has to say to us, that it might be an encouragement to our hearts. So we just look to the end upon thee, we pray in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Amen.
The subject that I have on my heart this afternoon is one that we briefly touched on yesterday.

00:05:06

Maybe not quite so briefly, but it's the subject of prayer.
And I know I was emphasized that how important it is that we each read the word of God.
That we read the word of God. But I would also suggest that prayer is.
And equally important part of the life of the believer that read where I was just talking to someone earlier. The reading and praying should be as natural to us as breathing.
So before I actually get into the subject of prayer, I wanted to.
If you begin what might seem as a little off topic, but let's just look at Genesis chapter 17.
And verse one.
There's just one phrase from this verse. And when Abraham was 90 years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abraham and said unto him, I am the the Almighty God, walk before me and be thou perfect the expression Almighty God. So Abraham knew God by that name Almighty God, which in the Hebrew is El Shaddai.
The name that perhaps many of you young people are familiar with being in a song that was popular maybe some years ago, El Shaddai. But now let's move on to Exodus.
And in the third chapter.
The 14th verse God well, let's just back up. 13th verse Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come under the children of Israel shall say unto them, the God of your father says, sent me unto you, and they shall say to me, What is his name? What shall I say unto them? And God said unto Moses, I am that I am. And he said, Thou shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am has sent me unto you. And God said moreover unto Moses, Thou shalt thou sand, and the children of Israel.
Jehovah God of your father's, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob has sent me unto you. This is my name forever, and this is my memorial until all generations, and so do the children of Israel. His name is Jehovah was revealed to him in I understand in the French it's eventually translated the eternal.
When a Jew reads his scriptures and he comes across the divine name.
He doesn't say Jehovah, it's a name he doesn't dare pronounce. And he'll say how deny which is Lord, or he'll say Hashem, which is the name.
And so.
While not to get sidetracked, Jehovah is actually a interesting derivation. But in Mr. Davies translation, he chooses to translate that word Jehovah. And so it was by his name. His name was revealed to the children of Israel, and it was by that name, the eternal one, that they were to know God. But let's move on to the New Testament and we can look at Matthew.
Matthew is a gospel especially written for the Jews.
And.
In the 5th chapter we have what is commonly called a Sermon on the Mount.
And throughout that chapter.
We find expressions such as.
In verse 22, or will begin in 21, you have heard that it was said by them of all time Thou shalt not kill, and who has ever shall kill shall be in danger of judgment. But I say unto you, And as the Lord speaking, that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause, And so on. Verse 28 But I say unto you, Verse 32 But I say unto you.
A lot of times this is mistaken to be a spiritualization of the mole, but it's not. It's a contrasting with the law. I might just point out that the first part of chapter 5, what we call the Beatitudes at verse 11, it suddenly switches language and said, blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you. And so it is if he begins by addressing the multitude and then turns to his disciples and then what we have following.

00:10:22

Is especially address the disciples.
But now let's go to chapter 6. Now there's no mention of the law in the 6th chapter. It's no longer a contrasting with the law. But what we have interestingly in this chapter is from the beginning of the first verse. And I'm not so interested with what the verse is saying, but an expression in a take heed that you do not your arms before man to be seen of them, otherwise you have no reward of your Father, which is in heaven. And so here the Lord is beginning to introduce his disciples to the heavenly Father.
And the 4th Father occurs in this chapter, I believe 12 Times. And we're going to come back to this chapter. I said that my subject is prayer. And this chapter has things in it about prayer. It has what the world calls or Christendom calls, the Lords prayer, better called the disciples prayer.
And so it begins, our Father, which heart in heaven. And so these cycles were not in the conscious enjoyment of a relationship with God as sons with the Father. So we can turn to John chapter 16, one chapter beyond where we were.
This may seem like a very roundabout way to get to the subject of prayers.
But in the 16th chapter.
The disciples are sorrowing because the Lord has said that he would leave them in verse six because I've said these things unto your sorrow have filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth is expedient for you that I go away. For if I go not away, the comforter will. Holy Spirit will not come unto you. But if I do pot, I'll send him unto you. And turning over those 23, my bio has to turn a page. Verse 23 the same chapter. And that day, what day? The day of the Holy Spirit.
Is given, Ye shall ask me nothing.
Verily, verily, I send to you whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He will give it to you. Hitherto ye have asked in my name, asked if He shall receive, that your joy may be full. These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs or allegories. But the time cometh when Nacional most speak unto you in Provost thou show you plainly of the Father. And so we see still the Lord's speaking to the disciples of the Father.
And we find out with the coming of the Holy Spirit, as we'll get to in a minute, that we're brought into the conscious enjoyment of a relationship as sons with the Father. And so we get to the end of John. John 20.
20 and verse 17 the Lord can say to Mary, I send to my father, and your father to my God, and your God. And now Romans 8.
Romans 8, verse 15. Now in the book of Romans, it's good to see that the spirit is not really brought in until the 8th chapter. It is mentioned in the 5th. But if we understand that the Spirit comes in in the 8th chapter, it will help you in your understanding of the 7th chapter, which is frequently misunderstood. That's another subject. In the 8th chapter we suddenly have the stirrup mentioned over and over again. And so the verse that I particularly want to mention, for ye have not received verse 15.
You have not received the spirit of ******* against the fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry ABBA Father. So it's through the Holy Spirit we're brought into this conscious relationship of children as sons with a father that we can go to and cry ABBA Father.
And so when we pray, we don't pray to El Shaddai God Almighty, we don't pray to.
A heavenly father. We don't pray to Jehovah, though all these titles suit our God and our Father, but we can cry, have a father Now I should have mentioned back in John 16, the Lord says you've asked me things up to this point, but you're not going to ask me things in the future. That's because the Lord wasn't going to be with them. In fact, it uses the word demand, the disciples demanding things of the Lord.

00:15:02

That he is comforting them in their sorrow. He says the better things going to happen. Yes, I'm not going to be here for you to come to me in person and hospital. You're going to be in well the Holy Spirit and so we can come to God as Father.
ABBA, father. Now what does that expression mean? Well, ABBA, the Hebrew word for father, is actually of.
The bee softens and becomes AB.
And a little child would say ABBA, so in English.
We have dad and daddy, and most languages haven't what's called a diminutive form. I just want to say a little word on this in the churches today.
I am told that sometimes the minister will address God as daddy.
When this expression occurs in Scripture, ABBA, father, it always occurs together, ABBA, father, it occurs with the Hebrew ABBA and father in Greek. Now remember this was written to Greeks. What I mean in the Greek language I should say. Why did the author fall in this case choose to use a Hebrew word when he was speaking to a Greek speaking audience? Why didn't he use the diminutive of father in Greek?
I think that the ABBA father is a special title and not simply a diminutive form of father that we can freely use with God in a irreverent way.
And so when we approach God, we can approach him as Father, as ABBA father, but we don't approach him with an irreverent disrespect for him as who he is, as God our Father. And so as we read back in John 16, and I'll be turning to many scriptures, I know some don't like that. You don't have to turn with everyone that I turn to, but.
I rarely confess that I'm not an encyclopedia of verses and I need to turn to them to quote them. And this serves another advantage. I want you to realize that what I'm telling you is from the Word of God and not something that I'm just making up as we go along.
So when we pray, who do we pray to those 23 of of John 16? What if so ever he shall ask, will petition the Father? So we pray to God the Father, that I would like to think that some of you younger children.
10/11/12 maybe younger and take some of this in and no doubt your mothers and fathers have taught you how to pray. And when we pray, we pray to our Father and our God for our God and Father.
And it's scriptural because that's what we have here. And when you listen to someone, pray.
They will end is something like in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why do we say that? Because scripture says we're to ask in his name.
So what else can we?
Or we could turn back. There are other scriptures that would tell us the same thing. John the 14th chapter 14. First, anything he shall ask. If he asked anything in my name, I will do it.
You know, I once prayed. This was many years ago, and I don't mind mentioning whose presence it was. It was a yield tongue was staying in my home for a conference and he remarked about the way in which I prayed. And I said, I guess it's because that's the way my mother taught me.
And so an encouragement to mothers, what you teach your children sticks with them.
Encouragement to fathers As an aside, you know, we have been brought into this relationship with God as father, but our children know what fathers are by the way that we behave as fathers toward them. Now, we're not always and frequently not good examples of a father should be an encouragement to us to think that our children see us as father.
How will they be God as Father?
An angry, domineering father. Is that the picture that we want to paint?
But there's also that respect and reverence that I spoke of before that we would like our children to have of us as fathers. And how do we distill?

00:20:09

That into our children as well.
Is there any? And again, this may seem so elementary, but is there any particular physician that we should adopt when we pray? You know, we've all seen paintings and pictures of someone with their hands together like this.
What does scripture have to say? Well, I believe there is a scriptural precedence for the position we adopt when we pray. Let's just look at a few verses, those pings, 1842.
So first Kings 1842, this is about Elijah. Much was said about Elijah yesterday. Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel and cast himself down upon the earth and put his face between his knees.
Daniel chapter 6 and verse 10. Again, you don't have to turn with me on these verses.
But these are not sort of verses that most of us have committed to memory.
Daniel 6 verse 10 Just reading a small portion, he kneeled upon his knees.
Three times. Well, I should have gone.
We're not doing this in a very good order, but at least a convenient order. Ezra, you don't have to turn with me. Let's me just read.
Something about Ezra. Ezra Chapter 9 verse 5.
I fell upon my knees and spread out my hands. Ephesians.
Chapter 3.
Verse 14 For this 'cause I bow my knees.
So there is a scriptural precedence for getting down on our knees to pray, to making ourselves low to getting down.
But let's have a look at a verse in Nehemiah and some of these individuals. If time permits, I'll go back and look at them because certainly Daniel is known as a man of prayer. Nehemiah the 2nd chapter.
So Nehemiah was a cup bearer before the king, the king of Persia.
And.
He had a sorrowful face.
Well, doesn't like to see sorrow, does it? And so it was actually a very bad thing for me and Maya to be looking sad in the presence of the king.
And the king noticed it, and he said, what's up with you? And Nehemiah's heart skipped a beat because he thought he was in big trouble.
And what does Nehemiah do in the fourth, fourth verse? Does it say he dropped down on his knees to pray? No, so he says, so I pray to the God of heaven, right? And and then, and then I said unto the king, So just like that he prayed on his feet. I don't even know if he closed his eyes.
So what do we learn from this? There is a scriptural precedence to be down on our knees in prayer. On the other hand, you're driving a car because again, you have to stop and get down your knees. No, you can cry after the Lord whenever and wherever you are, whatever position you're in, we can cry to the Lord. We can cry ABBA Father. But when your mother, your father, teaches you to kneel beside your bed to pray.
That is a scriptural thing, First Timothy.
Just a word on the hands.
First Timothy verse 8, and I'm going to come back to this chapter, but verse 8 says I will therefore let men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrasse and doubt. Now, I'm not suggesting that we need to adopt A special position with our hands. I suppose mothers told their children to put their hands together when they pray to stop them fidgeting as much as anything else. But what's more important, when we pray that we hold up holy hands?
And now let's just take that thought and look at a few verses in connection with our attitude in prayer. You know, I wanted to briefly look at we've all prayed for things.

00:25:08

And they haven't turned out.
And then there are things that we have prayed for and God has answered them.
So let's have a little bit of a look at our attitude in prayer. And there's there's many verses, but.
One thing that we find often connected with prayer is the thought of obedience. So I didn't read it when I looked at a verse in John 14, but John 14.
It says if you shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. The next person says if he loved me, keep my commandments. Now suppose younger children, you haven't been behaving particularly well.
And you go to your dad and say, oh, I really would like this for my birthday. Can you give me this? It's just what I've been wanting. And you tell him something. Is he going to be very inclined to say, sure, yes, yes, I get you that. No, you probably want to address your behavior first. You probably want to talk to you a little bit about the way you've been behaving.
And so here we find in John 14 very next verse, my commandments, the thought of obedience is connected with prayer, and more even stack verse than that is in Proverbs 28.
Proverbs 28, verse nine. He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayers shall be an abomination.
Abomination. You know there's many an atheist that has suddenly become a theist when he's in trouble.
And he cries out to God.
And he wonders why God does not hear him. Well, I should say, God hears why God does not answer him.
There's another verse in Proverbs in the 15th chapter 8 verse.
Just the last part, the prayer of the upright, is his delight.
So someone that wants nothing to do with God, His prayer is an abomination.
But for one of his children to hear a prayer is his delight. He delights to hear our prayers. Oh, we'll get into some more of that as time fits in a minute.
John let's. I know I'm jumping around the loss.
First, John.
The third chapter.
Verse 20 If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, the knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not that we have confidence towards God, and whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do those things which are pleasing in his sight.
I think every child in this room understands that post. If you've been misbehaving and you go to your father and ask him for something, do you have any confidence?
That he's going to grant your request.
No. Same with God.
If we're going on in our own willful way, we have no confidence when we come to God. The beautiful thing is, is when we do stumble.
When we do go astray, it says that God is greater than our hearts. But oh, isn't it so much better that our hearts are clear that we can go to God with confidence, that we can go to him, have a father. But you know, we love it when our children come to us and say that I messed up. I messed up.
And so he's ready to hear that prayer as well.
So hold why weren't so strong the last chapter? This was read yesterday. If we ask anything 14th 1St of the last chapter, if we ask anything according to his will and heareth us, you know, I said that it it says and and you can go back and look at it, that if you ask anything in his name, he'll do it.
Now suppose I wrote a check on behalf of the Treasury of the United States and signed it. Barack Obama. I signed it with his name. Is that check going to be honored?

00:30:07

We cannot.
Take our willful desires to God, and in the Lord's name make a request for them, and expect God to honor them whatsoever we ask according to His will.
He heareth us.
You know, it was mentioned yesterday that we should, and this is a quote from someone you're all familiar with, but it doesn't really matter because of the substance of it is so good that we should be so familiar with the Word of God that our thoughts are formed by it. You know, if you have a desire to do something and you say, well, I'm going to find out whether this is the right thing to do, and you go to the Word of God looking for a verse.
You will find it. You will find what a verse to satisfy whatever you will is. I'm quite convinced of that. I'm not saying it's wrong to go to the Word of God if you're uncertain about something, but it's much better if the Word of God is so instilled in us that our thoughts are formed by it.
Few more thoughts and prayer. By the way, when I started looking at the subject of prayer and it's been an ongoing thing for some months. There is so much in scripture about prayer.
So First Thessalonians 5th chapter.
And I was going to read 2 verses because I'll come back to it. Rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing. Now I like to point out a little bit later.
The connection that seems to be in Scripture between rejoicing and prayer.
But here I wanted to bring out the photo praying unceasingly.
Now there's a another verse in Romans that's similar Romans 12 and there it says.
Go pray unceasingly would suggest that we should always be an attitude of prayer.
But in Romans verse 12 I read it from Mr. Davies translation as regards prayer, persevering, persevering. So not only we always be an attitude of prayer.
But we're to pray persevering. We're to persevere in prayer. And then one more end of Ephesians.
And this is in connection with the armor.
And just the first part of that verse, it says praying always with all prayer. And again, Mr. Davi says praying at all seasons. What would that mean? Well, when do we like to pray the most? When we're in trouble.
That's not God's way.
We're going to pray at all seasons when things are going well. We shouldn't be just driven to our knees when things are going badly. But isn't that the way we are so often now? How would your Father like it if the only time you went and spoke to him was when you needed something or you're in trouble?
You know, as far as we like the relationship with our children, we don't like it. The only time we see you is when you want something from us.
And maybe if we don't have the relationship, we as much to blame ourselves as our children. But.
And as God S persevering in prayer, something that bothered me, it says back in Matthew 7 and again, no need to turn there.
It says.
Verse six, Sorry Matthew six to seven. When you pray, use not vain repetitions. So it concerned me that in praying, is it OK to pray the same thing over and over again?
I believe the answer is yes, it is OK to pray the same thing over and over again. We know Paul prayed three times and God gave him an answer and I believe he stopped praying for that thing when God gave him an answer. But if there's someone who saw you particularly concerned about, it's okay to pray for them over and over. So what's vain repetition? Well, it's it's so interesting that that verse occurs just.
One verse before what's known in Christendom is the Lord's Prayer, which they have turned into a vain repetition.

00:35:01

It's taking a a prayer like the Lord's Prayer, our Father, which are in heaven, hallowed be thy name, and making it an empty, vain repetition.
But we don't have to take something like that to make it a vain repetition. Brother Bob mentioned yesterday about a young man that said, well, he didn't read the Bible, but he prayed every day. Well, I guarantee he didn't understand praying either. Because if you think that praying is a substitute for reading, you don't understand prayer.
And so we can make our prayers empty, I'll get down the knees a little quick prayer, hop in bed. I've done my duty.
But it is OK to repeat a matter in prayer.
We could turn there's a verse in Luke verse 11/8. Usually I think young people love it. It mentions for his importunity. He'll answer him. What does importunity mean? Well, I had to look it up. It means.
Shameless persistence. Shameless persistence.
So we can, with shameless, completely shameless persistence, go to God about a matter.
A First Timothy, we're already there in that chapter, but I wanted to look at a little more detail, beginning of the chapter, because First Timothy chapter two, I think, is a chapter that's especially about prayer.
So First Timothy chapter 2, just the first verse. I exhort therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving them thanks He made for all men.
Here I believe that we have 4 different aspects of prayer. I don't know whether to say that they cover all the aspects of prayer, but they're fairly broad.
And I would like to suggest that given the words chosen here, the supplication in this verse particularly means the things, the requests that I make of God concerning myself.
In a session, I believe would be speaker requests made for another.
And so this is probably our most common prayer.
As we go and make requests for ourselves.
I know that Brother Bob mentioned yesterday this word supplication.
You know, there's something deeper in that word than just simply asking God, what would you do this for me? You know one thing we should keep in mind that prayer is not a way to avoid our responsibility.
Now that may seem odd. I said that to someone once and then they didn't like it.
Let me give you an example again to our younger folks. Supposing you have a test coming up and you choose not to study for it. You have a brand new video game which you'd rather play. Come the morning of the test, you get down on your knees as you've been taught, and you pray and you ask God to help you pass that test.
Prayer is not a substitution for our own responsibility.
Our own responsibility. You know, there are things in our life.
Esor is a good example.
You know, just reading a verse in Hebrews.
It says of Esau in Hebrews 12 verse 16 that he was a profane person who sold his birthright for a morsel of meat. And paraphrase that it says For ye no heaven. Afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it happily with tears. What did Esau seek with tears? Well, you can go back to Genesis and read the story. He did not seek repentance with tears.
He sought the blessing with tears. Well, we all want the blessing, don't we? We all want to go to God and say, give me the blessing. But sometimes repentance is needed in our life. Sometimes there's something that is our responsibility and prayer does not allow us to sidestep it, to get around it, to leap over. Sometimes there are odd things that we have to work on in our hearts that don't mean to say that we work on them or not on our own.

00:40:01

But Esau did not go.
To his Father with repentance and so maybe in our lives if we find out that God doesn't seem to be listening.
There might be something hindering your communion, something that you need to take to him. Repentance. Repentance is a process. I mean, it's a whole subject in itself. The repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation. The old had to get confused.
Whose responsibility is who? We don't go to God and ask him for forgiveness. This is a common thing you hear in the churches.
I don't believe we used to go to one another and ask for forgiveness. It's a way of putting your responsibility on them. The scriptural principle says if we confess our sins, that's our part. God is faithful and just to forgive us.
So confession. We go to God, we can confess, We don't go to God praying for forgiveness. He is faithful and just. He will do his part. We can be sure of that. So supplication.
Prayers. It says supplication prayers. What's prayers? Well, so often we think of prayer as being a one way street where we're talking to God, telling him what to do. But I read a verse there at the end of the Armor of God, often prayers listed as the 7th.
Of God? Well, if you were in an army, do you go and tell your captain what to do?
Prayer is where we go in communion with God to find out what He has for us to do.
Find out what he has. I don't mean to say, let me necessarily hear a voice from heaven go. No doubt there are those that have heard such things.
But if we have the Word of God so instilled upon us, He may bring a verse before us. It was a number of ways He may answer our prayers and speak to us and guide us. And young people facing marriage. Marriage is a serious stuff. I spoke on Walla Walla once on the subject of marriage. We speak so often on courtship, but never on marriage.
It's a wonderful subject to look from a scriptural standpoint. I believe it has all your answers that you need for whatever problem you may be facing in your marriage. And if you don't have problems in your marriage, you will have problems in your marriage. Does that mean you're going to have a bad marriage at all? This lack of job or any other thing that's worth working at, you will have difficulties in your marriage. And scripture has answers for getting off topic, but intercession, Do we know what intercession is? Interceding for someone else?
I'm afraid not. I was talking lightheartedly with a brother over here.
After a conference in West Palm Beach, and he says so often our prayers of intercession of something like, Lord, take care of that brother. I leave God to his funeral.
You know we're apartment to pray to fix all our brother's problems.
We ever get down to pray. Maybe we have the problem now in the seating for someone else is and you read this chapter and talks about good exceptional the sight of God our Savior when we pray and we thinking of the glory of God, we thinking of the blessing of the other person or we're just thinking Get Me Out of this trouble. Lord, I have a conflict just Get Me Out of it.
That's not in the session for someone else.
You know if you can't, well Elijah, the antecedent against the people of God.
If you can't intercede for someone.
Then you probably should be praying for yourself.
But look at the end of job.
Well, again, if you don't want to turn there.
Listen.
Last chapter of Joe, there's blessing that comes within the session for someone, particularly when there's difficulties. So in joy 42 verse 8, middle of the verse, it says my servant Joel shall pray for you. Verse 10, the Lord turned the captivity of Joel when he prayed for his friends. Do you think he prayed for his friends and said there's been so mean to mean to you mean make sure they get what they deserve. I don't think that's the sort of intercessory prayer Bill me.
For his friends, and Job's captivity was turned in interceding for his friends.
So back to first Timothy, giving a thanks is the last aspect of prayer. So we had supplication. We can look at that as a request made for ourselves, prayers, communing with God, no particular request, but simply communion with God, intercession to think more of others. And by the way, in the honor of God, what it talks about prayer at the end of the honor of God is to pray for All Saints.

00:45:28

It can be so narrow.
You know, thinking, but Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving. Do we ever thank God for anything?
Daniel, if we don't get to him, it says he got down on his knees and he thanked God. Now he knew the penalty for what he was doing would be to be thrown in the lion's den, but he thanked God, thanked God.
So I wanted to mention a little bit about the connection between prayer rejoicing that I've absorbed in Scripture. I don't hammer this home as a point, but we saw back there in Thessalonians that it says rejoice evermore, pray unceasingly. And if you turn to Philippians.
The end of Philippians last chapter 41St rejoicing the Lord OA. And again I say rejoice, let you moderation. We don't want to hold man. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication. And there we have these words again with Thanksgiving.
Let your request be known unto God and then.
Acts 16th chapter.
16th chapter verse 2593 the King James post. And at midnight fallen silence prayed and sang praises unto God. Now I'm going to read it in Mr. Davies new translation. And at midnight Paul and Silas in praying we're praising God with singing. It was Him praying that they could rejoice.
You know, a lot of times we.
Don't find ourselves rejoicing in our hot food.
You know, the hymn that we opened with was a favorite of an aunt of mine, and I can't help but think of her when I sing it. But just some of those words, you know? What comfort they bring is 246.
From every swelling tide of woes that is accomplished, a sweet retreat is found before the mercy seat. And so we can rejoice in heart, even if the circumstances around us seem to.
He's so totally against us now. You know, I didn't look at prayer because I thought that I had such a I had a dentist once used to give me a shot and start working my teeth and then asked me, how is your prayer life?
Well, I didn't, I don't particularly like that expression, prayer life, but I I'm not up here talking because I have a wonderful prayer life. I'm up here talking because I struggled with these things myself.
So I'm not up here saying that. Oh yes, when talents are so difficult.
I'm rejoicing, but I need to hear these things.
Myself.
So individuals.
Individuals. Well, we mentioned quite a bit about Elijah. Oh, I wanted to mention one more thing about Elijah wasn't mentioned yesterday. First Kings.
Back in First Kings.
18 The first one I came to pass after many days, that the word of the Lord came through lighter in the land in the third year, saying, Go shoreline so far, the Ahab and I will send rain upon the earth. So God gave direction to Elijah and said, go speak to Ahab and I'm going to send rain.
Now the bit I read before was Elijah falling down on his knees, putting his face between his knees and praying for rain. And we know he did for sure because God gives him the credit in James. He says in James that Elijah or Elias was a man subject to light passions and that means he was just an ordinary person like you and me.
And he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, that something that we only find in James, and it rained not on the earth by the space of two years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain. Why did God?
Record here or give Elijah the credit for the rain. God told him it was going to rain. Did Elijah even need need to pray for the ring? You know, this goes back to our relationship with God as father. Now I'm not suggesting that he lied to you, God in relationship as father, but the nothing pleases a father more than a son to come up to him or a daughter very much daughter as well and say, dad, can we do this? And it's right there on the father's heart that he wants to do the same thing.

00:50:35

And you have a God that delights when we go to him with a request. That's just what he's like. And so when it says we pray according to his will, I think that's what it means. And what he's talked about yesterday about the Lord is the perfect example, the one that always did his will.
And he's AI should be going by rapidly. But we can turn to the gospels and maybe I should have began there and look at the Lord in his dependence in prayer. Mark, Luke.
And so we have Elijah, who is a man of prayer. Daniel, I've already read a little bit about him. Daniel was a man of prayer. You want to find an example of a praying man, look at Daniel. Oh, let's look at Daniel chapter 10.
10th chapter of Daniel.
Now I may not seem like at the beginning of the chapter he's praying, but in the second verse it says in those days I didn't was one of three cool weeks. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flashing a wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all. The three whole weeks were fulfilled.
Verse 12 we find out that then said he unto me, fear not Daniel from the first day that thou deceit thine heart understand chasing myself before thy God, thy word rehearse. I believe we can quite correctly assume that he prayed.
And I can't provide words, but the Prince of Kingdom of Persia was stood me one and 20 days. How many days? One in 20. How many weeks is one in 20 days? 3 weeks. Daniel was mourning 3-4 weeks. So Daniel prayed and he didn't get an answer for three weeks.
You know, I talked about we often wonder why God doesn't seem to answer our prayers quite the way we expect. Well, here Daniel, Daniel, a mighty man of prayer.
An extraordinary individual and he had to wait three weeks for his answer. There were things going on in the spirit well.
Well, that we don't see with our eyes that we may not understand Floyd that hindered financing to that prayer.
Another thing to note is Daniel has said he.
Hate no present pleasant bread neither king flesh and wine in his mouth. You know, reminds me of what the Lord says in Luke, that this sort goes not out with my prayer and fasting. A little word on fasting. It means to deny ourselves the things that satisfy the natural body. And you know, we're all looking for formulas. So I was once working in an office and the girl was a temporary secretary and was working in the front desk.
And she, I believe, was a believer. She was fasting. She was going to fast 40 days or something like that. You know, we want a formula. Well, if I fast and I pray God, who has my prayer? I don't think that was the order in which it occurred with Daniel. Daniel had a burden and he couldn't eat. Have you ever been in love?
And eat.
And swallow. It's a wonderful feeling. Glad it doesn't last forever.
There is no formula when I talk about intercession. I should have mentioned the end of James. It talks about praying for others. Let me just read it.
Now I'm not going to say that I fully understand these verses, and I would be quite happy for an older brother to explain the practical application of them. But it says, is any sick among you? Let it hope the owners of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
And the prayer of the face shall raise the sick. So again, we I believe if we take this totally, I'll say this much about the most we take this as a formula. It's not going to work. And notice that it says the prayer of faith.
Shall save the sin, not the anointing. Doesn't say the anointing will save the sick, but the prayer of faith will save the sin. You know we so often look for formulas and God wants reality in our hearts.

00:55:04

So another individual well.
My clock is on time and that one's slow. I should go by that one.
I wanted to just briefly mention there was two more subjects I wanted to mention. One is sometimes we get what we pray for.
And secondly, a little bit about collective prayer.
Five years, we get what we pray for. Do I have time to turn to Hezekiah? It's the second Kings 20 now. Hezekiah.
As we turn to it, our speak was told that he was going to die.
And what does Hezekiah do in verse two? He turned his face to the wall and prayed under the Lord saying, you know, I know people take this different ways, but this is the way that I heard it in my youth. Hezekiah salt on his bed. He powered I don't want to die. I had a good reason to be upset. He didn't have an heir. He didn't have a son to sit on the throne and he prayed and God gave him an answer to his prayer 15 more years.
And in that time he had a son called Manasseh. And I know that Manasseh was born within those 15 years, because Manasseh in the next chapter was 12 years old when he took the throne. Manasseh was, it says of him.
He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. After the abomination of the heathen whom the Lord cast out before the children of Israel, we find out Manasseh was one of the worst kings ever.
Be careful what you pray for. If God has a plan for you, it might be better to stick with His program.
Another a different case, but I could tend to his habitat. I love the minor prophet habitat. The habitat had a book and he goes to the Lord and says, Lord, how long are you going to let this go on? The injustice is the evil, the things that are going on. Have we ever prayed? Lord, come quickly. How long can you let the injustices go on in this world? And God answers his prayers. I'm going to send the Chaldean and pour Habakkuk. No, not the Chaldeans. Do you know what he's going to do?
He's like a fisherman. He's going to just scoop Israel up, but you're up like a fisherman scoops up, fishing in it.
You know what the Chaldeans like. And poor Hezekiah Habitat puts his hand over his mouth and says, I'll wait and see how the Lord will reprove me. And God answers his presence. Habakkuk, I know all about the county.
You know, Habakkuk's heart was in the right place, but you know, let's be careful about praying that the Lord come, because when he comes, it's over. Older for this. Well, I know that there is the gospel, everlasting gospel and so on, but basically, it's over for the United States. It's over for those acquaintances of yours at school that don't know the Lord. As they say, it's all.
I mean, I understand there's more to it than that, but I just keep it simple. So we sometimes get what we pray for. Now collective prayer. We we know I've been talking mostly about individual prayers, but there is such a thing as collective prayer and we find out that when it speaks of the apostles that they continue those that were saved in the beginning back. That's true. Those 42, they continued steadfastly and the apostles doctrine and fellowship and breaking the bread and in prayer.
If you turn over to the.
4th chapter 30 first verse when they had praise a place where shaken.
Did your assembly room they ever been shaken after you got down your knees and prayed? You know, the prayer meeting we all know is probably one of the poorest attended meetings, and I will rarely confess that I find public prayer typical it requires.
A honesty of heart.
That.
And I think we should, I think we all should be searching for that. We get down unease and pray.
That it requires a true brutal honesty of high. We need to remember that when we pray collectively, it's not a time to minister to our brethren.
Another collective prayer meeting Acts chapter 12. We know that Peter was in prison and they got together and those tax 1212. Many were gathered together praying and Peter knocked at the door of the gate. The dams were came to hack and they wrote it and when she knew Peter's voice she opened up the game for Gladys but ran in and told her fetus stood before the gate. They said there are my eyes. So here we have a case where they prayed but they never believed the prayer would be answered.

01:00:09

How often do we pray like that? You know, it talks about in James nothing wavering. But again, I want to be careful. We we make this a formula. If I just be really intense, God's going to answer my prayer. I really want this you know, I just want to move out one.
Personal incident.
And that is when I was a child.
And I remember how old I was. Australia, where I grew up, is particularly the southeast, and Australia is particularly prone to Bush fires.
You may have tornadoes here. We worried about those fires and we had them every summer, but usually the conditions were not so severe that it caused widespread damage, but just localized damage. And there was a fire coming and it was heading towards our farm. And I can remember myself and my two brothers, my memories a little hazy, but we got down and we pray.
And the next morning, I believe it was Sunday, we were on our way to the little meeting that we went to. We looked up on the hill.
And the fire had stopped at a fence, like just a straight line had stopped and not come over the hill down into our valley where we live. You know, there's something wonderful about the faith of a child. Nothing wavering. That's the sort of faith, not this I just really believe it's going to happen thing. It's just a simple faith that God is going to answer your prayer. One thing and then I'll close. I mentioned only about marriage. Well, there is a collective prayer that's outside the prayer so I can read Daniel's. You know, Daniel went with his friends to his house to pray.
But there's one prayer in marriage. It's in post Peter that I just want to close with. This is a special sort of collective prayer and it's just encouragement to every marriage couple here.
First Peter 37 likewise your husbands well with them, according to knowledge, giving honor as the wife, as under the weaker vessel and as being heirs together of the grace of life that your prayers do not hinder. And so we find out that the behavior of the husband towards his wife was this verse is directed towards the husband and hinder prayers in the family. There is a proper order, an order established by God between the husband and wife. And so the world please misinterprets it. They see it as an order of inferiority versus superiority.
It's not, but God has given the husband a role, and he's given the wife the role, and the husband's role happens to be his head. But the wife has a unique role as a mother that the husband cannot fulfill. But a husband can be overbearing to his wife. And so we have here that they're to dwell with them according to knowledge, remembering that they, the wise human God's sight, is an heir of the grace of God, just like you are.
Your prayers together be not ended. You know, again, I said that when we pray collectively, it demands a certain honesty of heart. And when the difficulty comes in a marriage?
If you can't speak to your wife.
Pray with her as you can speak to God.
And don't lecture her in your prayer. That doesn't the assembly as well. You hear a brother getting prey. I don't need to Not picking on anyone in particular, but you're wondering is this a ministry meeting or is this a prayer? Prayer is not a time to with your wife, with your brethren, to how get them. But you sincerely get down on your knees with your wife and pray. What a wonderful way to resolve difficulties and tensions in a marriage.
OK, let's just pause with.
Our God and Father, perhaps in all this we we should have.
Focus far more on the example now. Bless the Savior, Lord Jesus Christ, who went up into a mountain to pray, prayed all night. That perfect one, the dependent one, that the servant in mind, the dependent man in Luke.
And we pray that we might, this might be an encouragement to each of us to know our God and Father. We can come to you as a father in that relationship and pour out our hearts, whether it be in supplication and community and intercession. And may we not forget Thanksgiving. We just thank thee for our Savior and would certainly pray for eating this room tonight that did not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, that none of this applies to them. They need to make that prayer first of all.
Confessing their sins and accepting or acknowledging themselves as sinners and accepting that work that's been done for them. We just pray in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

John 15

Reading

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What is known and she.
Share depends on the relationship.
Between the parties involved.
And so a man that has a servant.
His servant in certain ways and expects the response from that servant, but in the natural.
Relationship of a master and a servant. Not everything is shared or enjoyed between them because sometimes just because that's the character of the relationship. So the Lord Jesus is distinguishing here between the master, servant, relationship and friendship.
And saying to his disciples.
You're my friends. Friends are those that share in a different way.
And in a more personal and intimate way with each other than is expected in a servant master relationship. I'm in relationship in this room to my wife sitting beside me and there are things that we share that aren't shared with anybody else in this room.
On shouldn't be it's appropriate to the enjoyment and responsibilities too that are connected with the relationship. What we have here in this chapter goes we find what we have for ourselves goes even farther because as we had in the meeting previously, when we address God, we address him as Father because we're in children father relationship.
And more than that, we're in a relationship of sonship. When my children were small, there was limited. They had a capacity to know me and enjoy me as my children because they had the same life and nature as I do. But you always enjoy as your children get older that they may enter more and more into those things that you enjoy.
And eventually, in a sense, they become your equal. And when they relation, when they are what scripturally calls the sun, because they have matured into that place where they can fully comprehend and understand your mind and your heart. And so it is with God our Father that we now in the relationship of his children, He wants us to grow. He wants us to grow from children to young men to fathers and in as we grow.
We are able to more completely enter into and enjoy.
Our relationship with himself. Just one more comment. When the Lord was going to go into and destroy the cities of of where Lot lived in Sodom.
He said I can't do it.
Without telling my friend Abraham.
And so he stops enroute to what was going to be done, because he had to tell Abraham, his friend.
What it was that he was planning to do, he knew he would be interested. He knew he would care on the outcome of it, and it resulted in Abraham interceding. I'm sure the Lord knew that he was interceding for his own nephew Lot and Abraham's faith went as far as it could. He started it, I think at 50, and then 45 and 40 and 30 and 20 and 10, and he stopped. That's as far as he could go about. Well, Lord, would you destroy this city if there's 10 righteous people in it?
Well, that's a character of a friendship that listens and intercedes and goes together in in that thing. And so it was that the Lord knew and there weren't 10 righteous souls, but everyone that was righteous, and specifically Lot himself, is spared and part of his family is taken out from the judgment.
And so the Lord Jesus wants us to have a relationship with himself.
That is near respectful and reverent because of who he is, but nonetheless here.
To us, and He wants us to talk to him about those things that are on our heart, and He wants to tell us the things that are upon his heart He wants us to share.

00:05:10

And I've often thought that that brings a dimension into this scripture that I speak for myself. I don't know whether the depths of it really hit home to my soul. We sometimes sing together that him.
No man of greater love can boast than for his friend to die.
Thou for thy enemies was slain, but love with thine confined. And it's true that naturally speaking, all of us were enemies of God, and the Lord died for us, as it says in Romans.
When we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That is blessedly true.
But the Lord carries the relationship into a different dimension here. Why? Because He had worked in the hearts of those disciples. He could say, Ye are clean, of course, but not all. Because Judas wasn't real. But there had been a work of grace in their souls that had brought them to recognize who He was, brought them into relationship with them as friends. Now he is going to die for them, not merely as enemies.
Although that's what they were naturally. But he's going to die for them as friends.
Not only to redeem them from the consequences of sin and from a lost eternity.
But as Dawn has brought out, in order that they might enjoy that wonderful relationship with him.
As friends.
They say that to each one of us. Here again quoting a brother who has been quoted before. The secret of a happy Christian pathway.
Is to be able to communicate with the Lord as with a dear friend.
So it's not a matter of saying, well, what can I do or what can I do? Or is this all right, or is that all right? But it's a matter that the one who made this world, the one who created us, chose voluntarily to come down and die for us. Not merely to save us from our sins, but to bring us, us into a relationship with Him as friends, to give us the same life as he has, as God has brought out.
So that we have the capacity to enjoy with him what he enjoys. That's most blessed beyond our understanding, isn't it?
Paul speaks. I believe it's about Timothy.
I can't remember the exact worst, something probably helped me on them but he speaks of.
He serves with me as a son, like as a son with a father.
There is a.
A capacity in which a son would serve the father. But it's as far beyond that here, isn't it?
I've seen written on AT shirt you saved to serve and it is a privilege to serve the Lord, isn't it? But.
He saved us for a lot more than service, didn't he? He wanted his companions, his friends, and that's very precious. Although that in itself should make us a servant, shouldn't?
When the prodigal son returned home in the prayer, he made-up.
He said at the end, Make me as one of thy hired servants. When he got home, he left that part off of his prayer.
And I think it's wonderful, like you say, is what did the father want? Did he want more servants? He didn't really need any more servants. What he wanted his sons that would be able to sit at his table and enjoy fellowship, share his thoughts. That's what he wants above all. And then service should flow from that.
I was thinking that verse two in Proverbs it says he that.
Has friends, must show himself friendly.
If you're going to be friends with somebody, you there's conditions to it, aren't they? And verse, sometimes I've heard these verses, friendship with the Lord applies to everybody, kind of applied to everybody.

00:10:05

Well, it's not exactly that way In verse 14 says ye are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you. Abraham was the friend of God. You pointed out Don and.
He was one who obeyed God. Not that he didn't have his failures, but.
God came to him and said, Abraham, take your son and offer him up. He got up early the next morning and did what God asked him to do. Tremendous. That's a friend and he proved that friendship.
And it's wonderful to walk in the privileges of that friendship, but it's not something that you can apply just to anybody.
Without any distinction, there's a, there's a conditions to it. That's why you have a if there in verse 14.
In that story of the prodigal, later on, the father speaks to his other son and he says all that I have is thine it was that his disposal, it was all there, but the son wasn't interested in it, He was interested in himself.
It there has to be a certain confidence.
Between people, for those things to be made known.
And in the end of our version 15, it says, For all things that I have heard of my father, I have made known unto you.
It's a very, it's a very wonderful and we might say a secret thing.
That God would open up his heart and reveal all things to us like He has we ought to. That's a great entrustment to to think of him doing that. I think that kind of goes back and relates to what we spoke earlier about Judas having gone out.
His very being there was a hindrance because Judas didn't treat the things of God in the right way.
And how could the Father open up and be a friend to such a one? He was and he did that, but there was an hindrance there. But this ought to speak to us. You know how we treat the things of God. God has opened up His heart and reveal it to us. And all of us have no doubt had our feelings hurt by entrusting some friendship to someone. And then?
Finding it amused or slighted or youth multi used to malign or for wrong purposes. And that the closer the relationship is, the worse it hurts when that friendship is abused.
So this I find this is real.
We need to treat this with respect, what God has brought us into in being friends.
Proverbs chapter 27, there's a lot of mention of the friend and how that relationship is developed and maintained. It says in chapter 27 of Proverbs, I'll just read verse six. It says faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
And so that little expression, the wounds of a friend that really speaks of a little surgical procedure where there's a little.
Spot on the flesh perhaps, and a little bit of pus underneath and there's a little incision given and it releases the pressure and there's a cleansing and then there's there can be a healing. And so the Lord doesn't always tell us what we want to hear. He tells us what we need to hear. And he's faithful in this way. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. All through this series of proverbs in chapter 27, it mentions the friend. I just encourage you to read it.
And so here the Lord Jesus as a man, God's man, desired to express his friendship, and he not only expressed it and said that he was friends, he proved it. And a friend, he says, has love, and he has no greater love that no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. He proved it by laying down his life for us, and then he proved it as well.

00:15:17

By revealing those secrets from the Father, He desired to bring us into His councils, and then He as well says a little bit later on in verse 16 that that He would have.
He would desire that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. And so as a friend we would have the perfect confidence to come to him and as our brother.
Spoke of in the previous meeting with holy hands, hands undefiled, not having something that we shouldn't have in them. We would have a relationship open with that Blessed One and could come in confidence and request what we would have a desire for. And it would be according to his mind.
How do you become a friend? Yesterday everybody was here together.
You've met people that you haven't met before, and maybe you've made a friend with somebody here. How did that start? You meet one another, you greet one another, you say hello. How are you? And the other person responds and you start a discussion. You ask one another question and you learn that you have interests together with one another and so.
Today you see your that new friend, and you talk to them again.
And you get to know one another better and better. Well, that's how it is with God. You want to have a relationship with God. He wants to be your friend. He says, you are my friends if you keep my commandments. And so we need to talk to God. God talks to us. We've heard that about reading the Word of God and praying. When we read the word of God, God is speaking to us. And he says in our verse here.
He says all things that I have heard of my father.
I've made known unto you. How are you going to know those things? Just because you have eternal life doesn't mean you know all these things. Just because you have the Spirit of God doesn't mean that you know all these things. You have to communicate. Communicate with God as your Father. Communicate by reading the Word of God, and it will be made known to you. And then you pray to the Father as you learn these things.
And you find out that there's many secrets in the Bible that He's made known unto us, many promises, many commands. His will is made known to us, our future is made known to us, and so we can develop that friendship.
With God, the gods are fun.
In a master servant relationship, there's no obligation to love.
Servant doesn't have the master. Master is required to love the servant even.
That's just the nature of the relationship. But as we see here in friendship, as the Lord says, greater love hath no man than this, than to lay down his life for his friends, that in a friendship relationship, it introduces that dimension of love and it becomes a very important part of it. There are some things in a friendship that you don't ask.
But if the friendship is as strong as it should be, it can be the very fact that a person's need is made known, or even desire is made known on the very strength of that knowledge. A friend will often say, I want to help, that is, will volunteer without having to. And there are aspects of our relationship with the Lord Jesus that he will not command of us.
But desires of us a response that is as a result of love in the relationship.
And it's important for us because we understand that as parents, there are sometimes.
Things that if we commanded our child because we have the right to command them as a child in the family to do something, we may refrain from commanding on occasion because it would not satisfy our own heart. Our heart can only be satisfied in it if the child acts out of respect or love or care for us as an individual in the relationship and does it voluntarily.

00:20:20

Not solely as an act of obedience. And so it is with the Lord Jesus. He wasn't commanded because he called them his friends and brought them into that relationship. He wasn't commanded to lay down his life for them. But he couldn't have done otherwise.
The very heart of the Lord Jesus and the relationship even with his disciples was such that His heart demanded, if you will, that He do it.
We know of course there are other dimensions to it, that he was sent of God for all men and so on. But we're talking about the friendship part of it here. And and he laid down his life for his friends.
Well, the Lord reminds them in verse 16 that it was not they that had chosen him, but He that had chosen them. Very important to recognize that because it was all the work of God in us. If there's any coming to Christ in the beginning or any blessing in our lives, it's all starting out with the work of God.
Some would try to teach that man has free will, and in one sense he will be held responsible if he exercises his will against God. But the fact is that none would come to Christ without a work of grace beginning in the soul. And so here they were. Yes, as the disciples, they had been chosen particularly to spend time with the Lord Jesus. But in the broader sense, it applies to all, doesn't it?
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.
And so while the preciousness of the relationship of friends is brought in here, yet on the other hand, I believe we see in a very gentle way the Lord turning the focus around, not so much on our interests, but on God's interest, on his interests. And what a difference that makes. Because then it's not so much that I'm looking at things, what do I get out of it or what do I?
Gain from this.
That is true, we gained tremendously, but God rather would have me to approach with the sense of I have been chosen. Now I have a privilege, and the privilege is as it says here, that you should go and bring forth fruit. Again, not so much in the character of a servant, although we will serve if our hearts are right. But the thought is that in enjoying the same things He enjoys and enjoying his company.
There will be that in US which will answer to his heart and his mind, and that fruit will remain.
Friendship is largely an unselfish relationship, isn't it? And so we don't, as you say, look for what's in it. For me, friendship response to something of love for the other, and there is an unselfish relationship. Christianity is not characterized by selfishness and the Lord Jesus is perfect example in that way.
Lay down his life for his own. And so John in his epistle says that we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. We ought to love our brethren. That's one of the proofs that we're believers, and it's one of the proofs that we're a friend of the Lord Jesus if we love those that he loves.
I find it a real challenge too, brother you previous verse 16 that he's chosen us and set us to bring forth fruit that remains.

00:25:05

We live like you were mentioning, Bill. In a day when?
Man's will is so evident, and even we as believers can have our own.
Ideas, our own thoughts and purposes to serve the Lord according to what I have in my heart instead of really truly getting into His presence to see what His thoughts are. His mind is. It's so important. It makes it so much more meaningful too if we can see His thoughts. Why did He choose you? He chose you with a specific purpose.
No so many young people, it seems like, lack a sense of purpose in life.
Remember hearing not too long ago that girl out in California who took the college entrance exam and got a perfect score, something that never been done before? And they interviewed her and they asked her what her purpose in life was. She says, I have no clue. You know, it's, it's it's too bad.
Brilliant girl that. No purpose, no idea of what her existence was for.
Well, there is a reason God has made us, and when he made you, He made you for a purpose.
The youth village where we go to talk to the young people, they're often disorientated like that too. And I sometimes say, what do you think somebody had in mind when they made that chair there with some pieces of steel? What did they have in mind?
Well, they always say, well, it's something to sit on. Sit on. Yeah. They had a purpose in mind when they made that.
And so everything has a purpose that is made. When God made us, He made us worth with a purpose in mind.
So it's so wonderful to understand something in the word of God, of the purpose of God, why he chose us and I, I enjoy this chapter 15.
Speaks of fruit. He speaks of more fruit. He speaks of much fruit. He speaks of fruit that remains. This is something that will last forever.
And it's like it's been brought out. Fruit is not.
The result of actions.
As we mentioned yesterday, the fruit of the spirit that's mentioned in Galatians 5 are all passive things.
They may be manifested in actions, but they're all passive in themselves.
They're not actions in themselves.
It's the result of this SAP that runs up the trunk of the vine and into the branches and out to where the fruit the **** is, and then the fruit forms. And the vine itself doesn't have to wave its branches around to produce fruit, No, the only thing that's necessary is to stay connected to the vine, and that fruit will form.
And it's so wonderful just to realize that's why we've been chosen and set in the position that we are, that we would bear fruit that remains for all eternity.
You want your life to count for something that will last, that's fulfilling.
Here's a secret right here in verse 16.
So wonderful, wonderful thing to go through life learning by experience with these purposes of God and fulfillment of why he's called us in walking in obedience to the Lord and and seeing the results of that, that purpose of God being fulfilled in your life. There's a lot of people that don't have that.
I I went to a graduation once and they a man, a preacher.
Christian man spoke a man who had visited in prisons and he decided to visit this one well known federal prison and he went there and he.

00:30:01

Requested to visit the worst criminal they had.
And he went to the cell and visited this man. And this man was totally devoid of any purpose in life.
A little different from the case than the brilliant one there. And he interviewed that person.
And they had no purpose and because of that, no knowledge of God or no reason to be checked up on anything or to live his life in in with a God that had a plan or anybody else's plan. Therefore he went about doing his own plan in whatever way, thinking there are no consequences long as he got away with it. That is so sad.
When souls lack this relationship with God this verse is talking about.
To be a called 1 Chosen and then to go through life and see in your life the realization of these things, not just for all benefit too, but for God. Of course, that is mutual. It's mutual what God will rejoice in, in being fulfilled in a life that's walked according to his purpose. It's a great thing to see that in yourself and.
It's it's encouraging.
And it really keeps you going on when you have some sense that even though there's difficulties, that God is with you and he has some fulfillment going on in your life.
Just so there's no misunderstanding, Doug, would you expand a little on that?
Are there times, even in the believers life when perhaps.
There is a true desire to please the Lord, a true desire to have the Lord's purpose and mind in our lives. And yet are there sometimes times, maybe of a bit of uncertainty, or perhaps times when we seem to be, as it were, marking time for a little while? Or perhaps times when it seems as if the Lord has put us in the backside of the desert for a little bit and we're not sure where we're going is? Is that included too?
I'm sure it is and we've all probably all of us experienced that and it's Moses was that those 40 years and well, think of John the Baptist when he was in prison and he he spoke to the Lord our job he that should come or look wait for another.
I think he was questioning.
Something along those lines. The only problem is he was questioning about the Lords part of it and and we have hindsight now and we can look back and see that God did have a purpose for John. And so I suggest that if you're at a place in your life where you don't maybe see some of those purposes and you wonder about things, it's so good to be keep you in the scriptures and read these Old Testament stories.
And maybe you'll find one that relates to you, where you are, and it will encourage you. Elijah got discouraged, and that's another story of partly why he got discouraged. It was a bit of a wrong focus there, but he didn't have the light that we do.
Perhaps you had some more Advil? No, that's very good. Just just wanted to bring out the fact that even when a true believer has a right desire to please the Lord.
There may be times in our lives when the Lord is doing just what we had in the earlier part of the chapter, pruning in order that He may have more fruit and dealing with us in a way putting us through a school for something that is ahead. It's not wasted time, even though perhaps we may not see the issue of it immediately. But at the same time, I thoroughly and 100% agree with what was brought out that it's sad to see dear souls, even believers that.
Seem to be having no sense of direction and God's purpose in their lives. And I don't believe we see that in the Word of God, do we? That is, that's not God's.
Thought for us that's not a self confident attitude is it is walking here with a purpose. It may be in much humility and weakness, but but it's focusing on the Lord, knowing that the Lord has chosen us.

00:35:09

No, he's not going to let down his side of the bargain. He's going to. He's going to follow through with his purpose and in calling us.
Have you ever thought of Joseph?
Who left his father's house at 17 years old?
And everything seemed to go wrong.
For 13 years, that's a long time in the life of a young person.
For 13 years, everything went wrong.
Yet I think he must have thought back to those dreams he had.
And God answered in his time, 1 morning.
Everything. One day everything changed. He started the day in prison. He ended the day as second ruler of the Kingdom.
Tremendous.
That he lived for the Lorde glory at all times. He didn't lose sight of that, did he? And I think that's what's so important when you don't understand what the Lord has in mind for you. Keep close to the Lord, read the word, walk in obedience to Him.
And in his time, God will make it all clear.
Just like to turn to Galatians chapter one and I think this might be a help. It's a New Testament example of someone in Galatians chapter one and.
Perhaps we could read from verse 15, the apostle Paul. There was a waiting time. I used to have the impression when I was a young person that Paul was given the Great Commission to go up to the Gentiles and he was saved and it was a mighty work of God. There was direct divine intervention in his life.
And then he immediately went out and began to preach the gospel. But I don't believe that that's really what took place. It says in Galatians chapter one and verse 15. Please God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen. Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood, neither went I up to Jerusalem, to them which were apostles before me, but I went into Arabia and returned again unto Damascus.
Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him.
15 days. But other of the apostles saw none save James the Lord's brother. Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God I lie not. Now perhaps there was a little work, a little gospel, and so on. But there was a time in Paul's life, a little perhaps parenthesis, when he had said, Lord, what will thou have me to do?
And there was a little parenthesis where he had to spend some time alone with the Lord.
And they must have been days. He must have thought perhaps three years is a long time. A long time, Lord, I've been saved now for three years. Surely there's something. I've been called to go out to the heathen. And the Lord had told him that he would suffer great things for his name's sake and so on. But I believe that Paul there received from the Lord, the risen Lord in heaven, those some of those revelations that he had.
Given to him and he was prepared a vessel that was prepared of God in the wilderness and he was going to get it from Christ himself. He didn't get naturally speaking. Who would have thought that he would go to Jerusalem and confer with the apostles there and receive something that he might be able to go and present to the Gentiles. But that's not what God had in mind. Amendment. I just would call attention to what Peter says in first Peter chapter four he says in verse 2.
First Peter chapter 4 and verse two, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of men, but to the will of God. And then this in verse three it says they're the will of the Gentiles. So you have these two things, the will of God and the will of the Gentiles. And so here we have in the 15th chapter of John the marvelous grace of God and how he presents to us that the path of fruit bearing for the Lord.

00:40:00

A path of real blessedness and happiness for you and I as those that can identify in that relationship of friends with the Lord.
Is a relationship where we want His will, we want His way. We know from practical experience and perhaps from the experience of faith in the Word of God that His way is perfect, is absolutely flawless. And that's what we want. And instead of getting impatient with the Lord and those 3 long years.
Then just need to go on with the Lord. If I could just put it in a practical way, perhaps there's a young person here struggling in his life. Thank you. Perhaps he went to college and things just haven't turned out the way they should. I don't have a job, and so on and so forth. Wait for the Lord. Work in your local home assembly. Go to all the meetings. Spend time in the presence of the Lord and the local assembly. Don't miss a meeting. Go to every reading meeting, every prayer meeting, Be at all the meetings. Be there with the Lord in the presence of the Lord. He's going to bless you. And if you truly ask Him, Lord.
What wilt thou have me to do? He will die. He will leave you. He will give you something to do for himself.
I just like to add something else to Joseph from Psalm 105.
Verse 17.
Does he sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant whose feet they hurt with feathers. He was laid in iron until the time that his word came, the word of the Lord tried him. The king sent him loose to him, even the ruler of the people, and let him go free, and made him Lord of his house and ruler of all his substance, and so forth.
In verse 19, until the time they let his word came about, Mr. Darby puts it.
The word of the Lord of the Lord of Allah tried him those dreams that he had had.
Sustained him and tried him both.
And doesn't matter what our age is, if we have something of divine revelation from the Lord, cleave to that.
In times of difficulty, when we can look at something the Lord has given us.
Will sustain us through the difficulty.
He didn't have New Testament Dr.
Look at the light you and I am.
Something important in this chapter as well concerning the relationship between the Father, the Son and ourselves connected with friendship.
I think it's see if we see it somewhat developed in the Lord's Prayer in the 17th chapter where he says in chapter 17 verse 10 and all mine are thine and.
Design our mind and I am glorified in them. And then in backing up in verse four, he says I have glorified thee on the earth since chapter 17, for I have glorified thee on the earth. I have finished the work which thou gave us me to do. Now back in our own chapter, the chapter again to remind us starts with the statement I am the true vine. My father is the husband.
And then going down to verse.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that he very much fruit.
So shall you be my disciples.
God's purpose in the life of everyone in this room.
Is really the same?
The most simple expression of it, the purpose of God for every person in this room, is for God to glorify Himself.
That's why we exist.
Because it says in the end of Romans 11 or of him, and through him and for Him are all things to him be glory forever. Amen. The end result and purpose of God in everything is the glory of Himself through His Son.

00:45:08

And in this chapter, when it's talking about fruit bearing, it's fruit bearing as we have in verse 11, that God might be glorified.
And the Lord Jesus, first for himself, came into this world to glorify the Father, and his life was a life of fruit.
For the Father its glory, and the Father in turn chose to glorify the Son.
And the sun is glorified as well, as we see particularly in the 17th chapter now.
The Lord the Son introduces us into a position with himself as friends that we too might bear fruit. Glory of the Father. It's a blessed thing that the Lord Jesus chose us.
For this wonderful privilege and responsibility He will share with us, He will enable us, He will teach us that we, with Him and in association with himself and under His direction, are those who may.
Produce fruit to the glory of the Father and that's really the the setting of the sense of what the Lord Jesus when he's talking to the disciples here is I've chosen you. He knew what it was to live his whole life to that purpose and his life was full of purpose and and perfect direction to it just in a practical sense.
If you want to know the purpose of God in a down at the bottom, everyday step level, you always have to start at the top. Don't start with yourself and say, well, what am I going to do with my life? It doesn't tend to come out right. When we start in anything with ourselves, we don't often end up at the right conclusions. But if we start with God and say what is God's thoughts about something?
With respect to anything concluding ourselves and if we start with the realization that I exist for the glory of God, for God's purposes, for his own pleasure and then we can see how the Lord Jesus has brought us into that relationship that we can do that and says I'll direct your life. I will guide you so that you may have a fruitful life. Then we get down to the practice of it, but.
Man and self will, he wants purpose to life that satisfies himself and he always goes wrong.
What were you going to say, Brother Clem and I thought of.
Tom, 41.
Verse 9.
I'm quite sure that you all agree who the Lord is prophetically talking about.
In Psalm 41, verse 93, he gave my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted with the need of my bread, had lifted up his heel against me.
Thought leaving that word there in our Bible, friend.
Does it mean that? Or is he an impostor, just a pretender?
Reading Mr. Darby's translation, it says yeah, my known familiar friend in whom I confided.
Who did eat as my bread that lifted up his heel against me. It's Judas, isn't it?
Is really referring to?
It's really.
AB that we have here the.
Pages that word would be this way.

00:50:04

Mine. The man of my peace that's lifted up his hero against me. That's the way that we read That would take that away. My own familiar parade, the man of my peace. I don't know whether that errors into it or not.
Touching to see that the Lord did not disown Judas from that relationship of friendship.
That he'd been called to.
He he but he felt the feeling of that being betrayed and being him lifting up his deal against him that when so when Judas came to betray him. The Lord calls his friend work for art thou come hit her in the Lord Jesus did not enact his anticipation of knowing what was going to happen didn't cut off the friendship beforehand.
Because he uses to go through the experience of having a friend forsake him and and betray him in that way. So it's.
It it to me it's just touching to see how God or the Lord Jesus.
Maintaining on his part the friendship.
He did not break it. Judas broke it.
We've been speaking about.
For the purpose of the glory of God in connection with these verses of Judas going back to chapter 13 as well.
In chapter 13, they're sitting at the table.
Where they had to Passover. And as they sit at the table, the Lord is conversing with the disciples and teaching them and preparing them for his separation from them. And during the conversation, Judas is up to this point sitting there as a friend and as one of the inner circle to whom the Lord had been making known his thoughts and his heart. And so it says verse 21, when Jesus had.
Thus said, he was troubled in spirit. His spirit was troubled because.
Of what was there in their midst? Judas, whose heart wasn't right with God, and he felt it in his own spirit. But as Doug says, he, he doesn't deny the relationship, but it brought grief into his own soul and it troubled it. And so he says, he testified and said, Verily I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. And then the whole character of the supper changes, and there's distress among them all, because they loved him, and they were distressed that someone of their own number might do such an awful thing.
And so the question comes up, who is it?
And not to take up that part of it, but just to notice that in verse 27, after the soft Satan enters into him, then said Jesus unto him, that thou doest too quickly. And so verse 30, he then having received the soft, went immediately out and it was night. I just want to call attention to what's immediately follows. That therefore, when he was going out, Jesus said, now is the Son of man glorified, and God is glorified in him?
If God be glorified in him, God shall also glorify him in himself and straightway glorify him. The glory of God and being fruitful requires reality in the relationship. And if there's something that is unreal, false and improper, it causes a troubling that there will be no fruit in it for God but the holy hands, if you will, that the unholy handsome.
That were present at the table.
Or remove themselves. Judas voluntarily, because of his own desires. He goes out to fulfill his lust. And then there's a freedom, there's a liberty that brings in immediately the matter of the glory of God. So it is in our lives. We exist to glorify God, and we're brought into the friendship relationship.
But it has to be on the terms of God's own character of life and love. And if it's not, then there's no glory for God in it and there's no fruit in it. And so it ought to be an exercise with us to always seek to live in a way that our lives could be fruitful and useful according to his will, that the fruit might grow within us. The Lovejoy, peace, long-suffering.

00:55:23

Can't really properly coexist with evil.
I think we're going to need a little explanation of our 17th verse about being commanded to love one another because we we've already had. We're not in a servant master relationship where you generally think of commands being given. Why do we have a command here to love?
Guess I feel for my own soul, Doug, that it's because.
Well, let me backtrack a bit. As we had brought before us yesterday, God has given us through the new life we have in Christ.
The capacity to love as he loves. The capacity to love even if the object does not return. The love even if the object is not appreciated.
But I suggest, for my own soul at least, that the reason we find the commandment to love reiterated over and over again is it is because it is so natural to our hearts to fall back into natural love and into that which.
Responds to what responds to us. That is, human relationships are largely based on.
Natural love. They are based on individuals whom we can relate to, and the whole world revolves around groupings of individuals who have things in common. It doesn't matter whether it's business arrangements, whether it's professional things, whether it's an interest in a particular line of things, a particular political point of view. Anything will do as long as there's a common ground.
But what does God do in the church? He takes the most unlikely group of individuals from every walk of life and with every reason that in most cases they would not know each other.
Puts them together and says, now I have given you a capacity to love one another that transcends anything that is natural to you. And I want to see that exhibited. But I don't mean it takes spiritual energy to do it, although that no doubt is true. But it is so easy, isn't it, for us to fall back into the natural way of things because we live and move in a world where all of that.
Is going on all the time. Is that? Is that true?
Like that?
That's why you have the very next verse speaks of the world.
And hatred.
It's so important, isn't it? To let love like you say though, is let it flow from abiding in Christ.
We are commanded to love, but it's I like what Mr. AC Brown used to say, says those commands are divine directives to the new life that we possess in Christ and so.
That love is evident amongst his brother and his sacrificial love. It's like it says in Hebrews 10. Let us consider one another.
To provoke and to love and the good works.
I know you a little bit.
I know what pleases you and I know there's certain things you don't like, and so I'm going to consider that to do what would provoke to love and to good works. So it's important that that be in operation amongst us and if that were more so then this world would not have entrance into our lives so much we wouldn't be interested in it.

01:00:08

The world loves its own.
Says in verse 19, if we were of the world, the world would love its own. But because you're not of the world.
That I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Join forces with them.
You'll be let feel their hatred.
You cannot be neutral.
In the world we live in, you're either for Christ.
Or against. There is no middle ground.
They're both warnings.
An example about things and in connection with that you've mentioned Hebrews and the first verse of Hebrews 13 is let brother and love continue. What's the last words of the the river before that?
Our God is a consuming fire. That's a warning.
Let brother in love continue.
That's an advice.
It's very serious, isn't it?
Living Christ? Really.
And we should be able to live Christ.
The first we had a relationship yesterday. If you live in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit. Practice what you preach if it's if the right way to preach even.
If our practical Christianity is made known, we reflect Christ to this world, it will bring out their hatred. Because if you and I obey the word of God as the Lord Jesus has been telling His disciples here and instructing us, and if in our hearts affections we bear fruit for him as we walk in obedience to His word, and then we have love, one for another will walk as the children of God will reflect the very life of Christ.
And it will produce hatred in this world because this world doesn't want Christ in any way, shape or form. And so you and I are going to display that nature of the divine nature. And so it brings out before us here the fact that if we do these things that the Lord Jesus has asked us to do and indeed commanded us to do, there's going to be reproach for the name of Christ. Somebody's going to ask you, why do you do what you do? And if you say honestly that you do it because you love the Lord.
Belong to the Lord Jesus, and you want to please Him, to like thyself also in the Lord, and He shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Your desire of heart is to please the Lord. It's going to show, and then there's going to be reproach. And so he instructs his own here that they should expect that it's not going to be abnormal Christianity. It is normal Christianity to reflect Christ and to speak of Him and then to feel something of the wrath of this world.
As they see the man they crucified, see some reflection of that man in your life.
Like to comment a little in connection with what we have before us from First John chapter 4.
We have the same expressions and John's epistle that we have in the Gospel with respect to the commandment and the use of the word command.
In first John chapter 4.
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love. And down in verse 20, if a man say, I love God and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
And this commandment have we from him, that he that who loveth God, love his brother also.
God is God is love.
And when we put our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.
That nature of God as love is put in us.
We love because it's our nature to love. We love our brother because that's the very nature. It's not a matter of having to do something as as if it was worked.

01:05:06

We don't.
Generally speaking, work and breathing, it's according to what we are and here is giving expression to the thought of be what you are.
It's be what you are. And the command isn't a command contrary. In the law, commands were contrary to man's nature. He wanted to do this and the law said no, do that. And so there was a conflict between man's nature and what was good.
But the commands of God are commands that are a delight to us.
They are a natural outflow of what we are.
And they're usually, I believe that at least partly, the expression command is simply the test word of this is a test of whether you're real. If you're real, you will display your life.
Which is a love of God is as it says that we just read. He that loveth not knoweth not God. We didn't put this love in ourselves, we didn't create it.
God's the love of God is put in us by God himself.
We didn't put it there, Don. Can you always put it this way?
Since we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Yes, you can. I mean it's a wonderful because we do live in the spirit we do. We have no other way to live if we have the life of Christ.
But the problem, the conflict, the reason for the last half of that verse is because it's still possible for us to live according to the flesh, because the flesh is still in US. And so we do at times, sadly, we live according to the flesh instead of according to the life that we have in Christ in the Spirit. And so we need these exhortations. But at the same time, with John and the way he presents it, he takes us down to the very nature of the matter.
What it absolutely is in the bottom of it. And as it worries the exhortation of the command is now you be what you are. Yeah. And then in Galatians it always says again, it says ye are all the children of God, my faith in Christian, all of you.
God that take any rules about that?
The contrast is we have in our chapter with evil in the world. It's important and you have it in First John as well as it presents the world to us. In First John and in John's Gospel, there's a conflict between the world and God because the world is of the devil.
The world is.
The source of what the world is, is safe.
And Satan is the absolute wicked one who is in opposition to all that God is, and he has taken the world and motivated it to the full extent that he's capable of making it be what he is, which is a hatred of God. So as it says in First John, why did Cain slay his brother?
Because he was of Satan, he was motivated as a man in enmity against God, and he hated righteousness as one who was of the wicked one. And so the world hates God, and it hates all that God is and His righteousness because there is an enmity between it and the world. And so we talked about friendship, and as it says, friendship with the world.
Is what enmity against God?
If I go join the world in its pursuit, I put myself in a place of a friendship. We know what we've had already in the meeting and friendship. But on the other side of it, which he brings out at the end of the chapter, is the friendship with the world is that which is in direct opposition to all the, excuse me, all that God is, and the very source of it is Satan.
And there's two ways in the verses that follow that the world has shown.

01:10:04

Unmistakably their enmity.
To God and to the Lord Jesus, verse 22.
It's.
His words and verse 24. It's his works.
Verse 22 If I had not come and spoken unto them.
They had not had sin, but now they have no cloak for their sin. He spoke to them.
And they rejected it. Verse 24 If I had not done among them the works which none other men did, they had not had sin. But now they have both seen and hated both me and my father. So the crowning.
Where the world showed what it really was, when the Lord Jesus was here and they rejected his work, His words.
They rejected his works.
The world can appear so often attractive and that's what it mentions like was mentioned in first John 2.
All that is in the world, the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life.
Can appear attractive.
Satan tries to get us to be attracted to it, but it is shown itself to be hatred toward God.
So how important for us to realize that's the world we're passing through?
In verse 25 really connects.
Shall we say that?
Jewish religion with the world.
Hebrew said the sanctuary of world it's.
This cometh to pass that the word might be fulfilled. This is written in their law.
Interesting that it's worded that way.
The whole thing is set aside as Jesus touches.
Aspect of what was given in the particles in the book of Hebrews. When he touches it, it becomes perfect for the first time forever.
Sets aside.
Probably nothing more difficult to set aside than that which was divinely revealed, but it can only be set aside by averages and better and.
It brings it down to the thing that is now identified with the world.
Well, it seems that every aspect of the world is against Christ, isn't it? But.
The religious aspect of the world perhaps takes on.
An even more vicious, if I could use that word, and militant character than anything else.
If it's man in his politics, man in his businessman, in the whole system of things that he has set up in this world, yes, it is all ultimately against God and his purposes in Christ. And as you say, the hatred is there, but.
Judaism had become a worldly religion. If it had had the right effect on the people, they would have said.
Requirements, we have put ourselves under them and look what we have done. We cast ourselves on His mercy. But instead of that, as we have in an expression in a modern world, when they didn't like the message, they got rid of the messenger. And so they said we don't want God's message, we will get rid of His Son.
And.
That made Judaism a worldly religion, and ultimately it's the pattern for every kind of religion that man makes. That is, it gives some kind of glory to man and takes away from the glory of God. That is the kind of religion this world wants, and ultimately it's in diametric opposition more than anything else to Christ.

01:15:18

It's the same as.
A case of Cain and Abel. Abel never did anything against Cain to be to be murdered. He he did righteousness. He offered something that was acceptable, but he was hated for it because he was accepted of God. And the Lord Jesus never did anything wrong, but he bore witness to the the evil that was in man's heart.
And he revealed it. And so he was hated for that. That's without cause.
Shall we sing 282 #282?
Master, we would no longer.
At all, in that we.
Shady.
My creation.
In life for that, so I saw.
As I.
Join.
Rewarded fortune was passed.
And joy shall run thy serve thy soul.
And.
To say your sin, your sight, you're saying, you're saying, you're saying.

Five Steps

Gospel—Tim Roach

DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.

I want to talk about the question.
What must I do to be saved?
I was just in Malawi in the month of February and when I was there.
There are several incidences of crocodiles. There's a Somalian.
A lot of refugees come down from Somalia, and they come through Malawi, and they stay at the refugee transit station for a few days. And while he was there, he went down to the river. Now the Somalians, they're all Islam.
And this man, he was bathing down in the lake, and while he was bathing a crocodile came up out of the water and grabbed him and took him under the water and drowned him and ate him.
That man.
He is with Muhammad tonight.
He is in hell.
What could he have done to be saved? Nobody could save him from the crocodile.
Are you saved?
Later that week, there was another Somalian.
And he was down near the lake.
And a Python came out of the grass and the reeds and wrapped himself around the man.
He was helpless. He could do nothing to help himself. He could not save himself. He needed someone else to save him.
The police officer came to rescue him and he had a gun and he was going to shoot.
The Python.
But he missed, and he killed the man.
The Python let go of the man and went on his way. That man, the policeman, could not save that man.
Maybe you think your father or your mother can save you, but they can't.
It's only Jesus Christ who can save you.
Paul and Silas. They were two Christian men who were teaching.
About the Lord Jesus in the city of Philippi.
And the people of Philippi, they hated Jesus.
And they arrested Paul and and they tied them up in chains and put them into the most secure cell in the prison.
But this did not discourage Paul and Silas. They were praying in the prison, and they were praising and singing. And all the other prisoners they heard this. And the and the prison keeper, he heard the the praise of God also.
And let's read in Acts chapter 16 and verse 25.
This is what Paul and Silas were doing while they were in the prison at midnight. Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awakening out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying Do thyself no harm for we are all here. Then he called for a light and sprang in.
And came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, and brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
What must I do to be saved? This man was a Sinner. He knew he was a Sinner. He was trembling in his sins. He was afraid of death because he knew that there was judgment, the wrath of God. We say you need to be saved, but what do you need to be saved from? You need to be saved from the eternal punishment.

00:05:01

Against sin.
It's the wrath of God.
I want to cover 5 steps tonight.
That surround your salvation.
And if and these steps will cover the time before your salvation, enduring your salvation, and after your salvation. And if you follow these steps, I think you can be sure to know that you have eternal life, to know that you are saved and that you will go to heaven to be with the Lord Jesus. You'll be saved from the guilt and the penalty of your sins, and you can know that you have eternal life today.
Tonight you can be saved. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Acts 16, verse 31.
Paul and Silas said believe on the Lord Jesus.
And thou shalt be saved.
The five steps to your salvation surrounding your salvation. The first one is to see your sin. The second one is to confess your sin. The third one is to believe that's the most important believe on the Lord Jesus. The 4th one is to turn away from your sins and #5 to fix up past things.
Now these are just five steps that you can learn.
That will help you to know that you are saved and step number one is to see.
Your sin. And you need to see your sin in order to be saved.
Romans chapter 3 and verse 23 says for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
It's a very clear message that you are a Sinner, that you have not measured up to the glory to the holiness of God. There is judgment.
You cannot be saved from that judgment unless you can see your own sin. If you don't know that you have sin, you cannot know that you are lost. If you're not lost, you don't need to be saved.
And so when you are in your sin.
You are lost. You are far from God because sin separates man from God.
Do you see your sin?
Do you know that you are lost in your sin?
Let's go to Second Samuel, chapter 12.
And I want to talk about the sin of David. Now David was a man who saw his own sin.
He stole the wife of another man.
After that.
He had the man killed.
He took one look at that woman, Bathsheba. She was up on the roof of her house, taking a bath.
David was in his house next door.
And he was up on the top of his house and he goes to the window and looks out and there's Bathsheba.
When he saw that woman.
It produced lust in his heart.
Ladies.
You need to be careful how you display yourself in the view of men.
Because one look at a man from a man, at a woman who is clothed immodestly.
It can produce lust in his heart.
But men listen.
We need to be careful that we do not look at provocative women.
We need to turn our eyes away.
From The Dirty magazines.
We need to turn our eyes away from the sleazy Internet websites and all the ***********.
God told the Israelites in in Numbers 33 verse 52. He tells them when they went into the land of the heathen. He told them that they needed to destroy all those people and they needed to destroy the pictures.

00:10:15

Why destroy the pictures?
Because God knows that our minds and our bodies are controlled.
By pictures that become embedded in our minds.
And these pictures can create lust in our hearts.
And it causes us so that we do not see our sin.
That's what happened to David. He had lust in his heart. He did not see his sin at first. He did not see his sin. He only saw the pleasure that he could have with this woman.
And one day, Nathan the prophet, after that, Nathan the Prophet came to David and he told David a story. And we have our story here in Second Samuel, chapter 12. And I'm just going to tell you this story, but this is the story that Nathan told to David. He said that there was a certain rich man that had many sheep. He was rich, but yet there was a poor man in the same city.
And that poor man had only one small female lamb. That's all he had.
Well, the rich man had a visitor come to town.
And the rich man said, oh, I need to feed this man. I don't want to use any of my own sheep. And so he went down to the House of the poor man, and he took that poor man's lamb, and he killed that lamb and he fed it.
To his visitor.
David heard this story. David became angry. He said This was a bad man.
He must be punished.
David did not realize who this bad man was.
And in Second Samuel chapter 12 and verse 7, Nathan said to David.
You are the man.
You are the man.
David heard that.
I'm sure. His heart stopped.
His face may be turned red. He was embarrassed.
David understood at that point that the story was about him.
David saw his sin. He knew that what he had done was sin in the eyes of God.
Many times people think, oh it was it didn't my sin, it was not sin. It didn't hurt anybody.
But sin is not against people. It is against people. But sin is against God. And David saw that what he had done was sin in the eyes of God. So if we go over to Psalm chapter 51, we can see we can read the prayer that David prayed to God.
After he saw his Sin Psalm chapter 51.
And in verse three and four, David says I acknowledge my transgression.
And my sin is ever before me, against thee, against you, and you only.
Have I sinned and done what is evil in thy sight?
Oh David. He knew he could not hide from sin, but he took a big step towards his salvation when he saw his sin. And you too need to see your sin. You need to take that first step towards your salvation.
You need to see your sin. Let's go over to Luke chapter 18.
This brings us to step #2.
You need to confess your sin and this this story is about the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Republican Republican is a tax collector and we read about this in Luke chapter 18 and verse 10.
Two men went up into the temple to pray, the 1A Pharisee and the other Republican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. God, I thank thee that I am not his other man, extortioners, unjust adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week I give tithes of all that I possess. Oh, this man, he thought pretty good things of himself, but the public in standing afar off.

00:15:25

Would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a Sinner.
Did the Pharisee see his sin?
No.
The Pharisee thought that he was good enough. He thought he was without sin. He was better than this other man. Man. He was better than all these other people.
He did not see his sin, But what about the tax collector? Did he see his sin?
Yes, he did. We read that the tax collector he beat upon his chest. He wouldn't even lift his eyes up to heaven. He was. He was humiliated because of his sin and he bowed his head. And he asked God to have mercy on him, and he called himself a singer. God be merciful to me, a Sinner. Do you see your sin?
Can you confess your sin?
After you see your sin, you must confess your sin. This is the second step.
Of salvation to towards salvation. When Peter was saved, he confessed his sin. That's in back in chapter 5.
Luke Chapter 5 and verse 8. Simon Peter.
Fell down at Jesus knees saying depart from me, for I am a sinful man. Oh Lord Peter saw that he was a Sinner.
He confessed to the Lord Jesus. I am a Sinner.
There was a young man who had a bad sickness.
And it gave him a lot of trouble, and for a long time he was afraid to tell his family.
He was ashamed of his sickness. But one day he realized that his sickness was killing him and so he told his family. His family took him to the hospital and there he told the doctor, he uncovered his sickness to the doctor. The doctor gave him some medicine.
And the man got well.
What did the young man do when he saw his sickness was killing him?
Why? He confessed his sickness to his family. He confessed his sickness to the doctor.
That is what you need to do with your sin. You need to confess your sin.
To God.
Because your sin is like that sickness. It's killing you. It's dragging you down just like the just like the crocodile that we spoke about. He grabbed the man and drags him down under the water to kill him.
Satan's doing that to you tonight too, with your sin. Satan is using your sin to drag you down with him into the damnation of hell, into the lake of fire.
Where there will be eternal wrath of God. Satan does not want you to give glory to God. He wants to destroy you, and he will do it if you don't come to Jesus.
You need to uncover your sin to Jesus. Tell him that you are sick with sin.
When you confess your sin to God.
God is listening.
Because God wants to forgive you. He wants to take away your sin. Jesus is the taker away of sin, and so you need to confess your sin to Jesus.
Jesus was punished on the cross.
Because of your sin.
And then Jesus died.
And then Jesus. Then the soldier took his spear and stabbed it into the side of the Lord Jesus and out flowed the blood and water.

00:20:01

The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. It is that blood that can cleanse your sin tonight, the blood of Jesus. But you must confess your sins to God.
One day we were in in Malawi. We were at one of the village markets and we were preaching the gospel and handing out tracts. Well after we finished I went and sat down somewhere until the others were done. And while I was sitting there a man came up to me and he was drunk and he kneels down before me and he starts to confess his sin. He wanted me to save him.
I couldn't help the man.
I couldn't help the man. I could tell him about Jesus.
I could give him a tract, I could pray, but I couldn't help the man. I couldn't take away his sin.
Don't confess your sin to the priest. He can't help you. Don't confess your sin to me. I can't help you. It's only Jesus Christ who can help you. Jesus Christ can take away your sin. You must confess your sin to the Lord Jesus. Let's go to Psalm Chapter 66.
I'll tell another story before I read this verse.
There was a man who worked in a big factory and in this factory they sewed nice shirts and these shirts were beautiful. And one day this man, he took a shirt and put it on and put his jacket over the shirt and he went home with it.
The next day, his boss asked him about that missing shirt.
And he says I don't know anything about it.
That man did not confess his sin.
You need to confess your sin to God.
Don't hide. Don't hide your sin. If you hide sin in your heart, we are told that God will not hear you.
Psalm 66 verse 18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.
If you hide iniquity, if you hide sin in your heart, you must confess your sin.
If you want the Lord Jesus to hear you.
That brings us to step #3.
To believe on the Lord Jesus, some of you see your sin.
Some of you have maybe confess your sin.
Maybe you've confessed your sin to God.
But confession will not save you.
That Philippian jailer we read about, He was trembling. Trembling will not save you.
Confession is a good step towards your salvation, but confession will not save you.
You must believe on the Lord Jesus.
When you believe on the Lord Jesus, it is like resting yourself on him.
I see everyone of you came in here tonight.
You saw you found yourself a chair.
You sat down.
You trusted that chair. You sat down.
Your whole body, your weight, sitting on that chair.
You're resting your body on that chair.
In the same way.
You must rest your soul on the Lord Jesus.
You must believe on the Lord Jesus, believe that Jesus died.
On the cross?
Believe that Jesus took away your guilt.
He took away the penalty for years. He took the penalty for your sin. All the judgment that was coming to you fell on Jesus Christ. During those three hours of darkness. God poured out His wrath on Jesus Christ. All our sins were laid on him.
And Jesus was punished for our sin. Do you believe that? Do you believe that Jesus died?

00:25:03

Do you believe that Jesus shed his blood?
To wash away every sin.
That you have done.
Or will do.
You must believe that Jesus, that God has raised Jesus from the dead.
Jesus is a living savior.
He's in heaven tonight. There's a man in heaven tonight.
It's Jesus.
God raised him from the dead. God is satisfied with Jesus because Jesus took all the punishment for you so that you could be brought back into a relationship and a fellowship with God. Sin had broken that fellowship, but yet God wants to restore that fellowship through the death of his son, Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and he will save you.
Let's go to 1St John, Chapter 5.
See, it is by faith that a person will receive Jesus as their savior. If you believe on the Lord Jesus, you can be sure that you are saved. You don't have to worry whether you are saved or not. The Lord Jesus did not come into this world to die on the cross to make you worry about your salvation. You can be sure that you are saved, but many people are not sure. And if you ask them if they are saved.
They will say, well, I'm trying to be good.
Some people think that they will only know whether or not they are saved at the end. When they go to stand before Jesus to see if their good has done, it was more than their bad. And so like weighing their like meat, like weighing meat on a scale, they think God's going to put their good sins on one side and they're good on one side and they're bad on the other. But it doesn't work that way.
You can't be good enough.
To be saved.
Many people don't know whether they are saved or not.
And if you are a Christian.
And you don't have assurance of your salvation. It makes you to be a weak Christian.
Because you don't have the confidence, you don't have the peace and the assurance of your salvation. But God does not want you to worry about your salvation. So God has made it possible for you to be sure that you are saved. And so in John first John chapter 5 and verse 13.
God tells us.
These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God. You can know that you have eternal life. It's not something you have to worry about. Many people think, well, what if I sin after I'm saved?
What happens then? Did Jesus pay for that sin too?
Yes, he did. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from every sin, not just the sins from before your salvation, but every sin. God who knew them laid those sins on Jesus Christ, and God punished Jesus Christ for everyone of your sins.
Maybe you have seen your sin.
Maybe you have confessed your sin, but now you must put your faith.
In Jesus Christ he will save you.
It's the only way to be saved. Acts 1631 Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.
Let's go to 1St Corinthians chapter 2.
This brings us to step #4, and that is to turn away from your sin.

00:30:01

That's called repentance. That means there's a change in your life. Repentance is a change, and it's turning away from your sin.
But repentance is not a decision that you make to live a better life.
Oh, we find that a lot in Malawi.
People say, oh, I got saved when I decided to live a better life.
That doesn't save you. That's not repentance.
Repentance is a change in our life which is a result of having eternal life because you can't live a better life.
Without Christ.
You need to be saved. You need to believe and be saved before there will be a change.
When you believe on the Lord Jesus.
God Forgives you.
He makes you clean.
And you don't want to get dirty again.
And you will want to turn away from your sin because God has given you a new life.
And that new life hates sin, and so you will turn away from sin. That's repentance.
Turning away from sin.
After the after the Lord Jesus saves you.
You should not go back to your sin.
You will want to turn away from the old way.
But you can't do this by yourself, and so God gives you the power to turn away from your sins.
How does He do that? He gives you eternal life, and He gives you the Holy Spirit. And with eternal life and the Holy Spirit you have power to turn away from your sins, and there is repentance.
If there is not repentance, if there is not turning away from sin.
You will perish.
Because if you don't turn away from your sin, that means.
You are not saved.
If you don't turn away from your sins.
You haven't repented.
Unless you repent.
You will perish.
First Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 5.
Verse four is talking about the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Your faith can only stand in the power of God, not by your understanding, not by your your faith cannot stand by your own wisdom, your own ideas, or the ideas of some other man. It can only stand.
By the power of God.
There was a man, Mr. Kuduma, and his wife.
And they they made beer and they drank it, and they sold it to their neighbors and friends and other people in the village.
But then they saw that their sin was full of life and it was causing sin and misery in other people's lives.
And they confessed that they were sinners and they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And they were saved because their faith was in Christ. They were not saved because they saw their sin. They were not saved because they confessed their sin, but they were saved because they had faith in Jesus Christ.
The blood of Jesus Christ washed away the sin of Mr. and Mrs. Kaduna.
They received eternal life.
This new life that they received, and you can receive this new life too. You can receive it tonight. But this new life that they received, it did not like to make the beer anymore.
They that new life didn't like to make other people drunk.
And so, Mr. and Mrs. Kaduma, they took the pot that they made the beer in and they broke it.
They turned away from their sin. They broke the pot so they couldn't make the beer any more.

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And so they turned away from their sin. Let's go to Romans chapter 13.
Well, we're talking about being sure of your salvation. If you are sure of your salvation, you're not going to want to turn back to the sins of your old life. We must turn away from our sins.
Some people think that they are strong Christians after God Forgives them, and they think that they can go near to sin and not get caught by that sin.
But Romans 13 verse 14 tells us.
Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh.
To fulfill the lusts thereof, do not make provision for the flesh. If we truly want to stay away from our sins, we're going to stay away from the places where we did those sins.
And that's why Mr. and Mrs. Koduma broke the pot. They wanted to stay away from those things.
That made them to do the sins. And so if you want to follow Christ.
You need to stay away from those things that you know.
That you ever have. You used to have a habit of doing because those habits.
Those desires can stay with you all through your life.
And so you need to turn away from them, because God's given you the power to do that with.
The New Life and with the Holy Spirit. Let's go to Ephesians Chapter 4.
Ephesians chapter 4.
And verse 26 tells the believer to hate sin so he that he won't get caught by the sin.
And the verse tells us be angry and sin not let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Now some people take this verse and they say, OK, it's OK to be angry, you just have to not let the sun go down upon your wrath. And it's OK to be angry with your friend or angry with your husband or angry with your wife. But you need to get the thing matter resolved before the sun goes down, before you go to bed. And then it's OK to be angry.
Oh, that's a foolish thing. That's not what this verse means.
We can't twist the word of God to mean what we want it to mean. What does this verse mean to be angry? God says that anger is a work of the flesh when we are at when we are angry at another person. But this anger is not against other people. This anger is hatred against sin.
And so this verse means that we should never stop hating sin.
With our with our eternal life, we have power from God to stay away from sin.
But if we stop hating sin and we start getting close to the sin.
We will start doing the sin again.
So we need to keep our hatred for sin.
Be angry and do not sin and don't let the sun go down upon your wrath. Never stop hating sin. Let's go to Galatians chapter 5.
We have said that God has given us the eternal life to help us give us the power to stay away from sin. But God has also given us the Holy Spirit to guide us so that we know to follow Christ.
And when we follow Christ, we'll be able to turn away from our old sins. And here in Galatians 5 and verse 16.
Says Walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

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There will be temptations for you to sin, and you will want to in your old nature, will want to do some of those old sins that you used to do.
But you need to remember that you have a new life. You need to remember to walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. But this is only possible for a person who has believed on the Lord Jesus. It is not possible for an unbeliever to walk in the Spirit.
And so God has given you that power to live a life that brings glory to God.
This brings us to our step #5 to fix up past sins.
1St we see our sin.
Secondly, we confess our sin. Thirdly, we believe on the Lord Jesus and he saves us.
With eternal life and with the Holy Spirit which He has given to us, we have power to turn away from our sins.
If you have faith in Christ.
You are free from the guilt of your sins.
The punishment you will not come under. The punishment of your sins you will never perish. We had that verse in Sunday School this morning. I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man take them out of my hands. You are safe in the hands of Jesus. No one can take you out.
But let's talk about the sins that you did before.
You were saved.
You troubled other people?
Maybe you told lies or you fought with some others. You stole things.
It's good if those people know that you are sorry for the trouble that you caused them.
If you want to go to share the gospel with somebody that you had sinned against before you were saved, they want to know that you are sorry for what you've done.
It helps anyway.
Let's look at Luke chapter 19.
And this is the story of Zacchaeus. We had a little bit about Zacchaeus this morning.
Now Zacchaeus was a rich man who was saved, and he started to follow the Lord Jesus. But before he was saved, he had taken things from other people in a wrong way.
And here in Luke chapter 19, look at what Zacchaeus said in verse 8.
Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken anything from any man by false accusation.
I restore him fourfold.
Zacchaeus had sinned against other people.
And now he tells the Lord, I'm going to give back four times the amount that he had stolen from other people.
He wasn't just going to give a little bit, he was going to give four times what he had taken from them.
That was evidence of eternal life.
But you need to know that restitution or paying back something you have done or making right or wrong that you have done that does not pay for your salvation. You cannot pay anything for your salvation. There is nothing good that you can do.
To please God.
The only good work that you can do we find in John Chapter 6 is to believe.
This is the work that you can do is to believe on the Lord Jesus.
And so trying to correct a wrong that you have done is no way to pay for your sin. Jesus paid the penalty for your sin when he was on the cross. He paid the whole price. And God is satisfied with Jesus when you confess your sin to people that you have troubled.

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It's a way of showing them that there's been a change in your life and so the good works that a Christian does.
It's not something you do to get eternal life. The good works that you do are not something that you do to keep your eternal life, but the good works are a result.
Of having eternal life. It's because eternal life knows, only knows how to do those things that please the Lord. And so the change in your life is because you are saved. It is because you have eternal life. What is eternal life? Oh, some people say, oh, it's a life that never ends. And that's true, but that's not really what it is.
The Epistle of John. We're told that Jesus Christ.
This is eternal life.
Jesus Christ is eternal life.
That means that when you have eternal life, you have the same life that Jesus has. That life is a life that cannot sin. It's a holy life.
It's the life of Christ.
And God has seen.
Pleased to give it to you because Jesus has taken away your sin.
When Jesus saw the evidence.
In Zacchaeus life he saw the evidence that there was eternal life. The Lord Jesus could also see into his heart to know that he had believed. Well Jesus said to Zacchaeus in verse 9, On this day is salvation come to this house.
Let's go to Romans chapter 8 for one last verse.
Now, some people think that they have to fix up past sins before they can get saved, but it doesn't work that way. It's impossible for you to fix up past sins. It's impossible for you to straighten up your life and and live a better life before you're saved. Remember that the steps that surround your salvation are these One, you need to see your sin. 2 Confess your sin Three believe on the Lord Jesus.
And you will be saved. That is the most important. That is the only way to be saved. And then you. Then you have the power to turn away from your sins and to fix up past sins.
Of these five steps.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation.
If you see your sin, that will not save you. If you confess your sin, that will not save you.
You must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
When you turn away from sin, that is a result or evidence that you have eternal life. It's a result of being saved.
And the and the power to fix up past sins is because you have eternal life. It's evidence that you are saved.
Romans 8, verse 16.
The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are.
The children of God as we live our Christian life.
And we obey Christ.
The Holy Spirit lets us know that we belong to Jesus.
If you have power.
To live according to the word of God.
That is because you have eternal life and you can have peace and you can rejoice in the Lord. Let's let's close by singing.
#5
oh, happy day. That fixed my choice.
When Jesus washed my sins away. Oh Happy Day.
Oh happy days. I fixed my choice.
Only my Savior and my God.
Will make the flow in my heart rejoice.

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Until we try to fall down.
The day how you hear it, once you've done it, when you've lost, Jesus warns you just want to swallow.
My sins away.
He's talking.
And every choice and every day.
Come here.
My Jesus was my sins away.
Transactions.
I am my Lord, That is my name.
I followed Glad to come. Glad.
Someone you are.
Happy.
Every day.
Happy day when Jesus was twice in the way.
And I rest my lonely boy and heart based on the planet.
I in the way.
They are beyond.
Your friends and favorite toys and every day.
Happy night.
When Jesus falls, I sinned away.
I just want to make one clarification concerning fixing up past sins. We don't have a verse of scripture that tells you to go fix up past sins.
With Nick, what Zach, what Zacchaeus did was the result of his salvation, The result of his.
Eternal life and a result of having the spirit of villain. The point is that when you are saved, when you have eternal life, when you have the Spirit of God, you have power to live a life that honors God and you. You have the power to live the life in good conscience towards God and towards me. Let's pray.
Our God and Father, we give thanks.
With the gospel.
Because the gospel is the good news.
That Jesus Christ has come into the world to save sinners.
We know there is.
Judgment. There is Iran.
There is judgment for sins and.
We know that Jesus Christ does not want anyone to go into hell into that lost eternity. And so the Lord Jesus was willing to come into this world to save, to die on the cross. So we give thanks, Father, for this gift that thus given to us, the gift of thy Son, the gift of eternal life, the blood of the shed to take away our sins, the blood that satisfies the claims of a holy God.
When we give thanks for all these things, we just ask that if there's anyone who does not get made that step to believe of the Lord Jesus that they would see their sin and come to Jesus tonight, we ask this in Jesus. Amen.