Lawrenceville Conference: 2015
Table of Contents
Deuteronomy 8:1-2
Oversight in the Local Assembly
Hold Fast, Occupy Until I Come
Deuteronomy 8:3-4
The Sufferings of Christ
Gospel—Jim Hyland
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Let's start the meeting this evening with hymn #15 on the gospel hymn sheet Oh blessed gospel sound. Yet there is room. It tells to all around. Yet there is room the guilty may draw near. Though vile they need not fear with joy they now may hear. Yet there is room. Hymn #15. Let's stand up to sing this and if someone could please start it.
Let's ask God's help and blessing our God and Father how thankful we are this evening for the Lord Jesus Christ. And we thank Thee that He came into this world, went to Calvary's cross, and there died shed His precious blood. We thank thee too, that He is risen and seated at Thy right hand, that Savior on high in the glory. And we thank thee for the glorious gospel and the fact that there is still room.
And that thou art still working by thy Spirit, as the gospel goes out around this sad, sin, sick world. Tonight, and now, as a gospel meeting has been scheduled for this room, our God and Father, our hearts are solemnized to think that there may be those who've heard it so many times and yet are still indifferent to thy claims, those who have heard it, and who have hardened their hearts, those who are rejecting or neglecting our God and Father, We pray that thou work mightily by thy Spirit.
Open ears to hear thy word. Open eyes to see beauty in Christ.
Touch the heart and conscience of any who are lost and in their sins. Oh our God, we pray.
That there might be much fruit for thy glory and for the eternal blessing of souls tonight. So we ask thy blessing. We ask thy help. We ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and for his glory. Amen.
Like to begin with a portion in the book of Hebrews, by way of introduction to what is on my heart this evening.
Hebrews, chapter 10.
Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 4.
But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance. Again, I'm sorry, verse 3. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, sacrifice, and offering, Thou wouldest not but a body hast thou prepared me.
We're going to, with the Lord's help, turn to a number of scriptures that bring before us the subject of preparation.
And we're going to see how God brings this subject before us in a number of ways. We're going to take it up a little later on in connection with our responsibility, in connection with being prepared for eternity. Because this evening we want to bring our souls into the very presence of God and into the very reality of what lies beyond this world. Because this life is not the end of the story.
And we could go from one scripture to another to show that when man passes out of this world, it is not all over.
You know, there was a time in the life of the Lord Jesus when he told a story of two men.
And that story was not a parable. Sometimes the Lord Jesus spoke in parables, but sometimes he told actual stories. Sometimes he cited current events, the Tower of Siloam falling, and other events. Sometimes he told actual stories about men and women, young people and boys and girls that lived here in this world. And there was an occasion when in Luke's Gospel, he told a story about two men, two actual men.
That lived here on planet Earth and they died because it is appointed unto man once to die.
And those two men died. They had lived under two very different circumstances here in this world.
But that's not really the point of the story. Yes, one was rich. One had all that his heart could desire as far as natural things, and one was poor. One had to beg for his bread, for his daily sustenance, that which could hold body and soul together. But you know, the point of the story really was that it didn't end with their death. You know, anybody that's writing a biography of someone, that story ends with the person's death. Because as we get an Ecclesiastes when one dies, as far as Earth is concerned, that's it. The story is over.
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But it's not over, really. And the Lord Jesus could go on and tell about those two men in the life beyond, because the life beyond is a reality. And those two men who had lived under very different circumstances in their lifetime on earth, they entered into two very different circumstances in the next World. One went to a place of blessing, the other went to a place of torment.
And so we want to bring ourselves tonight face to face with eternal issues. These things are real, and we're going to speak, as I say, on the subject of preparation. But I read this portion to begin with, because here we find the Lord Jesus referred to here, and it says a body has thou prepared me. If we were to read the context of these chapters here, we would find that there's a contrast made. God often teaches us in His word by contrast.
And we find a contrast made between the sacrifices in the Old Testament and the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on Calvary's cross. Because if we were to read these chapters, we would find that every priest stood daily offering, oftentimes the same sacrifices that could never take away sin. And it was not possible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins and those sacrifices that were offered from day-to-day and year to year.
They simply atoned for that one sin, and then the Israelite had to bring another, and another, and another. But as we read later on, this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever, sat down on the right hand of God. But here we find it said of the Lord Jesus. A body hast thou prepared me? Isn't it wonderful that we can tonight in the gospel present the man Christ Jesus, the one who came from heaven?
The one who came from glory down into this world, and it says he was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. It was important, it was vital. It was essential that the Lord Jesus come in incarnation. And I've often said, if you look up the Word incarnation in any secular dictionary.
It will say something to this effect. Christ come in human form. The first time I saw that in a Webster's dictionary it rather startled me. And then I realized, what else could it be? No one else has ever come in this way. No one else ever chose to come. No one else was foreordained before the foundation of the world in this way. But you know the Lord Jesus coming as a man taking upon him human form, sin apart, it's true, but taking on him.
Human form, Oh, it was planned from a past eternity. It was number afterthought with God. But the moment came when he came into this world and the IT was said of the Lord Jesus in anticipation of his birth to Mary.
That holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be begotten of the Holy Ghost. How careful the Spirit of God is to guard the virgin birth of the Lord Jesus. Unto us a child is born, that's his humanity. Unto us the Son is given. That's the eternity of his person. And so the Father sent the Son, and this is the one that we have to present tonight.
That's why we started with this portion concerning the Lord Jesus coming into this world as a man. And so the angels, as we mentioned in the Reading meeting this afternoon, the angels looked down in Bethlehem's Manger, and they saw the Lord of life and glory. They saw God come in human form, God manifest in the flesh. And there they went out to the shepherds and proclaimed that glorious news that the Lord Jesus had been born in Bethlehem's Manger.
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He grew up. His public ministry began as he came to John the Baptist and submitted to the waters of baptism. There in the river Jordan, the spirit of God descended upon him in the bodily form of a dove, lest there be any doubt in the minds of those that looked on as to who this person was, and a voice proclaimed, This is my beloved Son. Hear him. He was the anointed. 1.
The fulfillment of the Scripture He read himself in the synagogue. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
And the Lord Jesus walked up and down the dusty streets of Palestine as a man.
He was weary with his journey at Sycar's well as he talked with the woman who came there to draw water and found herself alone with the Lord Jesus. He was weary on another occasion and laid his head on a borrowed pillow in a borrowed boat as he caught a few moments sleep. During that storm before the disciples woke him, there were times when he resorted alone to the Mount of Olives.
In communion with God his Father, as we read particularly the Gospel of Mark, we find him going from one busy service to another. And in Marks Gospel, where he's presented as the perfect servant, you read forthwith and Anon and immediately, if they had no leisure time, so much to eat, the scripture says, because the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many.
Because there was more to be accomplished in the incarnation of the sun and the Lord Jesus taking human form, than just good and blessing dispensed to the sick, to the lame, to those who had various maladies, There was more to be accomplished than just that perfect pathway of the Lord Jesus who pleased not Himself, who did always those things that pleased the Father. Who could say I came down from heaven.
Not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. Oh yes, there was much more to be accomplished than that.
Oh, there was the cross of Calvary. There was the fact that he came, and he became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. And this was before him all during his pathway he tried to tell the disciples on a number of occasions that he was going to go to Jerusalem, and there he was going to suffer. They didn't really get the message. It was after the fact that they realized the import of the words that he had so often spoken to him.
But this was before his soul, as it says prophetically of him. He was ready to die from his youth up. And the Lord Jesus, when that time came, he went to Jerusalem, and there he was taken and put on trial. There he was treated so cruelly.
There he was slapped, spit upon. They plucked the hairs of his cheek.
They scourge the Lord Jesus. They beat a crown of thorns into his blessed brow. They mock in mockery, bowed the knee and said, Hail king of the Jews. And then they took him outside the walls of the city of Jerusalem, and they nailed him to a Roman cross, and some sat down to watch him in his agony. Others passed by and shook their head. Many spoke in derision.
They gave him vinegar to drink.
But you know all the physical sufferings of Christ, as awful as they were.
And as good as it is for those of us who know the Lord Jesus as our Savior to read and go over those physical sufferings in our souls.
They never atoned for one sin. No again there was more to be accomplished in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus.
Then just the Lord Jesus suffering at the hand of man. The Lord Jesus said, The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? There was a cup that was pressed to his lips by the Father, that cup of judgment against sin, that which he bore in those hours of darkness, when he bore my sins in his own body on the tree. Could you come up here tonight and stand with me?
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And could we say together He bore our sins in his own body on the tree, Can you say Jesus died for me? If you can, then from your heart, then I have every assurance that you're saved and on your way to heaven. But this Gospel meeting is particularly a burden to our souls because we fear that there may be those in this audience tonight who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.
You know, it is a very solemn thing to stand in a position like this and seek, with the Lord's help, to present clearly and simply from the word of God, the gospel message.
Quite often I have opportunity to face a crowd where I feel that perhaps most have never heard a simple gospel message, and where perhaps most are not the Lords.
But I believe it's an even greater challenge and exercise to face an audience like this, where there are those who have heard it so many, many times and those who perhaps have hardened their heart a number of times, But all tonight, as great an exercise as it may be, we're thankful. That blessing tonight doesn't depend on our ability to present the word of God, but it does depend on the word of God in all its power.
It depends on the work of the Spirit of God we're thankful that it is. It depends on the heart of God, whose desire is for blessing, and that the word of God is the sword of the Spirit, and that the word of God is like a hammer that breaks the rock in twain. And if there's someone here tonight. And as we speak of the precious things of Christ, as we speak of the sufferings of Christ, as we speak of the work of Calvary.
And it doesn't mean that much to you, Oh, tonight would, that your ears would be opened by the Spirit of God to take in the precious word of God in all its living power. And the prayer of so many tonight is that you will, before this hour is finished, come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, that one who indeed came as a man, you know, after the Lord Jesus.
Had borne the judgment of God in those three hours of darkness. He cried with a loud voice and said, it is finished. Then he cried again, and said, Father into thy hand. I commend my spirit important to realize that the Lord Jesus lay down his life in a way that no other ever did or could. He gave up his life, he said. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my father.
They came along and because that Sabbath was on high day and they wanted to keep certain rites and ceremonies and traditions.
They break the legs of one thief on one side of the Lord Jesus. They break the legs of the other malefactor on the other side of the Lord Jesus, to hasten their demise, to hasten their death, so they could remove those bodies from the cross, the crosses. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already, they break not his legs, but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side and forthwith came there out.
Blood and water. And I am thankful tonight that we can proclaim on the authority of God's word that the blood of Jesus Christ his son, cleanseth us from all sin. I remember reading a little incident in the life of John Wesley, that evangelist who traveled up and down the roads of of Britain so long ago to proclaim the Gospel. And one night he was returning from a gospel meeting and he was going through a dark wooded area.
And he was accosted by a bandit, and that bandit robbed him of the little money and things that he had with him. He didn't have a great deal, but what he did have of any value was stripped from his person. And as the bandit was leaving, John Wesley called after him and said, I have something else for you. You can imagine the thief's surprise that this man that he had just robbed of the few little possessions he had on him would call after him.
And say I have something else for you. I don't suppose he'd ever had an offer like that. Well, he stopped in his tracks. He turned around, and John Wesley said, remember this as you go your way. The blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin. The bandit went on his way in. The years passed, and John Wesley one night was preaching to a large crowd.
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And after the Gospel meeting a man approached him, and he said, Mr. Wesley, I know you don't Remember Me, and I know that you don't know who I am. But he said, I am the bandit that accosted you at such and such a place. And he gave the place some years ago. And I am the bandit that as I left you, you told me you had something else to give me, and you quoted me the verse of scripture.
Concerning the blood of Christ. And he said, I am here tonight to tell you that as I went my way, the spirit of God hammered those words into my soul until I bowed the knee and came to know the saving power of the blood of Jesus. And I am here to tell you that I make an honest living as a businessman today. And more than that, I know my sins are forgiven and I'm on my way to heaven. Oh what a wonderful story the gospel is, What wonderful power there is in the gospel.
And so a body hast thou prepared me? But now I'd like to go on and read two further scriptures in connection with preparation.
The first is in John's Gospel, chapter 14.
John's Gospel, chapter 14.
And verse one, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. Believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you. Before I comment on this portion, I'd like to read a portion also in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 25.
Matthew's Gospel, chapter 25 and verse 41. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. Here we have two places prepared. The first one is referred to by the Lord Jesus in John 14 as the Father's house. You know the Lord Jesus looked into the faces.
Of that little company of disciples who he had gathered around him on this occasion. It was the last time they would be gathered around him in this way before he went to the cross. And their hearts were troubled. They were afraid as they thought of the Lord Jesus going away. And you know there are many troubled hearts in this world tonight. It tells us that men's hearts are failing them for fear and looking for those things that are coming on the earth.
We hear every day of horrendous events taking place in this in this world wars and rumors of wars, people brutally killed and videotapes taken and splashed across YouTube and social media, and so on.
Not just plane crashes, but people purposely crashing planes into mountains and so on. Things that we never heard of before. Things are getting worse and worse in this world. This world is winding down for the judgment of God. The iniquity of this world is almost full.
And men's hearts are troubled. And even sometimes I talk to believers who really know the Lord Jesus, and they get their focus off eternity. They get their focus off Christ, and they become troubled too. But here the Lord Jesus said, let not your heart be troubled. How could he say such a thing? Well, he presents before them several things in these verses. One is he presents himself. You believe in God, believe also in me.
You know, if we were to boil down the simplicity of the gospel message tonight, we could perhaps boil it down to what Paul and Silas said to the Philippian jailer when he asked, in all sincerity on that jail, jail floor that night of the earthquake in Philippi. We could boil it down to this. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And so tonight, do you believe? You know, the devils believe in God, but they tremble.
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The devils know the reality of God.
But oh, tonight, do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Have you put your trust in him for salvation? And then he says I go to prepare a place for you.
You know, sometimes people read this and they picture the Lord Jesus up there this evening getting that place ready. And the reason he hasn't come for his own is because the place isn't quite ready.
But I don't believe that's the thought in this portion at all. The reason the Lord Jesus spoke of it in the future tense was because two things had not yet happened. One, the Lord Jesus had not yet gone to the cross and offered himself as that supreme sacrifice. The work of redemption had not yet been accomplished, nor had the Lord Jesus risen from the dead as a man and ascended.
Back to heaven. But I believe the Lord Jesus, the moment he entered heaven and sat down on the right hand of God with the marks of atonement in his hands and in his feet and in his side. At that moment the place was prepared, was prepared. On the cross he prepared the people for the place. But his entrance into heaven has prepared the place for the people. And so we might well question tonight if the place is prepared, why has the Lord Jesus not come?
God is long-suffering to us. We're not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. It's his desire that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. I don't know why you came to this gospel meeting tonight, but I suppose if we were to go up and down these rows and speak to each one of you as an individual, you would all have perhaps different reasons, secondary reasons why you're here tonight.
Maybe your parents brought you, maybe you were invited by someone else. Maybe you came to plead just to please someone and you said, well, it's only an hour out of my life and it'll be over and I can go on my way. But those are all simply secondary reasons. Because the reason you're here tonight is because God has brought you here to hear the gospel message because he loves you.
And desires you to be saved. He wants your eternal blessing, whatever second 'cause there may be for you being here in this gymnasium tonight at the Gospel Meeting. Remember this. You are here by the grace of God and by an appointment of God to hear about his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to have one more opportunity to come and be saved. That's why the Lord Jesus hasn't come yet.
There's still some work for the Spirit of God to do. There's still some gospel to be preached here in this world. And perhaps this is the last place that the good tidings of God's grace will go forth. Maybe someone will get saved here tonight, and you'll be the last one in the door of mercy, and the Lord Jesus will come and call his own.
The Father's house has been prepared, but there's something else that's been prepared. However, when the Lord Jesus spoke of hell being prepared, he made it very clear that hell was never prepared for man. Hell was never prepared for the Sinner. It was prepared for the devil and his angels. But we could go through the Scriptures and find that while God wants to send no one to hell, and while hell was prepared but not for man.
God has no choice.
If man refuses his offer of mercy.
His offer of salvation.
Through the Lord Jesus Christ.
God has no choice.
But descend men and women to a lost eternity in hell.
It is a real place, make no mistake about it. I know there are many today who will not preach hell. When they preach. There are many who take the place of being in leadership, in Christian Christianity, so-called, and they will not. They do not even believe in hell. But it is a real place. It's not just a concept, it's a real place, a place prepared.
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There was a young man one time, and he came to a gospel meeting just like this, and the preacher sought by the grace of God to impress upon his audience the reality.
Of hell and a lost eternity. And after the meeting as the preacher was shaking hands.
At the door with those who had come, this young man came up to the preacher and he shook his hand and he said, you know, Sir, I don't believe there's a hell.
The preacher looked him straight in the eye and he said, Young man, you do believe in hell. Oh, no, he said. I don't believe there's a hell, the preacher repeated. Young man, you do believe there's a hell? No, he said. I definitely do not believe there's a hell. Young man, you believe there's a hell? The young man dropped his eyes, kind of hung his head, he said. Well, I wish there wasn't a hell he knew in his conscience.
He knew the reality of it. He tried to brush it aside and people will try to brush it aside and say, oh, it's not, it's not a it's not a reality. God is a God of love and he wouldn't send people to a place like that. But oh again, the word of God is so plain. The Lord Jesus himself, as he walked up and down the dusty streets of Palestine, he warned over and over and over again of a lost eternity.
We come over to the Book of Revelation and we find there too.
That there are those.
The dead in Christ, they're called, and they are raised to stand before God.
And they stand there. They stand at what is called the Great White Throne, Judgment.
And there they stand before the judge.
No arguments in that courtroom. No justification. No smart lawyers to get them off. No, there they stand before the Lord Jesus in their sins, and the books are open and the records are brought out. No typos in those records. No incomplete records. Nothing to cause the case to be thrown out of that courtroom.
Judgment. The sentence is handed down and they are bound hand and foot and cast into the lake of fire.
That place that was prepared for the devil and his angels. But oh, how wonderful tonight.
That God has made preparation for us so that we don't have to spend eternity in that awful place. In that regard, I'd like to go on now to Matthew's Gospel, chapter 22.
Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 22.
I'm going to begin reading at verse one. And Jesus answered, and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The Kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son. And he sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding, and they would not come again. He sent forth other servants saying, Tell them which are bidden. Behold, I have prepared my dinner, my ox and my fatlings are killed.
And all things are ready come unto the marriage, but they made light of it, and went their way, one to his farm, another to his merchandise.
And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. And when the king heard thereof, he was wroth. And he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, murderers, and burned their city. Then said he to his servants, The wedding is ready. But they which are bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find bid to the marriage.
Well, here we find this parable, this parable about the king who made a marriage for his son. I mentioned earlier that sometimes the Lord Jesus told stories of real people who lived here in this world, but sometimes he spoke in parables for various reasons, and we're not going to get into that this evening. But a parable was not a fairy tale. A parable is an illustration that the Lord Jesus used.
To make a moral or spiritual point, to illustrate a moral or spiritual principle.
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And so he often spoke in parables, and here we have this parable about the king. He makes a marriage for his son, and he sends servants out to bid to the marriage. You'll notice here in Matthew's gospel its servants. When we have this same account in Luke's gospel, it's a servant, singular. And the servant, when he goes out, singular, he's to compel them to come in.
The servant's singular in Scripture is often a type of the Spirit of God, and it's the Spirit of God, and only the Spirit of God, that can compel sinners to come in. And so tonight, it's this work of the Spirit of God that's going to compel you to come to the Savior if you're still lost. When there was a prayer meeting before this meeting in a room down the hall, there was prayer that the Spirit of God would work tonight.
To draw souls to the Savior. We cannot save one soul.
But here, where it's the servants, it's those who know the Lord Jesus as their savior. Everyone in this room who's saved, we're servants of Christ, and our responsibility is to bid to the marriage. We are here to tell others how they can come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior. Because you know there's a future day coming when there's going to be in heaven what is referred to as the marriage supper of the lamb.
And blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb, You know we delight to be called.
To a marriage, especially when it's a marriage in the Lord and it's a happy thing. And there's evidence of real love and devotion between a young man and a young lady. Sometimes some who are not so young. But it's a wonderful thing to be called to a marriage and we rejoice. But oh, and work the Lord Jesus, God the Father is calling to the marriage of his Son, the Lord Jesus tonight. Are you listening to the invitation? You know we often cannot go to the weddings that we are invited to because of some circumstance or previous engagement.
And it's hard to write a reply that we can't come. We're going to miss out on what we know is a joyous occasion. But oh, tonight there is no need for you to miss out on the marriage supper of the Lamb. The invitation is going out. And those who were bidden to the marriage here, they had excuses, but they really had no good reason. Everything had been prepared for them.
You know, I suppose the youngest child here understands what it is to prepare.
You know, there was a lot of preparation, went into these meetings. It didn't just happen. There were those who for some months or weeks prepared, made arrangements, made arrangements with the caterers, made sure that the school was available, made sure that there was going to be janitorial service, made sure that the chairs were going to be set up last night, yesterday afternoon. I know there were those who came and set up the Bible book display at BT for BTP.
There were those who set up the sound system. There were those who were here early this morning making for sure everything was in order. There was a great deal of preparation, but, you know, we spend our whole lives preparing.
Any of us who have had families will understand this. We prepare our children when they are very little.
To go to school, we get them ready to go to school. They go to elementary school, and that is to prepare them for junior high. They go to junior high to prepare them for secondary school. That's to prepare them for a job, or to go on to a college or university or trade school or apprenticeship. They do that to prepare them for a job. Then you get a job when you're older and perhaps you start putting a little money aside, preparing for various things.
Maybe a young man puts some money aside because he says the day is coming when I want to take a wife and get married, and that's going to cost money. And after we're married, we start putting a little money aside for other things and eventually for retirement. We say, well, day is going to come when I won't have to work so hard or I can retire. We spend our whole lives preparing in one way or another. In fact, in connection with these meetings, all of us made some preparation.
Whether we have come from a distance or whether we're local, we didn't just jump in our cars or on a plane without making some preparation. Some of us bought plane tickets weeks before. Others made sure their car was serviced and the oil was changed because they knew they were going to drive a distance. We all packed a suitcase. Those of us who have come from a distance, there was preparation. This morning we got up either at the hotel or in some home we were staying in.
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And we made preparation. Perhaps we had a shower, got cleaned up. We put our clothes on. We had some breakfast. We watched the time so we'd be hearing good time. And so we understand what preparation is. And God has made preparation too. And everything has been prepared for the marriage. Supper of the lamb. It's all ready. And that's why those who do not come to know the Lord Jesus as their savior.
And those who stand before the Lord Jesus for the last time and are judged in their sins, they will have no excuse then. Oh, here in the parable they had lots of excuses. And people today have lots of excuses. Excuses why they can't come to a gospel meeting. I remember one time going around with Brother Garvin Seymour in Saint Vincent and we went around on a Lord's Day afternoon from house to house.
In the village of Dixon in Dixon Village, Saint Vincent and Garvin faithfully invited his neighbors and his fellow villagers to come to the Gospel Meeting.
I was astounded at the excuses that were offered. You wouldn't believe if I told you some of the excuses that were given. Thank God there were a few who did respond and come that evening. But you know there will be a day when no excuses are given because people will realize that those excuses were just excuses and they had no good reason. And it will be, but it will be too late. But everything has been prepared now.
The Lord Jesus has died on Calvary. The blood has been shed. He's a risen, glorified Savior. The invitation is going out in so many ways around planet Earth and in our feeble way here tonight. What excuse are you going to give God tonight? Are you going to rise off these seats in a few moments and go out of this room, still lost and in your sins?
We would be less than faithful tonight if we didn't turn to some further scriptures that bring before us our responsibility in connection with our reaction to the Gospel message. Let's turn to the Book of Amos in the Old Testament.
Amos, Chapter 4.
Amos, Chapter 4.
And I'm just going to read the last clause of verse 12.
Prepare to meet thy God.
Now it is true.
That salvation is not by works. It's not by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to His mercy he saved us.
And as we were reminded today, there was a man came to the Lord Jesus and said, what must I do to inherit eternal life? And so on. And so there's that aspect of things. But tonight there is a preparation that we need to make for eternity, that we want to impress on our souls.
And that preparation is simply to come as sinners before the Lord Jesus confess that we are indeed sinners, but come to him and receive so great salvation, to receive salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. Because as we near the end of a gospel meeting, we realize that there are really three reactions to the gospel message tonight. There's no neutrality tonight.
You're going to react in one of three ways. You're either going to come as an acceptor like the Philippian jailer, and would to God that you would come and accept receive salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. It's just a matter of accepting God's gift through the Lord Jesus.
You may be a rejecter.
I trust that there's no one here tonight who's going to go out of this room as a rejector who says no to God and to the Lord Jesus. What a solemn thing to be a rejecter.
00:45:07
But you know, there's something that is equally as solemn and that is a neglector.
How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? And I wonder if there won't be more in a lost eternity who are there because they're not where they were neglectors.
More than out and out rejecters, I believe that the work of the enemy is to whisper in the ears of people.
Not tonight. Oh, that's OK. Somewhere down the road. But not tonight. Not now. But you know, there's always an urgency with the gospel message. That's why we're passionate. When we preach the gospel, we seek to urge souls flee from the wrath to come. Behold, now is the accepted time. Come now, the Lord Jesus said, remember now, thy Creator in the days.
Of thy youth. It's vital, it's important. We can't promise that there's going to be a later on.
There's about 10 minutes left.
To what the schedule said on our schedule meeting schedule today to this Gospel meeting, about 10 minutes left. You notice your schedule is scheduled from 7:00 to 8:00 PM, and I am reminded of a story in this regard in connection with Prince Napoleon.
Prince Napoleon was the son of Napoleon the 3rd and he served.
In the British Army.
But he died on June the 1St, 1879 in southern Africa. He was leading his unit on a scouting mission and they had left camp and they were on this scouting mission. They were in Zulu territory.
And they got out to a certain place. And Napoleon, Prince Napoleon decided that this would be a good place.
For he and his men to take a little break and enjoy some of the refreshments that they had brought with them.
And so they sat down there in that clearing. But, you know, some of the men, some of Prince Napoleon's men, became restless. And they just had a feeling that they needed to move on, that the enemy was encroaching and that they were going to be ambushed. And so some of them encouraged their leader, Prince Napoleon. I think we should move on. We've been here long enough. We're in dangerous enemy territory.
And Prince, Napoleon said, just 10 more minutes, 10 more minutes. Let's finish enjoying our refreshments and relax for 10 more minutes and then we'll move on.
Sad to say, as history records, they didn't have 10 more minutes. The enemy was indeed surrounding them. They ambushed them without warning, and many were slain, including Prince Napoleon. They brought word to his mother. He was the only son of his mother, and they brought word to her of his death.
And the grief stricken mother, between her tears, said it was always a great folly of my son. He always wanted 10 more minutes, 10 more minutes before he went to bed, 10 more minutes before he got up, 10 more minutes before he did this, 10 more minutes before he did that.
But he waited 10 minutes too long. It's now 8 minutes to 8.
2 minutes have passed since we began to tell that little story.
What about you? You know we may not have 10 more minutes to prep to prepare for eternity. The Lord Jesus is coming. The coming of the Lord Draweth nigh it could be before we conclude this meeting and say Amen.
The clock is ticking. Eternity is closer than it's ever been. You are closer now.
To eternity than you've ever been before. Oh, I plead with you, Don't be like Prince Napoleon. Don't say 10 more minutes, I'm reminded.
Of some young men who came to some tent meetings that were being held in curling Newfoundland some years ago.
00:50:03
And I watched those young men during the Gospel meeting, and it was very evident that they had not really come to listen, but just to make fun and to disturb those who did want to listen.
And after the Gospel meeting, I saw them in a circle outside the tent and they had lit up their cigarettes and they were laughing and talking. And I went out to them and I said, young man, I've got a question for you. I said, is it worth taking the gamble, taking the risk and saying tomorrow there'll be another opportunity to be saved and we'll put it off tonight.
You know what they told me? I tremble to tell you what they told me. They said we'll take that risk. We'll take that gamble. Oh, don't take that gamble tonight. Man is a gambler at heart. He likes to take chances. The lottery lines are full when the jackpot is high. But don't take chances. Don't gamble on your soul this night. Your soul may be required of you. Like the rich farmer the Lord told about.
I want to just say in closing, we won't turn to it, but in Hebrews Chapter 11, it speaks of Noah there and it says that Noah prepared an ark to the saving of his household. I just want to encourage parents at the end of this gospel meeting. I have no doubt there are parents and perhaps grandparents too here tonight and you're praying for your children and grandchildren. You know that they've never made a clear confession of faith.
You fear that they are not saved and ready to go When the Lord Jesus comes and you're praying and you're praying earnestly, be encouraged by what it says about Noah. He prepared an art to the saving of his house. You know, Noah preached for 120 or so years. I suppose it tells us he preached righteousness for about 120 years while the ark was preparing. It's a long time, wasn't it? I don't think any of us in this room are going to have the privilege of preaching the gospel for 120 years like Noah.
You know, he only had seven converts. By today's standards, that's not very good. If he was so-called pastor or minister of some church, they would have removed him long ago. Somebody that preached that long and only had seven converts because only eight were saved. But you know, God honored it. God honored the preaching and the faithfulness of that man who prepared an art by faith.
At the instructions of God.
And he not only was saved himself from the judgment that fell at that time, but his whole house went in with him. God honored that. And parents, keep praying for your children and young people or other family members that you're praying for. God honors those prayers. And remember, he's long-suffering not just to the lost, but he's long-suffering to us. Word. I can't help it. I know I've said this many times, but I can't help repeating.
My wife prayed for years for the salvation of her father. Years and years and years, and she claimed that verse. He's long-suffering to us. Word. He was long-suffering to my wife and my father-in-law. Near the end of his life, as he lay on what seemed was going to be his deathbed, he came to know the Lord Jesus as his savior. The Lord pulled him back from the brink of eternity and gave him another few years.
To be a testimony in the community in which he lived. He's with the Lord now.
But God was not just long-suffering to my father-in-law, Gerald Byrne, but he was long-suffering to my wife, knowing that she was praying for her father and she wanted to see him saved before he died. He's long-suffering to you. If you're praying for a loved one, yes, he's long-suffering to the one you're praying for, but he's long-suffering to you and he will honor. I believe that your faith and those prayers, you know there's a man brought to the Lord Jesus one time.
And the Lord healed him, not so much on the faith of the man, but the faith of the men that brought him, when he saw their faith, those that brought him.
He healed the man. Oh, don't give up praying for a loved one. It's God's will that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Everything's prepared tonight. All things are ready. Come as we sang. Oh, won't you come tonight? I'm going to pray now. And if there's someone here and you don't know the Lord Jesus as your savior, it's this simple. Just speak to him in your heart. He hears even if you don't say one word aloud. Just speak to him in your heart.
00:55:11
Confess that you're a Sinner, but tell him that you want to come and receive His wonderful offer of salvation. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It'll be a subtle transaction, and you will be on that on your way to that wonderful place that has been prepared for those who know him. The Father's house, Oh, come tonight. God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.
Let's pray our God and Father, how solemn it is to come to the end of this Gospel meeting.
To realize that perhaps there are those who are still not saved after one hour.
Our God, we pray that they might not rise out of these chairs until they come to know the Lord Jesus as their Savior. Work mightily by thy spirit tonight. We do pray. Bless thy word here, and wherever it's going forth we ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Let your light shine
The word "Be"
Address—John Kaiser
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.
Let's begin this afternoon with hymn #130 One 131.
Praise we to the Father.
Children.
Songs in life.
Is here.
Every time.
We raise ours, we will. Strange.
To the Lord.
Slave.
To love.
Good Gracie.
I am not fresh from the Spirit.
Greenstream, let us, our Lord, shall hold us through the.
Boring.
We are blessed this afternoon.
Just before this meeting, I was thinking of how many there are in this world who think that God is out to condemn them. And there are some whose influence is growing daily, it seems, who think that God is capricious with them, like flipping them with a coin and heads up, you win, tails you lose. And our God is not like that. It's his purpose to bless us and bless us.
Forever.
Let's thank him.
Our God and Father.
We acknowledge our dependence upon Thee. We can do nothing for ourselves.
We are nothing by ourselves.
We thank Thee, Thou hast looked on us and loved us.
And blessed us and given us this opportunity to look into your word and we ask your help this afternoon in Jesus name, Amen.
To begin with, a look at 3 scriptures in Genesis 1.
Genesis 1, verse 3.
00:05:01
And God said.
Let.
There be light.
And there was light.
Genesis 17.
And when Abram was 90 years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, I am the Almighty God.
Walk before me and.
Be thou perfect.
And Exodus chapter.
Four. I believe it is.
Verse 3. Verse 3. Excuse me. Exodus Chapter 3. Verse 14.
And God sent in Moses.
I am.
That I am. And he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel.
I am has sent you.
Now all three of these verses contain the same verb.
Two in the very same form, the.
1St 2 verses have in them the word be.
And that's what I want to talk about this afternoon. It's a simple word, the word be. It appears all the way through Scripture. We're going to look at a few of the places where it appears in Scripture.
You know, it's a word that we.
It's a small word, and like so many other small words, we don't pay much attention to them.
We like big words. Sometimes we're more impressed with big words. And I'm not saying it isn't bigger in some other language, but in some places the word be in Scripture is actually not even in the Hebrew or possibly not in the Greek. I'm not too sure. But some places it's added because it's implied, not expressly stated, but it belongs there. The word be is important. There is so much wrapped up in this little word be.
It's a very simple word, one of the first verbs we learned to use in our lives. I am, you are, and so on. It's all forms of the verb to be. I want to talk about B&B ING being. Now we're dealing with God.
We're dealing with God.
He introduced himself to Moses, says I am, that I am. Tell the children of Israel that I am, has sent you. I am, and I want you to think of that expression.
I am what God is implying. It means the eternal one, but it also means the self existing one. It means the one who is.
And the one who?
We could use.
Perhaps more.
Current words, it's like we might say to teenagers, to be God is where it's at.
We could say.
That he is the author and definer of reality.
Now it's interesting. God revealed himself to Abram as the Almighty God, and at a later point he.
Told another another point, he told Abram that his children or his descendants were going to be slaves for 400 years and then it would be freed. And it's perhaps, it was perhaps known to the children of Israel that they knew this by oral, what we might call oral tradition. They knew that a promise had been made for their freedom.
And if they knew it, they're no doubt impatient for it.
But.
What's interesting, when God revealed himself to Moses, who probably knew of that tradition and truth, He said I am you. What didn't just simply say the Almighty God, but he said I am everything that you need. I am that I am didn't put any qualifiers on it whatsoever.
00:10:16
Wife emphasizes word B well. God is a being.
And we are beings, and as beings, our business is to be first and foremost in Scripture. We're going to see that.
But how do we be?
We looked at Genesis one verse three. It says God said let there be light.
And there was light.
Does that mean there was number light before that?
John The first epistle of John tells us that God is light. So light existed before God said.
Let there be light, but now there was light as a created thing. It came into existence as a distinct but dependent creation.
Because we know that everything in creation depends on God. And let's just to refresh our minds to reinforce.
This business of being. Let's look at some verses first in Acts 17.
Acts 17.
And, umm.
Verse 25.
Paul is speaking to the men of Athens, and he draws on something that one of their own philosophers had said. Because God reveals his character and creation.
And man picks up on it and it says here in verse 25, neither is worshipped with men's hands as though he needed anything since seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things. And let's turn to Colossians chapter one.
And verse.
16.
And by Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether they be Thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created by Him and for Him, and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist or subsist.
In Hebrews chapter one.
Hebrews chapter one and verse.
Three, Who, being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, upholding all things by the word of His power.
All creation, including ourselves.
Our dependent.
And we are dependent beings.
And there is a certain way we are in that dependence. There are certain ways that we are to be as beings. What I'm getting at is, you might say this sounds childishly simple.
God's truth is often simple at the beginning. It's like the ocean. It's shallow at the beginning, but you can go as deep as you like.
And so.
Getting back to Abram.
We're going to find out.
A little bit about being chapter Genesis 17 again.
God says to him, I am the almighty God, walk before me.
And be perfect. That was a high standard.
00:15:02
Regardless of what you think that word perfect means it's a high standard. God's standards are very high.
But God said began. There's a moral order in this verse, God says.
Walked before me. That's where it starts. Well, what does it mean to walk before God? We get a little picture of that in Solomon's court. If you remember when the Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon, you can read about it.
In Kings or Chronicles.
She.
Saw a court of order.
With people sitting, some sitting, some standing and no doubt some. It doesn't mention it specifically, but moving.
According to the King's order. But they were all dependent on Solomon. They were his servants. And you know, when you're in the presence of royalty, it changes your perspective a lot.
We walk before the Lord. It changes our perspective. You walk into the presence of the King and you're concerned with how you look. You're concerned with your reputation, you're concerned with your behavior. It makes a big difference. It changes your whole perspective. If you spend your life in a in a.
In a garbage dump, you have a different perspective when you walk before the Lord.
You're in his presence.
It affects our whole perspective and that's that's part of walking by faith. Abraham was the great example of walking by faith.
And it began with this idea of seeing him who is invisible walking before the Lord. Walk thou before me, and be thou perfect.
God was going to change Abraham's reality. God made promises to Abraham, and there was a case where Abraham acted on his own initiative. Well, Sarah had something to do with it too. And Ishmael came along. And trouble.
Abraham hadn't waited on the Lord.
And.
That's part of learning to walk by faith is to let the Lord define our circumstances and.
Order our reality I want to get on to these other words of B, but I'd like to talk about this business of reality because we live in a world where people are increasingly occupied with unreality. Stern just briefly to 1St.
Timothy.
First Timothy.
And this is just a verse I've enjoyed first Timothy chapter one, verse four. Neither give hate. He defables an endless genealogies which minister questions fables and endless genealogies. If we look in the world around us, this is what occupies people. What are fables fiction, fantasy things that might.
If we had, we wouldn't even say they were sensible. We wouldn't say they might be.
But the world sometimes thinks they might be.
The world is occupied with alternate realities. They're occupied with entertainment, with fantasy, with fiction.
And.
Timothy is told to disregard it.
I want to say a word about that.
You know.
Brother said recently.
And in this business of alternate realities, this is nothing new. There have been down through the ages, people who were totally wrapped up in alternate realities.
And we called it insanity, and now they call it entertainment.
Another brother commenting on entertainment. I'm just going to leave this with you.
He said. And there's something to think on, he said Entertainment.
Is the devil's substitute for joy.
Why is that? Because it says in thy presences fullness of joy.
00:20:05
This whole world is desperate to occupy their hearts and minds and they go in for entertainment and we have the privilege.
Of following that invitation that Abram got to walk before the Lord.
To enjoy his presence.
How often I've heard of those who.
Encountered some handicap in life that restricted them. Maybe they were bed ribbon ridden or maybe they were blind or something like that and they said oh I enjoy the Lord so much more now because there's nothing to distract.
And then it says here.
Need to give heed to fables and endless genealogies. Now, what's the endless genealogy? Well, all genealogies normally have some end, but the point is that people argue about them and it's what we're talking. Genealogy is the past.
And Paul said, forgetting those things which are behind, I press toward the mark. Yes, the past is the past. It's significant. There is a value to it.
But it's passed. It should not occupy us and so many of us.
I'm talking about believers.
Live in the past. What we have is the present. The Lord with us, Thou art with me.
The psalmist said in Psalm 23, that's the present, and we've got the future, and I shall dwell in the House of the Lord forever. We have a guaranteed present and a guaranteed a future, and the past is the past. We can't change it, and frankly, we can't even remember it very well. One reason there's so much arguing about the past is because it fades. God has the record, but we're not good at keeping records.
So I'll just encourage you, your brother or sister, if you're occupied with either of these things, they're going to interfere with you being what God wants you to be.
Don't get occupied with fantasy or fiction.
Entertainment.
And don't live in the past.
The future for the child of God is better. The path of the justice is a shining light.
That increases, grows brighter as we go on, till the day dawns.
Our future is better than our past.
So.
Abram was invited to walk by faith and.
God says walk before me and be thou perfect. You know, Abraham never, never arrived down here, but he's going to be perfect someday because he walked with the Lord and walked before the Lord.
And it's something to like, Paul said I, Paul says. I haven't attained either, but I press toward the mark for the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
So let's look at some other verses that have to do with being.
Let's look at.
John, just a couple of verses in the Gospel of John and I have to move along pretty quickly here. So we're going to wade quickly, shall I say, John chapter 12.
And verse 26.
If any man serve me, let him follow me, and where I am, there also shall my servant be.
Let's turn to John.
14.
And verse.
Umm 3.
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. So it's a place to be, not just a how to be, but a place to be. And it's with the Lord. He wants our company. He plans on it. He says that that where I am, there you may be also. But earlier he says, where I am, there also shall my servant be.
It's a privilege to be at a conference like this. I remember many times in years past I went to meeting and I was dead tired.
I had six children.
And sometimes the care of other people's children as well. And I worked fairly long hours and I get to meeting and I.
00:25:09
Be very agreeable.
I may be discouraged some folks.
By not appearing to pay attention very well because I had trouble. I remember one brother asked me why I came. I said because I belong here.
We belong where the Lord Jesus is.
That's part of being.
We belong where he is.
Let's turn to Acts Chapter 16. We've seen another aspect of B.
And you're going to be thinking of many other scriptures where the word BE appears. I just jotted down a few of these after I got here to I jotted down one or two because the subject was in my mind before I got here. And then I jotted down a few more after I got here when I was told I had some responsibility here.
John, excuse me, Acts 16. It's a wonderful bee here.
Acts 16 and verse 31 The Philippians chatter was told believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt.
Be saved.
Be saved.
We sometimes forget the significance of that B is a passive verb.
It involves something else acting upon you. This man did not save himself. We talked about getting saved sometimes as so as something we can get, and it's not a wrong term, but it sometimes doesn't convey.
The truth as well as it might because Scripture says salvation is of the Lord.
And this man was simply told to believe.
And be saved, believe is. What Abraham was to do was to follow the Lord by faith. This man was told to believe, to trust the Lord, and the Lord would do the work. The Lord would save him. Why do I bring up that word? Why do I make so much of this word be? Because I run into it all the time. People confuse it with other words. They confuse the word be with the word act.
They confuse the word be with do.
And they confuse the word be with feel.
And there's nothing wrong with these words. They have their place. We have a book in scripture called the Acts of the Holy Spirit. We haven't scriptured the word do many places. It's a little word with a lot of significance and feelings or something God has given us. But they are not a replacement for being this man was not told to act saved.
Is there anybody here this afternoon that's acting saved?
You think that if you act saved, you will be saved. It doesn't work that way.
He was told to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved to accept something that was done to him.
How about deuce saved? There are people who say well if I just do this and do that, I'll be saved. No, it's be saved. It doesn't depend on our doing. When the Lord Jesus said come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. He was talking to people who were burdened with doing.
And there's people around us, all around us who are burdened with doing. There's some who are in Christian circles that are concerned with acting saved. If you're not, if you're not in a Christian circle, the word saved doesn't mean anything to you. There might be some here acting saved. There might be some here that is trying to do something to to be saved. You know what's interesting? People do something to try to feel saved. It doesn't say feel saved.
Faith is not feelings. It is not.
We get so we live in a society that's occupied with feelings. That's what entertainment is largely about, is feelings.
Feel excited, feel good, feel thrilled, whatever.
And God says be.
How can you be?
Only by drawing from him, receiving from him, God said, let there be light, and there was light.
00:30:02
It's God that works in US.
Both are doing and the willing of his good pleasure. And if you want to be and God wants you to be, it's going to be a dependent be.
Distinct.
But dependent.
Let's turn to Romans chapter 12.
Romans chapter 12 and verse 2.
And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable.
And perfect will of God be transformed. God wants you to be transformed. It says in the first two Corinthians, we all with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord are changed. It's the same word transformed, same Greek word transformed from glory to glory. I'll give you a illustration of it. I walked into Bob Tony's house the other evening and it was chilly outside. I walked in and I discovered he has a wood stove. And I stood in front of that wood stove and I was transformed from a cold person to a warm person. Very minor transformation.
It was very simple too. You know the Bible says draw near to God and he will draw near to you. You want to be transformed. He's ready to do it if you're not transformed.
Whose fault is it? It's not something you can do yourself, but you can do it with him. I couldn't warm myself up very well. I just stood in front of that stove and it transformed me.
Turn to Ephesians. Excuse me, Second Corinthians. This verse came up recently while we're in a discussion while we're here, Second Corinthians chapter 6. We get a couple of bees. Second Corinthians chapter 6.
And.
Starting with verse.
11 O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged. You are not straightened us in us, but you're straightened in your own bowels. Now for a recompense of the same I speak as to my children.
Be ye also enlarged.
And then notice the next verse be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. They go together, you know, it's a question of liberality or loyalty.
If you have a heart for Christ, you won't have a heart for the things of this world. But think of the Lord Jesus. Love bridges things. The Lord Jesus was holy, sinless, separate from sinners, and yet it says he was a friend of sinners. That's what the love of God can do. But it says here.
Be enlarged, be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, then go down further. I'm rushing because our time is short.
Verse 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be separate.
So we have 3B's here. B enlarged. Be not unequally yoked. Be separate. If you're serious about being what God wants you to be, think about these things. It's a wonderful promise. Here I might mention verse 18. He says verse 17. Let's read it. Wherefore come out from among them. Be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, And I will receive you, and I will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
Well, that sounds nice. You don't realize how nice that is. Turn to Revelation 21.
Revelation 21.
And verse.
7.
This is a. This is a description of the eternal state.
What we call heaven, He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be.
My son Communion.
That's we're talking about, it's the communion of Heaven to be experienced here on earth.
Come out from among them and be separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Communion, the communion of heaven here on earth, because.
Of being.
Separate, and that enlarges our heart for the things of God.
00:35:04
Ephesians chapter one. We looked at one of these verses this morning. The breaking of bread.
Ephesians chapter one and verse.
For according as He hath chosen us before, in Him before the foundation the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him.
In love.
We're destined. He is chosen.
That we should be holy with before him.
In love.
But notice something else here.
Verse 12 That we should be to the praise of his glory. You know, it's one thing to be accepted. We said we're accepted in the beloved and one thing to and it's a wonderful thing we celebrated this morning to enjoy the love of God to be holy and accepted. We read this verse to be holy and without blame before him in love. And so we say we see him about having some lone place within his door.
But God has higher purposes for us than that, that we should be to the praise of his glory.
And we can be that here. B. You know, we think in terms of acting, doing, feeling. We want to feel something.
God wants us to be, to be to the praise of his glory. It's interesting, you know, where I work, people call up and they have a little service for the Lord and they say, I wish I could do more, but I'm bedridden. I'm, I'm, you know, I like to mail out tracks with my, with my letters and things like that. And I say, I wish I could do more for the Lord, you know, in whatever circumstance I'm in.
I can be there for the Lord's glory, just be there for His glory.
He appreciates that it is for His glory. I remember years ago, standing in, I think I was standing in my front yard, maybe I was looking out the front window. I can't remember now, but I was looking across the street at my neighbor's yard and he had more dandelions than me and he took more care of his yard. I was kind of chuckling about that, but actually I have nothing against dandelions.
He did.
And I started thinking.
There's just thousands of these dandelions, not one the same, and they only last for a few days. What are there for? They're there for the glory of God.
They're pretty in their own way, they have actually a faint, pleasant scent, and by the way, they're good to eat.
They are there for the glory of God. Every one of us can just be in our seat right now as you're driving in the car.
As you're lying in your bed, you can be there for the glory of God. It says that we should be to the praise of his glory. You say, well, nobody sees me. Yes, the angels see you. The angels behold, and they are not silent.
And God beholds.
To be to the praise of His glory that we should be to the praise of His glory. It's something we can do everywhere under.
Any circumstance we can be there till the praise of His glory.
First Thessalonians, chapter 4.
Verse 11.
They study to be quiet.
B Darby Translations.
Is strive, I believe, to be quiet.
Or maybe another translation might be learning to be quiet. And some translations say learn to live quietly. And the implication matter of fact, I think I saw one that had a a footnote saying that means a quiet lifestyle. It's not that I'm sure that was what the apostle Paul had in mind in as an ultimate outward effect, but the word in the Greek literally is.
B Coil.
B.
Quiet now being quiet starts on the inside.
00:40:02
It starts on the inside.
The psalmist said be still.
And know that I am God. We need to learn to be quiet on the inside, Brother Darby said. If we are quiet, we shall hear, and if we hear, we shall be quiet.
And this is a very neat thing these days when everybody has their own opinion and everybody wants to make their own noise. And we live in a very busy world that says study or strive or learn to be quiet and to do your own business. And the implication is if we don't learn to be quiet, we won't be doing our own business. There's a moral order here.
Learn to be quiet and do your own business.
God has given each of us things to do, and we really can't do them effectively if we haven't learned to be quiet.
Uh, James?
52 verses.
James chapter 5, verse seven. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husband awaiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he received the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Be patient.
You know, endurance is something that is spoken of increasingly, or I shouldn't say increasingly, repeatedly.
It's emphasized in Scripture, endurance and we talk about things that have shelf life. We appreciate things that.
Sit quietly and they're ready for use when we need them.
It says be patient. It's talking about endurance, and it's talking about our attitude as well. God is patient. He's long-suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God is patient. If you look in first Corinthians 13, the first description of love. Let's look at it real quickly, 1St Corinthians 13.
One Corinthians 13.
And verse 4.
Charity suffereth long.
First thing mentioned about love is it's patient charity suffereth long.
There may be some here wondering if you've been loved. You know anybody who's been patient with you. If they've been patient with you, they've been loving you.
And God is patient with this world.
And we need to be patient with this world and patient with one another. And we're waiting for something very definite. That's the coming of the Lord Jesus.
So we have in this we have these verses in James be patient repeated twice there turn to first Peter chapter one.
First Peter, chapter one, verse 15.
But as he which hath called you is holy, so be holy in all manner of conversation. The word conversation there literally means manner of life.
Be holy people. Talk about a Christian lifestyle.
And Christianity has a strange idea of a Christian lifestyle.
The common idea of Christians in this world is that we're here to make the world a better place, and maybe that means getting involved in politics and that sort of thing and holiness.
Doesn't seem to have too much of A part in it, but.
God appreciates it and it's interesting that men will notice it too. It says be ye holy.
For I am holy.
Be holy.
We can't do it by ourselves. How many of us have tried to clean up our lives?
The Bible says by the fear of the Lord, men depart from evil. We need that constant dependence on the Lord to be holy.
00:45:05
God never gives us a responsibility without giving us the means of fulfilling that responsibility.
God never intended after us for us to do anything.
Strictly on our own.
Let's turn to First Peter chapter 5.
First Peter, chapter 5, verse 2.
Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint.
But willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, neither as being.
It's the same word being Lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elders. Yeah, all of you be.
Subject 1 to another and B.
Clothed with humility.
Be clothed with humility. That's interesting. It's interesting.
We all like to put on costumes. Sometimes we want to act humble.
We want to feel humble, maybe.
Or do something that looks humble or that.
You think is humbling, it says be be clothed, be subject 1 to another that that's put ahead of being clothed with humility, be subject 1 to another.
That's given to us in Ephesians chapter 5 as well.
One to another doesn't mean you doesn't mean.
You're seeing yourself as as.
Nobody.
Looking yourself as.
Doormat exactly, but it's not it's not being unwilling to be a doormat that's different. The Lord Jesus said I am among you as he that serves. He took the lowest place, but it was he dealt with individuals and that's how we that's how we learn it. That's how we demonstrate it is with individuals and so it says be subject.
One to another.
And.
Be closed with humility.
There's no such thing as being clothed with humility if we're not subject to one another.
The being subject comes first.
Let's look at finally in Revelation 22. So we're going to see a little bit different use of the word be.
Revelation chapter 22.
And verse 11.
He that is unjust, let him be unjust still.
He which is filthy, let him be filthy still. He that is righteous, let him be righteous still. And he that is holy, let him be holy still. There's coming a time when the bees will be fixed.
Our own shortcomings of things that we have desired to be for the Lord.
Will be realized.
We will be.
What we desire in our hearts to be.
And if there's someone here this afternoon who desires to be other than what God wants them to be?
You will have achieved that as well.
You'll be locked into whatever you are for eternity. That's what this is talking about. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still. And he which is filthy, let him be filthy still. And he that is righteous, let him be righteous still. And he that is holy, let him be holy still.
There's two kinds of people described here, and two destinies.
Is there any question here?
With anyone about what your destiny is.
If your destiny is holiness is destiny is the glory of God, you've got something to strive for down here.
And if your destiny is otherwise, you have no hope.
00:50:00
It's a serious thing and a sad thing to think of.
Before I quit and I have just a few minutes, I want to so many people recently have talked to me about.
The confusion between faith and feeling.
Christians are very occupied with feelings just like the world is. You find so many that say, oh, I don't feel saved.
I don't feel like going to meeting. I don't feel like I'm near the Lord and they're occupied with their feelings.
And feelings is not being being. It has to do with faith, has to do with what is. The word be means present reality. And faith has to do with reality. And sometimes we can't see most of the reality that exists in this universe. The reality that we can see is temporary reality, the eternal thing Scripture tells us are invisible. We can't see them. We can't feel them necessarily. We can. I trust some of us experience some joy this morning.
And some tenderness toward the Lord as I remembered Him in his death. It's appropriate we have feelings.
But then what about when the feelings are gone? I want to talk about, and this is a very simple example I've used in a number of places regarding feelings, because acting and doing, generally speaking, are related to feelings. So I'm going to just change things a bit here and we'll contrast.
Things a bit.
This is an illustration that.
Was.
I came across when I was a young person and maybe a teenager.
And it's, I don't and it's not quite the way I received it, but I benefited from the illustration and modified it slightly and other people seem to have gotten help from it. And so I'm going to put a little diagram up here.
It's a very poor diagram.
And it's a diagram that some I've found children don't recognize anymore. They're not used to seeing railroad engines that look like that.
And apparently very few of them have ever seen a caboose, and so you can call this a passenger car if you like.
I'm and I'm not a good artist.
But I think you'll see the point in a minute here.
Feeling.
Fact. Faith.
Where do we get tracks? What is facts? It's truth. Where do we get truth? It's the word of God. It is the fuel for faith.
Now this we have a train on a track if you go one or two directions.
It can be guided by faith.
Or it can be gutted by feeling what happens when a trains are directed.
By the caboose you have calamity. It's a simple diagram.
To distinguish, To help us remember that faith and feeling are not the same. They're not.
We get so occupied with our feelings. We feel depressed, we feel happy, our feelings change.
But the facts don't change.
And we make progress by faith, not by feeling.
Well, our time's about up.
Want you to think about these things?
B.
B. Let's thank God.
Our God and Father, we thank You for the truths from Your Word stumblingly presented, but we thank You that they're there. We ask that we might be directed and guided by them. We thank Thee that it's our privilege.
To enjoy.
Thy company in our path down here, the fellowship of the father and the son, not just in the meetings.
But at home and everywhere. And so we might ask, so you might each be found this day and the succeeding days, living by faith, walking before thee.
00:55:00
And pressing down toward the goal, enjoying what is ours and what shall be ours.
And we ask my blessing and help for us each in Jesus name, Amen.
Deuteronomy 8:5-20
Revelation 1:4-5
Gospel—Bill Prost
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But we'd like to welcome everyone to the Gospel meeting tonight.
I know most of you have been here for the last couple of days, but there may be some who have just come in. If so, we'd like to welcome you very much. And could we open the gospel meeting with?
Hymn #25.
25.
And we'll sing, please. The 1St 3 verses #25 Life at best is very brief.
Like the falling of a leaf, like the binding of a sheaf.
Be in time #25 the 1St 3 verses.
Life, at best, is very.
Calm and the day is alive behind.
Open Mtg. 2
Open—D. Mearns, B. Prost
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331.
331.
Last verse so keep us love divine near the.
That we are nothingness to know, and ever. To Thy glory be walking in faith while you're below 331.
Older, thy son.
On far from the.
Flower.