Lawrenceville Conference: 2023
Table of Contents
Hebrews 12:1-3
Reading
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M #216.
Rejoices.
And hear all heaven.
Hear I love all the.
They were they too.
Ascend the throne.
Who are going away?
To come.
And they just stood with my father's home.
Oh, water, stop.
Joy will be.
Good.
And they will be.
Quote I knew part of for years and I finally found the full quote by John Nelson Darby and it says when the sense of grace is diminished.
We decline in practice.
Our motives must be in God.
Sometimes effort is made to press, conduct works and practice because it is said full grace was preached before. Now that there is a decline in practice, you must preach practice.
That which is the rather to be pressed is grace.
Reading in Hebrews chapter 12. My brother sitting beside me and saw he was looking at the same chapter, so I have encouraged myself to suggest it.
Good.
Hebrews, chapter 12.
Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us. Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
00:05:13
Or consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. You have not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin, and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor.
Faint when thou art rebuked of him.
For whom the Lord loveth, he chased not, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth, He endure chastening. God deals with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if He be without chastisement were of all our partakers, then are ye ******** and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us.
And we gave them reverence, showing up much rather be in subjection under the father of spirits, and live.
For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but He for our prophet, that we might be partakers of His Holiness.
No, no chastening, for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous nevertheless. Afterward it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness.
Unto them which are exercised thereby, wherefore lift up the hands which hang down.
And the feeble knees and make straight paths for your feet.
That's that which is lame be turned out of the way, let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness bringing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled, lest there be any fornicator or profane person, as he saw.
For one morsel of meat sold his birthright. We know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected. For he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. For you're not come under the mount that might be taught, and that burned with fire, nor undue blackness and darkness, and darkness and Tempest, and the sound of a trumpet in the voice of words.
Which voice they that heard and treated that the word should not be spoken through them anymore?
They could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with a dart so terrible as the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly feared awake. But ye are come under Mount Zion, and under the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, into an innumerable company of angels.
Through the General Assembly and Church of the first born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant, into the blood of sprinkling, that speak of the better things than that of evil.
See that He refused not him that speaketh. For if they escape not, who refused him that spake on earth much more? Shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven? Whose voice then shook the earth? But now he has promised, saying yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven, and this word yet once more.
Signifies the removing of those things that are shaken as of things that are made.
That those things which cannot be shaken may remain, wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire.
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What made me think of this chapter was.
What was said before the prayer at the beginning of the meeting?
Thought about this verse 28.
He says let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. So having grace does not mean that there's not reverence in godly fear. If grace is understood properly, there will be reverence and godly fear. That's important. I noticed that grace is mentioned also in verse 15 of this chapter.
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God.
O brethren, we understand the magnitude.
Of the debt that has been paid for us.
There's going to be the proper.
Response from our hearts to like the verse in Second Corinthians chapter 5 that says, The love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead, and that he died for all. That they which live may not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him that died for them, and rose again.
So it's grace that works in these hearts of ours, but how important that at the beginning of this chapter to see that word wherefore. And of course that reflects to what the apostle has been giving in Chapter 11, all those.
Witnesses of the faith tremendous.
All through that chapter, how many witnesses there are that acted in faith differently?
All of them are different, but they acted in faith and so now the focus comes to us.
Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside.
Every weight and the sin which that so easily beset us, let us run with patience. The race that is set before us, Christian pathway is a race. It's not easy. It's a discipline. And I think that's so important to understand that it is something we need to discipline ourselves to do. Don't think that it's all easy. It's a race, so it's very helpful to see.
That context.
Grace not necessarily directly connected without chapter, but I think we all understand.
Saving grace, But perhaps we don't understand so well what it means now in our life.
All exhorts Timothy to be strong in the grace. And I probably can't finish the verse from my head, but it's let me just find it, I'll read it.
First, the second Timothy chapter 2 verse one. Therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
When we get.
I had a verse in Acts, I think it's the fourth chapter.
Acts chapter 4 and verse 33 it says with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
And great grace was upon them. And then another verse in first.
In first Peter the 5th chapter, the 10th verse says the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus. After that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, established, strengthen, settle you. So what does grace mean to us Now? I could also read of us in Titus, where it speaks there of grace teaching us.
Brother Sam happened to text me that verse a couple of days ago.
And that quote rather a couple of days ago. And so it has sparked my interest in the subject. I came across another quote by Mr. Darby, quite by accident, where he says there is not a trial or difficulty that Christ has not passed through before me and found his resource in God the Father. He will supply the needed grace to my heart. And that sort of brings us back to this chapter. You know, the grace that God, God didn't just save us through grace and that. And So what is grace? It's his unmerited favors, nothing that we earned, nothing that we worked for, nothing that we deserved He and his sovereignty.
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Poured out upon us.
His saving grace that we come into the good of through faith. But this is not the end of it. God continues to provide everything needed for our wilderness journey down here. Hebrews is a wilderness book. I, I happen to read another article I came across by Mr. Dobby in my flight here yesterday. I think it's called wilderness grace. You know, the children of Israel delivered out of Egypt. They're delivered out of ******* under Pharaoh.
And where do they find themselves? Why, in the land of Canaan where everything is flowing with Belton honey. No, they find themselves in the wilderness that God is there and everything up to Sinai is pure grace and God. So another definition of grace that I found extremely helpful that I got for another brother is divine enablement. It is that power that he now gives us again for our lives that we live. So second Peter first chapter begins by saying.
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that has called us by glory and virtue. I don't think that's quite the the the new translation. As cold as by OK, never mind. As cold as by glory and virtue and so on. I I don't mean to digress so far, but.
Again, back to our chapter. We find ourselves in the wilderness, but we don't find ourselves alone in the wilderness.
And we, we have an object, one who has gone before and this what we have here in this chapter especially.
Like to point out two of.
Who seemed to have the foundation of grace as the the.
The motives or energy of their ministry. The apostle Paul in Romans 1.
In verse five it says.
By whom we have received grace and apostleship.
It was on the road to Damascus where the Apostle Paul was headed towards persecuting the church. He was he was one who had a zeal, but it wasn't directed in the right direction. And God arrested him and he recognized that point in his life.
As a display.
Of God's grace. And it was on that ground in which the apostle Paul.
Could serve the Lord with zeal and energy. And then if we go over to first Peter, and I know that it appears as though we're maybe diverting a little bit from our chapter, but I believe if we don't have the foundation of grace in our souls, we take up.
Ephesians 12, in the spirit of responsibility and man and responsibility, has failed.
And if we find ourselves on the ground of responsibility, taking the exhortation of Scripture, we're going to find that we will fail. We will not have the the grace that's necessary for serving the Lord, but the apostle Peter.
In verse chapter one and verse 6.
As we're in. He greatly rejoiced, though now for a season if need be. You're in heaviness.
Through manifold temptations. That's not the verse that.
That's not the verse that I was was thinking of, but anyway, the Apostle Peter had denied the Lord and he had found that the resources that were within himself or faithful service for the for the Lord Jesus.
We're not sufficient. And so if we if we go through the future, we'll find at least four instances where he speaks of one of them is the manifold grace of God.
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And so as we go through into our chapter.
This morning we realized that and the ability to be able to.
Learn from the the hand of a Father who will bring difficult things into our life to bring about blessing, that it is on the ground of grace that we stand before God. I just have enjoyed these useful servants of God. They were strong in the grace of God.
And it was through learning that they didn't have the sufficient resources in themselves, but all of the resources were available because God is the source of our resources.
Know anything about this book that there is sufficient grace available for all of us? But there's something about living with a sense of it in our present experience and our life. And if I can be permitted to relate a story that might illustrate this. When I was about 12A, neighbor and I both had little Honda 50CC motorcycles and we were supposed to stay near the farm because that's OK.
That we wandered further and a policeman stopped us and we were terrified. And the worst part was he said I'm going to call your dads.
The neighbor kid was always going to kill me. He's going to kill me. Oh, my daddy's going to beat me. He's going to kill me. I knew I was in trouble and I was going to be grounded. But I didn't have that reaction because I knew my father loved me and I knew that he would be gracious to me. And yeah, I was going to be grounded. But the fear and the trembling and the upset that this young man had, and I knew what his dad would do to him.
He had a right to be afraid of that. There was going to be no grace applied to him, and it wasn't. But I had a different sense because I had a sense, even though I knew I was in trouble, that my father would be gracious to me and that he loved me. It makes a difference in your day-to-day, moment by moment life to have a sense of grace that that your father has towards you.
Every weight and ascend which does so easily be set on.
A weight may not be a sin, but it's something that drags us down, isn't it?
And I just couldn't help but notice in our local reading and Woodbridge this last week we're reading in Acts Chapter 27, we have the account of.
False, perilous journey there, but.
The owners of that ship and those that were responsible for that ship arriving at a safe place.
Knew that there were certain measures that could be taken to perhaps.
Make sure that they would arrive there safely and we read in verse 18 says and we being exceedingly tossed with the tapas the next day they enlightened the ship while they realized that too much weight could be a hindrance and would most certainly bring that ship.
To peril. And then if we read the next verse, 19, it says the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. So here they participated themselves in the lightning of the ship. And that's something that we can do in our own lives too, where we see a weight that is dragging us down. We can throw that into the sea.
Then finally.
And verse 38 says, and when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and cast out the wheat into the sea. Well, the wheat wasn't something that was bad, wasn't because we see them just eating right before this and it cheered them, but it was something that was going to hold back that ship from reaching its destination.
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And we know that the ship perished, but those souls that were on that ship, and as promised, they all reached the land. So sometimes I think we have to distinguish between a weight and a sin.
And certainly sins in our life will.
Destroy our confidence in God. We have that in first John three, but the new translation simply says sin. It's really the principle of self will here that's at work. Self will.
First, John also says in the King James sinners lawlessness, which is not the sense of it because sin existed before law. Sin is sorry. The King James says sorry, I'm getting I don't, I don't intend to confuse you. This King James says sin is the transgression of the law. Sin obviously existed before law. The new translation says sin is lawlessness. Again, that same principle that we're talking about here, it's self will at work.
Self will got man in trouble at the very beginning and self will is what continues to get man in trouble and so will that acts in independence from God.
The thing that easily besets me may not be the thing that easily besets you.
And I like how it's targeted. When you read that, you know what it is. I had a brother share with me recently how when he first got saved, he fought hard with his language. That was the thing.
He stubbed his toe, he's now confessed Christ and words would come out of his mouth that he would just be horrified by never was before and his children.
And he just cried before the Lord about it. But he noticed overtime how the Lord had helped him to where he stubbed his toe or hit his finger with a hammer. And instead of this stuff coming out, he said Ouch.
He said I knew that day that the Lord had helped me to be delivered from this sin that easily beset me.
And that is the thing. What is it? There is something it's not. Everybody doesn't have the same thing that's going on. There's something that has been a struggling. I think often that the Lord allows that to be a battle because I know people that have gotten saved, they've been delivered. They were drug addicts and all kinds of things that just gone. But there'd be one thing that they had to fight. And that battle the Lord made use of to help them learn something, learn something deep.
But if there isn't that one thing, then that's what it's talking about. It's holding you back. Of course it is. But the weights our brother gave the illustration of the the ship. If you know anything about slimmers that race and runners that race swimmers, and when they go to the Olympics, they'll shave their head. They'll shave their whole body because the hair on their body hinders. Their speed is in the Olympics. It's just nanoseconds. They're part of a second you can lose by well, why do they do that?
Because they're focused on the race that they've been given to do. They're not in some other race. And if you listen to a coach who's coaching, especially long distance runners, they will remind them over and over again, run your race. Of course there's others running in the race, but that's and especially in the Christian life. I'm not running against you and you are another brother or sister. I'm not running against you. I'm running a race that God has given me to run. And a coach will say, forget about everybody else. You run the race that we've planned.
We've designed it. You run that race and our master says to us, I've sent you on a race to run, run that race, go run somebody else's race. There's a way that you need to run. And the way they do that, there's certain pacing, there's certain times to run faster or slower. And then there's a time to just press down. And somebody who has a good kick towards the end of the race, they'll just push everything aside. And it, it, it fits really well what it says here.
It says enduring the cross, despising the shame. Well, enduring what if you're running a race there may you got to, you got pain in your legs, you've got uric acid spreading through your body and other things. Your muscles hurt, your your heart is pounding and your lungs are burning. But somehow you press and you run and you can run. Maybe you run somebody down and you get to the end of the goal. But that's where it is. And we've all been aimed at a goal.
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And there is some joy that's set before us as well. It speaks to the Lord Jesus that joy is us.
Well, for us, it's him.
It's him.
There's a.
Approach to this.
Race that we're Speaking of, there's the things set aside and then there's the things that have before us.
It's wonderful that we as we walk the Christian faith that we can not only the negative, but there's a positive. Actually, that's the verse that I had before me in suggesting this chapter was verse two, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith.
If I might just relate this to what was commented about the previous chapter, you have the list of the heroes or the those that who walk by faith. And if you'll notice in the next to the last verse there it says and, and these all having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise. That is if the what they were looking for hadn't been realized yet, it was an unknown.
When the Lord Jesus.
Accomplished redemption and went back to heaven. The race, the end of the race, the destiny was opened up before the world.
Are those of faith. The Lord Jesus entered in to the destiny and he became the example for us. How wonderful brethren, we know where we're going.
We know what we're living for. We are intelligent about this, but the problem is we get these things along the way that hinder us. And so it we're speaking about the weights and the sins. A little later in the chapter it talks about the governmental dealings of God and he chastens what does God do that because we need those kind of things to help us run the race.
If it wasn't for those things, God dealing with sons as He does, it's for our benefit. Whom the Lord loveth, He chases. We usually think of this chapter as a as a chapter on discipline or governmental dealing, and rightly so, but how wonderful.
Brother, looking unto Jesus, that object needs to be before us when we lose the object before us.
Then these weights and sins can they'll appear and they'll they'll get a hold of us and they'll hinder us.
Every chapter.
Is just a piece of a whole.
And when you get into the details of a chapter, you're just looking at a tiny piece of a chapter of a whole. And sometimes to understand or enjoy a little bit of the bigger picture makes the details more meaningful. And I'd like to comment a little bit on a bit bigger picture of where these verses fit in.
Threatened to Hebrews believers and they for generations.
Had a destiny ahead of them on Earth.
And every generation looked for.
Something on earth, a Kingdom connected with this chapter, the end of this chapter, a Kingdom They look for a Kingdom here on earth with the Lord Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah that would.
Be their destiny.
Everyone of us starts out life perhaps with no sense of a destiny, but eventually at some point in life, somebody was talking to me yesterday where they kind of woke up.
What life was about, and that's perhaps some in this room that are younger haven't gotten there yet, or you really haven't decided what life's about and where you're going with it.
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In Hebrews, it starts out to them addressing them in this sense that everything you've ever known up to now in your history is no longer your future.
The Lord Jesus Christ is presented to them in chapter one as one who had been here and now it was at the right hand of God in heaven, and the Kingdom that they had been looking for was a Kingdom that was no longer to be seen as here on earth with the Kingdom they were going to participate in was heavenly in its character and we need to start there.
In our thoughts and in our expectations. And so who had chosen them?
For that Kingdom.
The Lord God in grace, there's a connection, very intimate.
In this chapter and in the hall that combines the thoughts of faith and grace and to get the bigger picture of it, it's a joy to see the connections between faith and grace. And so as we have in Ephesians chapter 2, by grace.
Are you saved through faith?
There's that connection between grace and faith, and So what? He tells them just to go back two chapters or not spend the whole time on an outline, but go back to chapter 10.
He has been presenting to them the one that.
As himself.
Gone before God.
Presented himself to God as Savior, as high priest, as the one that fitted them.
For their destiny of glory. And having done so, he then says to them in their trials in chapter 10 verse 35. Cast not away there for your confidence.
Which has great recompense of reward. They needed confidence to go on.
For ye have need of patience. That's verse two of our chapter. You have need of endurance.
That after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise, the promise that's at the end of the path of faith, that you might make it all the way to the end of the path and have that promise realized that is for you. And so he says, yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry the one that will receive you into your.
Heavenly Kingdom.
It's an encouragement for the confidence to go on.
But then he warns them or tells them the just shall live by faith. Every single person in this room has to live life if it's according to God by faith. There's not a single person in this room that can live life and accept the life that God has given acceptance by faith. It's an essential to the character of life. And so he says we're not them that draw back unto perdition.
And then in Chapter 11, he gives this whole collection of people and the one thing that most generally characterizes all of them.
Was an activity in the 11Th chapter.
Its endurance.
Everyone of them had been given some promise of God or something from God, and then they were put into the position of having to endure.
And everyone in this room is in that same position. The character of your life and mine is a life in which it's essential, it's required that we live it with endurance and as a result, we need encouragement in it.
And so he gives them the maximum encouragement in Chapter 12 after they've had all these examples of people that endured that were like us.
Then he gives the number one primary encouraging example of a life of faith.
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The life of the Lord Jesus Christ is the number one example of the life of faith. It's presented here not as a Redeemer, not as Savior. He's presented here to us as the perfect encouragement of the man who lived his life with endurance.
By faith, and so it says.
Looking for that man.
And you will see in that man what you need to encourage your heart to live that path of faith. And further than that, you can look on that man as at the goal line.
You know, sometimes.
Their life is more than a Sprint, but as you get near the goal line, you sometimes can see what's at the end of it. And as we, some of us get older and get, and I say near the end of goal line for us and as to this life, we can see the Lord Jesus as it were. They're waiting with open arms and that is intended to encourage us.
To endure until the end. And He gives other things that He endured that made His life difficult as a life of faith. He endured the cross. Why?
Because He had a joy that was set before him, and you can't endure if you don't have the joy in your heart of what's set before you. And the Lord Jesus did have that. And so he said, consider him in verse 3.
And the one that you can look at as he entered the he endured the race, He's finished the race, He sits at the right hand of God. And so it is for us to look forward to that same destiny.
Of being with Him where He is in His glory.
And one of the things that if the endurance aspect is not.
Followed.
The other side of it is.
Another aspect beside faith and the emphasis here in Hebrews is the faith side of it. But the other ingredient that's necessary for it is to fail the grace of God. Then there's going to be shipwreck in the life and the bitterness is going to come. And so it's so extremely important on the Gray side of it to recognize that God called us by grace.
God will sustain us by grace, and He wants us to grow in the appreciation and the enjoyment.
Of it in our souls. And so each one of us should be appreciating the grace of God more and more as we travel in the pathway.
But if we get our eye off the Lord, then we very easily can have a root of bitterness that will spring up in us as as failing the grace of God. And that also is one of the things that if set aside.
Derails, if you will, the walk.
So endurance is an important thing.
It is a life long race, it never ends and there's going to be times, you young people, when you think it's too hard.
That's when you need to take a glimpse of what is mentioned here. The joy that was set before the Lord Jesus. It's mentioned, it's mentioned a little bit earlier that it was to have us with Him, but there is one joy that I think superseded even that.
That to go into God's presence and to be able to say, Father, I have finished the work that thou gave us me to do.
I think that was #1 Joy. Then, of course, to have us with Him is included. But, oh brethren, to go into the Lord's presence in that day at the judgment seat of Christ, when everything was going to be reviewed.
And to have his well done.
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I'm not one to say if I will get that, but I think that should be the desire. Go on young people, it gets hard. Yes, it gets hard. Keep on, don't give up.
Get a fresh glimpse of the glory that set before us. Oh what a tremendous thing it is. You know, I often think of the Apostle Paul who is caught up into the 3rd heaven.
And when he comes back, it says he had seen things. He had seen visions and revelations. He had heard things. He doesn't say one thing about what he saw. He only says something about what he heard. Unspeakable words. But it was so glorious that even though God gave him a thorn in the flesh to deal with the whole.
Rest of his life, perhaps he kept right on and oh, rather than that's what's going to keep us going on to think of that coming glory that's before us. The Lord Jesus, when you think of what he went through at the during his life, especially towards the end as it gets to the cross, as he goes to the Garden of Gethsemane, as he wrestles in prayer and great drops of blood.
Flow down to the drop, down to the ground, and think of the awfulness of going to that cross. Not only the physical suffering, but the suffering from the hand of God for sin and then to be forsaken by God Himself.
Did he ever say it's too much? Never, never, never. Don't give up. Young people, keep on. That's what's so important. That's what endurance is about.
That is going to be a hindrance in the in the.
Race of Faith.
You think of the subject that's been before these believers and that that is the the cloud of witnesses. They're they're the cloud of witnesses of those who walk by faith. And they were able to endure and they had patience during the trials of their path of faith.
What was their strength was their confidence in the Lord. They trusted His word. And I would just like to suggest that possibly we could at least apply the settings in as the sin of unbelief.
Not trusting in God and his word. I remember there was a, a group of young men that got together and they, they all got their bicycles out and they, they took a, a bike path down to a place where there was going to be a bachelor party at a restaurant. And one of the bicycles had a, a bad bearing.
And.
The poor guy, he's probably here and poor guy that had to ride that bicycle had to work two or three times harder than the rest of them. In fact, it got to the point where.
They had to switch off and everyone had to take the.
Trial of riding this bicycle. It didn't didn't have a freewheel.
And I think of what happens when the believer sets aside confidence in God and in his word, the ability to have patience and the ability to endure the path of faith. Whatever God has called us to go through is going to be hindered, going to be our our path is going to become very labor intensive.
When we when we don't put our confidence.
In our trust in what God has said and his promises and so I just I feel like this can be one of the the setting sins is not giving God his rightful place in our hearts of putting our full confidence in what he has said in his word.
Doubting him? Well, here's the lie that the devil says if you don't understand it.
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Then you lose trust or you don't have faith. That's a lie. It's because you don't understand it. You can still say, well, Lord, I don't understand this, but I trust you. I know you.
This whole, these witnesses, they had moments like that. Look at Abraham, take your son and kill him on the mountain.
OK, but you already told me. But that boy is going to have children. So what do we find in the New Testament? In the in this previous chapter, he thought he was going to see a resurrection. He was wrong. But because he believed, because he trusted God, this difficulty, this thing he didn't understand didn't stop it. The devil tells you that if you don't understand it, you can't explain it or you can't see your way through. Well, don't trust him anymore.
Well, that's a lie. It's a lie and it's always been a lie. Don't let him get you at that thing. Well, if it starts coming in your mind in a moment where you're facing something, just say, Lord, I don't understand, but I trust you. And that's, that makes a huge difference. The smallest child that the weakest child of God can do that. And God will honor that. And something will come out of that and and that there's a day in which the Lord will praise that.
Dear child of God, for that moment where he faced that.
And the devil came, and he didn't listen.
I suppose.
One of the most wonderful promises that enables us to go on for the Lord today is the fact that He has told us, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
He tells his disciples, though I am with you always, but if we lose sight of his companionship.
And we're trying to navigate this race on our own. It's going to be very difficult, and we'd be tempted to give up. You know, it says in the Proverbs that if you faint in the day of adversity.
Your strength is small.
Well, we're talking about a day of adversity in this chapter.
The contradiction of sinners.
And we go to work, we go to school, you know, we're in the neighborhood and we have sinners all about us.
And we know that we're faced with opposition.
Well, let's remember.
Who goes with us? The Lord Jesus Christ? We can draw upon his hour.
And.
His strength is not small.
It's infinite.
And it's the words of my own heart because, you know, we have an enemy that's trying to bring us down.
But greater is he that's in you than he is in the world.
That refers to the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.
And so the power that's available to us to be overcomers, it's infinite.
But it's all to be appreciated.
And.
Employed.
Faith is simply believing without seeing.
You know, that's really what the path that the believer is to be a path of faith, the gesture live by faith.
I think of it as walking on the water.
That's not easy to walk on the water.
In fact, nobody can walk on the water in their own ability.
Peter couldn't walk on the water in his own ability, but what kept him up was the fact that he was focused on the Lord Jesus. This is the one to whom he was going.
And we know the story well. He took his eyes off the Lord. He begins to sink.
Ye Christ our Lord, save me. The Lord was right there.
Immediately.
Tells us immediately the Lord puts out his hand. You don't want him to sake, He doesn't want you to sink. And if you find yourself in a sinking situation, you just call upon the Lord. You'll be there for you.
Can trust him.
It's wonderful. You know the promises.
Exceeding great and precious promises that have been made to us in this blessed book that we have today.
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It's wonderful to be here.
With the Bible open.
Just taking God at his word, that's faith, and that's what God appreciates.
It's the greatest favor that we can do the Lord that can do God himself. It's just to take him at His Word.
One verse sums up what Molly has.
About and that's the 25th 1St of Acts chapter 27 for the apostle Paul says whereforesters be of good cheer.
For I believe God.
That it shall be, even as it was told me.
One other facet.
This considering him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself.
And these facets we won't exhaust for an eternal day, but just one in this regard, chapter 5 and verse eight. Though he were son, yet learned the obedience by the things which he suffered. Mr. Garvey renders that Son, though he was, yet learned the obedience by the things which he said.
That place of sun was one in which everything was at his disposal. Nothing was outside of his authority in that position of the eternal Son of God. But here he's taken up manhood, Jesus, the author and finisher of faith, And so he's enduring such contradiction of sinners and that's.
Your example, and that's mine. That perfect servant.
Behold my servant, and whom is all my delight, that prophetic utterance. He shall not strive, nor lift up his voice in the streets. He didn't demand his rights, though he had everyone in this scene. He yielded them all. And in the setting of a camp.
Perhaps we could. We can liken it to this. They will encourage you to go out that door and demand you're right.
We don't have any rights here. We ought to endure just as we are encouraged here.
He's going to set things right in a coming day.
Connection with the joy set before him. Like to connect it a little bit with John's gospel.
Chapter 14.
Lord Jesus is preparing the disciples for his departure from earth.
And his separation from them, they had been with him for 3 1/2 years approximately, and now he's going to go away and they're not going to have him anymore as they had had him before. And so in part of that preparation of them, he says to them.
In chapter 14 of John and verse 28, you have heard how I said unto you, I go away.
And come again unto you.
Now here's notice these words. If he loved me, you would rejoice.
Put yourself in their position. Here's the Lord, you've been with him for 3 1/2 years. He's just about to leave you and he's telling you, if you love me, you would rejoice.
Would you be rejoicing in that moment that he was going to leave you?
He said if you love me.
That is, if you've loved me these 3 1/2 years, you would rejoice.
Because.
As I said, I go unto the Father.
You and I perhaps can little understand the joy that was set before him as the one who had left the Father's house to come into this world, to live his life here as a man.
And endure and live it as a man by faith who now was anticipating very shortly.
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To see his father's face.
Again.
To go back to the one that had sent him.
And to be received there by his father.
That was a joy that's beyond us to fully recognize and enter into that joy of his own heart. And yet, if we love him.
We rejoice that He did it. The disciples could rejoice in the thought of His joy.
I'm going to suggest a thought to you.
It's a new thought. Then you better have to contemplate it a little while.
What is the greatest joy?
That you anticipate.
On the day you get home to glory.
I'm going to give you one to think about.
To see the joy in his face. To receive you.
I remember a comment that Brother Albert Hey homemade that I think impresses that we all like to go to weddings where they're happy couple getting married and at the great moment when the bride comes in, the custom is to rise and turn and see the bride walking into the room. Brother Albert Heyho said, yes, I I do that, but there's even a better thing.
Look up at the front of the room and see the expression on the groom's face.
They go together.
That expression in verse three. Consider him.
I have enjoyed in the Spanish old version.
The way it puts it, translating it says for reduce your thoughts to him. I like that because we live in a world where we're taught, especially in this Democratic.
System that we live under to think about ourselves.
It's not about that rather than it's Him. Reduce your thoughts to Him who endured such contradiction of sinners against your himself, lest you be weird and faint in your mind. Oh, how important that is when you are tempted to think about yourself. And that's what life in the United States of America is. Think about yourself, do what you like.
Have it your way. That's not Christianity.
It's reduce your thoughts to him, consider him.
Lest ye be weary and.
Faith in your minds, like something with what Wally was saying.
The reality of day-to-day life is that you do get wearied and faith in your mind and there is, as our brother Bob was saying, you know, making it all about yourself, self centeredness and that. But when you're experiencing something.
It's not the other person. Experience you and in your mind and your heart.
You feel something.
And I'm always my wife and I often talk about this. I say feelings aren't facts. And the inner conversation you have when you face something and you're in it, you're in the mess, you're in the fight, you're in the battle, you're weary. What kind of conversation do you have? Well, one of the verses that Wally quoted, what if you don't feel like he's there with you? What if you're in a moment where you think of that verse? You wouldn't feel like he's here.
Don't feel like he's with me. Don't feel like feels like when I pray it's bouncing off the ceiling. Well, faith goes beyond that and you say, OK, this is how I'm feeling. You can tell yourself feelings aren't facts. What are the facts that inter conversation can take you to the place where then you quote to yourself, what are the facts like he is promised ever to leave me nor forsake me so.
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My feelings don't matter in this, and my feelings will change if I focus on the truth of what it is. And that makes a difference. But real life is like that. We're caught up in our minds, weary, our bodies, weary. It doesn't feel like it. But feelings are not facts. They are and they never have been. And new facts focused on the person of Christ, what He has said, what He has told us, that we can begin to rest upon that. And then feelings.
Will change.
Time is nearly up, but one quoted a little piece of poetry a while ago to utter reinforce what we said. Where feelings come and feelings go and off times are deceiving.
My warrant is the word of God, not else is worth believing.
I guess we'll have to wait till the next meeting to continue.
We see #166.
166.
What is my love?
What's happening?
I explore why my name is my great name.
Oh, it's raining of life when it's raining hard.
Our Eye
Open—Jonathan Grinton
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M #301.
We might not like.
Going on progress in all the time.
I didn't expect to stand here today.
Thankful for the opportunity.
Merely been considering the things that were before us this morning in the reading meeting and the thoughts that I had.
As I drove here.
Somewhat came together with that.
Portion a little bit this morning in Hebrews 12.
And what's been on my heart, mainly.
Recently is our eyes or our eye, and we read of that. I believe it's in Matthew, the singleness of I.
And I thought of this verse in Proverbs.
That I've enjoyed over the years in different ways.
And if we could just read it together.
In Proverbs.
Chapter 17 and verse 8.
And we've had grace before us this morning. And faith.
And I thought of this verse. It says a gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it.
A gift is as a precious stone.
In the eyes of him that hath it, and my margin, a precious stone that says.
There is a stone of grace.
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And so today I was thinking of this in connection.
With our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, we read in first Peter 2.
If so, be you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
And I wonder in each one of you.
In my own heart.
How we behold that one.
Who loved us and gave himself for us.
And most certainly, we're running a race.
Here in this world, waiting for him to come to take us home.
But our eyes need to be focused in on him.
Brother Wally, he mentioned.
The word of God. He said it at least twice that it was opened here today.
Well, he did mention that focus. I heard him. I don't remember how he said it, but.
He mentioned it.
And it somewhat reminded me a little bit.
I know everybody has an analogy about running a race, but it reminded me of my wife. She used to run long distance cross country races and.
You know, I'm certain that.
As you have come around a certain leg in that race, there might be a sign that would tell you maybe what direction to go, maybe how much more of a distance there were till the next leg in the race.
And there was direction in how to get to the end of that race.
And you know I'm.
I'm certain.
That in our lives, we need that same direction.
And sometimes probably going through the woods on one of those races.
You might.
Lose a little concentration or a little focus.
You might recognize that you didn't make as good time.
Or possibly there's a route.
Much like the one in our chapter.
And because your focus wasn't strong.
Maybe you tripped on that route.
And it slowed down your progress.
Well, there was a verse that came to mind this morning that I had it marked in my Bible, actually in Hebrews 2 and two and in Hebrews 10, the verses that Mister Rule read and it's in.
Habakkuk.
Chapter 2.
And verse two, you know, the end of verse four was quoted a few times this morning. But the just shall live by his faith.
But I was interested particularly in the end of verse two of chapter 2.
The verse says the Lord answered me and said, write the vision and make it plain upon tables.
That he may run that readeth it.
He may run that read a bit.
And to me, it simply was pointing out to you and I that God has given us.
A very precious tool where everything is written down and made plain to you and I.
But if we don't read it.
We can't be directed on the path or in the race.
If I'm in the woods on a cross country race and I ignore the sign.
I'm not going to make it to the finish.
It reminded me of that I've been reading this little booklet that Mister Bruce Antsy wrote.
On some three young men that had a fall. You've possibly read it. I won't go into the booklet so much as to remind you of that young man, Eudicus.
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I think they're in Acts 20.
You know, we often consider he's in this large upper room well lit.
And you got a little bit tired of?
The long preaching.
And he fell out the window.
But I suspect.
And I feel very confident in saying that Eudicus.
Was tired before he got to that meeting and before he sat in the window.
And fell out.
And maybe your heart is like that.
I can tell you mine was like that one time.
Eudicus wasn't looking.
For direction, he was looking at the window.
At the other things that were available to him in this life, he had lost focus.
While there's a lot more to that story of Euticus, and we need each other to help, to be brought back into focus sometimes, don't we? We can be thankful that Paul went and fell down and hugged him and the rest that were there. They brought him back up again. But that's really not what I had in my heart today. My heart.
Thought is that you and I need to read our Bibles.
And we need to rely on the Lord Jesus to guide us in our walk so that we can be like Him while we're here.
And when we look at him as that one that went to that cross of Calvary for you and I.
How do we behold him? Do we want to please Him?
Do we want to be like him?
I've read these verses before and their favorite verses of mine in First Chronicles chapter 29.
28 Sorry.
First Chronicles 28 and verse 19.
You know, there was something.
Very large, about to happen with Solomon.
It might have even been a daunting task.
When considering it.
A lot of work ahead.
His father in verse 19.
He said this to him.
I believe that there's a lot of good direction in it for you and I.
He was talking about building the temple.
And he said all this.
Said David. The Lord made me understand in writing.
It's not my intention to take this verse out of context, but I sure enjoy thinking about it.
And the fact that God has given us His Word in writing.
And it's here in our hands today.
To help us to know and to learn more.
About how we should be while we walk down here in all this.
The Lord made me understand in writing by His hand upon me.
You and I that believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are indwelt.
By the Holy Ghost.
We have the privilege of having the Spirit with us always to help us and to guide us.
When we read His word, we can trust Him to show us the way.
He will.
By his hand upon me.
Even all the works of this pattern.
The pattern of everything that's laid out for your life.
If you don't know it now.
If you haven't figured it out yet.
Read God's Word.
He'll show it to you and he'll lead you to it.
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And help you every step of the way.
You cannot run the race with patience in this life.
Without direction from above.
David said to Solomon, his son. Be strong and of good courage.
And do it.
I think that's one of the most important parts of this verse.
Be strong and of good courage and do it. How many times do we say?
I'm going to start reading my Bible today.
How many times do we say I'm going to start talking to the Lord today, I'm going to ask Him for guidance and for help today?
But something comes up.
Something gets in the way.
Maybe we find something that seems a little bit more fun to do.
If that's you and you have lost your focus.
And you're not going to find direction for your life.
It's going to be very difficult to finish the race. You're going to trip on a lot of roots.
He's strong enough. Good courage and do it. Fear not nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee.
He never leaves us nor forsakes us. He's always with his own. He loves us. He wants to carry us along in the difficult times. He wants to help us.
And we can take comfort in that.
Says, He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee until thou hast finished.
All the work for the service of the House of the Lord.
And he's got work for you and I, dear ones, to do while we're on that race.
And I'm certain.
Like his Son the Lord Jesus, when he came into the world to save sinners and went to that cross of Calvary.
You and I are happy that he did it right.
That he did it exactly the way it was laid out.
So that we can be here today, assured of eternal life with Him.
Well, I believe that the Father wants us to do it right too.
And I can only tell you that because of my own failure and what it feels like to suffer through those bumps in the road.
On the race. But oh how much more precious it is.
When I do it right.
And when he is pleased with me, like Enoch.
Read that in Hebrews.
And how he pleased him.
Well.
And merely bring this out to us, that we might consider how we behold Him.
If our eyes are focused on that one, it was the perfect example for us while here in our life.
I would only just think of one verse in.
Exodus 18, I believe, and I.
Came across it this morning.
I just thought it was a nice little note when Jethro brought Moses sons and wife up to meet him.
It speaks of his son Eliezer in verse 4.
He says in the name of the other was Eliezer, for the God of my father said he was mine help.
And delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh mine helped and delivered me.
Eleazar in my margin says my God is a help.
And he wants to be a help to you and I while we run this race here in this world.
Let's let them be a help to us. Let's spend time reading our Bibles.
And spend time praying and asking him for direction.
John 12
Open—Steve Stewart
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John, Chapter 12.
Verse one.
Then six, then Jesus, six days before the Passover, came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.
There they made him a supper, and Martha served. The Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.
Ben took Mary a pound of ointment. A spikenard. Very costly.
And anointed the feet of Jesus.
And wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. And saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him. Why was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor?
This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief.
And he had the bag and bear what was put therein.
Then said Jesus, let her alone against the day of my bearing, as she kept this.
For the poor always ye have with you, but may ye have not always.
Like to turn, just hold our place there and read the same account in the Gospel of Matthew.
Chapter 26.
Verse six. Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the House of Simon the leper, there came to him a woman having an alabaster box.
Of very precious ointment imported on his head as he sat at meat. But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this ointment might have been sold for much.
And been given to the poor. When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman?
For she hath brought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you.
But may ye have not always, For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial. Verily, I say unto you, wheresoever this Gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this that this woman hath done be told for memorial of her.
Person, Mark. 11Th chapter.
Mark 11 verse 11. And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple, and when he had looked round about on upon all things, and now the even tide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the 12.
In the 110th Psalm. Maybe I'll just read it because I probably won't quote it in the last verse.
110th Psalm.
Verse seven. He shall drink of the brook, and the way therefore shall he lift up.
We had.
The Lord Jesus was in the way. He was in the way to the cross.
It was the valley of the shadow of death.
It was a low place, and that's where the brook is. It's in the valley. It's in the low place.
And in that place, as he was heading to the cross, God the Father provided for his Son that which would refresh his heart, and he would drink of the brook in the way. And what was it that refreshed his heart? He went into Jerusalem to the temple. He looked round about on all things, and there was nothing left there.
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To attract his heart anymore.
And he went out to Bethany because there was a little company.
Now drew his heart.
Who have him as the object of their own hearts.
And there he found comfort.
And there he found that which would refresh his soul on his way to Calvary's cross.
Was a House of Simon the Leper we read in that city.
And in the 10th of Luke we read there was a House of Martha and Mary her sister.
And we find the Lord there, with Mary, sitting at the Lord's feet, hearing his word.
There was Lazarus, who we read in our chapter here, who was raised.
Who is dead and was raised from the dead?
Lazarus, whom thou lovest, they said to him, is sick.
There are those that he loved that welcomed him.
And there they made him a supper.
I don't know if they knew it. Perhaps they had a sense, I know Mary did, of that impending storm of opposition. He who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself was approaching, and they prepare him this supper.
It was the last time that they would ever do it.
What a privilege we have to sit down at a supper that he has prepared.
But he is looking.
To enjoy us.
To refresh his heart on the cross, he said I thirst. Do we respond to the thirst that's in his heart?
They did.
They prepared him a supper in that home.
You know Martha and Mary, both of their names.
And the root word of the name is Mara.
And we learn from the book of Ruth that that name means bitter.
The Lord came into Bethany and it was a scene of sorrow, domestic sorrow.
Also Simon the leper.
I don't know if it was the same house as Martha and Mary's, perhaps not, but morally they seem connected.
And then at home years before.
Little girl had been born.
What shall we call her?
Another color better.
In time, another girl is born. What will we call her?
Call her bitter, too.
Who can come into a scene like that and bring blessing?
And relief.
We know the sorrow in Chapter 11 when Lazarus Stein, as this chapter opens, speaks of him or Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. Romans one and verse four tells us he's declared to be the Son of God.
With power.
We're in the spirit of holiness by the resurrection of the dead.
Who else could come into that scene with the Son of God?
And bring blessing.
And now he comes into this house on his way to the Cross, and in this place where he had.
Come in scene of sorrow and brought blessing. They loved him.
They were occupied with him.
And so this little picture to us really there's those things which are individual and those things I think would which can present to us the assembly.
It's the seed of the assembly that we get in John and in the 20th chapter.
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In resurrection, when the Lord comes into that little company.
He says in verse 21 Then Jesus.
And said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you, as my Father has sent me, Even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.
He's the second Adam, he's a life giving spirit and he breathes into them life and resurrection. His own resurrection life called in John 10 abundant life.
In Romans 8, the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, which have made us free.
Love, sin and death.
Eternal life, as John presents it.
A life that knows and enjoys communion with the Father and the Son. And we have in that way the seed of the assembly in John 20. And so here at this scene there is Lazarus, who he loved before he died. He was a disciple before he died.
Died and raised from the dead. It's a picture to us of that company who is in the enjoyment of eternal life.
Resurrection Life.
Sitting at the table with him.
Enjoying fellowship and communion with him, Martha served no complaint. Like Luke 10 with her ServiceNow, she's happily serving that table.
Lazarus there in communion with him. Lazarus specifically mentioned there'd been a change. He'd been raised from the dead. Martha, there'd been a change. She went from complaining service to happy service.
No mention in that way of Mary, because we find Mary at the Lord's feet in Luke 10. We find her at the Lord's feet in Luke 11.
And we find her at the Lord's feet here. There's no change with her. She's the same.
In the Gospel of Luke Chapter 7, the Lord was anointed as well. It's a different scene. It's a different woman. We don't want to mix them up.
There the Lord is invited to Pharisees house, and he comes in and lays at me.
The Pharisee does not provide him those common courtesies that he would show a guest in his home.
The Lord passes over it. He doesn't mention it.
He lays it table. His feet would be there for all to see that the Pharisee had not provided him water to wash his feet.
His dishonor evident.
And a woman from the city, a Sinner comes in, and.
And the burden of her sin.
And conviction of her conscience, having heard previously those words, I believe this man receiveth sinners, and Edith with them.
And she comes in to find the only one that can meet the need of her soul. She stands alone in the gospels of all that came to the Lord.
I believe.
As a Sinner, because of her sins, how many came to be healed?
From so many different things. But she came not to be healed, not to because she was blind or hauled or maimed or anything. She came because of her sins.
And she came in in tears.
And there were the feet of the Lord.
The one that was the object of her heart.
Was signally dishonored before everyone.
She came to anoint him, but she washed his feet first with her tears. She rectified that dishonor and then anointed him.
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Oh, she heard those wonderful words.
My sins be forgiven thee, which he heard more thy faith to save thee not only forgiveness of sins may have been in a governmental way.
But a life of deliverance from sin. My faith to save thee.
Mary comes in here not as a Sinner.
Not in tears of repentance like Luke 7.
But she comes in with this alabaster box of ointment that which had been stored up.
That which had been treasured and kept and reserved.
And she comes in. What is pictured here is worship.
It's worship.
She comes in to pour out all that she can upon the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, contemplating this portion.
And I thought of how we get Martha's house and Mary.
There in Luke 10, Simon the leper's house.
In Matthew 26 and I had wondered are they the same house or not and scripture does not say.
And now why doesn't scripture say if they were the same house, why didn't it say it?
Because in Luke 10, Martha's serving an honored guest in her home.
And if this was presented to us as Martha's home?
Or that Simon the Leper's house was the same home.
Than what Mary does would be like what that woman who was a Sinner.
In the city did in rectifying what the Pharisee had not done.
Shown the common courtesy that should have been given to any honored guest.
But it's not presented as her home.
This is not an act of justice showing a common courtesy to any honored guests. This is the overflow.
Of the heart.
In Exodus 30, we read of a holy anointing ointment.
That was to be prepared. Turn back to that Exodus 30.
Verse 31.
And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be.
And holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations.
Upon man's flesh shall it not be poured, neither shall eat make any other like it after the composition of it. It is holy, and it shall be holy unto you.
Verse 37. And As for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves.
According to the composition thereof, it shall be unto thee holy.
For the Lord.
Whosoever shall make like unto that who smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.
I think we could probably drive around this city.
And see on some signs in front of various.
Churches. They're called a worship service.
I have.
Nieces that are on a worship team.
And it involves a lot of music.
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And various things.
To I think they would take it to seek to encourage and warm up the hearts of the Saints that are there.
It's for them.
It's for them.
I'm not finding fault with what they're listening to. I don't know what it is, but it's for them.
This was not to be poured on flesh.
It was not for personal enjoyment.
Not for personal edification.
It was a holy anointing oil that was holy for God.
And that's what worship is. It's holy for him.
And you can't get a higher thought in your heart and worship than God's own thoughts of His beloved Son. And we cannot OfferUp anything more in worship higher and greater than God's own thoughts.
Of his beloved son.
This oil, this ointment, was stored up in that alabaster box.
Until the time came.
And it was time.
I don't know that Mary knew this was the last opportunity she would have.
But I think she sensed the impending storm that swirled around.
That one that she loved.
And in spiritual instinct, it was time, and she knew it, and she came, and she brought.
That gift?
Support it.
On his feet.
In Matthew, she anointed his head, he says. She's anointed my body.
In Isaiah, one man in the flesh is described from the foot sole of the foot.
To the crown of the head, full of wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. That's man in the flesh. But in Song of Solomon he is described from the head to the feet, and it ends with these altogether lovely all she valued, all of him. She anoints his head in Matthew because he's presented as king.
His feet and John, because he's the divine Incarnate Son of God, come down to walk in this world.
Made flesh and dwelling among us.
She valued all of him.
And she takes her hair.
And she wipes his feet.
A house is filled with the odor of that ointment wasn't to be poured on man's flesh.
But all everyone in that house enjoyed it.
And she carried that savor with her, for she had wiped his feet with the hair of her head. I don't know how long that lasted, but I think it was a long time.
Judas interrupts that beautiful scene. The flesh is so rude.
It's so ugly.
So stark in its ugliness.
Makes us shrink.
We read it.
He calculates the very lowest price.
That could be given to that of ointment.
And Matthew believe they say it could have been sold for more than 300 pence.
Here he says, why wasn't it sold for 300 pence, the lowest market price had it figured out.
But his motives are exposed by the Spirit of God and the divine commentary.
That he was a thief.
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He had no use for the Lord, but you know he affected.
The other disciples, and we find in Matthew that they're all saying the same thing.
They jumped on the bandwagon. Sounds like a lofty ideal give to the poor. Shouldn't this have been used that way?
Worship's an auto waste.
It's not a waste when we come to remember the Lord and his death and to pour out to Him, whether in silence or whether a brother is used to speak in an audible way and express on behalf of all our appreciation of Christ to God the Father, it's not a waste.
It's not a waste.
Lord responds.
Let her alone.
Let her alone.
He maketh the wrath of man to praise him, and the remainder he restrains.
He allowed Judas to say what he said to bring out the value of Mary's gift.
And then he stops it right there.
He doesn't let it go any further.
Let her alone.
Some time before this they have looked on the Lord Jesus and all the works.
That he had done by the power of the Spirit of God.
And they said.
By the Prince of the Demons, he casts out demons.
By Beelzebub he casts out demons.
They are attributing the work of the Spirit of God.
To Satan.
Oh brother, we need to be so careful.
There's the work of the Spirit of God and the soul.
And their heart is on fire like a smoking wax. It says of him. He wouldn't quench a smoking flax.
And there is a desire to pick up the word of God and to walk in it and to do it.
For him that we don't come in and say that's legal.
And attribute that which is a work of the Spirit of God to sinful flesh.
Thus we take our place.
For those that said, he casts out demons by the Prince of the demons.
She didn't respond. She is content to let the Lord defend her.
And the Lord brings a light on it that perhaps even Mary herself.
Had not fully entered into against the day of my bearing. Hath she kept this?
Kept it, treasured it, stored it, and the time came to pour it out. And that's worship, those things that we glean in our own meditations and enjoyment of Christ from the Scriptures, and they're stored up in the time comes.
To pour it out upon him.
Against the day of my burying, as she kept this, you know, the day of his burying came.
In the last chapter? In chapter 20. Not the last chapter, I'm sorry. Or maybe it's chapter 19, chapter 19.
The day of his bearing came.
Says verse 39. There came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and Alice.
About 100 LB weight, and they took the body of Jesus and wounded in linen clothes with the spices as the manner of the Jews is to bury.
Now the place where He was, in the place where He is crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There they lay Jesus. Therefore, because of the Jews, preparation day for the sepulchre was nigh at hand. What a precious act.
Of love, devotion to the Lord, they would take his body down. God didn't allow his son after that spear pierced his side to be touched by any unbelieving hand after that moment. And it was loving hands that took him down and laid him in that tomb. And the amount of spices that are broad is mentioned 100 LB weight.
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Mary brought one.
But there's no mention of the fragrance and.
John 19.
There's no mention of the costliness.
And John 19.
If I can put it this way.
They're too late.
She came.
Beforehand.
To anoint his body to the bearing. The Lord leaves us here tomorrow. We have an opportunity and it may be the last one.
To remember him and his death.
We won't remember him in death.
Like that in heaven.
We'll have him.
This is our opportunity.
This is our opportunity in the day of his rejection.
As it was in Bethany those many years ago.
To honor him in that way.
And to pour out upon him what we have stored up in our hearts.
I'll just close it there.
The poor ye have always with you.
Is a wonderful place for service.
But worship takes the highest place and.
True service flows.
From worship.
That comes from a heart illuminated by the truth of God. The Father seeketh such to worship Him, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
From hearts sitting at his feet, illuminated by the truth of God, finding in Him there all.
Comes a storing up of that which is then poured out in worship.
And then service takes its right place and flows from that. Just make one brief mention in the book of Judges.
That very thing is one of the great lessons of that book.
Judah's name means praise.
And Judah was to take the lead.
He was to be in the forefront. The scepter was not to depart from Judah, but over the course of the Book of Judges.
Another tribe comes to the forefront. It's a tribe of Ephraim. Ephraim means fruitfulness, and it's a picture of service.
And Ephraim comes to the front.
And in the end of Judges, where we get a whole tribe going off into idolatry and we get the terrible.
Conflict that took place with the tribe of Benjamin and the sin that was committed that initiated it really is the result of getting those two tribes switched. What's the lesson when worship is not first and service does flowing from it? When service becomes 1St and worship takes a back seat?
Then worship becomes an idol and an object in itself, and that's what it did in the church's history.
And those that are occupied in service got elevated to places of prominence and practically worshipped themselves.
When worship and service get out of order, idolatry is what comes in.
And the history of Ruth and of Samuel is God reversing that?
I'm going to. Sorry I'm taking a little more time. I guess we have a few more minutes. Let's just turn back to.
The Psalms again.
Leave it to 78 Psalm.
Maybe it's 79th, I'll have to get there.
78.
78 Psalm and the end of the Psalm you get the history in the beginning of the book of first Samuel.
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Idolatry had come in verse 58. They provoked him to anger with their high places and moved him to jealousy with their graven images. When God heard this, he was wroth and greatly abhorred Israel, so that he forsook the Tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which he had placed among men. That's where Eli and his sons served.
He delivered his strength, that is the ark, into captivity, and his glory into the enemy's hand, the Philistines.
And he gave us people over unto the sword, and was wroth with his inheritance.
The fire consumed their young men, and their maidens were not given to marriage. Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation. And so Eli's wicked sons were slain. His wife was in labor with a child, and all that she mentions is call him Ichabod. The glory is departed.
The Lord awakened this one out of sleep, and like as a mighty man that shouteth by reason of wine, and he smote his enemies in the hinder parts. That's the emeralds. He put them to a perpetual reproach. Moreover, he refused the Tabernacle of Joseph, and chose not the tribe of Ephraim.
But he chose but chose the tribe of Judah.
And Mount Zion, which he loved.
And he built his sanctuary like high palaces, like the earth, which he had established forever. And he chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfolds, from following the use. Great with young, he brought him to feed Jacob his people, and Israel his inheritance. So he fed them according to the integrity of his heart.
And guided them by the skillfulness.
Of his hands, and he brings Judah praise to the forefront, and he raises David up, who writes those beautiful psalms of praise and worship. And he sets everything back in its right order. And praise worship is first and then Ephraim fruitfulness.
Flows from it.
#195.
195.
Yet, Savior, thou shalt have full faith.
Hebrews 12:4-17
Reading
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13 in the appendix.
All of God by Christ. Salvation.
Rise for sin and.
Miracle.
Joy to find his greatest. Thank you. Some things to do.
They were.
With my friend.
And Jesus turned all day before me.
Runs right at your baby.
Sunshine.
To child as thy pilgrimage.
The subject of endurance was brought before us in the last meeting, the last reading.
And I've been encouraged greatly by a verse in Judges chapter 8. And it's not necessary to spend any time on it.
Read verse four. It says Gideon came to Jordan and passed over he and the 300 men that were with him.
Faint yet pursuing. I believe in many ways that describes the journey of many of us here. Faint but pursuing. How important it is to be pursuing.
Read from Hebrews 12 and 4/3.
Hebrews 12 and verse 4. You have not yet resisted on the blood striving against sin, and you have forgotten the excitation which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him for whom the Lord loveth, He chaste nothing. Scourge with every son whom he receiveth.
If he endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? What if he be without? Chaste is meant? Where of all our partakers then are ye ******** and not sons? Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh, which corrected us, and we gave them reverence. So we not much rather be in subjection under the Father of spirits, and live.
For they verily for a few days, chasing us after their own pleasure.
But he for our prophet, that we might be partakers of His Holiness.
Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous nevertheless. Afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down with evil knees, and make straight paths for your feet.
Lest there which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed.
All of peace with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord looking diligently lest any man fail Of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up, trouble you, and thereby many be defiled. Must there be any fornicator, profane person as he saw, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright?
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We know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. For ye are not come under the mount that might be taught, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and Tempest, and the sound of a trumpet in the voice of words, which voice they that heard.
Entreated that the words should not be spoken to them anymore.
For they could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much of the beast touched the mountain, it should be stoned or thrust through the dirt. And so terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake.
Year come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the General Assembly and Church of the first born, which are written in heaven, And to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant, into the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escape not, who refused him that spake on earth much more Shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven, Whose voice then shook the earth? But now he is promising yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
And this word yet once more.
Signifies the removing of those things that are shaken as of things that are made.
That those things which can't be shaken may remain, wherefore we receiving a Kingdom.
Which cannot be moved, let us have grace, or why we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
For our God is a consuming fire.
Brother gave us a little bit of background about the book of Hebrews.
And we have.
Free books, if my memory serves me right, give me if I miscount, 3 books that are particularly addressed to the Jewish brethren, Hebrews and 1St and second Peter, which I counted as one in the book of James, and each one addressed this question of suffering.
The Jews looked for a promised land. They looked for the consolation of Israel. That's what Simeon looked for. That's the salvation that they saw.
The redemption of Israel. But instead what they got was suffering. And that was very hard for the Jewish mind to grasp. Why when they were doing something right, would the result be suffering. And so it was very easy for them to get discouraged and.
We, we are no different. We're no different, aren't we? We can have this idea in our mind that the Lord is, if we are walking right, everything should be smooth, shouldn't it? And as I said this morning, the chosen of Israel delivered out of the land of Egypt. And what were they brought into the wilderness? They weren't expecting that, but God met them there in his grace. And here the Lord Jesus has given not just as an example, but as an object, one that we should look upon. What's presented here is not his atoning sufferings. We're never called.
To go through those sufferings, but those physical sufferings that he endured, even those moderate sufferings that he endured, Christians have been called upon to go through and so.
As I said, it's very easy to.
Question the goodness of God.
Our minds start working as our brother Sam remind us this morning that God is not there anymore. He's not looking out for me.
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And misinterpret what he's allowing in our lives. But you know, God doesn't just allow things to happen to us capriciously. He has a reason for allowing us to go through things. As I said, Peter's epistles address this question of suffering too. So.
For example, in verse six of one Peter one wherein ye greatly rejoice though now.
For a season or for a little while if need be, we are in heaviness through manifold trials, says temptations in the King James. These are really external trials, not internal temptations. So they're experiencing trials. But if there needs be there, God allows these things in our life because of a need to be. And those needs, bees aren't always because of sin in our life, something that Satan wants to convince us of that every time something bad happens to us.
Oh, it's because you sinned. That's what Job's friends kept telling Job. And all it did was turn his thoughts inward. God doesn't want to turn our thoughts inward. I think Mr. Darby once said something to the effect that we should only be occupied for self long enough to judge self. And then finally someone came along to Job and had him look upwards, as it were to God. And so we he wants this, as we've said this morning to how our eyes fixed on that one. It says Jesus, you know the well Christendom talks about Jesus.
That's all they know. But Scripture uses that name reverently and an appropriate places. And he it was the man Jesus and his life through this world that we are to look to as both our leader and as our example.
So God uses even those things that we don't understand.
For our own profit and that's important to see that every time something happens in our lives that we view as negative God it's part of God's ways of.
Disciplining us, You know how that word discipline, I think sometimes we connected a lot with.
Correction and it includes correction.
But it's a word that's related to disciple, and we're disciples.
And the disciple learns not merely by what it is told, but by what he sees in his Master. And so we are taught.
There's correction, there's it's interesting the words that it uses here, verse six, the Lord whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourge it.
That's pretty hard word.
Anybody here likes scourging? I don't think so.
But why does he do it?
Because he loves us.
Ever forget a story that Eric Smith told?
Some time ago and he said when he first went to Bolivia, you know on the high out the Plano you get deathly sick with a with a high altitude and he was in bed with mountain sickness Sorochi they call it down there and and deathly sick on his bed in an old Indian brother came and sat down beside him.
Just sat there for the longest time without saying anything and finally he said to Mr. Smith, Brother, the Lord must love you an awful lot.
Why do you say that?
Because whom the Lord loves, he chastened and scourges.
That is hard for us and we have to learn. Brethren, one of the big lessons in my life is sometimes when things go.
Contrary to our thinking, we tend to blame people or we blame circumstances.
Remember one time I did that and a brother came up to me and said, brother, everything that comes into the life of a Christian comes directly from that man above that just hit me like a sledgehammer. And to do that, to recognize you got something tough going on in your life right now.
Learn to take it from him, don't get upset with people or circumstances.
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You're short sighted if you do. It's the Lord that is training us. He chastens, He scourges every son whom we receives. So in the sense that we have here, brethren, we're all under discipline. Sometimes we talk about somebody under discipline and we're talking about assembly discipline. That's another matter. This is a discipline that we all experience. No one exempted if you are a true believer.
Then you will experience this.
Discipline this chase me this scourging.
Urging, actually rebuking comes first. So chastening, rebuking, and scourging, they're all different. They're not all the same. And as you point out, we think of chastening as being the same as scourging. It's it's not. In fact, this word is translated in Hebrews 6 as nurture.
You know, when you go to school, to college, university, whatever you might like to call a higher education, someone might say, well, what discipline are you studying? That's not punishment, is it? But it takes discipline to learn a discipline. And so a coach, for example, may put his athletes through a rigorous training schedule that is anything but pleasant. It's not punishment, but it's necessary for their preparation. And so, as it's been said many times.
Chasing the Lord can be described by three PS and usually I forget what they are actually, I've written them on my Bible on this page. But they can be purchased if they can be preventative, they can be preparative, they can be.
Punitive, which is the one that we associate with punishment, but the other three are not. And so God, as I said, there are needs fees in our life that God.
Works with us. Works with us on.
True thought coach. I like that illustration because if you've ever been out for a sporty, you observed it. When a coach does that, they like you said, they run drills, but if you mess up, run 2 laps.
It's still about getting you ready for the game or the race or whatever. We have a race in front of us here. Yeah, it's correct if he's trying to get you to think about what the mistake you made. And a brother once said in talking about this chapter, he said think of this as child training when you read these words, child training.
And all those things are mixed together with a good father and a good mother training their children, all those things are mixed together.
I know there are abusive parents that are in this world and they do it out of anger or whatever, but our Lord never does that. It has a purpose. It serves a purpose and it's to prepare us. All of it. Even the run extra laps is to prepare you for the game that you're going to run. And if you don't learn it by just doing the normal exercises, you need to run the extra laps. And maybe that's the the remedial boot camp. Well, I don't like going into remedial boot camp, but if that's what it requires, I only want to go once.
They do the same thing and think of the special forces in the military. How do those people go into this and thrill and have joy in the middle of the toughest thing you can do on this earth? Almost. But there is a sense in which we are told, quit ye like men, be a man, man up. That's how we would say it in our modern vernacular, man up.
Well, how in the world can you do that and be joyful in the middle of it? There certainly are people who can do that. And we're told to do that because we can have a joy in the middle of this if we get it right, if we understand what's going on, if we understand and see it as it's for my good, it's for my training, it's for my advancement and my correction.
But it is also to make us more Priceline, is it not?
It's not not what adversity is allowed in our life for that reason, I remember somebody saying.
That adversity and suffering in his life, he thought it was to make him more Christ like.
And because of that, it relieved him of aging society.
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And so, you know, whatever is allowed in our life, I do believe it's designed for our good and blessing, but also.
For the glory of God, glorious Christ, and to become more Christ like, I believe this is.
Desire for each of us.
This will bring joy and peace into our souls. I believe I was thinking of what you said Nick about.
There are those many they associate the suffering with.
Sin, In other words, if I have a problem in my life, it's it's because of sin. But you know.
That's what they were asking about the blind man.
In John Chapter 9 he said who did sin this man or his parents?
That he's been born blind, and the Lord says neither hath this man or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest.
And so.
That also would help relieve anxiety because.
Some things that are so very difficult, I believe.
God is going to come in in a wonderful way and manifest His own power and love. It's all going to work together for good.
So you know what you're saying, Brother Wally, And I think maybe verse 10 gives an answer. There's the object of God our Father in that chastening, that we might be partakers of His Holiness. The motive is love. And that's verse 6. And so it's the same with children. We discipline them not to show them love. We discipline to show them the holiness of God.
And so.
There's nothing a child wants to hear less than mom and dad coming to discipline them saying I'm I'm doing this because I love you. That's not the time to say that. You can assure them of your love later, but the discipline is to show them the holiness of God. It's done because you love them.
And it's the same with God our Father. So the motive is love. The object is to be partakers of His Holiness.
Brother Nick, I believe that you were thinking of a verse and Job chapter 37 and verse 13.
Where it says he causes it to come.
Whether for correction, or for his land, or for mercy.
We have in the apostle Paul one who suffered a thorn in the flesh, not because he had had sinned, but to keep him from sin. That's preventative, what you mentioned, and that's important to see that. Remember, when the Lord sends difficulties into your life, it's not always because you've sinned. Maybe it's to help you to keep you from sin. And then you mentioned preparative too, and.
Chapter 15 We have the Father pruning the vine, and He does it so that it bears more fruit. So it's not always for something bad we've done that's important to see. What we need is what we have in verse 11 here. No chastening, for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous nevertheless.
Afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are.
Exercise thereby to be exercised. What does that mean?
Is when something happens to recognize the Lord as something in this for me?
What is it and to search our hearts. I think that's important. We have the two negative.
Responses to discipline In verse five he says, my son, despise not the chasing of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.
Sometimes somebody may have an accident. Oh, that happens to everybody. No problem. I've got it insured. I'll take care of it all. We despise the chasing of the Lord. We don't realize the Lord allowed that for a certain purpose.
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But Feeney is saying, oh, I've got so many problems, I don't think I'm going to be able to hang on. I just, I just can't take it anymore. That's fainting.
Neither of those responses are going to give you anything positive. What's going to give you something positive at verse 11 to be exercised by it? Say Lord Jesus.
You've allowed this, and there must be a positive purpose in it. Oh, that's so important, brethren. Beautiful to see. It yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Lord, help us to be exercised.
Exercise.
Can say that for themselves.
Those who resisted under blood we see as a group of them in previous chapter in verse 37. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword, wandered about, and so on. That was those who resisted unto blood.
The chapter is looking on to the end result of our life when we are with the Lord in glory, the Apostle Paul.
Considered it a privilege if he were allowed to be martyred.
Would you consider it a privilege?
If you were allowed of, the Lord should go through martyrdom.
The Apostle Paul said with respect to such a thought, that I might know him.
And the power of his resurrection, he was saying.
I want to go through any experience in my life that will enable me to know him better.
For eternity.
And some of the quote trials of life are the going through, maybe not all the way to martyrdom, but they are, they're going through the experiences of life that the Lord Jesus went through, something of the same character that you might know him better. I've used this example multiple times and some of you have probably heard it multiple times.
No husband in this room.
Ever said to his wife during childbirth? Honey, I know just how you feel.
Because he's never experienced that, he does not share in communion with his wife what she's going through at that moment.
Other sisters might be able to say that to her and be a comfort and encouragement to her. You and I are going to look forward.
In our capacity to enjoy the Lord Jesus will all enjoy him completely.
But in the matter of our capacity to enjoy him is includes in it. What have you and I experienced that he went through in his life that we will share in fellowship and communion about in the coming day of eternity?
And then he goes on in verse five and says, and ye have forgotten.
Is changing to a different thought which has been before us for the last little while and what we have called discipline. But I, I'm not saying something new, but I'm just amplifying perhaps a little on what's been said, particularly what Steve had to say.
The reason for the discipline has to do with being partakers of His Holiness.
And connects itself with our direct relationship with him.
Why that in verse seven or verse five he's referring to my son?
In verse seven, God deals with you as sons.
In verse eight, if you're not, then you're a ******* you're not a son. And then he uses the example of earthly fathers in Chapter 9 and so on. The point is.
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We're going on.
To where the Lord Jesus wants us to be with Him in the same relationship in which He is in glory.
My father is your father and my God is your God, and he's licking on that was the very first and most important first words out of his mouth in resurrection was he could for the first time.
Speak directly to his loved ones that I'm going to the Father's house.
And now you can enjoy my father as your father.
And our enjoyment of the Father in the coming day of glory is directly related to being like His, according to His pleasure as sons. And what is God? God is holy.
And he wants everyone of his children to practically partake.
Of that same character of holiness and what He's training us now by the experiences of what we've been calling discipline correctly are those at trial training experiences that will make our enjoyment of the Father greater and permanent for all eternity and if we recognize the purposes in view.
Of the privilege of being like Christ and passing through experiences like Him. And also looking forward to what it's going to be to enjoy our Father in the fullness of holiness. I say the fullness of the enjoyment of it. We have the holy nature by new birth and resurrection, but we get and need the training to experience it now and grow in it that we might enjoy it to its full.
End of what we call the race and in the father's house and the end result of where we're going.
Years ago someone thought that one of the things that the Lord uses to teach us and train us is He allows us to lose.
And I had a hard time with that idea. Why does he allow us to lose?
Dan Gable was one of the winningest, best wrestling coaches ever. And he was a coach at the University of Iowa. My brother was a wrestler, A state champion heavyweight wrestler, and he told me about this and that we were talking about this idea. He said, you know, one of the things Dan Gable did influence the high schools in Iowa so that they had some of the best wrestlers in the in the United States, was this.
He said. You get all of these good guys that are champions in their little high schools.
And then they get to college. They've never lost. And then they get to college. Now they're with all of these people and some of them lose and they never recover.
So his method was to tell the high school coaches and junior high coaches, take your team, your best guys, and put them up against junior college guys or college guys during the summer and let them lose.
And then teach them how to recover from that. That experience will actually be to make them a better wrestler, better person all the way around, and teach them how to deal with loss. And with us as believers, if we are operating in the flesh, God cannot encourage that. And if we are, he has to allow us to lose. And we feel the loss and then we start looking at it. And as our brother was saying.
Exercise helps us to understand well, that's why I was operating in the flesh. There's nothing there to complete God after all. So then I learned something else. I learned how to recover from it. And I, through grace, my my Lord captained our salvation, then teaches us that from that loss, He teaches us all kinds of things.
Another comment on the side of, I'm going to say on God's side of things.
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There are a number of us in this room that are fathers.
And have learned from Scripture the responsibility that there is in the discipline of our children.
Is it a fun job?
It's very painful.
And when there's love for the child and the need for the discipline, the child has to be.
Pained.
But there's pain in the heart of the father, and that father can at that moment express the fullness of his love. Steve also made comment on that. And I would emphasize what was said, that that's not the time to say to that. Put your arm around the child and say, oh, Johnny or Mary, I love you. It's not the purpose and it doesn't accomplish the purpose at that moment.
We will also appreciate our Father's heart by the discipline as we learn what it is as parents to discipline our own and or learn what it is in having to have responsibility, even if it's not our own child. And so there is that learning process for us from God's side that also is going to result.
In a more full and rich experience in eternity in the Father's house.
The end of verse 9.
The father of spirits.
What does that mean?
The Lord is dealing with us on a lot of levels, perhaps, but here's one.
Deals with the spirit we have. It's interesting about Daniel. In the book of Daniel, he had an excellent spirit. He'd gone through some pretty heavy trials.
That God is dealing with us, not only.
For bad things we've done, but he's dealing with our Spirit. How do you handle things? Later on, he says in verse 15, looking diligently lest any man fail The grace of God, any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled. So often there is resentment.
Kept in the heart, and maybe nobody sees it.
Do you know it's there and the Lord knows it's there and he's dealing with it?
Perhaps there's other comments that could be made. I find that quite an interesting expression. The father.
Of spirits.
You think Bob, that's in contrast to.
Fathers of our flesh in the earlier part of that verse.
Keep going, brother.
As far as I can go.
In the Proverbs.
We have multiple instances and I can at the moment bring to mind a specific one to quote. But in the Proverbs there's indications where a father can, by his discipline or the thought of discipline, destroy the child because he disciplines it according to. Sometimes it's an irritation to him.
Somebody gets mad at their child for doing something that's wrong, and so they use their authority to discipline the child and in doing so they can be destructive.
To that child and give it some cases physical harm. People have broken the arms and legs and whatever of their own children and so-called discipline.
Because.
The father in his own heart spirit of love is not there at that moment operating and 2nd, it doesn't have the capacity to recognize what's in the child as to and I'm here's the father spirit sense to me that it doesn't have the realization of the capacity of the child in the receiving of the discipline as to how much.
00:40:14
Is needed at that moment in time that the child can take in and respond to. Different ages of children need a different character and a father that has the spirit of understanding of the child is able to give that which is appropriate to the circumstance. The character of what is if it's had to be repeated more than once and so on. All of that is in contrast.
To God.
God acts in His child training activity with us with an absolutely perfect understanding of each one of us individually and where we are in our soul at the time He puts His hand upon us and exactly how much.
Is needed for the purpose of good that He wants from us.
And so we can thank him with grateful hearts that he is a perfect Father and he administers our training with perfect wisdom and understanding.
But at the same time, verse 11 brings in responsibility on the part of the one that's disciplined, and it goes on to.
The IT can get on to the point of bitterness and so on that Bob was talking about.
Because.
Some harden their neck.
The discipline.
Their rebellious children brought out in the proverbs, and the rebellion is a rebellion of I will not accept.
The yoke of my father's hand upon me and that can lead to absolute disaster in the past. And so some of what's brought out is to exhort us to accept and not rebel against that. But it can be rebelled against and it can result in a destroyed life as far as this life is concerned.
That either can end as it says in verse 11, yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. That's if it's accepted and submitted to and learn from.
But then it says unto them which are exercised thereby.
Job is a wonderful example of a whole book that's given to this subject, really. And Job had a root problem of pride in him, but he also never gave up.
On wanting to see God and he went through his discipline until finally he could say.
Now mine eye seeth thee. And then he got the blessing and he was restored in the discipline to the righteousness that increased the amount of blessing in his life. And if there's a proper response to it, the end result, even as to this life is like Job's, there will be an increase in in the enjoyment of his hand of good and grace upon our lives.
God's desires that there might be repentance.
And repentance. It's a change of mind, it's a change of heart.
Willingness to acknowledge that I've done wrong.
And I believe it ought to also result in a change of behavior.
Show true repentance.
But it's possible for somebody to be punished.
But they're not repentant about the sin.
It just reminds me of the illustration. We've heard it many times about the child that.
Was misbehaving.
00:45:00
So finally.
The child was made to sit.
On a stool.
Sit there.
And somebody came in and saw the child sitting on the school. They said what I see you're sitting on the stool.
And the little fella said while I'm sitting on the stool on the outside.
But I'm standing up on the inside.
So obviously there wasn't a change in the spirit.
I wonder if that something of what we have here in connection with.
Spirit God is the Father of spirits. He can change our spirit.
Because things might look right on the outside, but if the Spirit isn't right, really nothing's right.
What? You haven't done anything wrong?
Impossible.
I don't mean anything ever. What if you are in a situation where you're wrongly treated? And as our brother said, it's still allowed of the Lord, right? Right. Maybe it's to keep you from something. Maybe to keep you from something. But then there it is. You look. Am I to repent of something? Well.
Thank God for dear older sisters.
Ernie Monk's wife helped me some time ago and she gave me a little track and she told me a story about years and years ago she'd been wronged.
And she said this little track came into her possession from BTP. It's called the provoked spirit.
And she said how she was starting to become.
Are headed towards this person that's described here with a root of bitterness springing up to trouble you, thereby many be defiled. She had a provoked spirit because she had been wronged by someone.
And was trying to figure out why.
But inside.
She'd become provoked and she had a provoked spirit. Now that's a problem between US and the Lord. And when she shared that with me, I knew I had a problem between me and the Lord at that time.
That was very helpful. BTP has it on hand and that's very high. Give it out. But that that was very helpful because I didn't understand. She didn't understand. And I guarantee you everyone in this room may have experienced that where you've been wronged and you know it's wrong. Why, Lord, did you allow this? And maybe it's preventative, whatever it is, but allowing ourselves inside to become provoked and have a provoked spirit is not going to solve anything.
And it will get us into trouble.
When the Lord was rejected and the disciples wanted to call down fire from heaven, the Lord tells them, You know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
He discerned their spirit was wrong.
Elijah had done that.
And it was right on that occasion, but it wasn't wasn't right to call down fire from heaven when the Lord was coming grace at that time and the disciples didn't discern that. So I give that as an example.
It seems to me like it's closely connected with our motives.
We don't understand, sometimes even ourselves, why we do things. The Lord discerns it, and when He applies discipline, He doesn't make a mistake. And I think that's probably what John Hersink was referring to when it speaks about the Father's discipline. Us according to their pleasure. I think the right interpretation of that word there, their pleasures, is their best.
Interest and understanding abilities, they do it. Fathers usually do the best job they can. But we are limited. We don't discern our children perfectly. We make mistakes, we don't get their motives. A lot of times we do, and I remember my parents figuring me out pretty well. So a lot of times, but it's not always so, but with God.
He never makes mistakes. He discerns us, our spirit, our motives, everything about it, and he knows exactly an amount and the right discipline to happen. And the Job is a wonderful case of it. He had to let those three friends go a long ways with Job and they really tore him up.
00:50:17
And job hadn't done the sanction.
Sam that they accused him of, but it when they accused him it brought out the reality of where Job was and some bad things came out.
That's what the Lord is getting at, and Joe wasn't. That's nice.
There's a bit of a question regarding.
This is being brought out here is regarding the.
Concerning the spirit of a of an individual, does this apply to some degree in the assembly? And the question of this comes up, do we have a cookie cutter?
Way of handling a soul that has all in and have to follow steps in order to be restored or or do we go to the Lord who?
Knows the Spirit and find discernment from Him as to when a soul is ready for restoration.
You've done a pretty good job of answering your question, I think.
Cookie cutter approaches because it takes no discernment, no exercise on my part.
Remember my father quoting with some making a difference.
And understanding.
I used to bring that up and brothers being sometimes and just said you know.
Nobody is the singing, no circumstances the same. Somebody said that earlier. We are not the same and the events that take place are not the same. And like you said, there's no discernment if you just have a kind of rote way of responding. And there's not any exercise either. But he used to say that and I've never forgotten it. I think about it a lot, with some making a difference.
Got an example in 19 about the last half of verse 11. I'd like to read that before go to Pomona.
Last half verse 11. Afterward it yielded irresistible truth of raising them.
Under them with our exercise.
This then Psalm 119, it was still irritating, verse 67, he said.
Before I was afflicted, I went astray.
Get down to verse 71, he said it is good for me that I have been afflicted and I'm in verse 75, the last part of it and that now in thy faithfulness and.
Exercise.
The verses we've had before us up through verse 12.
Are the father brought our fathers hand upon us and.
Training and so on as we've had before us. But then he changes the subject, if you will, a little bit starting in verse 12. And he says wherefore. And now he turns to us and gives us instruction for our own walk to be a help to each other.
And to encourage one another. And so there's part of the making a difference that was just talked about, he says. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down in the feeble knees. That's a work that we are to seek to be a help to one another. And at one time your knees may be feeble and another time my knees may be feeble. The need can go back and forth.
00:55:11
And so that.
Ned says in the next verse, make straight paths for your own feet so that your own walk is not a something that will harm someone else's walk or give them a bad example that they get turned out of the way by watching your life and so on. So the the verses which follow are intended for us to take to heart as an exhortation to us.
And how we you might, if I could put it this way, we walk and the manner in which we walk can be a help or a hindrance to the work that God is doing in His child training activity.
And how do we do that? How do we lift up the hands that hang down or strengthen feeble needs? I think it's it's going back to what we had at the earlier part. It's to remind one another that whom the Lord loveth, he chasing it. And so we need to remind each other that that his hand upon us is always a hand of love and there is always a needs beyond our part, but a purpose of love and his, as we heard that often quoted.
And that we're not to despise that chastening. On that way we can lift up hands that hang down when we find them. Strengthen feeble knees.
First Timothy 2 it says, I would that men pray everywhere lifting up holy hands. And in Ephesians 3 apostle says, for this, 'cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wonderful thing if we can be an encouragement to one that is discouraged in that way, to bring them back to a place where they're lifting up their hands.
In prayer and on their knees before our God and Father and finding that there is grace to help and time of need.
I think we can do this by the words in which we say sometimes, and we know that there is a reference here to Isaiah chapter 35 and verse 3 which says, Strengthen ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble needs. Then in verse four it says, Say to them that are of a fearful heart, be strong.
Fear not.
Behold your God, and so forth. So there was a word to be given to them to help strengthen them, wasn't there? And I think that we can do that with our brethren when we see some that are discouraged, and we can encourage them from the Word of God.
Discipline that was given was preparative.
And I think we have an example of that in Second Corinthians chapter one where it says.
Because four who confidenteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in trouble in any trouble by the comfort where we we ourselves are comforted of God, I think, in helping others to.
Lift up the hands that Shank down in the feeble knees is not to be trade about it. You know the trials are real and if we haven't gone through them ourselves. It's very easy to tell someone. Oh you just need to get your knees and pray and Lord will make it plain. You know I once I was speaking to my brother.
Think earlier my father was an apple orchardist and you know one of the things that an apple orchard is fears the most is hail at the wrong time of season. And my dad had experienced something I can't remember was Halo not and I as AI think I was a teenager. I quoted him first from Habakkuk that said all of the fig tree shown up blossom. Neither shall fruit be in the vines. The labor, the olives shall fail, the field shall yield no meat, the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd of the soul.
Rejoice in the Lord. I will join the God of my salvation.
01:00:00
But I had never been through a trial like he had just gone through. I couldn't enter into it. And he rather snapped at me, quite rightly so. So I think it's very helpful. Like brother said, I can't say to a sister, I know what you're going through in childbirth. Be very careful about saying to someone, I know what you're going through. You know, as humans, that is never true, never truth. Now, there are trials that we go through in our lives that are prevented.
Our preparative that God allows us.
Uses for us to help others, I get that, but in reality there's only one person that fully understands us in our trials and the things we're experiencing as the Lord himself. The best thing we can do is what?
A lie. Who did I always get jobs, friends, names a bit mixed up forgive me, but he pointed him to God. The best thing we can do is encourage them to look to the Lord himself. That you don't have the answers, that maybe you've gone through something similar, but only the Lord can really understand the depths of your suffering. Encourage them.
Yeah, that's end of my thought.
So.
Never understand the ways of God. You can hardly understand them. For ourselves, we can never understand them. For someone else, we can.
Encouraged and the goodness, the heart of God in the process of going through suffering. I think of some who are called to suffer basically their whole life. Maybe it's.
A bad back and forth.
Maybe you want to find through a wheelchair.
And we say that.
All the suffering they're going through is the chastening hand of God.
That would be cruel, wouldn't it?
But we can say that God has a special vessel that He is making for His own glory, and they can be encouraged in that He's doing something special. That is the only way He can accomplish.
The special effects seeking.
Being exercises not to be confused understanding we're we're talking about understanding each other and and and how we don't usually do I understand but exercise is is something that we can feel before the Lord and if.
Speaking from experience, if I think I've got figured out what the Lord is dealing with me, I've found out that I'm wrong.
And it's the wrong. It's the wrong viewpoint to take figuring out what the Lord's doing.
That's that.
Let's get Christ before us to be like him. Put the put the right object before us, not yourself and interpreting how what's going on with ourselves or even with other people.
But to be exercised #35 in the appendix.
Both of the wisdom and knowledge of God.
Our unsearchable are his judgments.
And his ways past finding out for who hath known the mind of the Lord, or who hath been his counselor?
Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again.
Or of Him, and through Him and through Him are all things to whom be glory forever.
Amen.
Gospel 1
Gospel—Bernie Roossinck
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Good evening everybody.
It's a real joy to see so many face to face, and it's a real privilege and honor to be able to give out tonight the good news.
There's good news, friends.
Let's begin our meeting by singing #13 #1213. Sorry.
Man of Sorrows, what a name.
For the Son of God who came ruined sinners to reclaim Hallelujah, what a savior #13.
Man of Sorrows, what?
Came.
Like to sing also #35?
Oh, what a savior.
Oh, what a savior that he died for me. Can you say that friend?
From condemnation he hath made me free.
He that believeth on the Son saith He hath everlasting life.
Let's sing #35 together.
Oh what a savior that he died for faith.
Recognition he has made a break.
Evangelism from my stomach.
I've everlasting life.
They're always verily, I say, I say unto the.
Verily, verily my sense ever knew.
But the liveth on the Sun.
Is true.
Have everlasting.
Life.
Oh my iniquities on him were LED.
All my indebtedness might.
00:05:19
Congratulations.
On the West side, there's fruit.
Hold everybody.
A couple of beautiful hymns there.
Man of Sorrows, what a name we started with. That's what the Gospel is about, friends.
The gospel means good news, and the good news tonight is that your sin and the debt that you owe to God has been paid by somebody else.
That's the good news. And maybe you would say, Bernie, what do you mean?
I don't owe God anything.
I don't understand.
The Word of God teaches.
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
That means, kids, that you cannot reach God's standard.
In your own power.
You know, I think back to.
The Garden of Eden and the Lord God created Adam and then Eve and he had communion and he had fellowship with them and it was very good.
And then Satan came into that scene.
And let me ask you boys this something.
I'm going to ask.
I'll ask you first, who did the first sin in the Bible?
It's a trick question, isn't it?
Zach, how about it? Who did the first sin in the Bible?
Thaddeus.
Adam Well, no, that's not right. What do you say?
The serpent did. He came into the garden, and he said to Eve.
You see that tree right there?
She said yeah, I see it.
But God said don't eat that or touch it or you'll die.
And the serpent said he lied. He said now, now, God's wrong. He's lying to you.
That's a good tree. You should eat it.
And she's looking at it, and the Word of God says in Genesis three that she saw that it was a good tree.
We'll read this just so we have it right. Genesis chapter 3.
And we'll start with verse 2.
The woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest ye die. Now God hadn't said that, but he did say, Don't eat it.
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.
Which that was a lie. That was the first sin.
For God doth know that in the day ether of your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, here's one thing she saw, and it was pleasant to the eyes, and the tree to be desired to make one wise, she took up the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband whether he did eat.
And the eyes of them both were opened and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed big leaves together and made themselves apron. Well, kids, that right there is how sin entered the world.
And the serpent was Satan.
And he tempted Adam and Eve to disobey God, and they did it.
And sin entered into the world and God had said, the day you eat of that tree, you'll surely die. And you know, I find this very beautiful. I have to credit John Rusing for this because I've heard it from you, brother John couple dozen times and I like it every time.
00:10:12
That day, God clothed Adam and Eve in coats of skin.
And you know what had to happen in order for there to be coats of skin kits? Those animals had to die. And so death came in that day, but Adam and Eve began to die that day.
And immediately they knew there was a problem, right? Suddenly they kind of a dirty little secret that the devil didn't tell them is all you'll know about good and evil, all right?
The problem is you're not going to have any power to choose the good and lead the evil.
He didn't mention that, but that's what happened. And everybody that has descended down from Adam and Eve, and that includes every one of us.
Is born in sin because that nature has passed on, and it tells us in Romans by one man's sin entered into the world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men, and that is how sin got into my heart.
And your heart. Now I want to ask you kids something, Marcus, how much work does your mom and dad put into teaching you to get mad?
Any.
I don't think they have to. My you know how much work my mom and dad had to teach me to put in to teach me to be a bad kid? None. I already knew how to do that. Nobody had to teach me how to stick out my foot and trip another kid up. I already knew how to do that. And the reason is my nature was a Sinner.
Many of you kids have seen.
A picture of what we call Lady Liberty. Anybody know what that looks like? I think her image is on the.
Supreme Court building, and that's a lady holding a scale, a balance out like this, and one side of the scale is down and the other side is up.
Have you guys ever seen that or a picture like that?
I want to give you a verse in Daniel that describes your situation and my situation.
Without the forgiveness of God.
This is Daniel chapter 5, verse 27.
Thou art weighed in the balances.
And found wanting.
Kids, what that means is.
If we put all of your sins on one side and the scale is way down here and God holds it out like this, there's a big problem because this sin problem is all the way down.
And there's nothing on the other side.
And God's pronouncement is you are weighed in the balances and found wanting. You're short, you can't pay, you were in debt to God.
David could say in Psalm 51 and sin did my mother conceive me and I was maybe I got this backwards, shaping it born in sin and shaping in iniquity. That is you and that is me, friend, and that's the way it is God.
His Word tells us that we are lost in sin, dead in sins, and without hope in this world on our own. The good news of the gospel is.
Somebody has paid the debt. Somebody has paid the debt. We sang in our first hymn. Let me just open up through it again so I get it right. I love this verse. I often quote it when I pray on Sunday morning.
Bearing shame and scoffing rude in my place.
Condemned. He stood. Sealed my pardon with his blood. Hallelujah. What a savior. OK, what's that mean, Bernie? OK, kids, this is what it's about.
It says the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. Every single thing you have ever done, said thought. God has seen it and recorded it.
00:15:09
There's a long list.
Of the sins of Bernie Rusink.
It's a long list, folks. I'd be ashamed if on the wall back here somebody began to write out the things I've thought about, said, done in my life.
And before a holy God, I am condemned. How many sins can get into heaven? Theo.
None. How about just a little one?
God let a little one into heaven. No, not one. Is that true Gabe Zero no sin can get into heaven and you know it says here in that where we read in Genesis Evan Eve started to sow together fig leaves. Why did they do that because they were hiding from God. You know people do that.
I've heard plenty of people say to me.
I my good deeds and my bad deeds are pretty close, but man I do a lot of good.
And I go to this homeless shelter and that, and I shovel the neighbor's driveway and I do this, that the other thing, and they're sewing together fig leaves, right? Think of.
I think it was Zacchaeus when he was up in the tree, kids remember that, and he wanted to see the Lord. And he was short and the Lord came by and he stopped into the tree and he looked up. He said, Zach, can you just come down?
So we did.
And he's telling the Lord, hey, I give to the poor, I'm doing this, that and the other thing. And the Lord goes, Nope.
Not going to do it. You cannot sew together fig leaves.
To hide your sin. There is nothing we can do, kids, to remove the stain of sin that we have.
Now the gospel is this.
God looked down, He saw what happened, and he knew that somebody had to pay.
And somebody will pay. It's either going to be the Lord Jesus or it's going to be you.
And if you die and you are still in your sins, that means.
You have not accepted God's offer of salvation. You said to God, I'm going to wait till later.
Or I think my way is better. I had a guy tell me the other day when I get when I die, me and God are going to have a chat and I'm going to explain to him this, that and the other thing and he's going to agree with what I did and we're all going to be good. Nope, that's not going to happen. It says when you die, every mouth shall be stopped.
And there's another book.
I think it was referred to this morning.
It's called the Lamb's Book of Life, and if your name is not written in it, you'll be cast into the Lake of Fire because.
Your sins separate you from God and you can't go to heaven in your sins. Not one sin can enter his presence says in Revelation. There so no wise ain't there anything that defiles?
So God looked down.
And immediately in our story in Genesis, he introduces the solution. Let's go back to it.
I love this portion. Genesis 314.
And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this.
Thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat. All the days of thy life. I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head. Thou shalt bruise his heel. God was telling Satan.
A descendant of a woman is going to crush your head.
And you're going to bruise his heel, friends. That happened at Calvary's cross. God sent forth his son.
00:20:02
Let's read that in Galatians. When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son made of a woman.
Made under the law to redeem them that were under the law. Hope I quoted that right. Better turn through it to get it right. Galatians chapter two or three maybe.
Four places 4/4 When the fullness of time was come, that means at just the right time God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law. That means he came into this world and was subject to everything, all the ordinances and regulations and rules that God had set out to the Lord Jesus was born under that, but he perfectly kept it.
None of us could do that.
To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
Now it's like this, kids.
Here's God the Father and God the Son in heaven, and there's a problem.
God loves you.
God, the Lord Jesus loves you.
Says in Proverbs 8 about the Lord Jesus my the lights were with the sons of men.
And the Lord Jesus could say to his Father.
Or the father said to the son, who will go for us?
The only one person that could pay that debt is God. And so the Lord Jesus answer there and Isaiah 6 here am I send me and the Lord Jesus said I'll go into the world and he did and he came into this world. Kids, you know what happened soon as the Lord Jesus was born into this world.
The night that he was born, that says there was number room for him at the end.
And he was born in a Manger, laid in a Manger, born in a stable.
And I haven't been to Jerusalem myself, but I think a lot of you have. I'm told that it wasn't a very nice barn.
It was probably a cave where they kept animals wet, cold and dark. And here is the Son of God coming into the world, and he's laid there and they say now there's no room for you here. And that was how we began his earthly pathway.
And he grew up.
I love the various passages throughout the Scripture of the Lord Jesus.
Speaking about his purpose and why he came, you know, at 12 years old, any 12 year olds in here? At 12 years old, the Lord Jesus was a a boy and he was in the temple and his parents left to travel back to their town and he stayed behind and the whole day went by before they even realized he was gone.
They're like, hey, see you traveling with you. No, we haven't seen him. I see with you, man. I left him behind. So they go back. So maybe two days have gone by and then they're looking for him. Here he is in the temple.
And his mother goes, why have you done this? He goes, I wish you not. I must be about my father's business and what was his father's business gives his father's business was to come to the into this world and to go to Calvary's cross and die for you. That is why he came.
Many other places that we could read in the gospels too. I think of the woman at the well and.
The he's talking with the Samaritan woman and the disciples came back and brought him something to eat and he said my meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. So many places like that. And so the path of the Lord Jesus was through this world and he came for one reason, Marcus, and that was to go to Calvary's cross and die.
For you.
You believe that?
Sometimes when we sing this on Sunday morning, onward still to Calvary marching.
Onward still he speeds his way, His own Father's will, fulfilling love to sinners to display.
00:25:03
We get to that scene at the Garden of Gethsemane, the night before the Lord Jesus was to die.
And says he began to be sorrowful and very heavy and he knew what was about to happen.
And he was sweating, as it were, great drops of blood and he's.
Falling on his face on the ground.
Crying out to his father. Father, is there any other way?
If it be possible, let this cup pass from me nevertheless. Not my will, but thine be done. And friends, the answer was there is no other way for you to be brought into the blessing for you and I to have our sins forgiven. Somebody had to pay.
And the Lord Jesus paid three times. He cried out to his Father.
If it be possible at this cup, pass from me.
But it wasn't possible in order for you and I to be blessed.
Oh what a savior that he died for me.
You say that today, friend, that he died for me.
Or are you indifferent to that? Say I don't believe that.
Or that's all fine and dandy, but I don't think I need it. Friends, you do. God has said that.
Whosoever believeth on him is not condemned. I got to turn to this. Let's turn to John chapter 3 to get this right.
John's Gospel, chapter 3.
We're going to start with verse 16. This is probably the most well known gospel verse in the world.
For God, Southern loved the world.
That's the people, folks, not the planet. The people. It's you for put your own name in this. For God so loved Bernie.
That he gave his only begotten Son.
Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned.
But he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Well, friend.
The Lord Jesus was taken in that garden, arrested.
Hauled out before the Jewish authorities and their conclusion was very quickly away with this man.
We will not have this Mandarin over us.
And then they hauled them to Pilot.
And Pilate wanted to let him go, he said. I don't find any fault in this man at all.
And they begin to yell and to scream.
Away with this man, crucify him, and Pilate sent him over to Herod.
Here I wanted to see some drama.
He was happy that Jesus got sent over there. He was hoping that the Lord would show him a couple of cool miracles, but that didn't happen.
And so to entertain himself and his soldiers, they dress him up in a purple robe and they're mocking him and smiting him. And hey, prophecy, who it was that just smacked you in the head with a stick or whatever. And when they got tired of that, they sent him back to Pilot, and Pilot gave judgment. Let him be crucified.
And they took the Lord Jesus, Pilate took him and scourged him. That means kids. They took a.
Uh, Roman scourging was a.
Bundle of cords and leather cords, and then on the end of them they would have knotted into that sharp metal or glass or stones or whatever they could get. That was cruel.
Zach, imagine that I had one of those and I just bent you over that table and we just started.
About 40 times, and every time that thing wrapped around your back and I yanked it off, a big hunk of meat came off. That's what happened to the Lord Jesus.
00:30:13
But that didn't pay for your sins.
When they got done with that, says they led him away to crucify him.
And they took him to Calvary's Hill.
Called in the word of God the place of a skull. Those of you that were at our.
Winter Retreat. We showed you some pictures of this. It does look like a skull.
Two big black hollow eyes and I know it's that hill. The Jewish people have turned it into a bus stop.
They have no regard for what happened to the Savior, but friends?
On that hill.
God punished his Son for me and you, and the gospel can go out to you. The invitation, the good news that says your debt is paid, somebody else paid it, you're free.
So the Lord Jesus, they laid him, I take that they would have that cross laying on the ground there and they shoved him down there and a couple of soldiers grabbed his arms and a nail and a big hammer and stretched it out, put that big nail there on his hand or wrist someplace here and started pounding.
Think of the agony of.
Pounding nails into the hip.
Feet. How many of you like having a stone in your shoe? I don't. It hurts. The feet are so sensitive.
And they drag those, pull those legs out. Same thing, that big nail on us.
Nailed him to the cross and then they picked it up and dropped it in a hole. And there he is, friends, God's beloved Son.
The one person that ever walked the face of this earth that had done nothing amiss.
The thief on the cross next to him could say that.
Everybody was mocking him and jeering him. Hey, if you're the Messiah, come down, come down, we'll believe you. Even the two thieves on either side were saying that to him. And then, you know, the one said to the other, you know, we're getting what we deserve here. But this man?
Has done nothing amiss.
That one thing, you know who he was thinking about when he was hanging their kids? He was thinking about you.
He was thinking about you. He was thinking about me.
And then it says.
There was darkness over the whole land from the 6th hour to the 9th hour I think it was.
Three hours of absolute blackness.
And in that time, friends, God poured out upon the head.
Upon the head of his beloved son.
All the wrath and punishment of a sin hating God that was supposed to be mine.
Fell on the Lord Jesus.
There he is.
Friends hanging there in those three hours of darkness and stroke after stroke.
Of the wrath of God fell upon him.
And he took it.
He took it.
And at the end of that time.
He cried out with a loud voice and is finished.
He fully, totally, absolutely paid every last Farthing of debt that you or I had of sin against God. All paid and he said it is finished.
00:35:01
And then Zach says he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. That means he dismissed his spirit. You and I can't do that even if we wanted to.
I'll tell you, when my Grandma Pilkington was on her deathbed, she tried that. She wanted to go home so bad.
She said to my Uncle Ralph and Robert when we were standing around her bed. She goes, why doesn't God just take me? Can I just go now? And Uncle Robert told her, sure, that would be a good time. So she took a big breath, held it as long as she could.
But she didn't die. And then she had to take a breath. She says it's no use, I'll just have to wait for the Lord.
And the Lord took her pretty quick after that. But you and I can't dismiss our spirits, friends. But the Lord Jesus did. He finished the work that his Father gave him to do. He bowed his head and gave up. The ghost laid down his life. And we find in John chapter 10 to turn over a couple of pages and I'll read this to you, John chapter 10.
Read verse 15.
As the Father knoweth me, Even so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Verse 17 Therefore doth my father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. Friends, the Lord Jesus exhausted the punishment of the sin, hating God against my sin and your sin. And he laid it on his own Son, and he paid it all. And when it was done, he gave up his life, bowed his head, and died. Why did the Lord Jesus have to die, kids?
Why do you think?
Because of sin? Yeah, Romans tells us the wages of sin.
Is death.
2nd Corinthians 5 tells us God has made him to be sin for us who knew no sin. That's Jesus, not us. God made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God. That's why God couldn't just wave some magic wand and say let's Sam sins be removed. Somebody had to die.
And it was Jesus that did it.
Because the wages of sin is death. Wages means that's what you get. That's payment. And when you're a Sinner, the payment is death.
The Lord Jesus went into death and paid your dad and mine friend, and that's the good news of the gospel and we find in Colossians chapter two, I think it is I I mentioned before that big long list of sins that I would be so embarrassed if it was up on the wall. Probably every one of you would be too. I'll bet if.
We started writing the sins of people on the wall. This room would be empty pretty quick.
I think I'd be gone first.
But listen to what happened at the cross.
Let's read at the end of verse 13.
Maybe we'll read the whole verse 13 and you being dead in your sins and in the and the uncircumcision of your flesh at the quickened, that means made alive together with him, having forgiven all your trust, you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way.
Nailing it to his cross, that means.
There aren't even any charges against you anymore, God can righteously say.
Wally My.
Friend.
This, I see him just like my own son. That's what God can say. He doesn't say, here's Wally that was real bad, but we forgave him, but he's still kind of bad, but he's in now. No, that's not the way the gospel works, friends. The gospel works. Say all those ordinances and handwritings nailed to the cross and they're gone. There's no charges against you or me.
If you believe in what the Lord Jesus has done.
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For you.
God has made him to be sin for us who knew no sin. You know you think about the Passover lamb, right?
Male of the first year with no L blemish without spot. That's the Lord Jesus and they're on that Passover night that says they had to roast it with fire. They couldn't boil it in water. Why? Those of you that like welding know that boiling water, it doesn't get any hotter than boiling right? 212 That's what it gets to unless it's in a pressure cooker.
You take a blue flame on the end of a welder.
Way hotter, is that right Tony? Way hotter you can get fire that are thousands of degrees.
You know what? That Passover lamb roast with fire.
Think about the intensity of paying for your sin and mine. That's what he did. And then they says about that lamb, they had to eat it. They had the legs and the pertinence. The head speaks to me of He knew no sin. You know your brains up here. He knew no sin. The legs, He did no sin.
The pertinence would mean to me that the guts.
In him was number sin.
No Pence, zero. That the Son of God was absolutely, perfectly the Lamb of God. No blemish, no spot, and he could go to that cross and die for you because God made him sin.
For us. And so God could be righteous now if we Bob was telling me earlier that he and Tony sometimes go over to the penitentiary and share the Gospel with people.
What would you think kids have of a judge? Let's say that I hope this would never happen. Let's say that tonight I sneak into Mr. Grinton's room and chop his head off, kill him. I hope that wouldn't happen, brother. And I got caught and I was guilty.
And they took me to the judge and he said, you know, there's a big basketball game on pretty soon and I'm pretty busy, so we're just going to let this one slide. Just get out of here and don't do it again. Try to be good. Would that be Justin, right? No. We would all say that's terrible. This guy is an axe murderer.
The righteous and just thing would be to punish God can't just take your sins and go, hey, I'll just say yeah, close enough, no.
God is just and righteous and he had to punish completely for what sin was, and he did that at the cross of the Lord Jesus.
Now.
Want to say a couple of more things than never done.
You kids.
You get a birthday present.
And your folks bring it in. Let's say they put it on this table. You look at it and go, that's a piece of junk, I don't want it. And you pick it up and you stuff it into the trash can over there.
Is it yours?
It's not. You said I don't want it and you threw it away.
The gospel is the gift of God to you, but it's only yours if you take it.
God does not force His way into your heart.
You know, we read in Revelation there about the Lord knocking on the heart store.
We don't read about Him kicking the door in and just coming in. He wants you to open the door and to bring him in. Sometimes we sing the song Behold the Savior at the door.
Greg, this reminds me of your dad. Lots. Behold the Savior at the door. He gently knocks, has knocked before, is waiting long, is waiting still.
You use no other friend, so we'll open the door. He'll enter in and stuff with you and you with him. That's the invitation of the Gospel, kids. And I want to ask you right now, do you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior? Has He paid your debt? It's one thing to know about it up here in your mind. Have you ever in your heart of hearts said to God, I believe that what Jesus did on the cross was for me?
00:45:07
And I accept it. I'm a Sinner. I can't pay my own way. I accept the gift of God. Have you ever done that?
You know, friend, the Spirit of God is working with people. The Spirit of God is working in your heart right now. Don't turn them away. That's a dangerous thing to put it off.
Dangerous thing to put it off. You know. All of us can think of very close acquaintances, relatives, friends of ours that have been suddenly snatched away without warning.
You know, it's, I think about my own dad.
One Sunday night he was fine. Half hour later he was unconscious in a coma. 3 days after that with the Lord, no opportunity to consider car accident right instantaneously. Bam. No chance to think. Go back and think about it. Don't put off accepting the Lord Jesus. So important.
You know, a lot of things crowd into my mind as I look at your faces, brethren.
Let me give a couple of questions that David asked in Samuel. The first one was about his son Absalom. Is the young man safe?
You young people have heard this story thousands of times probably, but I ask you, are you safe right now?
Do you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior? Have you accepted what He did on your behalf at the cross? I beg of you, be sure tonight.
Another question that crowds into my mind that David asked was this of Abner.
Diet Abner is a fool Diet.
Why would that question come into my mind? Kids, young people, Friends.
Abner had his hand on the doorknob.
Of the city of Hebron, the city of reputes. He was right at the door, and Joab got him.
And I wonder if you were in a casket tomorrow, would we say?
Died Bernie is a fool. Dieth just outside the door and not inside the door.
It's a serious thing, friend. Don't put it off. Come to the Lord Jesus.
Those of you from Fremont will forgive me for using this poem, but I find this to be very moving.
The spirit came in childhood.
And pleaded, let me in.
But oh, the door was bolted by thoughtlessness and sin.
I am too young, the child replied. I will not yield today. There's time enough tomorrow.
The spirit went away.
Again he came and pleaded.
In youth's bright happy hour.
He called but heard no answer, For lured by Satan's power, the youth lay dreaming idly then and saying Not today.
No earth alive, traders pleasures. The spirit went away.
Again he called in mercy in manhood's vigorous prime.
But still they found no welcome. The merchant had no time, no time for true repentance, no time to think or pray, and so repulsed and said. And the Spirit went away.
Once more he called and waited. The man was old and I'll.
He scarcely heard the whisper. His heart was cold and still. Go leave me when I need you, I'll call for thee, he cried.
And sinking on his pillow without hope, he died.
We find in the Word of God, God Spirit will not always strive with man.
Do you hear the Spirit of God? You feel the Spirit of God tugging upon your heart right now. Don't put it off.
It's so dangerous and so critical. Don't put it up. Take the Lord Jesus now.
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My spirit shall not always strive with man, says in Job. God speaketh once. Yeah, twice.
Man doesn't respond. I can't quote it exactly right without digging for it. The point is.
Friend, now is the time. Behold, now is the time of salvation. Today, right now. Don't put it off. We're not promised tomorrow. God's offer of salvation is good right now.
Will you take it?
Will you take it? Let's close by singing #12.
Just as I am with.
Me.
I.
Quote one more verse before we close.
Whosoever shall call.
Whosoever so, call upon the name of the Lord.
Shall be saved. Do it today.
Do it today. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
The Blood Jesus Removes Your Sins and Makes You Clean Forever
Children—Jonathan Grinton
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.
OK, well you know, I probably asked this question every time I get an opportunity.
To do Sunday school, but.
Who likes Sunday school?
Who likes to sing?
Oh, good. Good. That takes a lot of pressure off of me. That's good. OK. Well, you know, we have these hymn sheets, and if you notice, on the very back of them, if you can read on the back of them, our children's songs for Sunday school.
So let's try to use the back of the sheet. Or if you have an action song you would like to sing, we can do that too. OK, so who has a hymn they would like to sing this morning?
Anybody have a hymn they would like All the way down here and I can't remember everybody's name. I'm sorry.
What is it?
Oh hi Easton, what? What song do you want to sing?
Oh, I like that one. Is that on here? That's number 40 on the back of the sheet #40 on the back of the sheet. Jesus loves me, this I know.
Shining.
High in you ever watch me wherever I lie?
Yeah, it's Jesus, Mother's Day.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, James, I just want to see. Lullaby will tell me so.
Jesus loves me. He will stay close beside me all the way.
If I trust him, should I die, he will take me on my mind. Yes, he's nice to love me.
Wow, you guys are great singers. I heard a few of a few of you particularly really singing it out there with yes, Jesus loves me. Isn't that wonderful to know that Jesus loves me? Who can tell me?
How you know?
That Jesus loves you or Jesus loves me, Yes.
From the Bible tells you so, right? Do you want a pencil? You pick the one you want.
OK, now you had your hand up.
#16 oh boy, I hope I know that one. That's not on the Backpage, is it? OK? Oh, I do. Good, that's a relief.
Whosoever hear it?
Stand the propagation over there with you.
Answer all you may, Jesus is the truth the only living way.
It's the other way from.
Lucifer and Bruce Williams.
00:05:01
Send the proclamation over and kill. Is a loving father also wondering?
So we know that Jesus loves me and he loves everybody. So who is whosoever? Who's whosoever?
Yes, all of us. Anybody you want a pencil or bookmark, Go ahead, help yourself. Whosoever will. So has everybody here considered themselves to be a whosoever? Has everyone asked the Lord Jesus to wash their sins away? Do you believe that He died for you in the cross?
Well, that's something to think about, isn't it? And we don't have a lot of time. I remember last night, just a short time ago, Mr. Rusink stood up there and he said, behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. We don't have time to waste. Who has another song to sing right here fast?
47, OK, that's a good one, number 47.
When he cometh.
To make.
It right?
If you take right down the sword.
OK, that makes me think of another question we had.
The first question about Jesus loves me and then whosoever. Well, a similar question I guess. Who are the bright gems? Who are the bright gems? I am looking for somebody who haven't I asked yet, OK.
Who are the bright gems right here?
The gent. Well, that's a good answer. Looking for a little bit different one though, Ethan. But you know what? You can have a pencil. Anyway, go ahead. Did you have an answer? What is it?
Us, everybody well.
I'm looking for a little. You can go ahead and have a pencil. Yes, the saved ones go ahead. Very good. Now I have another question. I have another question. It says let me see here.
Bright gems for his crown. Does everybody know what a gem is? A jewel? Something precious. You know you are precious to the Lord Jesus. Everyone that is a saved one is precious. So I want to know this.
Will the Lord accept any gems that?
Aren't bright.
Says no. What do you think? No, go ahead. You have a pencil. Well, I think I believe you gave the right answer because, you know, when we're lost in our sins, we're somewhat filthy.
Or somewhat dirty and you know it says the blood of Jesus Christ his Son.
Cleanse with me from all sin.
00:10:01
And so he makes us bright and white and shining like him.
So we're going to do a little bit of fun today about that. But first I was wondering if we could sing one more song. Well, I'm going to pick this one. OK, Maybe if we have time at the end we'll pick some more, but who knows That song. My heart was black with sin until the Savior came in.
Do you know that one? Do you have anything black? I don't either. And who has a black something black on? Oh, right here. Perfect. Come on up here. That's great. OK, let's. Yeah, right there. That's good. OK. My heart was black with sin until the Savior came in his precious blood. I need some red. Do you want to come up? You got a nice red shirt. Come on up here. All right. Right here. This is. I think we got to go on the other side over here. My heart was black with sin until the Savior came in his.
What I know is wash me white, white as oh, you want to come up, I'm going to stand there white as snow and in God's word who has their Bible and wants to hold their Bible up nice and high when we sing this and in God's word I'm told.
Yeah, you're going to come up OK, And in God's word, I'm told I'll walk the streets of gold. Who has something gold now? Somebody gave me a really precious gold coin and I should have brought it and I didn't. Who has something gold?
I have a knife in my pocket. It's not gold, it's silver.
Gold and silver have I none.
OK, thank you, Daniel. Oh, there. That's that's great. Who wants to hold this? OK, come on up.
All right, you got to point to this fine bit of gold right here. OK. All right. OK. You ready? OK, You got to be ready to show yourself. OK? My heart was black.
I tell my savior came in his precious life. I know has watched me. Why the snow?
Good. Excellent work. OK. Now if you want to have a pencil or bookmark, go ahead and take it and then we'll take our seats again. OK. Thanks, Daniel.
OK, does anybody have a verse they want to do today?
I got to tell you, I'm pretty used to the hands all flying up like everybody. OK, go ahead.
Oh no, no, no. A verse in the Bible. Sorry. Do you have a verse you want to say?
You had one.
Does anybody learn their verse?
I won't put any pressure on.
I had to learn mine this morning.
You want to say a verse? Go ahead.
Speaking to that, I was supposed to bring the mic. Go ahead. He's our loving life, Charlotte. He's our head and life show and the swords.
I'm not much help to you.
Do you know where it's found?
OK.
Do you want me to come back to you?
It was very good. You go ahead and get a pencil or bookmark. That's brave to stand up there and do that. Anybody else have one? Go ahead. He that loves his life shall lose it, and he that aids his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. John, 1225.
25 Very good. If you get it and you want to get a bookmark or a pencil, go ahead. He that loves his life shall lose it, but he that hates his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. John, 1225.
Very good. Did you want to do that? OK. Oh.
I'm falling apart. Go ahead.
See that hated his life in the no he that hinted his life shoulders and he no he got love with his life shall lose anything that hated his life in this world. She'll keep it onto life eternal.
00:15:03
John, 1225.
Mr. John Buchanan gave me a copy of this already and I wasn't remembering that I had it. So he that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hated his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. John 1225. Anybody that said it and wants to get a pencil or bookmark? Go ahead if you want to try again.
Well, I think you could get a pencil or bookmark. You did a good job. Anybody else? OK.
He that loveth his life shall visit, and he that hideth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. John, 1225.
He that he that love with his wife shall lose it, and he that hated his life in this world shall keep it until life eternal around 12:25.
Whoever loves his life shall lose it in this world, and whoever loves his life shall keep it until life eternal. John.
John 1225 Very close. So he that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.
That love is this life show losing he that he is his life in this world shall keep it on to life eternal. John 1225. Excellent. Okay, okay.
He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hath his life, and Miss Ward shall keep it until life eternal.
June 1225. Excellent, Excellent, Excellent, excellent. OK, all right.
Yet love of his life shall lose anything that hated his life in this world, to keep unto life eternal. John 1225.
He that he that loveth his life shall lose it.
And he that hated his life in this world shall keep it until life eternal. John.
12:25.
See that love is his life, she'll lose it, and he that hated his life in this world, she'll keep it unto life eternal. John, 1225.
He that loveth his life shall lose it, and he that hideth his life in this world shall keep it until life eternal. John 1225. Excellent work. OK, I got to keep my eye on the time. See that love of his life shall lose her. And he that hated his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal. John 1225. Excellent word. OK, yeah.
He's a he's a loving life shall lose it. He's a hidden life in the world shall keep it until, until.
Turn onto.
Until life eternal.
John Chow, 25. Excellent. Excellent work. Well done. OK, you all right? OK, Well, you all did a great job with that verse. Very good. Who really wants to lose anything?
No. Well, that's a hard verse to explain, isn't it?
You know, I think that if we trust in the Lord, He's going to give us eternal life. Isn't that wonderful? So what I want to talk to you about today, I was going to do the books of the Bible too, but we've only got a couple of minutes, so we better save that for another day. What I want to talk to you about was a follow up, continuing with what Mr. Rusink was talking about last night. And you know.
He mentioned and we said the verse The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanseth us from all sins.
All sin and we talked about jewels being bright and shiny.
And we talked about some that are maybe dirty and not so bright. Maybe they got some kind of defiling thing rubbed all over them.
And you know, if you would take them to a jeweler, they might be able to Polish them up and make them nice again.
But you know, there's a little hymn that we sing. What can wash away my sin? Who knows the answer to that? What is it?
That's a good answer. The Son of Jesus, what can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus and so you know for you and I that want to go and be with the Lord Jesus. We need to have our sins washed away and I was thinking of how you know it was mentioned that verse and I Psalm 51 That were born into sin. Do you know what that means It means that we're already.
00:20:15
Dirty.
Means we're already dirty. Bernie mentioned a verse in Isaiah chapter one and it gave a whole bunch of different.
Characteristics or things that represent our bodies.
In their state when we're born and the way they are when we're born. And some of them do not sound very good at all. You know, it said bruises and putrefying sores. And does that sound nice? That doesn't sound like anything nice, does it? So, you know, I brought these jars here with me and I was thinking that the big one.
Could be the Lord Jesus because he's so much bigger than we are and he's overall.
In this world. And I thought that maybe the little one could be you and I, and this is what we look like when we're born. What do you think of that?
Wow, what do you think? Which one looks nicest?
The big one. How come?
Yeah. Does it remind you a little bit about that hymn? My heart was black with sin. What do you think? Until the Savior came in. His precious blood I know has washed me white as snow, you know, he said last night.
That there is no sin in the Lord Jesus, didn't he?
There was number sin.
Well, we're full of it and this is what we look like.
And it's horrible really, isn't it?
I would rather look like this, wouldn't you?
Yeah, me too. Well, you know, there's another verse in Isaiah 1.
And it's verse 18 and it says come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord.
Though your sins be as scarlet.
That's a really dark, dark red, isn't it? Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.
How is that going to be as white as snow? You know, where I live in Canada and Nova Scotia, we get a fair bit of snow.
And we were talking about this with Mr. and Mrs. Buchanan the other day.
And I know you don't know which ones that is, but.
Well.
In Nova Scotia, you know, the ground would be all muddy and dirty, kind of like it is here after all the rain. And as it gets colder, it starts to snow and, and the snow comes down and it starts to cover all that muddy brown dirt. And before long the snow keeps building up and building up.
Until you can't see any of that muddy yucky brown dirt anymore and it all just looks absolutely beautiful and white.
And it's amazing to see it. And you know, in the Bible it says.
That it covers a multitude of sin.
My heart was black with sin until the Savior came in. As precious blood I know has washed me white as snow. So this verse says that though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like Crimson, they shall be as wool. And I think of how much my wife likes little sheep and lambs, and you know how precious they are, and how beautiful white their wool is and.
Would you like to look like that, or would you rather look like this?
What would you rather look like like that? So how can you get to be like this? Somebody answer that question for me way down there. Yes, nice and loud. How can you get to be this way instead of this way?
Believing in the Lord Jesus. You cannot get a better answer than that. That is fantastic. And so when you believe in the Lord Jesus.
You put your trust in him because he died for you on the cross.
00:25:02
His precious blood washes all your sins away, and He makes you white as snow, and He does it in a way that you can only know just through believing. Just through believing, knowing that He did it all for you on the cross.
So he.
Comes in and he says I'm not going to have any more sin in you anymore. I'm going to make you.
Clean and white washed in the blood of the lamb.
And he does it way quicker than I'm doing it.
Let's see.
Wow, what do you think of that?
What do you think of that?
All your sins are gone, gone forever, he says. I'll remember your sins no more.
And you don't ever have to worry, because whosoever will means you and I.
And you're so precious to him as a jewel that he washed all the guilty stains, all the dirt, everything away, just like the snow covering the ground. He made you white as snow. Isn't that wonderful?
And he makes you to be just like himself. Look at that.
Isn't that great? Don't you want that?
Don't you want that?
Me too. And I'm so thankful that when I was a little boy, somebody showed me that same thing and I believed in the Lord Jesus and I put my trust in him and he washed my sins away. And I'm going to be spending my whole eternal life, just like that verse says, in heaven with him in the place he prepared for me. And he prepared the same place for you. And he said, I'm going to come again. And when's he going to come?
Who can tell me?
Do you know when is he coming to take us to be with him?
Who knows, Who knows, it could be right this very minute. And if you haven't asked them yet to save you and to make you white as snow, you're going to miss out and it'll be too late.
Well, dear ones.
I trust each one of you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. Maybe we could sing one more hymn. Did you give one out already? OK, what #32?
OK, let's see what it is here.
Hymn #32 oh wow, I should have thought of that one myself. That's great. OK #32 what can wash away?
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Wonderful hymn I can remember seeing that in the Gospel tent when I was your age and the kids, we would just bellow it out and it was so good to know that the Lord Jesus had washed us in his precious blood and that we were on our way to heaven. Well trust each one of you are let's.
Nehemiah
Address—Nick Simon
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Perhaps we could begin by seeing hymn #200.
And 56.
The verses that I particularly have in mind are verse 2. Jesus is the name that charms us. He for conflict fits and arms us. Nothing moves and nothing harms us while we trust in Him. Then verse three, trust in Him, ye Saints forever. He is faithful, changing never. Neither force nor guile can sever those He loves from Him. If someone could stop that, please 256.
So the subject I would like to speak on this afternoon is Nehemiah.
I don't want to speak so much about the book of Nehemiah, but the man Nehemiah, Of course you can't divorce the man from the work. So I will be obviously going through the book of Nehemiah, but I'll endeavour to have my focus on the man himself. And I think there is so much we can learn and lessons we can draw from it. So forgive me if I seem to be taking rabbit trails at times.
The books of Ezra and Nehemiah were real encouragement to me in my younger years. When I came to the United States in 1984 and started going to meeting, my background was not altogether different in terms of how I was raised, but I was not gathered to the Lord's name and wasn't going associated with any particular group.
I won't recount that entire history.
But I ordered from BTP Edward Dennis book on Ezra and Nehemiah and found it very instructive and very helpful. And so they've always been books that have been near and dear to me. Ezra, of course, the book of Ezra speaks of the restoration of worship in Jerusalem. These are post captivity books. The children of Israel, we know their history.
They were divided and then the 10 tribes were taken captive by the Assyrians. The remaining tribes, which consisted of Judah, Benjamin and the Levites. The tribe of Levi were ultimately taken captive by the Babylonians, and Jeremiah prophesied that the Lord would allow them to return, of course.
That goes back to the book of Deuteronomy, where the promise was given that God would.
Bring them back into the land and of course we have at least impartial fulfillment that happening 70 years after the captivity. So they came back into the land first of all under the rubble at the beginning of Ezra and then in the middle of the book of Ezra some years later, Ezra himself is a priest and we'll talk a little bit about Ezra. He came back as as well. And then we get to the book of Nehemiah. If Ezra is concerned with the restoration of the temple and.
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At that place, Jerusalem, where God has said his name, the center of Jewish worship, then the book of Nehemiah is about the administrative side of things. And a brother, Steve, spoke on worship yesterday. And so it's very fitting that Ezra comes first, not Nehemiah. And then we have Nehemiah. But the book of Nehemiah is still invaluable.
You know, as a child, I grew up in a Christian home and very thankful for that. And we read every morning around the table, a Bible reading after breakfast. My mother grew up the Bible reading 1St and then breakfast. And she thought that we children would do better if we had full stomachs. We'd listen better. And so we had a reading right after breakfast. And I remember going through the book of Nehemiah.
And my mother had remarked that she thought Nehemiah was rather full of himself.
And that stuck with me as a child. And so I've always been kind of curious about Nehemiah. And I hope to circle back to that point at the very end. You know, I say things like that and then I always forget. You're welcome to remind me.
But Nehemiah, so talking about individuals from the word of God, there are those individuals that we relate to because we see something of ourselves and them maybe not their strengths, but their weaknesses. And Timothy is a person that I can relate to and it's a real encouragement to read me to to read.
Paul's letters to Timothy, the life, what little we know about his life.
You know, Timothy, but when it comes to Nehemiah, he's sort of the opposite to what I am. And so in that sense, he's attractive person to me because he's all the things that I'm not.
But Israel, Nehemiah were were concurrent with each other. I I mentioned that little comment my mother had made and so as a child I'm thinking, why did God need Nehemiah? And Ezra was still in the land when Nehemiah returned back.
Ezra was still there.
Some things we learn about Ezra we could look at don't turn there. But the 7th chapter of Ezra, for example, says Ezra prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and to do it to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. In the sixth verse that says Ezra was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given and so on. So Ezra was a studious man. He was a priest. He.
Prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord well he's there in the land why doesn't God use him to restore the administrative side of things because Ezra was not the man for the job in comparing and and we're apartment to make the comparison constantly between the men man Ezra and the man Nehemiah and they're very different people and different strengths and different weaknesses and it's all very well for myself to sit in my.
Ivory tower and right pamphlets and cost stones that.
Others, but that's not what God would have us to do. God has given us different strengths and different weaknesses. We need each other and we need the Nehemiah's of the world just as much as we need the Ezra's. Of this well, I'm not so much the well, but within the Church of God.
Now we just, we'll go through, as I said, the book of Nehemiah, but try to focus mostly on Nehemiah himself and what might be an encouragement of souls, what lessons we might learn from his life. So the first thing we discover with the Nehemiah is that he learns in verse three of chapter one.
The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are a great affliction, reproach. The wall of Jerusalem also has broken down the gates of a boon with fire. And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and warned certain days, and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
Nehemiah, you align your discover as we go through as a man of action. He's quite bold and he doesn't seem to hesitate in taking on things that offer very little in terms of personal reward.
And but he was a man of a tender conscience, and he saw that city and the walls were broken down.
And it broke his heart and he wept.
There would it would do well in the day in which we live if there was far more weeping for the state of things in Christendom.
The character of the day in which we live is laid as sin, and Laodicea rejoiced in their condition of things we read in Second Timothy. And there are some parallels for perhaps to draw between the individual Timothy and the individual Nehemiah. Incidentally, if we want to draw parallels, then the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
00:10:19
Has quite a few parallels with the, particularly the.
1St and 2nd epistles to Timothy. We look at the history of Christendom, that which might correspond to the books of Ezra, Nehemiah is not the present day. It's a day perhaps 200 years ago. If anything corresponds with the present days, the book of Malachi. But it doesn't mean to say we can't learn from these these books. We can't say, Oh well, that's past opportunity was had and was lost.
As we go through it, we find that obedience to the Word of God never changes, Doesn't change the day in which you live.
Still called upon to work in a walk in obedience to the word of God. But Timothy, in second Timothy, it begins there. Paul says in verse 4, greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears. Here was a man also tender hearted young man called Timothy. He probably wasn't so young, but he wept at the condition of things. He didn't just weep because Paul was in prison. I don't think that was the reason for his weeping. He wept because of the condition of things.
And.
We would be in a much better state too, if we recognize things, all things, from God's perspective and realize how far removed they are from what He originally instituted. But then he prays. And as we go through Nehemiah, we find he's a man of prayer. And I really want to emphasize this, and I'm not. I'm intending to go as far as I can, and when the hour is up, we'll stop. I may not. I don't know how far I'll get.
But I intend to spend a little time on this first prayer. It's the longest prayer that we have of Nehemiah, but Nehemiah prays. I should write it in my Bible because I don't remember numbers like this. But depending on how you count them, eight or ten times, he was a man of prayer. So here you have this bold man of action, but it wasn't one that just went out and did things haphazardly. He was a man of prayer. And I think we can learn.
Much from that, you know, we had a prayer meeting before these meetings and perhaps that wasn't the meeting that you were looking forward to. And if you're a young person, I can remember being a young person, I like to hear, to hear.
Well, a capable speakers that could really get me.
Lift me up, whatever the case may be, whatever my need might have been at the time, speakers that I could learn from and if I was to to order my likes and dislikes of meetings at a conference and certainly addresses my favorite reading. Meetings were OK, but they were long and.
It's hard to follow and prayer meeting, well, that was just something we always did right. But if you think about it, the prayer meeting, that's that's the foundation. If we don't come here, independence on the Lord.
And and willing to bow before him in prayer and not just to ask things off him supplication, but also to use that as a time of communion as well.
Brethren, we were lost and I spoke on the subject and now local assembly, I think it was a week ago or something, there was some here from our local assembly and I apologized. One of the breaks that we're just going to hear what I've already spoken on. And I suppose that's true of many brethren, their local brothers here things over and over again.
But, you know, I encourage them. Why do we find it so difficult to pray? You know, the prayer meeting here?
I don't like to sound like I'm assessing things, but it was encouraging. There was prayer after prayer after prayer. That wasn't long pauses, but I did notice that the prayers stopped after about the 4th row back.
You know, if you sit in the 5th row, 6th row, 7th row, it doesn't mean you can't pray. I get it that you're not near the mics. You can woke up. That's scary. I get it. I am not an outgoing person. I said I'm not a Nehemiah.
But it's not hard to pray you know a child of God.
Well, let me let me back up a little bit and let's start looking at some verses here and I'll get to my point. Nehemiah, praise, O God of heaven, the great and terrible God that keep the covenant mercy for them, that love and observe his commandments. Is that how we pray? And if not, why not?
00:15:04
Thankfully, that's not how we pray. Israel approached God on the ground that he was a merciful and faithful God.
But when the disciples were here on earth, they asked the Lord teach us to pray.
And you, you should be astounded at that. What? They didn't know how to pray? They asked how to pray. Why would they do that?
We have a lot of prayers in the Old Testament, but they didn't have that confidence.
We have been brought into such a privileged place. We have been brought into that position.
As children of God in the family of God, that's John's ministry. We have been now brought to know God.
As Father, we have sonship. That's Paul's ministry. The Lord Jesus when he was on earth. Look at Matthew chapter 6 is where we have what Christendom calls the Lord's Prayer. And it doesn't say in Matthew, but in Luke is where it says the disciples asked the Lord how to pray and he gives them what has been called the Lord's Prayer. I'll call it that simply because everyone knows what that means.
But look at that chapter in Matthew and you hear the Lord Speaking of your heavenly Father, your heavenly Father, your heavenly Father.
And then when you get to Matthew 11.
I'll read a verse there, it says.
Verse 27 of Matthew 11. All these things are delivered of and be of my Father.
And no man knoweth the Son, but the Father neither knoweth any man. The Father saved the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him during the Lord's.
Sergeant here on earth, he was the Son revealing the Father, but he was still a distant father at that point, a Heavenly Father. It's not until we get after the resurrection that we're brought into that personal relationship and the Lord and John.
Is a chapter 20. Let me just turn to it.
Says to Mary.
Magdalene, I ascend unto my father, and your father. But still that's not the end of it, because it's not until we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that we can cry, as we have in Romans 8, which brings before us especially the Holy Spirit in two different aspects. But it says in verse 15 of Romans 8. For you have not received the spirit of ******* again to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption, whereby.
Have a father. So we brought into the conscious realization of realization of that relationship that we have been brought into by the Holy Spirit. Now, ABBA father. Why ABBA father? ABBA is Hebrew father. The word originally would have been in Greek, but ABBA is that word that flows off the lips of a child. In English it's daddy or Dada. It comes out initially, Papa. Every language has a word like that, and certainly they have.
Similar words for mother, but the emphasis here is on sonship.
And so every child of God indwelt by the Spirit of God should have that desire within them to cry out to ABBA Father.
And so again, I asked young men, but not just young men, we all need the encouragement. Why the reluctance to pray?
Why? Why is it so hard? You know, the simplest prayer is maybe a very selfish prayer. It's asking something of God.
Or thanking him for something to give thanks for the food that we receive, to ask for help at a conference. But then we come to the worship, to what? We come with the intent, I trust, to worship. It doesn't always turn out the way that the breaking of bread, but the the memorials should lead our hearts to worship.
Why, again, are we so reluctant to pray? We say I can't.
I stumble over my words, I get things wrong, and I say the wrong thing.
And it's easier to give out him. It expresses my thoughts so much better. Well I would just encourage you. We shouldn't use hymns as a crutch. We shouldn't use hymns as a replacement for prayer. Prayer is an important part of that which forms Christian worship. And I I speak these things as an exercise to my own self. I feel self-conscious when I pray.
And you probably do too. And perhaps you compare yourself to others. Why can't pray like that, brother? Because.
I mean, he, he just says it so well and I try and I just stumble. Don't compare yourself. You know what you might say in 30 seconds from the heart.
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May mean more to God than a seasoned brother that speaks 5 minutes in some eloquent prayer. I don't need to mean to put down any older brother, that's not my intent. But Nehemiah prays, and as we go through this book, we find prayer after prayer after prayer.
One thing he says here he confesses in verse six, he confesses the sins of the children of Israel which have sinned against thee, both I and my Father's House of sin. He takes his place in Israel as and accepts the government of God that had come upon them. Was was he just pretending? Was he just saying what was politically correct?
You know what does it mean when we say that we have sinned?
You know when sin comes into the assembly and as I said, Nehemiah takes up the administrative site.
Of things we can say the administrative side of the assembly.
When sin comes into the assembly, if we take it up from the standpoint that it's them versus US, immediately we've created division in the assembly.
If we don't address sin in the assembly, realizing that we have the same nature, that we are capable of the same things, it will just create division. But there's another side to this too. When the government of God falls upon here, Israel, upon an assembly, upon the Church of God, it affects us all. We're we're not. We're not somehow.
Outside of Christendom, we're within Christendom.
And the ruin that has come in affects us all. And Nehemiah felt it, and he wept. Timothy felt it and he wept. And do we feel it as well, because it makes us sensitive?
To then what God has to say to us.
If you look at the end of the book of Judges, you see when Israel had to.
Discipline, Benjamin.
And you find that every time they go out to fight Benjamin, they come out the losers.
God has to do a work in their own lives before He ultimately allows that discipline to fall upon Benjamin.
Let me just remind you, when the government of God falls upon the assembly, when matters of discipline has to be taken, it affects us all.
OK.
Let's look at the next chapter. So Nehemiah was the King's cup bearer.
And you might think, well, that's a pretty cushy job. All he had to do was to bring a cup of wine to Nebuchadnezzar, to not Nebuchadnezzar, but to the king at every meal time. But you know, you find that in royal households they had these peculiar positions and titles. And so, for example, the queen would have had her maids of her bedchamber. And again, you might think, well.
That's what that's what maids do. That's what servants do. No, these were very important positions. You know why they were important? Because you had the private ear of the queen, one-on-one. If you were the maid of the bedchamber, you you had intimate intercourse with the queen. And so Nehemiah's position was not some insignificant servant Butler that served the king.
It was a very important position. We see him standing before the King and the Queen having.
A conversation with them. Mere mortals didn't do that in that day. Ordinary people, I should say. And anyway, the king notices that he's sad. And in those days, you know, I don't know about this culture, but in, let's say, English.
Courts, they had jesters. You know, you're someone to make everyone happy and laugh. You weren't supposed to be discouraged in the presence of the king. But Nehemiah's disposition is so affected him the state of his own people.
And as I said, that's a good thing to be affected by the state of things in Christianity, by the state of things in the assembly, by the state of things in your home assembly, to be exercised about these things. And it reflected on his face. And the king says to him, What does thou make requests? So I pray to the God of heaven. This is prayer #2 And I said unto the king, Well, wait a minute, what did he pray? Well, we never find out what he prayed, but it had to be really short.
00:25:02
And he never got down on his knees and maybe he never closed his eyes, but believe me, this was number what?
I don't mean to be irreverent, but what the world calls a Hail Mary, you know, in football, I understand that. You know, if the clock's running out and you're losing, you throw the ball all the way down the end of the field just hoping someone's there to catch it. This wasn't a prayer, just throwing out, hoping that God maybe heard it. And why not? Because this is not the first time. Nehemiah's parade.
This is not the first time Nehemiah has prayed. If you never pray, except we are in trouble.
And you wonder whether God is listening to you. I'm not surprised.
You haven't got a relationship with them.
So Nehemiah prays, and we discover that in.
Verse seven He says, If it please the king, let let us be given to the governors beyond the river. They may convey me over till I come into Judah in a letter unto Asaph, the king of the King's forest, that he may give me timber, and so on, and.
Verse nine, it says the end of the verse. Now the king had sent captains, the army and horsemen with me, and we'll stop there.
Now here we have one of the striking differences between Nehemiah and Ezra.
We find that when Nehemiah returned back to the land of captivity, he was given the Commission to rebuild the walls of the city. He was given permission. He asked for it. He was given permission to rebuild the walls of the city that he was given royal Ritz and gods to go with him. This was a dangerous journey I imagine today.
If you were to go from.
Area which would be probably in present day Iraq or Iran.
To Jerusalem by foot it would be equally as deadly.
When we see with Ezra who made a similar trip.
In verse 22 of Ezra 8, Ezra says I was ashamed to require the king of band of soldiers and Hussman to help us against the enemy in the way, because we have spoken unto the king, saying, the hand of our God is upon all them for good.
That seek him, but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him.
So we fostered and we sought our God for this, and He was entreated of us. Ezra refused a royal guard. Nehemiah accepted a royal guard. So do we rank our brethren and say, well, clearly Ezra was superior to Nehemiah. As I said, Ezra was already in the land at this time.
That we're reading about Why didn't God use Ezra to direct the rebuilding of the wall? Because he wasn't the right man.
Just remember that you can't. I cannot walk your faith. You cannot walk my faith. But you need to walk. We need to walk by faith.
There are those that have far greater faith than me, but for me to attempt to walk in their footsteps would be mere pretension. One thing that characterizes remnant that returned back to the land of Israel was a lack of pretension. Weakness is not necessarily a sin. Pretension to spiritual things is a sin. We're not here to pretend to be something we're not.
We'll get into that because when Ezra returned back to got back to Jerusalem, we find that by night.
He rides around that city and reviews the walls and he can't get all the way around because of the ruin.
This is an apartment picture of the condition of things and the day in which we live within Christianity.
Within Christendom.
But by and large, Christendom rejects it and has rejected it. Mr. Darby wrote quite a lot, and his peers as well, about the ruin of the church, the ruin of the Christian testimony. You can go to any of the brethren.
Writings, websites, BTP, stem publishing and so on. And Google that expression.
Will search for it.
The ruin of the church. Put it in quotes so it finds exactly the match and you'll find numerous references to it. The brethren were opposed in that day to it, and the day in which we live it is likewise opposed.
The ruin is not recognized, and yet here we have a physical picture of that which characterized well. It was certainly what characterized the day in which Nehemiah lived, but it characterizes in type the day in which we live. Now Nehemiah rode around it at night, and I suspect they must have carried lanterns, or the the light of the moon and the stars was what showed them their way.
00:30:15
But any light?
That they shone. What did it do? What effect did it have? The only effect it had was to accentuate.
The ruin. And so, brethren, any light that we might shine only serves to accentuate the ruin. We're not attempting to fix the ruin. That's not what our desire is. Our desire is simply to walk in obedience to the Word of God in a day of ruin.
Let's move on.
So there are enemies. Let's before we turn head just a little bit, they're enemies. And we see that the reaction of the enemies changes over time and Satan will test us each with different strategies. And so initially in verse 10 of chapter 2, it says San Violet, the horror night to buy the servant, the Ammonite hood of it. And it grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel.
So at first, the enemy is grieved.
But then.
In verse 19 it says when Sambal the horror night and Tobiah the servant.
The Ammonite and Geshem the Arabian heard it. They laughed as to scorn and despised us. It's another tactic of the enemy is to mock.
And to make fun of us the more.
We desire to walk according to the Word of God. We'll find that there are those that not just from without, but within that will find occasion to mock.
One other point to note too, before we move from the 2nd chapter, it says that.
Nehemiah went up alone. He didn't. There was, there were those with him. But it says in verse 16, the rulers knew not whither I went or what I did. Neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work. We find that a lot that Nehemiah did, he stood alone.
At this point, I believe that he went up to assess the condition of things he didn't want.
To frighten anyone. He didn't want to scare anyone away with what his task was, so he first surveys the condition of things.
And then?
He ultimately tells his brother. Now the third chapter is the rebuilding of the gates and the wall, and if anyone takes up the book of Nehemiah, typically it's the third chapter that's taken up. There's ministry on it. Excellent ministry on it as a chapter, well worth going through. I do not intend to actually go through the 3rd chapter.
And I will skip it and move ahead to the 4th chapter.
The one brief comment that I'll make about the third chapter is in building the wall. You'll notice the number of references to families and individuals that rebuilt the wall against their chamber. And you might say, well, that was a bit selfish. They weren't interested in the bit of wall next to their house. But it's vitally important.
You know, if we don't begin the work within our homes, if we don't.
Instruct our children.
In our homes.
Then what hope have we got of maintaining order and things in the assembly? As I said, the subject Nehemiah's administrative more connected with the order of things.
I my wife had picked up a book second hand I think it was.
Written by an individual who's quite well known in Christian circles. And the title is something like the Last Christian Generation. And as tends to be the case with these books, it's quite political. And he one of the chapters that I glanced at, he said, well, we need to change your education system. We got our education system all wrong. No, we don't need to change our education system.
What we need to change is the way that we raise. What we need to continue doing and not be distracted from is the way we raise our children. I'm not saying that when you make a choice as to where to send your child to school, it doesn't matter. Don't worry about it. That's not the case. It's a very weighty decision for parents in the day in which we live. Not not to be lightly taken, I get that. But if you think about it, Daniel and his brother and they would have been.
00:35:01
Teenagers that were sent to Babylon, that was sent to the finest schools of Babylon and they weren't persuaded from their faith, where did they learn that faith wasn't in the schools? Don't send your child to school to learn faith or however you want to word it. That has to be taught at home.
They need that foundation at home. Daniel had that foundation unquestionably in his upbringing at home and he didn't, was not moved from it when he ended what let's say was university.
In the fourth chapter, then as I said, we're not going to go through the 3rd chapter, 4th chapter.
And Sand Ballot heard that we builded the wall here as a wrath, so we've had First of all, they were.
Grieved and then the enemy tried mocking and that didn't work. You know, it's hard to be mocked. I, I find that hard, very hard personally remember being at school and to be mocked with something that was incredibly difficult to, to take. I wanted to fit in. I wanted to be liked. Who doesn't? Who doesn't want to be liked? And you know, that's one of the things I find about Nehemiah that I admire. He's a man that just seemed to.
Do what was necessary to do and nothing would move him.
Umm, in verse two of chapter 4, the enemy says what do these stable Jews? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they make an end in a day?
With their revives, phones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned and so on.
And now to buy the ammonite was by him. He said even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall breakdown their Stonewall. And so there's like again this continued mocking us through their efforts.
And will they sacrifice? Will they return back to the way that things were? Were they? That's what they're saying. And perhaps you might find that.
Position that we have as brethren is mocked as well by by something.
Again, keep in mind, it's not a matter of returning back to the days of Pentecost. It's not a matter of rebuilding that which has been fallen, ruined. It's a question of walking in obedience to the Word of God in a day of ruin. And that instruction we have, especially in Second Timothy. But here we have another prayer of Nehemiah.
In verse 4 near my praise, O God, for we are despised.
And turn the reproach on their own head, and give them for prey in the land of captivity, and cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thee.
They have provoked me to anger before. The builders so built me the wall and all the walls wall was joined together into the half thereof. The people had a mind to work. Now this type of prayer is what we call imprecatory prayer. There's very psalms that follow a similar line of things. We do not pray in the way that Nehemiah prayed here where he calls for God's judgment to come a pound upon the heads of his enemies.
We live in a day of grace.
Disciples of the Lord said to this. I think it was the Samaritans let fire come down upon their heads.
And the Lord had to tell them that they did not know what spirit they were. I think that's Luke nine. Let me just.
In Luke 9 verse 54, when the disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from the heaven, consume them even as Elias did. But he turned and rebuked them, and said, You know not what manner of spirit you are, For the Son of man has not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.
One thing that differentiates.
Christianity, Christians, our hopes from that of Israel is we're not looking for a earthly inheritance. Israel was promised the land of Israel as the land of promise. And so when enemies took Israel, they had to fight for it. We're not fighting for this world. We're not fighting for this country in which we live. We can be thankful for the degree.
In which the various presence of this country, the various administrators of this country.
Have been sympathetic towards Christianity. We can be thankful for it, but we're not fighting for this country.
And it's a mistake that.
Christians have fallen into over the centuries, You know, I had a.
Book on my shelf. I had a sitting on my shelf for 30 years back in December. We were visiting someone and they happened to be reading through that book as a couple. And I thought, you know, I should take that book off the shelf and read it for myself. The book is familiar one. It's called The Patriarchs by Bella, and Bella has a particular way of writing.
00:40:18
May be difficult for some to follow, but.
It's.
It really warms my heart, but he said some things in there and brought things out in a way that I had perhaps never considered before. But he spoke of Cain, and Cain was given a mock so that he might not be killed. The descendants of Seth were not to go after Cain.
And that's our position in this world. This is Keynes Weld in which we live. We're not out to change Keynes. Well, we're not out to kill Cane. We're not out to establish, cave out a little inheritance for ourselves in this world.
And so, as I said, this prayer of Nehemiah is not a prayer that we would pray. Now. There are other Perez later in the book.
And I hope we'll get to that. Might sound similar, but I think they're a little different character. And there are times where we perhaps may have to pray the way that Nehemiah prayed.
There's another prayer in verse 9.
We're in the 4th chapter just to remind you again, verse 9. Nevertheless, we made our prayer unto our God again, the present not enunciated and set a watch against them day and night because of them, because of their enemies. So here we have a prayer and they set a watch. He said well that's a lack of faith. They prayed and they still said a watch and I would suggest that not necessarily you know, I think I've encouraged prayer and.
That you would be exercised about.
Praying suddenly If you don't have the courage to pray publicly and certainly privately, your life should be characterized by prayer. But.
Here they pray and still set a watch. You know, prayer is not a way of sidestepping responsibility.
Sometimes matters come before an assembly, by way of example, and the brothers might say, well, let's pray about it.
Because there's an unwillingness to address the matter in question. Now don't get me wrong, I think that.
Prayer is needful in those circumstances and I don't want to.
Say, well, you should just charge ahead.
In James it says there in verse five of chapter one of James, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not.
And it shall be given unto him. If we lack wisdom, we definitely should pray. And I don't deny that when matters come before the assembly, particularly serious matters, there should be prayer and collective prayer. But let's not let prayer be an excuse to avoid responsibility. Sometimes we have to act in responsibility. Prayer is not a way to be careless.
Prayer is not a way, God is not. Again, I don't want to sound a reverent. Not a genie in a bottle, you know?
Story of Aladdin You rubbed a little lamp, and you make your wish. That's not what Christian prayer is.
When we pray, I believe there's a work in ourselves that goes on.
God would have us exercised about things, and so these men, they not only pray to God, but they set a watch.
We could go through a lot of these verses. There's so much, but time is.
Moving along and I particularly wanted to focus on Nehemiah himself, but we noticed in verse 18 the builders, everyone had his sword girded by his side and so builded.
Or another point back in verse 16, it says it came to pass from that time forth that half of my servants wrought in the work.
The other half of them held both the Spears, the Shields and the bows, and the harbogens, and the rulers were behind all the houses of God, and so on.
You know, in any assembly there are those that have strengths. There are some that seem to be better at handling conflict.
Than others, and so it's not.
Inappropriate for some to have to take up that role. Some build, some fit for conflict, sometimes in an assembly when they're small.
Perhaps we lack builders, perhaps we lack those that are suited to conflict, in which case God is able to to meet the need.
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In verse 23, he is always our resource. We spoke about grace briefly in the meetings. Remember that, you know, we seem to have this very narrow idea of grace, that grace is this is a phrase we use and there's nothing wrong with it. It defines 1 aspect of grace. Grace is getting something we don't deserve.
The gift, the birthday gift that we got because we were, even though we were still naughty.
Mercy, on the other hand, is not getting what we should receive. That spanking we should have got that we didn't get. That's mercy. And we tend to think of grace and mercy in those terms, whereas I believe the way Scripture takes up grace, it's much bigger. It's the first definition that sticks in my mind for grace is unmerited favor.
And I had to unpack that. I was probably a teenager when I heard that. What in the world does that mean? It's God's favor to you and to me that we didn't deserve because of nothing in me. But God showed his favor to us, and in various ways it's connected with saving grace. We're justified freely by his grace. Not free, wasn't free. It cost God in a tremendous amount. But that word freely there means undeservedly unmerited.
Wasn't anything that God looked down upon me and said, well, I think he deserves saving. No, that's not the way grace works. But grace, as I said, is much broader. Grace. As someone much more recently, I heard this definition is divine enablement. Again, undeserved divine.
Enablement. And so in the day in which we live, even in our great weakness, God is able to provide through His grace that which enables us. The converse is, as we take up things in our own hands, we take things up in our own strength, and then it just creates a hash of things. It turns into legality. Just remember that grace and graciousness are not the same thing. Grace is not just getting things we don't deserve.
Grace is divine enablement. It is God providing everything we need.
For this wilderness journey that we're on.
The last verse of this 4th chapter.
It says in verse 23. So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men, nor the God which followed me, none of us put off our clothes.
Saving that everyone put them off for washing. So cleanliness is not denied here. Purity and walk. But what's this about not washing their clothes? You know what it says in Second Timothy the 2nd chapter?
And I'm going to use the King James translation. I know Mr. Dhabi translates somewhat differently, but in this case, I want to actually use the perhaps poorer translation. But it says thou therefore, in your hardness is a good soldier of Jesus Christ. When we think of the armor of God, when we think of being a soldier, what do we think of?
We think of combat.
But when Paul makes this reference here to the soldier, he's not Speaking of combat so much as the.
Hardness that a soldier has to endure. I have been listening to a book. It's a, it's a history. It's not scriptural about scriptural subjects. I enjoy history. I think there's a lot that we can learn from history.
That makes valuable illustrations like the one I'm about to give. But it's the story of the American Mexican War. I don't know if you realize, but New Mexico, Arizona, California, and I think parts of Colorado.
We're part of Mexico. We're not a part of the United States. And under President Polk, I believe the United States went to war against Mexico and ultimately seized those lands. But there was a man who in the West we know very well, Kit Carson. There's lots of things named after Carson in the West. The capital of Nevada is Carson City. He is tied up with all of this well.
When the American army came, they first conquered.
Santa Fe, which is the capital of New Mexico. Santa Fe, incidentally, is a much older city than anything you have on the East Coast. Much older. There were settlements from the Spanish in the West that predate the Plymouth Rock and all that on the East Coast. They took Santa Fe without a fight, but then they had to March to California.
And they literally did that. They marched through the desert SW to California.
Didn't fight anyone, no battles. There was a battle ultimately, and it was only about 30 miles away from San Diego. 1 battle that the overall scheme of things was quite small. Turned out to be significant, but it was quite small. But the hardships they endured on that was unbelievable. They had mules dying beneath men.
00:50:13
And the last 30 miles, Carson lost his shoes, actually took them off so the Mexicans who had surrounded them wouldn't hear them. And he and two other men walked to San Diego 30 miles in bare feet.
And ground covered with rock and thorns. And two of his men almost didn't survive the ordeal. One, I think it took him over a month to recover.
The hardship that's associated with being a good soldier.
Remember, it's not all about conflict, it's about endurance and we've had that in our meetings.
The next chapter, chapter 5, we find it's a little bit of a parenthesis. The it's no longer enemies from without, there's enemies from within. This discouragement from within and we find once again Nehemiah standing alone. What happened was the the land of Israel wasn't returned back to the Jews. They were allowed to return to the land. They were allowed to rebuild the temple, they were allowed to rebuild the walls of the city, but they were still under the.
Rulers of the Kings.
Of Persia. And tribute or tax was imposed upon them, and they couldn't pay their taxes. So the poor Jews went to the rich Jews and borrowed money, sold their children into servitude.
And then they of course there was a great cry that went up and Nehemiah had to rebuke his brethren. So again, not all the enemies are without. There are those within the Christian profession that seek to enrich themselves. I heard recently it was in a.
Meal the other night about the situation in Brazil and one of the driving forces.
Behind such an interest in the ground of gathering and so forth down there and the oppression the the prosperity gospel that's being preached in the.
The prosperity gospel is all about this. It's about the rich robbing from the poor and making much, as it says in Second Timothy, Second Peter, chapter 2, making merchandise of them, making merchandise of them.
Now at the end of.
Well, we'll just move along.
In chapter 6.
Again, we have the enemy, the external enemy.
That.
Sam Chapter 6, verse 2 Sambalat and Geshem sent on be saying, Come, let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono, that they thought to do me mischief. So enemy seeks to cause mischief now. And what Nehemiah say, I sent messengers unto them, saying, I'm doing a great work, so I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and come down to you?
Nehemiah recognized that the work he was doing was a great.
Work.
Does that mean, as I said at the beginning, that he was a man full of his own self importance? Not in this instance, no. No it wasn't. He recognized that this was the work that God had given him to do and consequently it was a great work.
Walking in obedience to the Word of God is not pride. It can be done in pride. Absolutely no question about it can be done in pride, can be done in pretension. But obedience, simple obedience to the Word of God is a great work.
And it's so interesting here we had a visiting brother, a brother that just happened to be in town in Denver the day we went through this chapter. And he he made some comments on it, only some of which I remember. But he just loved how that Nehemiah just responds doing a great work. I can't, can't stop it. But this is abstract a little bit. I didn't know how many times, perhaps in my career and perhaps in your career, your school, whenever someone says, well, let's go do this.
And what's your answer? What's my answer?
And it's something you know you shouldn't really be doing, something you shouldn't really be involved in. It's dishonoring to the Lord. It's where it just might be getting you caught up in things that you really rather didn't get caught up in. What's your response?
Well, I need to pray about it. But maybe that's what not what you tell the person, but in your mind you're thinking, oh, I should pray about this. No, you don't need to pray about it.
You know the answer. You know what your conscience is telling you. Perhaps you say all. Not this time. Maybe another time.
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These are the things that we tell ourselves to try to make life easy. And what do they do?
How do you make life difficult? EMI would have no.
Communion with the enemy, he just said. No, I'm doing great work, I can't come.
All right, I see how time is nearly up. We can see that the enemy seeks mischief. And then a little further on, the enemy starts accusing Nehemiah of treason. Pride. Pride. Nehemiah. You think you're somebody, don't you?
You know, as I said, simple obedience to the word of God. Don't automatically label it. Pray.
And then the enemy seeks compromise. Come now, Therefore, let us take counsel. Together we can work this out.
And so on verse nine we have another prayer of Nehemiah. Now therefore, our God, strengthen my hands.
Well, there was two points I wanted to touch on. Perhaps I can do it.
I said there are other prayers that Nehemiah praised. Incidentally, as you go through the book of Nehemiah when you get to.
Chapter 7, verse five, It's the end of really Nehemiah's narrative. Then we have things that I don't believe are necessarily in chronological order.
And then eventually in the.
13th chapter, the sixth verse, we find that Nehemiah has gone back to his job in Babylon, and then he comes back to the land of Israel again. But there's a few more prayers in there.
One more that I wanted to touch on.
Complete a thought that I had. Well, maybe it was.
Give me a minute and I'll find it.
Yeah, verse four so chapter 6 verse 14 I said that the imprecatory prayer was not a Christian prayer. We don't pray that way, but Nehemiah 6 verse 14 says my God think thou upon to buy and send ballot according to these their works and the prophetess Nadia and the rest of the prophets that they would have put me in fear in this prayer he simply laying at Jehovah's feet his enemies and says Lord, they're in your hands and sometimes as.
Christians, we have to do that. In First Timothy there is a man called Alexander whom Paul had delivered unto Satan that he might learn not to blasphemy aligned with Hymenius. It's good to remember that the word blasphemy is actually much broader than we might make it out to be is to speak injuriously against someone.
But when we get to Second Timothy, the last chapter and this, I'm not going to be dogmatic about it. Maybe a second, maybe a different Alexander, but I'm going to take it up as if it's the same Alexander. So the last chapter of Second Timothy.
Verse 14 Alexander the Coppersmith did me much evil and.
The Apostle Paul and the King James says the Lord reward him according to his works. It makes it sound like Paul is praying Lord reward him given what he deserves, but he doesn't say that. The new translation says the Lord will reward him according to his works.
There are times in our lives when we encounter people.
Or situations where perhaps we've worked to address.
And there has not been a response.
And then it's rather like we read in Hosea chapter 4 verse 17. Ephraim is joined to idols. Let him alone.
There may be a time when we simply have to say, Lord, this individual, this matter is in your hands. You deal with it as you see fit and then we have to let it go and move on. Now I asked at the beginning was Nehemiah man full of his own self importance? Maybe to a degree he was. And you know, if someone points out faults in ourselves, even when we feel that they're unjust, we had this in the meetings earlier. I remember a brother once saying, you know.
Might come up to you and say you've got a spot on your shirt and you say no, I don't, that's not true, I don't. And you vehemently defend yourself all the time. You know that there's a hole in your sock.
You know, sometimes people point out things and they're wrong about it.
But use those opportunities to let the Lord speak to you. Don't disregard them. Don't say they're being unfair, unjust.
In the way that I've behaved, let the Lord speak to me. I'll make it very personal.
Let me remember that it's an occasion to listen what the Lord has to say. Let's.
Hebrews 12:18-29
Reading
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174.
No fix our Ernest Gates, no holy Lord on thee, that with thy beauty occupied, we elsewhere none may see 174.
Occasions.
Soul.
Desire. Let's get.
Holy Lord.
On me, love me, love me.
We all swear.
On may seem.
We begin with in Hebrews 12, verse 18 and cover that part of the chapter. I don't. I know we didn't go over all those verses, but I think it'd be nice to take up the last part of the chapter.
Hebrews 12 and verse 18.
For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and Tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they that heard and treated, that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. But they could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with the dark, and so terrible with the sight that Moses said.
I exceedingly fear in Kuwait the year come unto Mount Zion.
And out of the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. And to an innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the first born, which are written in heaven. And to God the Judge of all. And to the spirits of just men made perfect. And to Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant. And to the blood of sprinkling.
That speak of better things than that of able.
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escape not, who refused him that spake on earth much more? Shall not we escape, if we turn away from him and speaketh from heaven? Whose voice then shook the earth?
Now he is promising. Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word yet once more signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Wherefore we receive a Kingdom which cannot be moved. Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
God is a consuming fire.
Just before we get into those last part, I'd like to make a few comments on.
Verse 15 says, looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled. It's so easy to.
00:05:03
Forget that we stand before God on the grounds of His sovereign grace.
Unmerited favor like you mentioned brother. Divine enablement, is that what you said? And it's just God that gives and gives.
Because of Walgreens.
But we tend to sometimes see things that are out of order and we tend to lay down the rules and regulations. And it's easy to get into that spirit of things. Don't say that we don't need correction. We do need correction, but rather than it should be done in the spirit of grace. And so it says diligently, looking diligently, lest any man fail of the grace of God.
How important that is, I think of, I think somebody mentioned that the other day that Paul told Timothy in the Day of Ruin.
Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Would think he would say things are slipping so badly. He'd say now, Timothy, make sure they stay in line here. No, that's not going to keep us.
Grace touches the heart, brethren, and the heart is the mainspring of Christian life. And so how important it is that we don't depart from the grace of God, that principle of the grace of God, because immediately.
There will be roots of bitterness that will trouble us.
And many will be defiled. And then he mentions Esau in verses 16 and 17.
And it mentions. I've kind of puzzled over this. Must there be any fornicator?
Or profane person as Esau? I don't know that we have any record in scripture of Esau committing fornication. What is the thought here?
To say the second adjective is profane person. What's being profane is treating that which is sacred as if it were common.
And that's what a fornicator does. He teaches, he he practices that those things that are sacred before God, the intimate relationship between a man and his wife is nothing more than something common.
That's a profane person, and a fornicator is the same but.
Esau treated his birthright. Remember how he came back from the field one day and he was hungry and faint and Jacob had some pottage and he says give me some of your pottage. So Jacob says, sell me your birthright. And what did Esau say? He says what good is my birthright?
No more than a bowl of potties. Give it to me. So he sold his birthright, that which was something that was God-given to be valued. He did not esteem it as anything valuable, and he sold it. And later on it came to the question of the blessing when his father was going to bless them at the end of his life.
That.
He lost it because he had despised his birthright.
He lost the blessing and it's interesting. If you look at Mr. Darby's translation, it helps to understand verse 17. He said he found no place of repentance.
Though he sought it carefully with tears, and that part, for he found no place of repentance, is in parentheses.
Because what he sought was not repentance. What he sought was the blessing. Esau never repented.
Therefore you have in the book of Malachi the Lord saying.
Jacob have I loved. Esau have I hated.
People find that strange. Why would God say that?
It was because he was a profane man and he had no value for the things of God.
Evidently there was not any faith in Esau.
00:10:04
Perhaps some have some thoughts related to that too. I find it very.
Challenging.
Brethren, the Lord help us, we live in a day of ruin like we were reminded and we need to be looking diligently less in not anyone fail of the grace of God.
I think that.
Bitterness.
And result from being offended.
And you know, it tells us in Psalm One 19165.
Great.
Peace have they who love thy law. Nothing shall offend them. You know, I read that and I thought, I like what I'm hearing, what I'm seeing.
Never be offended by anything or anybody. Well, how can this be?
Well, I believe it can be when we are enjoying.
The grace of God in our souls.
And we come to realize that you and I as believers.
We are smothered with kindness. We've been showered with blessing. It's all of grace.
We know what we are. We are children of God. We are sons of God.
We are part of the body of Christ. We're part of the bride. We know what we have. We have all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. What more can we ask for? We know where we're heading.
The glory shines before us, the blessed hope. We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Well, I believe if we are in the enjoyment of these things that God by his grace has bestowed upon us, we're not going to be too concerned if somebody says something unkind or does something that.
Naturally speaking would hurt us. So I think we need to be careful, you know, that we don't fall from the enjoyment of the grace of God because if we do.
Get our eyes on.
Others, can you think about? You know I've been hurt.
And we lose sight.
Grace of God, we fall from grace and we become bitter and at root of bitterness can continue to grow.
Now you don't see a root, it's underground.
But that route is growing. It's going to shoot up. It's going to come above and you know we're going to see the result of that bitterness.
And tells us here that many.
Are going to be defiled. We don't deal with that route of bitterness, but I believe it's a matter of enjoying the grace of God in our souls.
There's two sides there too, somebody being offended.
Having grace and really being enjoyment of it, as you said, maybe we won't be offended or at least very shortly and be able to deal with it, but.
Weaken more, deal with the world saying things to us. But when someone that's one of our brethren, our family says something that can really hurt and that's harder to deal with. Someone that you expect to support you and surround you and love you and they do it. Maybe they're not being gracious and then we respond not being in the enjoyment of grace. Like you said, brother, Well, we got a problem there and maybe you can recover from it before it becomes a root. But there's a.
An expression I heard a long time ago, I don't know who taught it to me. And there's a brother back home. And I told him one day I said, brother, you're becoming like that. Get off my lawn, guy. Don't be that guy.
He says what do you mean? And I says that wagging finger thing in somebody's face and getting after him about something even if they need correction. That attitude is not grace. And you know what happens to that guy? And he says what I says the kids he yells at.
Run across his lawn all the more and the toilet paper his house on Halloween. All it does is get it worse. It doesn't help anyone because it's not great. And to get off my lawn guy, it's kind of a funny term, but he actually took it to heart. And there's a sense in which we don't want to be that if if we want to help somebody, don't do it like that. It won't work. It doesn't work with your own kids, doesn't work with your brother, and it won't work with the neighbors kids either. If you literally want them to keep off your lawn, there's another way to deal with it.
00:15:22
And grace? Is it grace on both sides of those things if we act in an ungracious way and offend someone?
We're contributing to that. And if that person that's offended doesn't, isn't living in the good of grace, then this root can spring up. And I guarantee you that all of us know people in our families or relatives or even in meetings where this very thing is taking place and years later.
There's this angry, bitter person and you see a whole family affected. You see assemblies affected. You see things going on. You find out, well, I haven't talked to my brother in 10 years. Things like that come out. And this is what it's warning about. And you know, the Scripture also tells us don't give offense, don't take offense. And being in the enjoyment of grace helps with both sides. That doesn't it?
Probably use this verse for a lot of different things, but I've enjoyed Second Timothy.
Last chapter.
Verse 22.
Says the Lord Jesus Christ, be with thy spirit.
Or attitude.
You mentioned attitude, Sam.
And so really it would be that we would have the attitude of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so if we had that and everything that we did.
These things wouldn't really be a problem, would they?
Sinking back, even.
Not to go too far, but the father of spirits that were mentioned yesterday.
So.
You know, in our personal lives as a father, we recognize what our children are doing much by their attitude.
And the way they behave. And so the Father of spirits detects our attitude and knows it too, doesn't he? So these things which which?
That we're speaking about now.
Most surely if we took on the attitude of Christ and walked in those things.
We'd be walking in a sense of meekness and loneliness, and there would be grace all around, wouldn't there?
Well, brother, if you offended me, said something to me.
And you really did.
Unmerited favor from me would be to treat you in a way that you don't deserve.
I might think you deserve to be responded to or really clamp down on, but that's what Brother Wally was saying about living in the good of the grace. And maybe it stings at first. You know, there's a sense in which when things happen, events happen. They can happen suddenly. So if I walk up behind someone and go Boo, they're going to jump. It's what you do next. And when something happens, somebody says something, something happens. You may be surprised by an anger flares up.
Or there's resentment. And then what do you do next? If you get help from the Lord and you're in the goodness of grace, you're going to go well, Yeah, OK, Well, maybe my brother had a bad day, maybe he's having a bad moment, maybe whatever. And then you don't go down that road and you treat them with unmerited favor.
The secret is to realize how much we've been forgiven, isn't it? Yes. And when you think of how much we've been forgiven, brethren.
It's like that parable, the likeness of the Kingdom, Matthew 18.
The first servant was forgiven 10,000 talents, an incredible amount of debt. He had no clue how much he owed. But then he goes out and gets a hold of a fellow servant that had a very small debt and he wants to choke him and he won't forgive him and he throws him into prison.
That's brethren, when we get resentful in our hearts is because we've forgotten how much we've been forgiven. Lord, help us not to forget.
00:20:03
With what measure you meet up to others shall be meted unto you. Did I get that right? That one scares me.
Said a couple verses to that.
Spirit of the man is the candle of the Lord, we read in Proverbs.
It says having us in the heart of man makes this stupid. A good word maketh the glad. It also says a wounded spirit who can bear.
A wounded spirit is not a bad spirit. A wounded spirit is not an unforgiving spirit, Hannah prayed and said. I'm a woman of a sorrowful spirit.
So these things are very real that the Lord values and we don't want to have dispersions and again, not taking anything away from the thought of the bitter spirit, but just like to add this to what our brother Bob brought out of Esau. You know Proverbs 2323 says by the truth and sell it. Not also wisdom and instruction and understanding. He saw as a picture of a man's soul.
But I love the passage in First Kings 21 about a man that refused to sell. He bought the truth, you might say, and sold it not.
Reading corporate verses in First Kings 21 about Nabar.
I believe to have brings before us the distinction between the birthright and the blessing. Bob already mentioned the blessing is that material thing and Esau.
Was devastated that it was taken from him and he wanted a revenge on his brother for taking it from him. The birthright he couldn't have cared less. So when Aboth when Ahab comes to Naboth because he wants his vineyard and verse two AF speaking and Ebola saying, give me thy vineyard that I may have it for a garden of earth because it is near into my house, and I will give thee for a better vineyard than it. Or if it seemed good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. What? How more reasonable could you be?
I'll give you a better piece of property or I'll give you hard cash for it. Very reasonable proposition.
Neva said they have the Lord permitted thee that I should give the inheritance of my father's?
That's the birthright that connects with the inheritance.
Remember that in Luke 15 Don't leave, where the older son was so put out with the largesse and his father to his younger brother. He said, Thou never gave us me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends.
Father excluded.
We wanted the material blessing, but he didn't want it in association with his father. I believe that's a great burden for us here. The great contrast. How could you value something so greatly and value so something else so closely related, so little? I believe it. Naboff is a happy picture of the opposite of Naboff or opposite of Esau. Sold for a very small price. Naboth would not sell, and it cost him his life.
What's our inheritance then?
Naboth had had something that he got from the Lord. It wasn't just happen chance. It wasn't something to buy and sell or trade.
We have something in association with the Lord Jesus, don't we?
Hi.
I think I made a mistake brother, and I think I.
Suggested we go ahead and it wasn't the mind of the Lord.
So I want to go back to.
Verse.
14.
Follow peace with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.
That beautifully connects with our second verse.
Which we went over in our first reading.
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith.
I really enjoyed the hymn that was given out the beginning.
I think the Lord wants us to be occupied with Him.
We need to see this inheritance, don't we? We need to see him.
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It's not a it's not a question of do's and don'ts. I know that's not what our brethren are saying, but.
It's his person. You can't see him if there's quarreling or we're not peace and holiness.
We had him very much before us this morning.
His Holiness.
The beauty of His Holiness that's in Psalms.
You can't have peace without righteousness.
And I would think that righteousness is connected with holiness. Maybe somebody can.
And I'll find it too, or give the distinction between the two. But there's one thing that we see here is that.
Without.
Holiness.
No man shall see the Lord. What does that mean?
I believe that this has to do with our fellowship with the Lord.
I don't think it has to do with our eternal salvation.
But you know, it's been said, there's nothing stronger.
Than the bond of relationship.
But there's nothing more fragile than the threat of communion or fellowship. And so if we allow sin in our life, you know, it can be just a little sin, it's going to interrupt our enjoyment of the Lord.
And with respect to seeing the Lord and being conscious of His presence.
Knowing that he is with us.
It's very important.
I believe that.
We follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Enjoy the Lord's presence, joy, fellowship, communion with the Lord.
This is what brings happiness and joy into our souls. You know we can have peace.
But I think.
Even we might have a subtle peace in our souls that all is well for time and eternity.
I'm not happy. Why is this? Because I'm not enjoying fellowship with the Lord Jesus.
The apostle John in the first epistle he spoke about how our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son.
Jesus Christ.
And then he goes on to speak of these things. Have I written unto you that your joy may be full?
Fellowship.
Fellowship.
With the Father and with the son. It requires holiness.
Is that the right thought?
But it all connects then with the following verses, verses 18 where we read brother and I think that is so important. He contrasts 2 Mounts Mount Sinai and verse 18 through 21 and then Mount Zion verse 22.
Through.
24 And it's good to see the contrast between law.
And grace and look at it verse 18 ye are not come unto the mouth that might be touched. There's always the tendency to.
Return to the principle of law and responsibility.
But to realize that's not where we've come to verse 22. You are come unto Mount Zion.
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That's great. And so he contrasts these two. It's interesting.
Verse 18 seems to refer back to the giving of the law in Exodus 19. If you go back there and notice how the people.
Put themselves It was their decision to put themselves under responsibility toward God on the principle of law.
Chapter 19 of Exodus and verse 8.
And all the people answered together.
And said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.
So they put themselves under.
Law, the principle of law, and immediately.
The Lord says, set bounds around the mountain. Take heed to yourselves, verse 12 That you do not up into the mount or touch the border of it. Whosoever touches the mount shall surely be put to death.
Pretty scary, frankly speaking. And so that's Mount Sinai. And then in the next chapter you have.
The 10 commandments, the law given and.
That's not where we've come to, brother. Oh, how wonderful to realize that's not where we've come to.
We've come to Mount Zion.
The beautiful place of grace. That's where we stand before God. That's the only place we can stand before God.
Maybe it'd be nice to go back to Psalm 78.
This principle of why why Mount Zion stands for grace, I think it comes out in this chapter.
It's it's a song here that recounts a lot of the history of Israel by Asaph and starting with.
I'll start with verse.
6.
No, let's see.
Verse 66. This is referring to the time of Eli the priest.
When the Tabernacle was in Shiloh and Jerusalem wasn't known to be the center yet, but it says in verse 66 And he smote his enemies in the hinder parts, and they put them in a perpetual reproach. Moreover, he refused the Tabernacle of Joseph.
And chose not the tribe of Ephraim, but chose the tribe of Judah, the Mount Zion, which he loved. And he built his sanctuary like high places, like the earth, which he had established forever. He chose David also his servant, and took him from the sheepfold, and so on in verse 72.
He so he fed them according to the integrity of his heart.
And guided them by the skillfulness of his hands.
You see the Lord taking away the blessing from one place.
Because of their failure and instead of the Lord.
As it were, rejecting Israel totally, he introduces something new here, a new tribe to be the one to praise him. And it was referred to Judas name meaning praise and so.
00:35:03
I I think that fits in with with Mount Zion in our chapter. You have first the failure under law.
And what what that does is it opens up the ability for God to open up in free grace, unmerited favor.
Openly to all because it's been proved that man in his previous trial has failed. No one has succeeded.
No one can complain about God now if God gives undeserved fail favor.
This is the, this is the wonderful thing about what he does here in Judah. And he blesses and he, he calls this place Mount Zion, and he gives them a new start, a new center on basis of grace. So it's a picture, of course, but the principle holds in the Old Testament. That is what and the fullness of grace could come out in the New Testament.
After Israel had failed. And so it's it's, it's a beautiful demonstration here of the what the fullness of what God does. And of course, in our chapter, it's not only just law and grace, but it's earth and heaven. I think it's even more distinctly in our chapter, it's when man fails on earth and they reject his son, his son exalted into heaven. And then God does even a better thing.
And that's what Hebrews is about, the better things. And it's on the basis of grace, of course.
And so.
Another verse that in Zechariah in the Old Testament.
I think it's Zachariah.
I can find it.
Around the 4th chapter maybe?
It's the word. It's uses expression and grace. Grace to it.
Yeah, it is. It's right there. It was written. We're supposed to have been in my Bible.
Verse six I'll start with. Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord, and is a rubble, saying, not by might, nor by power, but my by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts, Who art thou, O great mountain?
Before Zerubbabel, thou shalt become a plain.
And he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shouting, crying.
Grace, grace unto it.
Beautiful expression here we we we quote the verse about not by might and power and, and rightly so, and and the salvation of souls and the preaching of the gospel. But it's also a picture of.
Elijah and Moses kind of ministry of grace and of might and power.
To convert people to be followers of the Lord. And so when that fails, God says, OK, got one more trial, yet I got one more better way of doing it. Grace, grace to it.
Sold its birthright for a morsel of meat, he said. I'm going to die anyway, So what does it matter?
Most of the meat is a very tangible thing. You're hungry, your food, you eat it. Birthright is sort of less tangible thing and the very our nature goes off to that which can be touched and seen and heard. It naturally craves that. And you know, children are like that. They have things that they cling to and they don't want to give up.
And these Israelites, these Hebrews, that was their tendency to to cling to that which that they were familiar with. That was, as it says here come to mountain that might be touched, burned with fire during the blackness and darkness and Tempest the sound of the trumpet and voice of words which voice they had heard and treated them and so on. So there was a there was a real tendency to go back to that like that Mosul of meat that and and treat the things that.
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God had provided skipping a lot of verses, but it speaks of Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, to a lot of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
Abel's blood clot for vengeance for as Christ pull out on the mercy seat as that which allows us to approach God in the 10th chapter of Hebrews that speaks of.
Thereof treating.
Umm counted the blood of the covenant with you was sanctified and unholy thing.
I'm not sure there. Oh yeah, it is exactly in King and J&D. It says a common thing not to value it. And so there was a real danger I think with these.
The writer of the book of Hebrews assumes reality, but allows for mere profession. So I think it's important to see that when we read the book of Hebrews that although he is assuming reality throughout it, he leaves room for that there might be just mere profession, a danger that those things that God had provided would be treated as common and revoting back to that which the.
Natural man hankers after.
God put men through the test.
And I believe the Jewish nation was indeed a test plot.
Of humanity.
See if there would be some good in man in the first man. And so we find that man might say takes the stage and he says all that the Lord has said will we do? How presumptuous but the performance.
Is absolutely horrible.
The first man cannot produce any good for God.
There's no good in the flesh, and the law appeals to the flesh.
So what does God do? I believe in the Old Testament in a sense. God is passive and he lets man have his way.
With a performance, but it's.
No good. So the curtains are pulled on man's performance and now God becomes active.
In Grace and his son might Say, takes the stage.
And we see how that God, through his Son, performs.
Which is absolutely beautiful.
And it's all of grace. We come into an enjoyment.
Of salvation, forgiveness of sins justified by His grace.
We enjoy a relationship with God as our Father. It's all of grace.
And yet we find that the Jew would revert to that which.
He could not.
Do. In fact it tells us here they could not endure that which was commanded.
And so we find in Christianity, God is introducing that which is entirely.
Separate from Judaism, and yet here are these ones that want to adhere.
To a religion.
It only condemns him.
And that they cannot.
Carry out.
And we see the contrast between this.
Mount.
Sinai.
It's a place to be feared and.
What a contrast, though, to Mount Zion, where we find that it reaches up, you might say, right into heaven. We have reference to the heavenly Jerusalem, city of the living God, and so on.
That's where Grace puts us, you know.
Grace does that for you and me that the law never could. Race elevates us and puts us in the glory. We don't deserve it, but that's what God has in mind because.
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He's the God of all grace.
It's wonderful to see the contrast, I believe.
Setting of fear, haven't they? That's the context of verses 18 to 21.
And what a sorrow it is to be under that cloud of fear continually.
When?
Race has been made known and we have grace. I was at a funeral a while ago.
And the person who took the service, I guess he was a designated priest. It was a Catholic system and.
The man made this comment. He asked everyone in attendance that we would pray for Peter.
In the.
Days and weeks and months and years and decades to come. Pray for the deliverance of his soul.
That's the that's the system of fear. Just as a footnote to that story, his daughter remembers the Lord with us every Lord's day, and she rejoices in it.
She's moved on to Greece.
The leaders of Israel.
The attention around the Lord Jesus Christ and.
In John's Gospel, 11 Said, What do we?
They said the Romans are going to come and take away our place and our nation, and so they sold their birthright.
For their place in their nation, which they soon lost.
They sold their birthright for a hill of beans.
And if these Jewish believers were to turn back to that, they would be doing the same thing.
They would be selling.
All that they had been brought into.
And the blessings of Christianity.
Back to.
What amounted to a hill of beans?
I can put it that way. I don't mean to be profane in the way I take it up.
We as believers have been brought into many privileges and blessings.
And there's a very practical warning for our souls and the exhortation.
We can sell our birthright.
For a moment of pleasure.
You mentioned a fornicator.
We can sell our.
Privileges.
The place that is ours at the Lord's Table.
Those things that belong to every believer.
For a moment of pleasure.
We may lose those privileges for the rest of our time here in the government of God.
It's a solemn thing.
It's not the direct teaching of the chapter, but it's a very practical application for us.
Living in days like that, where that which is sacred is treated as common.
The place of a man and a woman in Scripture is very clear, very distinct, and the effort to try to destroy those differences.
Is profanity is what it is. It's it's terrible and we need to keep to God's principles, his precious word. Oh, how wonderful it is.
But I'd like to get down to these verses, brethren, and verse 22 forward.
Ye are come. Here's where we are come to brethren. And if you'll notice in the King James and also the Darby, there are 8 distinct things that are mentioned and they're separated by the word and.
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I'll just read it here and put emphasis on the end because I think that shows how this is to read. Ye are come unto Mount Zion grace like we have been mentioned and.
Unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.
And to an innumerable company of angels.
To the General Assembly.
And Church of the first born, which are written in heaven.
And to God, the Judge of all.
And to the spirits of just men made perfect the Old Testament believers.
And to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and.
To the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel.
So here's where we've come to, brethren, and to me it's something to meditate on these different things that we have come to in Christianity.
Bob, do you want to distinguish what those different things are, at least some of them. And and don't put the question back on me.
But but I do that, but I just make this one comment. It really throws covenant theology out the door, doesn't it? I mean, that's one one of the ways that you could view it. The distinction between the just been made perfect, the Church of the the Church of the first born and so on. These are different families, as it were, but I'm not I I.
Whatever you want to put it my lack of.
Knowledge in these things. I'll have to stand beside you brother and say the same thing.
But we can make a few comments, perhaps of something we understand. I find it very interesting. The city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.
Well, we have.
Revelation chapter 21.
About that city of the living God.
I find that extremely interesting to think about. I don't know that I understand that much about it.
But there are distinct.
Descriptions from verse chapter 21 from verse one to seven is about the heavenly Jerusalem in the eternal day, whereas when you come to verse 9 forward down into chapter 22 verse five, you have a heavenly Jerusalem in the millennial day.
Because it speaks about the nations of the earth. There's no nations mentioned in eternity that's millennial. And it speaks of gates and walls of the city. There will be no need of gates and walls in eternity because righteousness dwells. There's no sin in existence.
So it's interesting to think about. I have to admit my own limitation on that. Others can help out, perhaps.
I think it ties back to Chapter 11 as well.
And verse 10, where he looked for a city which hath foundations, his builder and Maker is gone.
Jerusalem was about to be destroyed.
This is God's.
You might say final appeal.
To the believers in Jerusalem, that was a temporal abode and it was going to be destroyed in the government of God. Abraham looked for a permanent dwelling. He looked for something that God had founded. City is a place where people live, and he was looking for something that was permanent, founded by God.
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Not the tent that he had here that got picked up and moved from place to place while Jerusalem on earth was about to be destroyed. And he directs their thoughts to a permanent abode above. And of course, in Revelation, we have specifically more the aspect of of the church brought out. I think maybe with Hebrews here, it's more the aspect of a permanent abode. It's never going to change. It's founded by God. It's the city that Abram looked for.
However.
While he understood it, we don't know, but here it's presented to them. Leave Jerusalem behind, you've got a better permanent abode above.
I've often wondered, Steve.
Where Abraham got to know about that city? It does say in Acts Chapter 7 that the God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham. We don't know much about what he saw in that appearing.
When it was when he was still in Mesopotamia.
But perhaps he must have seen a city, and he was looking for that city.
And that's why he always lived in a tent. He was a rich man, 318 servants. It's a pretty wealthy man, but he never had anything more than a tent. And that interest find out really challenging. Are we looking for that city brother, or are we looking for a city down here?
Everything down here, we find at the end is going to be shaken. That city is not going to be shaken. It has foundations that were built by God.
It's rests on Christ. It's not going to be shaken.
Has any been built in that state for 2000?
What's that? Hasn't he been building that city for 2000 years? I think it's built, brother built, and it's headed this way then.
Isn't it going to be in the sky above the earth?
Both in the Millennium and in the eternal state.
Well, that's interesting point. I take it that in the millennial day there will be a distance because sin will still be in the earth. That's why there's a need of walls and gates. But you don't read about walls and gates in the eternal state in the first verses. And there doesn't seem to be distance there because it says the Tabernacle of God is with men.
And he shall dwell with him, so there is no need of distance.
To say, I know I struggled with this years ago. I remember going to Gordon Hayhoe to try and understand what the difference was. And he says you, you can't mix the two together. In a way, this is taking up a different aspect of things in Revelation. And so this is a permanent abode above in contrast to the temporalness of this earth below. And it's called the heavenly Jerusalem, just as in Galatians.
Jerusalem, which is above, is the mother of us all, is not exactly the same as what we get in Revelation, which is very specifically the church and millennial glory. And so I can't say I understand it all. I wish I did better. But I do think there is a distinction in those things though. Jerusalem is the name in each one, right? One is above, one is here, the city of the living God. The other I think is a church and in the millennial glory and administration.
Hebrew does not take up church truth.
It doesn't take up the fullness of the Christian position. As we mentioned earlier in the readings, you only have father mentioned one time in this book. It's not the subject is the father of spirits. It's not that relationship. So you do have to have only company though. I think that's just the point that the spirits adjustment they made perfect. It's all the heavenly company we know from Ephesians three of every family in heaven. It's not only the church, it's the holy Jerusalem. Revelation is clearly the church.
But here it seems to be expanded beyond that all those that would have a heavenly portion. And so as we consider that that the apostle presumably fall. But the unnamed prophet of the unnamed writer of this of this epistle is addressing Jews still believing Jews, but not in the fullness of the Christian position. And so even, you know, go down further. We have the innumerable company of angels. Well, that's a very Jewish character of things we.
01:00:30
See it in these different expressions as have been brought out.
But I, I do think that there's something that relates to, it's called the heavenly Jerusalem. And so.
How to do that? I, I. I'm not sure.
Well, if we say something.
Like if somebody mentioned history.
Nick had talked about history and enjoying history back when the soldiers were coming back to this country. They had parades in New York and the newspaper might say something like the city turned out to greet the troops. Were they talking about the buildings? No.
People and when we see this Jerusalem that represents the church.
The church is going to be a resurrected group of people that have bodies. They're not going to just float in the sky empty. Seems to me that that which represents the church is because the church is dwelling in a city that God built and it's going to float in the sky. I mean, I don't see that as a far stretch of anything.
And why would the other part not have gates? Well, when you don't need gates, you remove them.
I've really enjoyed thinking about this innumerable company of angels to the General Assembly. We know that the angelic hosts are part of God's creation.
And superior to humankind because when the Lord Jesus became a man, it says in Hebrews 2 he was made a little lower than the angels. So very interesting.
I like to ask people if you have ever seen an Angel.
And.
I get, look, I'm kind of a questioning look. It's something that you don't really know. Have you or have you not? I think we probably have.
Because they appear as humankind.
Two angels and the Lord came to Abraham in Genesis 18.
Abraham prepared them a meal.
And they ate it. Did you know that angels eat food?
There you have it. I find that very interesting to think about.
Remember our brother I sometimes visited in Cochabamba, Bolivia. He wasn't gathered with us, but like to go over and share the things the Lord with him and.
He says, you know, brother, I always am careful about.
Somebody that comes to my gate and knocks.
It might be an Angel.
And they come unaware, and so they are very real, part of God's creation.
And the scripture speaks.
The women cover their heads when they pray for prophecy.
Not merely when we're gathered in assembly.
Thankful our sisters are careful to do that, but it's any place where you pray or prophecy.
You to cover your head because of the angels. It says not only the sisters cover their head but the brothers. Be careful that they have their hats off when they pray or prophecy.
And the angels learn in us. Let's just look at that verse in.
Ephesians chapter 3. I find it very interesting.
After three of Ephesians and verse.
10.
Speaking about the mystery of the church, and it says to the intent that now.
Unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places.
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That's the angelic hosts might be known by the church.
The manifold wisdom of God. So the angels are observing us here this afternoon. I'm sure there is angelic hosts here that are observing us and they learn in the church the manifold wisdom of God. They don't have the Holy Spirit to teach them like we do.
But they are present, and I find that very interesting to think about. We've come to this innumerable company of angels.
Whether you mentioned that we are lower now, but in that day we will be above them.
And when it says, Know ye not, you shall judge angels.
There's a future day that's just unbelievable. We've been told that it's beyond our thoughts, so it's beyond our imagination what God has prepared for us. He gives us little windows into these things that we might see them and this innumerable company of angels.
Know ye not you shall judge angels. Wow. I mean, there's all kinds of things that are just marvelous. When we see that city, that new city, we see the description of revelation and so forth. The beauty of it, it can't even begin to describe probably the reality of it, but we get a little picture of what we've come to. And as you mentioned earlier, far better, so far, better, so far above, so way beyond anything that had to do with what the law had.
When we were in Brazil, this last visit heard a very touching story of a sister.
Who was in need and she's gathered now.
But at that point she was in a denomination that was very strict about tithing and helping poor. And she was married to a husband that was abusive and no provider. And so she had her children and they often went days without food and they made these campaigns of.
Providing food for the needy and she never had the courage to tell them that she was one of them, but they.
Required of their congregation each to give 10% and so she gave her 10% one day.
When her children were hadn't eaten for over 2 days they cried and she told them the Lord will provide.
And she tucked him into bed and went into her room and prayed.
And a little while later, a man knocked on the door.
And delivered 5 bags of groceries and set them on the there and said these are for you.
Then he left.
They lived a month on that food.
My wife said was he an Angel?
Said I don't know.
Very likely was an Angel.
If he wasn't an Angel, he was sent by the Lord. And my comment at this is that the Lord uses angels today for those of us who are heirs of salvation, and has been commented they observe in us. But in Hebrews in chapter 26, it says, For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak?
Our verse here that we're going over distinguishes the place of angels.
And we were commenting about the.
The city.
To me, the concept of city has the concept of administration that that Abraham didn't participate in all his lifetime and he looked for that city. The Millennium will be that city of administration through the Saints, not angels. That's my comment on it.
Yes, and today he uses angels in administrative affairs, doesn't he in in government circles to influence. It's interesting in the book of Daniel, if you go to Chapter 9 and 10, we don't have time to go to it now, but you'll find in both of those chapters, an Angel appears to Daniel. Chapter 9, he's praying and he gets his answer immediately, Gabriel.
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Comes to him and gives him the prophecy of the 70 weeks, which is such a tremendously helpful key to understanding prophecy. But in chapter 10 he prays and he doesn't get his answer for three weeks.
What happened? Why the delay? When he appears to Daniel, he says I've been with the Prince of Persia and now that I'm going again, I'm going to the Prince of Greece. It was the time when the Persian Empire was changing to the Grecian Empire, and God had his angelic hosts in position in those things to take care of his interests. So I think that is very.
Helpful to see that God controls things. People think they're in control.
Brethren, it may appear that way, but behind the scenes?
Our God is in control and he uses angelic hosts today. Like you say, Doug, it's in the millennial day. He's not going to use the angels. It's going to be persons, people.
You asked a question, Bob. Has anybody ever seen an Angel? Ask John Levin. He was rescued twice, many years apart, by the same man.
The same man.
Saved his life in a riptide and years later delivered him from a situation asking the same man and then disappeared before he could thank you.
He said he told me when he told me the story, he said I know what one of my guardian angels looks like.
Ask him sometime.
Take a minute to summarize the chapter that we've had before.
It would be helpful to pull it all back together.
Brother Steve.
Let's start it out. I think we had a little outline given to us earlier that.
We have the path of faith and all the witnesses through that path in Chapter 11.
And it was going to have to be the path that they would walk now was not going to be things as we have in this chapter touched and seen and so on that they found under Judaism, but they were going to have to walk by faith. The Lord Jesus is given as the perfect example of that faith. And not only that, that he's the author and finisher. He's not only an example, but he's the leader in that He's the architect of that very path itself as well as its completer.
And.
He had an object before him, the joy that was set before him. And it's really the same with us. We're not going to be able to go on that path without Christ as the object before us and then he takes up.
Those things that might hinder us from going on in that path, and if we're not willing to resist those things, then he will come in and chase him where he needs to.
That we might be kept in that path of faith and with that object of Christ before us. And so that's his corrective ways with us and.
That we have an effect upon one another in that path. We're not in it alone. We're not in this race alone. And then he.
Brings before us a warning of those who would abandoned that and go back and be a profane person and there was really not going to be as taken up in chapter 6, renewal to repentance or an apostate when we turn back.
01:15:20
And then he brings before them the things that they left behind, you know, and him. 113 In our hymn book on Calvary, we've adoring stood is only the second-half of that hymn. The first half starts on Mount Sinai, and it really is a hymn of Hebrews 12.
And so we see those things that they're leaving behind in Judaism and all their fear. And then he opens up heaven. He starts with Mount Zion, and he goes higher and higher and higher up into heavenly things till we come to the Lord Jesus Christ himself, and then all the way back down to the earth again where his blood was shed. And so it's a wonderful ark, you might say, that goes all the way up into heaven.
And then?
Back down again and closes with.
A word of warning.
That we won't escape if we don't heed that One who speaks from heaven. He spoke on earth once, but now he speaks from heaven by the Spirit of God, and we need to hear what he has to say and obey it. And that goes back to chapter 2. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? They needed to listen.
Not only in connection with salvation, but that city and Judaism was about to be obliterated from that land, from Jerusalem.
You might say it was dead at the cross, but the corpse was about to be buried and he was really seeking to cut the apron strings that they were holding on to to Judaism, and they needed to listen if they did not.
They would not escape.
There are those things that can be shaken.
And there are those things that cannot be shaken in verse 27.
Everything material can be shaken and will be shaken.
But we receive in a Kingdom that cannot be moved or cannot be shaken.
Of brethren, these things that we have in Christianity are solid. Lord Jesus said, heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. So that's the importance of building our lives on the revelation that we have now in Christianity.
There are those things that cannot be shaken. How wonderful. And I see.
The way things are going in this world, it is incredible the changes in these last few years. I say what's going on?
Dear young people, build on those things that cannot be shaken. If you're going to build on things that can be shaken, they're not going to last very long. They're going to soon be gone. So he says verse 28, wherefore we receive in the Kingdom which cannot be shaken, Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably.
With reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire.
Lord help us, brethren.
On the ground of grace, we can continue.
We can lay hold on that which cannot be shaken.
Why does it close with?
Our God is a consuming fire.
Has not changed morally and change of dispensation.
He is what he is morally, always what he has been and always what he will be.
01:20:00
And we don't want to forget that, that though we're under grace and all the things that have been presented to us, He still is a holy God that we serve.
Heuristic and Christianity. But if you reject Christianity, that's that's the God that's left to you.
In Isaiah 33.
Verse 14.
Speaking of the earthly Zion, the sinners in Zion are afraid. Trembling hath surprised the hypocrites.
Of the overrun of the Gentiles, won't they? But the Lord will come in glory. Who among us shall dwell with the consuming fire? That's not hell, that's the Person of God.
How could you be at home there?
Who among us shall dwell with everlasting claims?
He that walketh righteously.
And speaketh.
Uprightly that despises the gain of oppression, that shaketh his hands from the holding, taking a hold of bribes, but stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing of evil. He shall dwell on high. The fortresses of the rocks shall be his high retreat. Bread shall be given him, his water shall be sure. Thine eye shall see the King in his beauty. They shall behold the land that is far off.
That's that's going to be for earthly people, isn't it wonderful? But they're going to be at home.
Our God is a consuming fire. Awesomeness.
Of the.
Holiness of God has been greatly lost.
Today in the Church.
A sense of awe. We hear the word awesome misused often.
But God is awesome.
We have peace with God in our Lord Jesus Christ. We can be at home.
Far off a reminder of Abraham waiting for that city.
Builder and maker was gone.
In a while, I thought.
When you go back to the Old Testament.
It speaks about God speaking from heaven. They didn't want to hear his voice anymore.
And then this verse 25 in the end says, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven.
Well, I'll wait a minute. He was on earth and I finally laid hold of it. That oh, what's the sense?
There's a resurrected man that speaks from heaven.
That's the one to listen to. He's there, my righteousness as a risen man.
I thought this word promise was kind of strange in verse 26. Now he hath promised yet more. I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. That doesn't sound like a very good promise, but there's a reason he's going to get rid of all that's not of God.
In certain by constancy.
01:25:01
Or day trade quickly.
Quickly to return.
And destroy.
Of fresh snippers.
Or teach me quickly to return.
However, dear to which were declared by knowing Lord.
Which was detained my spirit here.
Where my good life, Saint George?
Ride my Savior set me free.
To look at the long and great party.
Promise, my Savior.
Set me free.
Till I have all the one.
And wait for thee.
I'm distracted and wait for.
Thee.
Gospel 2
Gospel—Bill Brockmeier
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 was thinking in Jeremiah 37, it was a dark day in Israel's history. Babylonians are ready to come down and attack, and there was a feckless and a reckless king on the throne. His name was Zedekiah and he came to Jeremiah at night. He said, is there any word from the Lord?
Jeremiah said there is.
And there's a word from the Lord tonight.
And there is a savior #10 let's. I think it would be a nice, happy thing if we could stand together and sing this.
Invigorating gospel song #10.
There is.
A.
Great sword in the sailor, in the savage.
This world, one stranger.
To my dream.
Hey Sir, all the round him and all the mercy star heard from sin.
And now he's on hold on the throne.
Oh Elder Jesus.
Thank you. Always say no respect.
You receive me by faith in their heart.
00:05:03
Oh, oh God to Jesus Christ. Jesus.
Isaiah One has been referred to a couple times in the conference and I would like to turn there to begin with.
For a verse that has not been read.
Isaiah, chapter one.
And verse 3.
The ox knoweth his owner and the *** his master's crib, but Israel does not know. My people does not consider.
When are the reference in Jeremiah chapter 8?
Yay versus Jeremiah 8 Seven. Yeah, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times. And the turtle, or the turtle dove and the crane and the swallow observe the time of their coming.
But my people know not the judgment of the Lord.
Dropped down to the middle of verse 9. Lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord.
And what wisdom?
Is in them.
Joel the Great sufferer was referred to in these meetings, and Job had three antagonists. They might have been called friends. And after one of them got through with his accusations and aspersions and Job said in a bit of a sarcastic way, he said surely you are the people and wisdom will die with you. And then he says go to the beasts of the field and they'll teach you.
For the fouls of the air, and that will tell you or the fishes of the sea, and they will declare to you.
Who are you to be telling me? But you know, there was something that.
Job had there in referencing. There's things that we can learn from the fowls of the air, the fishes of the sea.
And the beasts of the field. And we're confronted in these two verses here.
Where God is, He was speaking through his prophet Isaiah, wondering at his people, he said even an ox.
Knows his master. Even the *** knows his master's crib.
An unclean animal, he said. But my people, they don't know.
And more than not knowing, they don't consider, they don't consider. I don't know what the occasion was. My wife and I were speaking about something and we could it could apply it generally and and and my wife just said about the situation wherever the person, whatever the situation was.
Well, it wasn't malicious, they just didn't think.
And I think that was right.
But you know, sometimes and we're forgetful. We're forgetful for so many things.
But why did you forget?
And the heart reality is, sometimes you didn't think and you didn't remember because it was not that important to you.
And the Lord felt it. Israel doth not consider it just wasn't that important to them.
The state and the condition they were in. Jeremiah had a similar message, he says. The fowls of the air.
They know the appointed times when they migrate, when they nest all they have that, but my people does not know the judgment of the Lord. I'm not going to speak about animals today, but there's a few children here tonight and you know, I I was glad I've always liked animals and some of the first verses I I memorized or verses about animals and Proverbs 30.
Yan is a people not strong yet it prepares its meat in the summer. What a great lesson. That is the Ant, the insignificant Ant. But what does it do? It prepares for the future.
And that's one of the great themes of the gospel, is to prepare for the future.
Colonies are a feeble folk, yet they make either houses in the rocks. They're weak and they need a protection, and God has made a protection for them. And so there's many lessons we can learn from the lower creation. Proverbs chapter 30, this moment, I think there's 12 animals mentioned in that chapter, everything from the lion to the Leech. There's very eagles and Ravens and so on. Very interesting things that we can learn, but I want to focus just briefly tonight on this word.
00:10:11
Consider.
The sin of Israel was that they did not consider has God-given us anything?
To consider from his precious word always have read the Bible yet, but have you considered it?
Have we waited? Have we thought it through? So we'll just turn to a few verses that have to do with things that God would have us consider. Turn back to Deuteronomy chapter, Deuteronomy chapter 32 for a verse.
Deuteronomy chapter 32 and verse 29 and again God lamenting all of his people's rebellion and their sin. And he says in verse 29, oh, that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end or that might be.
Rendered all that they had been wise, they would have understood this.
They would have considered their latter end.
One benefit of getting older is you gain experiences.
And as many in the room here, I'm sure you've had experiences with those.
You've had a last conversation with them and you know it's the last conversation with them, and those are very meaningful.
And you have also noticed the end of the pathway. How did it end up? Was it in joy or was it in heart wrenching sorrow?
When my father died.
22,006 And at his gravesite I walked to see his sisters, my aunts gravesite. She had died earlier in the year. I was curious. So the the great grandparents, Brockmire, they had bought a, a plot there, a larger plot in in one of the Forest Lawn cemeteries in Southern California. So a lot of the family was together. And so I went to her grave.
And there was her name in an epitaph I'd never seen before.
It said to behold the beauty of the Lord.
I thought, what an end, what a what a what a word to consider her present portion, to behold the beauty of the Lord.
Well, sometimes we visit those that are on their deathbed and I'll say I had a boss. He was a a very, very supportive boss to me for many years, Roman Catholic. And he was a frail man. He was wiry. It doesn't mean he wasn't strong, but he was a man had a great deal of respect in the industry.
And he, he was a great supporter for me.
But I never really could get too far with him. Just basically, you're just a good Christian boy and everything's going to be OK, Bill. And. And so as he started to fail at the end, although not that old, and then his mind began to slip a little bit.
I would see him periodically in hospital or a home and then went.
I realized things are coming to a close and the Lord, this is probably the last time we're going to have a visit. I care for that man.
So we spoke, you know, and if I, if I started quoting Psalm 23, he could finish that. And I just it, it just sometimes you just you don't feel like you're making any progress in the hay way. And I finally leaned next to him and I said, calling him by name. I said, the Lord loves you. I said, the question is, do you love him?
And he said I sure do.
Last words he said to me I sure do what gave me some peace that that he knew of the Lord there at the latter end. Interestingly enough, couple months later I met the met the customer account and there's a man again known him over the years kind of a tough customer a burly guy. He's always treated me with honor and he asked me about my late boss. He said well.
That I mentioned that he he died and he said, oh, I'm sorry to hear that. He'd known him from years before. And I said, well, at the memorial service, you know, they passed out what they called a prayer card.
And one side was purported picture of Jesus, but on the other side was his name, date of birth, date of death and John 316.
So I sit here, Dave, this is what was handed out. And again, here's a man I cared for, but he's with a customer and not, not a lot of clientele. And so he looks at that, that little card. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish and have everlasting life. I didn't know where he stood.
00:15:15
He hands it back to me and says the next verse is good too.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. All those are moments of hope. Those are moments of joy. The latter end. Have you considered it? You know, there's a time when we're going to breathe our last. There will be a last meal on earth. There will be a last night's rest. There will be a last day.
And it'll be over. The path is over down here.
To consider the latter end, while we're Speaking of death, what's the whole point here?
The verses have already been quoted here. You know, says in Romans chapter 5. Not tonight. They haven't been quoted by one man.
Sin entered into the world and death.
Passed upon all men, for that all have sinned, one man being Adam.
Apologize if I didn't quote that entire verse. Sin came into the world through Adam's disobedience.
And many were made sinners as a result of that one act.
And all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, Solomon said. There is no man that doeth good and sinneth not.
Everyone of us is is staying with sin, marked with sin. The heart is deceitful above all things incurably wicked. Who could know it man has sinned and the wages of sin is death. There's a consequence to sin and it is death. That's why we're to consider our latter end. But you know, that's the great message of the gospel and we'll develop a trust a little bit tonight is that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
That the Son of God came into this world.
As a lowly manhood lived a life of perfection for 33 years and then went to the cross, there to suffer not only at the hands of man, but to suffer as we're singing in the hymn, those hours of darkness he suffered.
He suffered for sin. Now the question is, though we still will bear the consequences of our sin, there is death. Are you prepared for that hour? Do you know Christ as your Savior? Do you know that one who went into death that you might have life, who offers salvation full and free to you? To consider our latter end, let's turn to.
I'm going to go a little different order than I thought. Turn over to Hebrews chapter 12.
This scripture was read in our readings.
Verse 3.
Four. Consider him.
It was noted that that might be otherwise translated or considered well.
Pardon me. I'm going to glance over the side to the margin of the Darby. And by the way.
For younger brothers, one of the best tools you can have in understanding the scripture is get a get a get a Darby translation or a parallel translation in his notes. The notes are an education in and of themselves. But let me just read the note on that verse. Consider well he says the Greek here is 2 way so as to judge its value.
And sometimes in comparison with other things, to consider him to weigh so as to judge.
Its value, you know, on this 12Th chapter, it's commented in the readings in Chapter 11. There's these wonderful examples of those.
Who live by faith. And then the writer says, looking off unto Jesus.
Psalmist could say, turn away mine eyes from holding vanity.
But that's not the point of this verse. He says, turn away your eyes for beholding those great example of faith, and look off unto Jesus, not only the great example, but the great object of faith and the one that went into death. Consider him. Consider him who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest she be worried and faint in your mind. Well, that's encouragement for the believer.
That.
The contradiction of sinners, that's what what you and I might encounter in this world.
Consider Him He endure. He endured that. Don't be discouraged, He went through that as well. But go back to verse 2 where it says He endured the cross.
00:20:01
Despise the shame, but he endured the cross. No, those hours of darkness when.
There were those at the cross there, it says, sitting down. They watched him there. They did not sit down as we sometimes sing with a Doreen eye. They sat there with an unholy stare and the blessed Savior hanging there upon the cross.
Sitting down, they watched him there.
But then the hour came, and Godzilla said no more.
Man's eye will look upon him, but there was something further. And in those hours of darkness.
The Lord Jesus suffered for sin. My God, my God, why hast thou?
Forsaken me.
Our fathers trusted in thee. They trusted, and they were delivered.
But I am a worm, and no man, No, there was deliverance for all the patriarchs of old. But in that dark hour.
As the Lord Jesus suffered for sin, there was number deliverer, His cry was not heard, and there was that mighty work of atonement, that which is sealed.
From any human eye to behold what transpired, there is God poured out his.
Almighty wrath against sin, against his beloved Son, His delight, his beloved become flesh, the Lord Jesus.
I grew up there was a.
Older brother in the assembly that used to say, the only way we will ever know the depths of his suffering and the anguish is by the the exceeding greatness of our joy forever. How low he went, so are to consider him. There was a full atonement that was made there. We know, consequent upon that cry. It is finished what happened. The veil of the temple was written to from the top to the bottom immediately.
God answered that.
And a veil was rent, and the rocks rent. And then we know that on the first day of the week, the Lord Jesus.
Rose from the dead. There was an empty tomb sign, another proof of that work. It was satisfied. It would not be satisfactory. It was to God's glory.
And delight, and he would exalt that Blessed One to the highest place in heaven.
So the work has been complete.
But it says consider him well to weigh and judge his value. Turn back to a verse in Zechariah chapter nine. I think it is.
Because the greatness of the work.
Has been declared.
It's sufficient.
God has come out in blessing.
But the question is where do you stand in relationship to that Zechariah?
Chapter.
Well, let's see, maybe it's umm.
11.
Zechariah Chapter 11 The Prophet speaking. But again, this is.
Almost a way of an analogy, a little bit of an obscure way. It's a prophecy of the Lord Jesus. Zechariah 11/13.
And the Lord said unto me, Cast it, I'm sorry. Verse 12 And I said unto them, If you think good.
Give me my price, and if not for bear, So they wait for my price, 30 pieces of silver. And the Lord said unto me, Cast it into the Potter, a goodly price that I was prized at of them. And I took the 30 pieces of silver and cast them to the Potter in the House of the Lord. Well, you know this prefigures the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, who delivered the Lord Jesus into the hands of the religious leaders for 30.
This is a silver and sometimes the common is made. Just think of Judas Iscariot willing to give up the Lord Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. We go back to Exodus 21. I think it is to find that that was the value of a male servant.
And we say think of Judas.
Selling Jesus, giving his soul up for 30 pieces of silver. But that's not the point of this chapter.
The point of this chapter is the nation.
And they effectively said we won't give you anything more than that.
00:25:01
It's not worth anything more than that. That's what we'll give.
And Judas took it.
What's he worth to you tonight? I love a incident I heard about a brother.
He went up to a young boy, he said what do you think of the Lord Jesus? He said, I think a lot of him.
You think a lot of him, you love him. Consider him to consider the.
Pathway of suffering. The one who showed kindness.
You marvel at the contrast of the blessed Son of God here on earth, dispensing, blessing and man's treatment of Him.
I think of the spit of the Lord Jesus, the spittle. How did he use it to heal a blind man's eyes? To heal a deaf man's ears? To open the tongue of the blind? Even his spit was traced with blessing. And yet the blessed Son of God, the one who always showed out the kindness and goodness of God, he was spit upon twice.
Won by the religious leaders and once by the soldiers.
You know that hurts perhaps even more than all the physical blows. And it hurts in a different way because it hurts the soul, not only the body. It isn't only hatred, it's contempt, it's disdain. It's loathing. That person, the blessed Lord Jesus, endured it all.
And as that sheep dung before shears soil he opened not his mouth consider him. Our time is going. So I want to go back to just one more in the the book of Job.
Job Chapter 37.
This is Allahu speaking to Job.
And he says in verse 14, Hearken unto this, O Job, stand still.
And consider the wondrous works of God. And then over in Psalm 8.
Psalm 8.
O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name and all the earth, who hast set thy glory above the heavens.
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of an enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy in the avenger.
When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained.
What is man that thou art mindful of him, and the Son of man that thou visitest him? We could go on with this very prophetic song, but I just want to call attention to this in connection with what we had in Job, when I consider thy heavens the work of Thy fingers.
I suppose at different times we've all had.
Stress and strains and pressures and sometimes it's.
It's gotten real tough.
Remember one time a good number of years ago, it seemed like there wasn't peace on any hand. You know, if things are problematic at work, well, then you got the piece of the assembly. Things are problematic at assembly. At least there's the productivity at work. But both cases it was, it wasn't good and.
You know, felt like I was in the crosshairs there.
And.
Couldn't sleep Quoted Philippians 46 Be full of anxiety about nothing, but by everything, by prayer and supplication, let your request be made known unto God, and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding shall guard your height and heart and mind through Christ Jesus. There it is.
Wasn't getting it. There were no peace.
Well, humble yourselves into the mighty hand of God, that He might exalt you in due time, casting all your cares upon Him, for He careth for you.
King James Darby, I could quote. It just wasn't, you know, it was still the same.
So in the house where we lived at that time, a little balcony outside the outside, the bedroom over the garage.
You look up at the stars and again, this is more city, but even there we can see a few stars.
Look there you see the Big Dipper coming down.
Direction is and you follow the arc up. There's Polaris North Star right at the end of the street. Look at those stars.
Those are star same stars that Abraham looked at.
How soothing this is to realize the power of God. Say, what is man?
00:30:02
Who am I? Who are those that would cause me a little bit of disturbance in view of the greatness of God? Thy heavens consider the wondrous works of God. We enjoy sometimes just going to the ocean to see the mighty power of the ocean, and how soothing that is to see the mighty power of God.
Two weeks ago yesterday.
I worked in the morning, it was a Saturday and and I supposed to be working out in the afternoon, but instead I dozed off in the garage and I hear this.
I come to and it's the neighbors grandson. She's been in the hospital and he came over to visit.
A very.
A real intellectual, a very humble man, a boy going for his master's in geology. We've had some discussions and.
You know, got some challenges, but kind of talked a little bit. I was grandma and.
And just stood there.
So it's often didn't talk about talk about your studies and one thing led to another.
And.
He basically could give a lecture on philosophy and science. And I'm, he's way over in my head in a lot of these things. And so we were talking a little bit of philosophy and I, I referenced the Epicureans and the Stoics, you know, and they're in their philosophies when, when Paul had spoke to them and Mars Hill, he says he mentioned that before.
Yeah, I guess I did.
But he was really coming to the conclusion, basically of an atheistic conclusion.
And he said to me, he says you can't prove there's a God.
I said, you know, God has given a witness to himself.
You know, I didn't have my Bible with me, but I referenced it and I'll reference it now in Romans chapter one. You know I am going to turn to it. Romans chapter one.
2 verses. I think it's important enough to notice these things.
Romans 118 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth and unrighteousness.
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them.
For God hath showed it unto them, For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen.
Being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so they are without excuse. Every man is without excuse. There's two things that are declared. The invisible things which we could never see, which you can never prove, are declared by things that we see. The One is His eternal power. Creation is a witness to the mighty power of God. The stars, the creation. What can you say but view of the tremendous power of God?
And divinity should be not Godhead. The Godhead is the revelation of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
That's not declared to us in creation, but divinity. All that characterizes God, We see increasing his power and we see his wisdom.
Then Acts 14. There's something else we see.
Pauls at Lystra.
And the people are ready to worship him and Barnabas.
And they stop it in verse 15 and saying, Sir, why do ye these things? We are also men of like passions with you, and preach unto you.
That you should turn from these vanities into the living God which made heaven and earth and the sea in all things that are therein.
Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways, Nevertheless notice this now. He left not himself without witness, in that He did good and gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. What unbeliever has not enjoyed?
A meal and the provision of God showing creation. We see these great things. We see the power of God, we see the wisdom of God, and indeed we see.
The goodness of God and providing mercy and life for man. Yes, God has not left Himself without witness. There is abundant witness. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork. One thing is not seen.
And creation, we've already mentioned it and that's the cross. That's where his love is seen. We don't get that until I believe it's the 5th chapter. The love of God spread a body in our hearts. And so there we see the the great love of the Lord Jesus.
00:35:06
So.
We'll leave it there. I think tonight three things to consider to consider your latter end.
We're so short sighted, you know, the rich man, the parable, the rich man in Luke 12. He said, I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Oh, you say he was a visionary. He was looking long term. He wasn't looking far enough. Many years is not far enough to look out. You have to look to eternity. And God said this night thy social required of thee.
The Corinthians took up this thought. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die that man didn't have tomorrow. This night thy soul shall be required of thee. Look to the end.
Looked to when you breathe your last breath and where will you go? Well, it did depart.
And to be with Christ.
Or will be.
And that place the torments ultimately raised, and stand before that great white throne.
Bore the face of him that sat upon it. Now be the face of the Lord Jesus, not battered.
Bruised as it was here on earth, but in majesty and glory and off those awful words depart from me, cursed and everlasting fire.
Consider the end.
And then to consider the greatness of God. He has declared Himself in all that mighty power.
You have to come to terms with it. Don't insult God by refusing to acknowledge and give him credit for that glory, for what he has accomplished in creation, but more than that, to consider him, to consider the Lord Jesus. They're the wind to the Calvary's cross, the one who poured out his soul into death, the one who endured the contradiction of sinners against himself, and ultimately.
Underwent the hand of God.
Christ also hath once suffered for sins, He the just.
For us the unjust, that we might be brought to God.
Who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree.
A brother mentioned and I don't think I mentioned it, so I do want to mention it.
I guess I still have 4 minutes.
My son, our oldest son, moved back to DC, Washington, DC, Becky and I, we went up and helped him pack things up and then he had this elliptical.
So what do we do with that? Because I don't want it. So we took it down 98% Becky, 2% me. And I may be giving myself too much credit for it, but she took the whole thing apart and put it in the back seat of the car and we got it in and took it out and put in the garage. And now what are we going to do? I have no ability to put this together. And so she's looking through the Internet to find someone, found somebody who says he can he can do this kind of thing.
And so this stocky built a man comes out of an accent and.
So where are you from? He says. I'm from Russia.
And.
So yeah, we do this up all the time. You said can't afford to have it done, you do it yourself, so I'll do it. He did it perfectly. He said you're missing 1 bolt though. But he still got everything put together. Amazing. We've had him come back since. Well, the first time I I gave him a little calendar track or something. He looked at that.
I see you're not going to live here forever.
Yeah, but this is, I'll read it very, very meant a few words the second time you came in.
Oh, about a year or so later, we needed some help with some blinds as an excuse to meet up with him. Do you know there's a there Wally and Dolores Weaver? When the Pasadena meeting room shut down, they took the text off the wall and they gave us one text. Come to our house, you'll see it. The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. Still dirty as it was when it took down, but I love that verse.
So I was sitting right down there.
He's looking at it, looking at it, looking at it.
Blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanseth us from all sin, and the Lord Jesus died.
He suffered for sin.
But then he gave yield up his spirit to God, He dismissed his spirit, and then of the soldier of the spear pierced aside.
And forthwith came throughout blood and water. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission. 3 Parts of one work, The Lord's atoning sufferings, giving himself, and death, and the bloodshed from His precious side.
00:40:04
Well, perhaps we could just close with that. Him, Precious, precious blood of Jesus #34.
Precious, precious.
For thee.
Distress, Debt, and Discontentment
Address—Wally Dear
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 trust the Lord give us something.
It's going to be for a.
Positive impact in our lives.
So I'd like to begin tonight to.
#339.
#339.
Our God is our salvation.
Our rescues in distress, what earthly tribulation can shake our steadfast peace?
Verse 7 The sun which smiling lights us is Jesus Christ alone, and what to song incites us is heaven on earth begun.
#339.
339.
Our God is our salvation.
Our.
S water everything a trend through the land.
Scape.
The ground.
Jesus Christ.
Alone.
And what song inside?
The ground.
So we're going to turn to the Bible. It's the word of God never changes.
It's the same yesterday, today, and forever. It's the written word of God. It's about the living Word.
Jesus Christ, He's the same yesterday, today and forever. And you know that speaks such.
00:05:03
Joy and peace to my soul.
In a world that.
Is.
Shaky, it seems everywhere you look. We've gotten our hands here tonight. Something that's solid, something that we can build our faith on. A firm foundation. And when we do, we know we're going to be OK for time and eternity. How wonderful a God we have that would give us.
To enjoy salvation.
And to enjoy the Savior, I'd like to talk about the Savior tonight.
And.
I know as I look around this hall here tonight.
There are.
Many, most, I would like to say all that know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior.
And I see those that are.
Gathered through his name in a collective way.
Your desire is to be where Jesus is because he means something to you. Because.
He was willing to give his life and die for you and shed his own precious blood. And because he loves you, you want to be where he wants you to be.
Oh, how wonderful it is to enjoy the presence of the Lord. Individually He goes with us, but also in a collective way with other believers.
Now I'm going to turn to an Old Testament portion and then I'm going to refer to a New Testament portion. Now this is a portion that's often been referred to, but I trust we're not going to wear it out by going here again. And this is.
First Samuel.
Chapter.
22.
Now this is about David.
Now correct me if I'm wrong, but it sees me.
That perhaps, David.
Apart from the Lord Jesus himself.
Is the individual who's mentioned most.
In the Bible next to the Lord Jesus.
His name is David.
And we learned that David, he was a man after God's own heart.
I believe that he was.
A picture of the Lord Jesus in many ways.
We find in this portion here that David has been rejected.
It's been cast out of Jerusalem.
The king has no use for David. His name is Saul. He was a man after the flesh.
He doesn't appreciate.
David. Because David was a man after God's own heart. I believe that Swallow was one who pursued his own interest. He was in this world for himself.
And.
David we found that he was in this world.
I believe for God wanted to please God, but he did have failure in his life and he falls fall far short of the perfection that we see in the Lord Jesus Christ.
But David, he was rejected.
And he had to flee from salt. And here we're going to read about him. He's here in a cave. And this is First Samuel, chapter 22, verse one.
David therefore departed dance, and escaped to The Cave Adela, and when his brethren and all his father's house heard it, they went down thither to him.
And everyone that was in distress.
And everyone that was in debt and.
And everyone that was discontented gathered themselves onto him and he became a captain over then.
And they were with him about.
400 men.
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David goes to this place. I believe it was rather secure place, The Cave of a Dalam.
A place to hide, A place of shelter.
David.
He wasn't there by himself because it tells us.
When his brethren and all his father's house heard him, they went out thither to him. Now it doesn't say they went down to The Cave.
But why does it say to him? Because they had David in their heart and on their mind.
They were disappointed with the state of things where they lived.
And I they believe that in David they saw one who had faith in God.
And these ones.
It tells us they were in distress.
They were in debt.
And they were discontented.
Unhappy lot of individuals.
Distressed.
It's not a good thing.
I see in the word distressed stress.
It's a root word, stress.
Now stress can be good, but it can be bad.
When I think of distress.
I think of that which causes anxiety.
And worry.
And.
Fearfulness.
And that's not a good thing. You know, the Lord wants us to be here.
In this world.
Without anxiety.
Is anybody here anxious tonight? You've got a situation in your life that's causing anxiety.
Worry.
You know we're exhorted in Philippians chapter 4 to be anxious for nothing.
How can this be?
Well, it goes on to tell us, and we're all familiar, I think at least most here with the succeeding word be anxious for nothing but everything by prayer and supplication.
Let your request be made known unto God.
And the peace of God that passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
And that's really what we want. We want peace in our souls about the situation.
And you know.
Peace is not the absence of trouble.
But it is the absence of fear.
And the Lord can allow trouble to continue in our lives, but.
We don't have to be fearful about it. We don't have to be anxious. We don't have to worry about it. And the reason is the Lord.
Has.
All in control.
In your life and mine.
Sometimes circumstances in life.
They're so difficult and so wild. We think things are spinning right out of control, and we wonder where God is in all of this.
Well, let's not castaway our confidence because I tell you where God is, He's all around you.
So you might have put it in heavenly love, abiding no change my heart shall fear.
And safe in such confiding for nothing changes here.
The storm may roar about me.
My heart mate. Lowly late.
God is round about me.
Can I be dismayed?
00:15:01
God is round about me.
And the Lord Jesus says.
I will never.
Evening. Nor for safety. The word never. I think it's one of the strongest negatives in the Greek language. Never ever leave the work for safety.
I'm inclined to think it's the same word as we find in.
John 10 where the Lord Jesus says, My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never, never, never, ever cares.
Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
I think in the original the word man is left out. No one, not even Satan, can pluck a sheep of Christ out of his hand. This is a place of security.
For you and for me.
On the shoulders of the Lord Jesus, because that's where when the shepherd found the sheep.
It tells us he laid it on his shoulders.
Shoulders of strength and he brings the sheep home, and he's rejoicing.
And I'm sure the sheep was happy.
But I believe the Shepherd's joy.
It was.
Above and beyond that of the sheep.
And, you know, we don't ever want to think that we can lose our salvation.
What would you think of the shepherd that was put?
With a flock of sheep to care for the sheep.
And.
In the course of time.
The shepherd, he goes to sleep.
And while he's sleeping.
Here comes the wolf.
He sees a sheep.
He's coming on the sheep.
He grabs it.
And he carries it away.
He kills it, He eats it.
Well, the shepherd wakes up.
He leaves the flock of sheep back.
To where they're sheltered at night and the owner of the flock counts the sheep. Oh, there's a sheep that's missing.
What happened? There's a sheep that's missing.
Well, the shepherd says, I'm sorry, but.
That sheep, they must have wandered off that sheep.
Apparently was.
Doing something it should have been doing. It wasn't remaining with the clock. I'm really sorry about that, but.
What does the owner say? Listen, you're responsible for that sheep.
And that sheep is lost and in fact they find out. Perhaps the wolf taking the sheep sheep is.
He's dead. He's eaten.
The Shepherd.
Failed.
To preserve.
That flock of sheep.
And one was lost, and it's the shepherd's fault.
It's not the sheep's fault. Well, I think about that in connection with you and me as believers. We are sheep of Christ, and He's taking us all the way home to heaven.
And you know, the Lord Jesus says all those that the Father has given me, I've lost none.
And if he was to lose 1 sheep, just one sheep.
That would be an aspersion.
On the.
Care, the protection, the power and love of the Lord Jesus.
Now what would you thought that one sheep of Christ would ever perish?
So we don't have anything to worry about there once when it comes to our eternal salvation.
00:20:05
He's an all the way home savior. He's an all the way home shepherd.
But we do worry.
Yeah, we do get anxious.
About the.
Circumstances of life.
And that's not good. You know the Lord, He wants us to enjoy peace.
Not only with God.
But it wasn't us to enjoy the peace of God.
How do you think that God ever gets?
Worried about anything? Do you?
You think he ever gets anxious about what's happening in the world?
Of course not.
Everything is under his control.
He's not worrying.
You know it tells us.
That.
God is omnipotent.
He's all powerful.
He can do whatever he wants.
We had before us creation. The conference considered the stars, the heavens. The firmament is handy. Just think about it.
If you can make one star.
At least speak a star into existence and hold it out there in the universe.
You think there's anything too hard for the Lord? Anything too hard for God?
No, there's nothing too hard. But you know, he does allow.
Circumstances in our life to keep us independence on him.
He wants the very best sports.
I'll assure you of that.
Because he loves you and you and you and you. And the reason I say that is because.
No greater love is the man then that he lay down his life for his friends.
And that's what the Lord Jesus has done for you and for me. He laid down his life. He suffered, He bled, He died.
The Cross of Calvary.
And.
The love that was manifest at the Cross is that which we need to.
Dwell upon.
The love of God.
The love of Jesus.
One of the.
Contemporary hymn writers. Songwriters.
Written many, many Christian songs.
He was asked.
What lyrics?
Really seemed to be at the top.
Of your list.
You know, and without hesitation, he said.
The one that goes like this Could we with ink the ocean fill?
And where the skies of parchment made.
Where every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a tribe by trade, to write the love of God above would drain the Ocean Drive.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from earth to sky.
Imagine draining the ocean.
Try the ocean being filled with ink.
No more ink to write more about the love of God on that scroll. Can you imagine that? It seems like an exaggeration.
There's no exaggeration.
We need to keep ourselves in the love of God.
We've got an enemy.
Well, actually we got three enemies. I was thinking about Satan.
He wants to sew in your mind.
Suspicion.
As to the love of God, the goodness of God.
00:25:01
He wants us to be suspicious.
Of the love of God He wants us to doubt.
Next week he went with he. He tried to cast aspersion, cast doubt by the goodness of God.
Yeah, hath God said this? Well, I'll tell you what, God, he's withholding something from you.
Something for your happiness, and Satan is doing the very same today.
Talking with Danny here today.
He was telling me about some group on the move today, I believe. Did you say it was faith destroyers?
Deconstruction of faith. This group deconstruction of faith. Basically the same.
So Can you imagine?
Deconstruction of faith. This is what this group has as its objective.
And I want to tell you something. They seem to be.
Successful.
There's more and more atheists.
People that don't even believe it is God.
Well, we know Satan is behind it and it tells us that in the last days, perilous times are coming and.
It tells us that evil men and deceivers are going to last worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
So when I heard that.
That only supported the authenticity of the Word of God.
There's nothing we can do, really, to tear down the Word of God. We can try, but it won't work.
Picasso, you could speak up. We can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth.
You know this book it's been referred to.
As Amber.
Hammers of unbelief.
Had been worn out on the gamble of Holy Scripture.
The Bible stands like a rock on daunted.
And you know, the more I read the Bible, the more I want to read it.
And the more I read it, the more I realize.
How little I really know.
About it.
It's a wonderful book.
And we've got opportunities past two days to come to the conference.
Really enjoyed seeing interaction, you know between the the believers, young people, the older ones as well the children playing together. The fellowship is so nice, so wonderful to see.
And that God provides that for us.
But I do believe the fellowship is based on this book.
You're the believers that continued steadfastly first of all in the apostles doctrine.
And that's what we have in this book.
Your pastor's doctrine. It's the word of God.
And it's the basis of our fellowship, true fellowship that is. And the book is all about Christ. And that's wonderful. And of course, they continued to in fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayers.
And we saw that over these past two days.
It's wonderful how God gives this opportunity to get together in this way.
And.
I trust those that have been directly involved in hosting this conference are going to see eternal results you may not see.
The final result here on Earth. But when you get the glory, you're going to find out.
I believe the fruit of your effort.
Got something to look forward to?
Now stress. You know there is a good stress.
00:30:03
Yeah, it just brings to mind my wife and.
Daughter, granddaughter they they attended a.
Cake decorated class for four weeks.
And.
It's very interesting the productions in that class.
It seemed like it was easier to decorate the cake than to eat it because.
It didn't seem like there was always a great interest to eat these cakes, so we did, I guess, pass on the cake. But anyway, the declaration was interesting.
And.
What I saw was that.
This icing was prepared.
And then a BLOB of the icing.
Was put into a little bag.
And one end of the bag was twisted.
And on the other end of the peg, there was this.
Little metal, triangular.
Piece attached to the bag on the other end.
So what were they going to do? You're going to make a rose?
Carefully.
Apply pressure to the bag.
And outcomes a BLOB.
And apparently that was a base for what was to follow. So here's this BLOB on this little stand and then.
A little more pressure.
And outcomes.
This little string of icing a little more.
And a little more pressure.
And.
I see a rose actually being formed on that BLOB.
And it was because there was pressure.
Being applied just the right amount, because if you apply too much, you're going to ruin the ropes.
And if you don't apply enough.
You're not going to have any rooms, so the pressure was applied.
And this rose began to form and you know.
When all was said and done, it was a beautiful rose.
But it involved pressure, pressure.
At the right time, in the right place, you know what David said.
When pressure.
How fast enlarged me.
And I think you know that we experience.
Pressure in our lives.
And.
It.
If it's that which makes us anxious and worried and fearful, it's not a good thing.
But you know the Lord, He knows exactly what is needed to carry out His purposes for your blessing, and even more than that, for His own eternal glory.
And so God is at work and.
We find there were those here that were in distress.
And you know.
Stress can be a bad thing.
If it's distress.
You know, what is it that causes distress? It could be a number of things. I mean, in the world they recognize certain things, you know, like.
Maybe the death of the log flood or?
Or divorce, or maybe losing a job or an illness of some sort. These things can be distressing.
But you know.
As a child of God.
We know that he loves us.
His desire is to do us good.
And he never gives us more than what we can bear. It tells us plainly. I believe it is in First Corinthians chapter 10 that God is faithful.
00:35:00
Who will not suffer you to be tried about what you're able to bear, but will, with the trial, make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. He lost us too much.
To give us something that's going to overcome us to where we have to throw up our hands in despair and just.
Just say, well, it's too much. I can't handle this. He never does that to us.
So made me find comfort annoying.
That the Father's love. It never changes, it's always the same.
And perfect love casts out fear. That's one of my favorite phrases in the Bible. It's so simple but so profound. Perfect love casts out here and.
I want to tell you something. The perfect love refers to His love for you and me.
Don't refer to your love for him because.
If that was the case, I would be fearful.
No this.
Perfect blood test out here. It's his love for you and me.
Absolutely tender, absolutely true. Understanding all things. Understanding you infinitely, Loving intimately.
Near this is God our Father.
What have we interfere?
Well, I believe that David, he was an answer to the distress of these ones, because it tells us that he became a captain over these ones that were in distress.
He become a leader.
And we know that.
David accomplished some wonderful exploits.
His faith in God.
And the people.
That followed David. They didn't tremble like they did with salt.
Tells us earlier in this book about circumstances where enemies came and and saw he didn't know how to handle the situation and the people, they just went here and there since they were trembling, trembling.
Well, dear ones, tonight.
David, there's a picture to us.
Of our captain.
And if you turn over to Hebrews chapter 2.
You're going to see who our captain is.
This is Hebrews.
Chapter 2.
And verse.
Well, we could read verse 9, Hebrews 29, 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. In bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. The captain of our salvation is Jesus.
And he's bringing many signs. He's leading.
Many sons to glory, and I trust that each and everyone here is part of that company.
The mightiest foes, most people. Are we before our great leader?
They flee.
Satan is no match for our great captain, a great leader.
I'll tell you something though.
You and I were no match for Satan.
You'll get the best of us.
And also, I mentioned two other enemies. One is the world and the other is the flesh. We're going to try to confront these enemies and overcome these enemies in our own strength. Forget it, you're done.
You'll be overcome. I'm not saying you're going to lose your salvation, but you have to put your faith and confidence in the great captain of our salvation, and that's Jesus, and he'll give you the victory.
00:40:01
Pastor Paul, he says, thanks be unto God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Thank you.
We don't deserve it.
But the Lord is good.
We ask folks, you know.
Well, how are you today? How many times did you do that at the conference?
You know, with a sincere concern for the to know about the person's welfare. Well, how are you today? How are you doing?
I asked it where I live in the community and you get all kinds of different answers all the way from oh, I'm just getting by to.
Fantastic.
And I'm inclined to think that the.
The former response is little more.
Accurate.
Then the latter one I mentioned.
Different responses.
To the question, how are you? But there's a brother and I think perhaps every time I've asked him how he's doing, and I'm not going to mention his name, but you perhaps know who it is.
He's answered you the same way. You know what he says.
He says.
I'm better than I deserve.
That's a nice answer.
I'm better than I deserve.
You know a person like that is a thankful person.
Because we don't really deserve any anything but you know, God is goodness provides for us and.
It's good to be thankful. We have so much to thank the Lord for.
And.
A thankful person is a happy person.
And we are to give thanks always for all things.
Well, this other D here, there's two other DS is debt, debt.
Now this is.
Something that.
And be a very painful.
Debt I know in business commercial settings on.
People make debt.
Work to make money.
But you know.
There are so many today that are in debt.
Financially because they live above their means.
And.
Sometimes they feel they need to keep up an image, You know, they call it keeping up with the Joneses.
And somebody was telling about some of these professionals. They got these big homes and they got these big cars.
And they wear fancy clothes.
And they are sunk in debt, but they want to keep up an image.
It's not a good thing.
Because you know to be in debt.
Is to be in *******.
It tells us in the proverbs. I believe that.
The borrowers servant.
To the lender.
And that's the case.
If a person is in debt, they think about what they owe to that person.
And that person is looking for.
Payment.
And if the payment isn't there?
That person is upset, or at least maybe not right at the time, but if you missed 234 payments.
You better be careful. You better watch out.
That it's not good, You know there's something worse, though, than financial debt.
Spiritual Debt.
The death of our sin.
What we owe to God.
Because of the fact that we have sinned.
00:45:02
We can never pay the debt.
But you know, the Lord Jesus came from glory.
To pay a debt.
He didn't know.
Because we owed a debt we couldn't pay.
He paid the debt with his own precious blood, the Cross of Calvary. He's released us from the dead.
The debt is gone, our sins are gone, never to be brought up again.
Washed like we had in the conference. You know, we saw those two bottles. What happened? The one bottle was filled with the.
Black substance there.
I'm thankful I didn't have to drink that.
But there it was, and there's better look very nice look like a nice clear glass.
Of water.
Whatever it was, but anyway, you know, we found out how the.
Black.
One away, remember.
And become nice and clear, nice and clean.
And we know.
Just as that little hymn says, we often sing that my heart was black to see it until the Savior came in. His precious blood I know has washed me white as snow.
No rhymes with snow. I know I am white as snow.
In fact, David said, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow.
It's a wonderful condition to be in before God.
And you know, it doesn't change now. We talked about at the conference, we can allow sin in our life.
And it does not affect our salvation.
We're not going to lose our salvation, but we're going to lose the enjoyment of it. I recall that years ago. John Curry.
He used to like to give the illustration of these big ships. They come into harbor.
And they would be secured at the dock or the pier with these huge ropes.
Big ropes, I suppose. Maybe 6 inches in diameter. Huge ropes.
And you know, that ship was there. It was tied up to the dock with these big ropes.
And then before they had the wireless communication, they would take a wire. Now you know what, the wire is just a little thin.
Wire and they take it and run it from the office in the building.
On the dock, out to the bridge where the captain is in the ship, and now they can communicate back and forth between the ship and.
The Land Office.
By this little wire.
And it's important to be able to communicate like this, you know, to get instructions and to know what to do next and so on and so forth.
One day.
Little Rodent is on the ship. I don't know if it was a rat or a mouse or what it was. It actually started chewing on the wire.
And that little thin wire broke.
Oh dear.
Now we can't talk back and forth. We got a problem.
Well, is the ship going to save because the fact that the wire is chewed? No. The ship is secure at the top with those huge rows, but the problem is is with the communication.
And I never forgot that illustration, because when we come to Christ, we become a child of His.
We enter into a relationship that cannot be changed. It is secure, but we can allow in our lives something that would hinder our talking with the Lord, our communication with the Lord. And that's a serious thing because, you know, the Lord wants to instruct us. He wants us to enjoy his companionship. He wants to encourage us through his word, He.
Wants to talk to us and he wants us to talk to him. But if there's not that communion, we got a problem. So that's the point. It's a question of state and standing. Our standing is secure, it's perfect. But our state can be affected by what we allow in our lives. And if we do allow, a sin.
00:50:16
You need to confess it.
1000 tells us in first John chapter one.
That if we confess our sin.
He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin into forgive us.
From all righteousness.
We don't even have to ask for forgiveness, we just confess and it's automatic. That's a wonderful thing.
So.
And then we got discontentment. Oh dear, discontentment. This is a sad situation, These ones, they were not content under salt.
Yeah, so they come to David.
And I do believe that become satisfaction in David. And you know, there's many contented believers today, but how many in the world are discontent?
And you look around and you see protests here, protests there, and people striking here and striking there and not content. And I have to look into my own heart because.
There can be discontentment in my own heart, but that's a very sad thing. You mean to say that we can't be content with the Lord Jesus?
Over in Hebrews it says, be content with such things as you have, For he has said, I will never leave thee, nor for safety.
It's wonderful to be in the enjoyment of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so that we may boldly say.
The Lord is my helper. I'll not fear what man can do unto me.
Samuel Rutherford.
He was a believer and he wrote poems and believed letters and so on.
For the Lord, he was a true child of God.
But he was imprisoned.
And I can't tell you exactly. I think it was for his, his faith. Somebody here could tell us, no doubt.
But there he was in that cell, that prison cell. Not a nice place to be. But you know what he said.
So last night Jesus Christ came into this cell and every stone that flashed like a Ruby.
Yeah, he was able to enjoy the Lord in those circumstances.
Honor and majesty.
Are before him. Strength and beauty are in the sanctuary.
That's a wonderful thing to have before us, the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So these ones, they went out to David and I don't think they were disappointed.
He became a leader over there. Now I'd like to turn to one more portion just in the next 3 minutes that we have left. And this is found in Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 13.
Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 13. It's easy to remember this reference because the chapter is 13 and the verse is 13.
And the verse says 13 words in it.
Which means.
What word would be at the very center of the verse?
Anybody tell me what number it'd be?
Who said seven? You're right.
7.
What's the 7th word here?
123-4567 Him. Who's him?
Jesus, what does it say? Let us go forth, therefore, hunting him without the camp.
Bearing his reproach.
For here there'll be no continuing city, but we seek one to come. What a beautiful verse. You know the camp is an ordered arrangement. It's a man made system of things.
00:55:02
Where we find that rather than allowing God.
To have his way in the worship, in the ministry.
As outlined in his word.
Man, he sets God aside.
And he's got his own way, his own arrangement, and it's called the camp. But you know, it's our privilege to go forth unto Jesus and to be in a place where the Spirit of God has liberty, perfect liberty, to exalt no other name but the name of Jesus. It's a blessed place to be.
To be gathered simply unto the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There's one way to be saved is through the name of Jesus. Neither is there salvation any other. There's another name under having must be saved. And there's only one way to gather too.
It's God's way, and it's unto that.
Worthy, blessed, precious name of God's dear Son Jesus.
Probably start time is up, so perhaps we'll.
Let's see him.
Maybe we could sing that one number.
17 #17.
May the grace of Christ.
And.
As long.
Where the Holy Spirit.
Rest upon us from.