Address—C. Buchanan
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Again, this meet subject to speak upon.
It is one of the oldest. Perhaps marriage institution comes first and then families in the Bible.
There were families long before there were nations.
We find that Amalek is spoken of as the first of the nations that ward against Israel.
I think that is a verse which.
Gives us warnings as to the day in which we live, for we believe that Amalek in type refers to the flesh as it has been taken over by Satan in conflict against the people of God and in the education systems of today, which I know very little about. But here somewhat about the teaching of humanism.
And the efforts to take away the authority of the parents and to make these children children of the state instead of of a family needs to be warned against, guarded against and help through the scriptures.
And there are many families that we could turn to in the scriptures. We will look at a few of them.
But going back in.
There were our first parents and children born in that family.
And we learned a little bit about that family. Not a lot, though.
But enough, and the family truth runs right through Scripture, the household truth to encourage parents and to guide the children. And we come to Noah when the world had developed into corruption and violence. Has it done that today? Oh yes, you'd say corruption and violence abound, that at that time God gave a call.
To Noah come thou and thy household, thy house into the ark, so that then there was a shelter to carry them through the judgments which were coming on the world. And there is a shelter. There are two of them, I believe, that God has for the Christian in this world today. There is the Christian home and there is the assembly, which are shelters and refuges.
To keep us and to guide us and to give us joy as we are actually in this world that is very much filled up with violence and corruption. But we come on down and I want to take up Abraham first. So if you'll open to the 18th chapter.
We have one of the loveliest scenes that I can think of in the Bible here.
Abraham had been chosen, election had come in and the promise was given to him. But there were natural ties and then God had spoken to him as to his walk and worship about there were natural Moody's.
These things we have to learn too that were in the way. Then he is taught separation.
And then when this truth comes in, there has to be the renouncing of the world and victory over it.
Then he is told in chapter 15 of The Promised Seed.
There are verses there that are very tender.
God speaking to Abram, and he says I.
Go childless.
His seed was not to be from the flesh, and so there are the promises. But he has to learn of death through the flesh in order to inherit the promises. And so it is with us too, the flesh.
Provided nothing. In fact, that's what Amalek is a type of. So Abraham has to learn this.
And then in chapter 17 there is a covenant given to him in circumcision. And then God declares what he is.
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And Abraham is has his name changed? Abraham has his name changed to Abraham? Then we come to chapter 18 and we'll read a few verses here. The Lord appeared unto him, unto Abraham.
In the heat of in the plains of mammary. And he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day.
And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and loathed three men stood by him.
When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself untoward the ground, and said, My Lord, now notice that, my Lord singular, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant. Let a little water, I pray you be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, and I will fetch a morsel of bread.
And comfort ye your hearts, after that ye shall pass on, for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do as thou hast said. And Abram hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly 3 measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the heart. Abraham ran under the herd.
And fetch the calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man, and he hasted to dress it. And he took butter and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them, and he stood by them under the tree.
And they did eat, and they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tents.
And he said, I will certainly return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Locera thy wife shall have a son. Sarah heard it in the tent door which was behind him. And Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age, and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am old, waxed old, shall I have pleasure?
My Lord being old also. And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child with him old? Is anything too hard? For the Lord at the time appointed? I will return unto thee according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not, for she was afraid, but he said.
Nay.
But thou didst laugh. And the men rose up from thence and looked towards Sodom. And Abraham went his with them to bring them on the way. And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
Now notice verse 19.
I know him.
That he will command his children.
And his household after him. And they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoken of him.
To those of us who are fathers.
Can think of no more wonderful thing, perhaps in our life.
And to be a father, to have children, we who are fathers have now.
An actual experience to teach us.
Of the feelings and the heart of God.
How that he wanted children and that he has gotten shelter and that he is bringing children into the father's house.
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Oh, there's nothing perhaps more blessed than for the parents to have children.
We can understand a little of the heart of God. You remember when the Lord Jesus was here.
He was speaking with those Pharisees.
In the eighth of John.
And.
They said to him.
Thou art not yet, there are not 50 years old in. How hast thou seen Abraham? He said. He had already said Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad then he could say to them before Abraham was.
We know them, that the one who appeared here, whom Abraham called.
My Lord was Jesus.
Jehovah of the Old Testament come down.
To eat with Abraham.
Oh, it is so wonderful.
To think.
That, as it were, Abraham and Sarah.
Were put in the more blessed place.
Is more blessed to give than to receive. Here was no less than Jesus appearing as Jehovah, appearing as a man with two men who were the angels. And as they walked up to that tent, that's where Abraham lived. And it was the noonday, the heat of the day.
There he came to them, and immediately this man Abraham was so much in communion.
With his Lord, that he could settle my Lord.
And then he does after the customs of the East.
Hospitality in a most attractive manner and we see that Sarah, his wife, was where she belonged.
She was in the tent.
And she was ready to do the bidding of the one.
I think as Peter says.
She called Abraham Lord. He was the head of this household.
She was the submissive wife. She was in the home.
And they get the promise of a child.
How blessed this is. But in the midst of it all, here comes the blessed Lord.
And Abraham says.
My Lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away He wanted.
That fellowship, that communion with his Lord, I pray thee, pass not away from thy servant. Let a little water, I pray you be fetched, and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. Now here's a figure. This tree is a figure of the cross, and it's under the cross, in the shadow of the cross that God and man can.
Commune together.
And the only place in the shadow of the cross. And so the Lord comes to Abraham, to that home. He finds that home. He had worked with Abraham already, bringing him through teaching in his other appearings to him.
And so it is with us practically as families, heads of families, the wife and the family and the children. The Lord instructs us gradually as to these wonderful teachings about election and our walk and our separation from the world and the promises, and brings us into sweet fellowship in the shadow of the cross.
And feasting upon the fatted calf and all the good things that went with it.
This calf, tender and good, some of the choicest of the T-bone steak, I suppose there it was, and it was food, and the Lord accepts it. To think of being able to give to Him, to minister to him. We'll see this repeated in a lovely way in the New Testament. Is it so in your home, in your family?
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Do you recognize the Lord wanting to come in and feast with you at the noon time meal? At the supper time meal? Is He the subject of your conversation? Are you communing with Him and enjoying that blessedness?
Of the which there is no better down here in this life than to enjoy the presence of the Lord.
At your table.
O you fathers, read the word of God to your children and practice.
These things that were taught to Abraham.
So we find.
That this feast is given to them, but Sarah is a little.
Slow to believe the promises.
And he even lies. And here's a lesson for us.
You know you can't have a wrong thought, but what God knows it. Apparently she didn't express this.
But he laughed within herself. She didn't laugh out loud, but God knew her thoughts and told her about it. So she gets a bit of a correction from the Lord. But then we find the men going away, and Abraham walks with them a little farther.
And the two men go on.
And.
Abraham abides there for a little while and talks with the Lord.
And then the Lord expresses his feelings.
Friendship, which we've heard of today.
Shall I hide from Abraham? And in the New Testament? Says my friend.
Ye are my friends if ye do those things, if obedience is a proof of friendship. And it's to those who are obedient that the Lord gives His revelation, even as we might say to Daniel, who is obedient in reading the word of God and prayer. And here is Abraham. God says, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing that I do?
Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation.
And that's not all.
And all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. That's Christ, the seed.
The blessing comes in the sea.
The seed of promise, not of the flesh, and all the blessing. This world is going to come.
Through Christ the nations and even Amalek which will be completely judged as a nation, won't come into that because the flesh has to be put completely away. But there are other nations who will be blessed under Christ, the promised seed. Then this 19th verse, which ought to mean so much to us, because as I know Him now, God could point to every Father.
In this room and say, I know this father, this father, this father.
Then you have to stop and leave it. At least I do.
But this is the most blessed thing that he says about Abraham. Nothing could I covet more than this as a father, that he will command his children.
And his household after him.
Fathers, we could desire this, earnestly desire this.
And it says they shall keep the way of the Lord, not my. Why not your way?
The Lord's way. Oh, let's try to do that.
To do justice and judgment, we've heard much about that.
We don't give up righteousness at the expense of peace.
To have peace, No.
Grace is wonderful.
Grace now reigns through righteousness. So these things are here.
Justice and judgment that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoken of him. Then we'll go to a very contrasting family in the first book of Samuel for you and I need warnings.
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And they are right here in the Word of God. We have a beautiful family setting in connection with.
Elkin and Hannah and Samuel, but we're not going to take that up because we want the morning and we're going to think of Eli now. Eli and his home, his household were in the most favorable position in the world at that time.
They were there in the divine center, right at the temple.
You might say in the highest place of a priest and that's where family, that's where Eli had the privilege of bringing up his children. I tell you, being in the most privileged place today does not guarantee a family that goes on for God's glory. We find that it did not hear. We cannot fathers.
Expect the assembly to bring up our children.
I think it's a wrong thought. We are to bring them up. Thank God for the ministry of getting assembly.
But you and I as fathers have this responsibility, and we will see that Eli broke down completely on this.
So we go to the 12Th verse.
And the second chapter, chapter 2 and verse 12. Now the sons of Eli.
Were sons noticed?
They knew not the Lord.
Abraham knew the Lord and that he would teach his children the way of the Lord.
Eli did not do that. His sons did not know the way of the Lord. That's what it says now it tells what they did and this brings up something of the religious evil that has been spoken of from this platform today that is even more Highness worse than moral evil. We touch on both these here because they've come into the thought today. Verse 13 and the priest cast them with the people was.
That when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came while the flesh was in seething.
And with the flesh of our three teeth in his hand, and he struck it into the pine, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot, all that the flesh shook brought up, the priest took for himself. So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither also, before they burnt the fat, the priest servants came and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest.
For he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but royal, if any man.
Said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth. Then he would ask him, Nay, but thou shalt give it me now, and if not, I will take it by force.
Verse 17 Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord. Here's this grievous and a very great sin, we say a religious sin.
To bring blasphemy upon the religion, the.
Covenant, the ritual and ordinances given by God to that people in that day were blasphemed, abhorred because of the wickedness of Eli's sons.
Oh, how terrible God writes it down. It's for us to pay attention to.
We'll go on to the other sin because it's here, verse 22.
Now Eli was very old and heard all of his sons did unto all Israel. Now notice and how that they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the congregation, a door of the Tabernacle of the congregation. He said unto them, here he speaks to them, but it's late in his life. He was a very old man and all he can do is just speak to them. Now he's lost control.
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Why do ye such things? For I hear of your evil dealings by all his people.
Nay, my sons, for it is no good report that I hear ye make the Lord's people to transgress. Not only were they transgressing, they they made the people to transgress.
Verse 25. If one man's sin against another, the judge shall judge him. But if a man sin against the Lord, all sin is against the Lord. This was very grievously against the Lord, who shall entreat for him, notwithstanding they hearken not under the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them.
Chapter 3.
And verse 11 And the Lord said unto Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, after which both the years of everyone that heareth shall tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all things that I have spoken concerning his house. When I begin, I will make also make an end. For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he doeth, because his sins have made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. We had to come down to this.
He restrained them not. This restraint in the family must come from the time children are born when they're very young. The restraining of the old nature for parents is in our children. We learn what we are and what we were when we were little ones. We didn't learn much about it then, but as parents, we learned it in our children. And here's a very solemn warning. Let's go over to something bright in the New Testament, in First Corinthians.
We are living in a more privileged time than Eli with his sons or Abraham with his children. And just to touch upon a very nice household, in the first book of Corinthians, in the first chapter and in the last chapter.
Paul is writing he was the one who carried the gospel into.
OK, into Corinth and.
In the first chapter of First Corinthians, he says in verse 16, I baptized also the household of Stephanus. Now let's go to the last chapter. This is the first chapter. Now we go to the last chapter and see the product that this wrought in that family.
In the 16th chapter of One Corinthians.
And the 15th verse. I beseech you, brethren, ye know the house.
Of Stephanus that it is the first fruits of achaya and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the Saints. Here was a household that was brought into the relationship in the assembly through baptism in the first chapter, and they addicted themselves to the ministry. This is what we would covet for ourselves today too, to bring our families.
Into this ground of profession and to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and to bring them along so that they addict themselves to the ministry. We want to read a little in the 12Th of.
John, I'm still finding that these meetings are short.
As some others have done, but they're precious. And in the 12Th of John.
We have a most beautiful scene, one of the most beautiful in the New Testament.
Where Jesus comes before the Passover unto Bethany, the first verse.
Where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead.
There they made him a supper, and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of them.
That sat at the table with him, then took Mary a pound of ointment.
Of 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.
This household here seems to be composed of just adults.
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And we know them personally by name, but it was a home.
Where the Lord found some comfort down here? As far as I know, the only one.
Can the Lord come into your home and find some comfort every day? Can He get there and be served?
They made him a supper again. Man is put in the more blessed.
Place it is more blessed to give than to receive. It reminds one of the tender expression of the Lord in Luke 22, when He was ready to institute the Lord's Supper with desire. I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. That's his feelings.
And again in John, when the Lord.
And went through Samaria to meet that one woman.
He could say to those disciples who came back and pressed upon him to eat.
Saying.
He said to them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.
And then He could say, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish His work. That blessed Lord was finding His food in serving, in going all that long distance on foot to meet one soul, and finding His food for himself in delight in her, so that he didn't need the material food. Here they made him a supper, and He did eat with them.
Well, you know, it's not literal food that we give to the Lord, It's the obedience of faith in doing the will of God. The Lord always did the will of the one who sent Him. And if you and I as obedient children are doing that, it's like expressed in both the 2nd epistle and the 30 epistles of John Speaking of the parents.
I have no greater joy than to see that my children.
Walk in truth, if you and I giving something to God by the obedience of our walk and being there in communion to serve and to worship. These all are our privileges. Well, our time is up and just a minute I want to speak a little about.
El Salvador, what we saw down there in connection with the earthquake, which reminds me of where you and I are building our homes.
We were astonished at the ruin that that earthquake, which measured 7.5 on the Richter scale, rot through the whole of the city.
One building was called the Rueben Dario building, 5 stories high and about a square building. The history of that building was that it was damaged in an earthquake in 1965 and they declared it to be uninhabitable. But they patched it up, forgot about the earthquake and have been using it ever since. Now when this earthquake came, 200 and more perished in that building.
Because it was not safe, its foundation was faulty, just patched up, and the superstructure was not strong. We saw the machines carrying that building away by buckets full, and the stench of the corpses was there in our nostrils. They had two floors yet to remove when we got there. When we left, there was only one. Now that shot me a lesson, and I'd like to pass it on.
As to where we are building our homes, for in Matthew 7 we are taught about the house that's founded on the rock. Ruben Dario building didn't have a good foundation and it didn't have good superstructure. When the test came, it came down. Now you and I must found our homes upon Christ, and we must build with this good material to bring up our families in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
To teach them the way of the Lord. As we have this wonderful privilege and opportunity, let's sing in closing #16.