Address—E. Smith
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General Meetings, Montreal, October 1973. Address for Eric Smith.
#100 and Nine 109.
Jesus, that name is love, Jesus our Lord.
Jesus all names above Jesus the Lord.
Thou, Lord, our all must be nothing that's good. Have we nothing apart from Thee, Jesus, our Lord?
Jesus.
Last name.
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So we asked the Lords bless you.
Before we read a few verses.
Relevant to this matter of love, beloved.
There was a word mentioned from.
Ephesians One.
That word chosen.
One day I asked our chief Narsi. I may have mentioned this before.
I ask now see by the way, his chief over 12,000 families.
Gathered years to the precious name of Christ, both he and his wife.
And bearing a wonderful testimony all these years.
I led him to Christ when he was a lad in our school. He's a man of 68.
Chief of the Red Belt Inca tribe.
I said now she what is election?
That was a hard question. Do you know what he said?
Brother, he said.
He long before God ever dropped a stone into a place, into any into its place. He was loving this poor Indian.
I think that's one of the nicest explanations of election.
Long before he didn't say chosen him, before the foundation of the world, but he said, long before dear brother God ever dropped the stone into place, he was loving this Indian.
And so it is.
I'd like to read a verse or two relevant to this question. I didn't intend to speak on this. I've been exercised about other themes, but it would seem to be the mind of the Lord to carry on with this. And though we may repeat scripture, scriptures can be repeated. And each time we do repeat the word of God, we find fresh truth.
And that's why it's divine. It has something you always for the soul.
I'd like to read a verse or two.
From.
First Samuel.
It's a well known portion, First Samuel.
Chapter.
18.
First Samuel 18.
And verse one.
Then afterwards, as the Lord enabled, will turn over to say to Chronicles 12. First Chronicles 12 and it came to pass.
When he had made an end of speaking unto Saul.
That the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David.
And Jonathan loved him as his old soul.
And Saul took him that day and would let him go no more, home to his father's house.
Then Jonathan and David.
Made a covenant because he loved him as his own soul.
The result we find in verse 4. Beloved, you dear young people, sitting here in my notes. Lots of them.
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And Jonathan, a type of the believer, a type of everyone present who?
Been born again by the Spirit of God.
The.
Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him.
And gave it to David, a type of Christ.
And his garments.
Even to his sword and to his bow, which, by the way, we read was mighty in Israel.
And to his girdle.
Dear young believers, have you done that?
Have you really done this?
We read that holiness.
Perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
Is the rejection.
From my heart and yours, everything.
That would be contrary to God's mind.
And to God's nature, God is light.
And we are children of the light, children of day.
No, those are not my words, but the words of one aware, loved English. Brethren, whose writings you are acquainted with, we trust.
Perfecting holiness in the fear of God is the rejection.
Of everything from my life and testimony.
That would be contrary to God's mind and to God's nature.
So here we have a type of.
The Believer, Jonathan.
A type of Christ, David and Saul, the carnal man.
And we find here.
That David is in rejection.
And his love frame, Jonathan.
Forms makes a covenant with him.
A covenant of love.
And he strips himself.
Of the road that was upon him.
And gave it to David.
As I look back over my life.
In 1915.
I said Lord Jesus.
I want to do that.
That meant me being put out of the house for my father was an unsaved man.
He wanted me to be a lawyer. I've mentioned this before.
To take care of his interests where which were too cumbersome.
Too many things of this life he had. He was a rich man.
I said Father in thy will eliminate your son, Eric.
Because I couldn't take care of it.
But you're going to leave me?
I can't trust myself.
And so I was eliminated from Father's will.
Just to walk in simple faith.
And by His grace, continue to do so happily.
That's a long time ago.
Dear Young.
People, have you stripped your dear hearts of every object?
That would.
Cause a fog bank to be over your testimony and keep the sunshine of His love from you.
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He would challenge us this afternoon to do so.
Where the whole realm of nature hours.
That were an offering far too small.
Love that transcends our highest powers.
Demands my life.
My soul, my all.
Have you done it? Have I done this?
Ask yourself the young people the question this afternoon.
Have I done this?
These are days of weakness.
We are part of the ruin, and we feel it, and we should.
And there's a great need, dear ones, of this stripping process.
Lest the beauty of that blessed man become obscure, his division of himself become obscured.
With worldliness.
And carnality.
And love of things.
In this scene.
Yes, he stripped himself.
Everything that belonged to him, he was a Prince.
And he says, David, here it is.
Everything I hold dear, I give to thee.
Have we done this?
Is there any, any obstacle in thy life, the young man, the young woman that prevents thee from making this decision?
There are some sitting here who haven't, who have professed to be the Lords. I know a lot of them have.
And they're not even gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ yet. What is hindering they? What? What? What's the matter?
Someone asked me during our last period in Lima. Brother Smith, you're an old man.
Would you tell us?
When do you teach?
That's a new work and believe in Peru, you know.
When I lead Valderrama to Christ, that's the beginning of that word. There are 4 assemblies today. Would you tell us When do you teach?
Those truths that are most surely believed among us. The truth of separation. The truth of the one body, the gathering name.
And the reply, by the grace of God, was as soon as they're saved.
Perhaps this is the reason why today there's a testimony that's stable in Bolivia.
There have been failures there.
And especially with one dear brother called Philly Montgomery, who, after 22 years of faithful service, was tripped up by Satan.
I led him to Christ in the war as the chaplain of the tackle war and he went on faithfully. He's the father of six assemblies.
And the assembly where he failed after all those years.
There are 73 in fellowship.
A tremendous blow.
There was something in his life that caused it. He was mayor of the town and I wrote him. I said fill him on.
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You're not stripping yourself.
You've tied yourself up.
With an unequal yoke. And he wrote me a sweet letter saying, brother it is true, pray for me to be delivered. But that's when he went wrong.
And the work is suffering today.
Well, we ask you the question.
Concerning this stripping process.
Let us look over a little more.
In verse 24 of chapter 19.
Or rather chapter.
20.
Now we can read 19th chapter, 16th verse.
Of Chapter 19.
No, I think it's 20. Excuse me, dear brother. Chapter 20, verse nine verse.
16 And Jonathan So Jonathan made a covenant with the House of David, saying, Let the Lord even requite it at the hand of David's enemies.
And Jonathan caused David to swear again because he loved him.
He loved him as he loved his own soul.
That was wonderful, wasn't it? He loved him as he loved his own soul.
I never saw a man so full of love among our Latin brethren as dear Philimon Garnika yet.
Been tripped up.
The lust of the flesh in you.
Philemon is a man of 68 years of age.
A matured man, 22 years of service.
It's broken my heart.
There's the lust of the eye in middle age people and the pride of life in we old people. Pray for us.
It was my very great privilege to sit under men like Walter Scott.
Alfred Mace, HP Barker Syndrome, Hinman and others.
And I shall always remember.
There, the ministry of those men, it made an impression on my soul to this day, yet they did not stay.
Where they knew it was scriptural.
They left that divine ground. What happened?
The pride of life. The pride of life.
You may not have heard of the name of Hinman.
Mr. Deck, spiritual son.
Came out of the Church of England a man of letters.
His ministry was never heard in these countries.
But for 40 years he labored between England, Australia and New Zealand.
If he'd stayed on in the Church of England, he would have been Bishop London, Bishop of London, England.
Came out brightly full of mold.
There was a man.
Who stripped himself of everything?
Well, they used to call me Timothy. You know, I two years I spent with him.
And they called him Paul.
He came right across the Pacific to say goodbye to me in San Francisco when I booked up to go to Bolivia in 1920.
There was a man who stripped himself of everything.
Everything rich man.
Die the poor man.
Well.
He loved his He loved his Savior.
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He loved him as his own soul, it says here, now there's something.
His David in rejection, of course.
And the time goes so quickly.
I'd like to come back to Chronicles if we could, but not yet.
In chapter 22.
David therefore departed thence verse one, and escaped to The Cave Adalam.
And when his brethren and all his Father's house heard that, they went down little to him.
And everyone that was in distress and everyone that was in debt.
And everyone that was discontented gathered themselves unto him, and he became a captain over them, and they were with him about 400 men.
May I introduce some little personal matter here now?
As you all know, I was a preacher for the Baptist Baptist affiliated for some years in the in Australia before I saw the truth of the gathering name.
And it was through the reading of Mr. Darby, Kelly, Wigram and so on, books sent to me by my loved eldest brother, that changed my whole course.
And I remember going back to New Zealand after being away several years.
To find my dear father gathered to the precious name of Christ and Mother and all of them.
And the table of the Lord set up in his own ranch.
We're quite a number gathered to remember the Lord.
It's a long story, I'll try and make it breathe.
Before Father died.
My sister Jesse and are in.
Wrote me a sweet letter saying Father.
Is getting ready to depart.
And he wants to write a little letter to you before he dies. I'm propping him up in bed and he just told me. Jesse, bring me a sheet of paper to write, Eric.
And he wrote me this letter.
And I got a cable saying after that letter was written, he quoted.
I shall never leave me, nor forsake thee.
And with whole.
What did he say in that letter?
He said son, hold fast, stand fast.
Hold fast, stand fast.
The church in the mind of God is ever perfect, Son, don't forget it.
It's in ruins today.
Some are throwing up their hands in despair in England and in the colonies.
Some are going back to the Begley elements of the world, others are.
Going back to the systems, these religious systems from whence they came, He wrote it beautifully. Not an Arab in the orthography of this beautifully written as he always did.
Being a successful businessman, he was awfully careful how he wrote.
And he says others in this country are throwing up their hands and giving up, saying they're going to go along.
Son, remember, this is all wrong.
This is all wrong.
And he quoted Second Timothy 222.
Follow righteousness, faith, love, peace with them that call upon the Lord out of a pure heart.
And was gone.
What a wonderful leather.
There was a consecrated man.
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All he did had a little Pierce. I forgot to tell you, he said. Son, I don't know who'll ever bury me.
So great the ruin is. The ruin is so great. I don't know who Lee even buried me.
If the law doesn't come.
Are we so discontented, the young people, with this precious savior of yours?
That you would even dare to say no to him if he should touch your dear hearts.
To strip everything from your life and testimony.
That would prevent you.
From taking real rejection with your savior. Would you even dare do that?
I wouldn't, I wouldn't dare do that.
I remember having a meeting, we had meetings for a whole month. I must say it left me pretty poorly, but it was a joy to go and see. There would be a soul.
And I spoke to a group of them, Some 200 Saints gathered.
There were some among them who hadn't taken their place at the table yet.
And I said to them one day in the meeting, as the Lord Jesus ever done you any harm.
Has he ever failed you?
Has he ever?
Made a mistake concerning you and the place you should be in. Has he ever treated you like that? And they said Brother Smith, never.
Six of them were happily gathered to the precious name of Christ.
They took rejection with the Lord Jesus.
It costs there.
The vicissitude are only unknown to the Lord Jesus concerning those dear ones.
They suffer when they take rejection of Christ.
What a privileged people we are in this country.
We don't suffer here, beloved.
They suffer, they suffer poverty, they suffer persecution.
Are are we too well fed? Are we too comfortable?
Are we so absorbed with things that Christ is secondary in our minds, in our hearts?
All we trust not.
Brown, David. Here a few gathered. They took rejection.
These were this is a devoted ban.
They gathered unto Him. They took rejection with him.
And there's one thing, dear young Christian.
You may think that you are few and we are just a few, and we're going to become fewer and fewer as the age draws to its close.
But God, in his infinite wisdom and love.
Caused Dave to triumph.
He was the man of God's choice and when everything was shattered and broken in Israel.
God tempted his cause, beloved, through the man of his choice.
And he'll do that first still, if we'll only let him.
There's another sad point here. Time going along.
We read that he went back to his house.
Verse 24241 of chapter 20. Again, I'd like to read this if you would bear with me a moment and.
And as soon as the lad, you know the history of it, how an arrow was shot, if Saul, who persecuted him as as a Patrick on the mountain, if the arrow was shot beyond, it was safe, it was shot near if there was danger there from this king who sought his life.
And as soon as the lad was gone, Dave arose out of a place toward the South and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times.
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And they kissed one another.
And whipped one with another.
Until David exceeded beloved young people.
There is no love like the love of your own lovely man who loved us.
And gave himself worse.
69 years ago I saw myself a lost Sinner.
And I got on my knees and cried to God to save me.
Thank God the joy has never left me by His sovereign grace.
Isn't he a wonderful savior?
But we read here that Jonathan didn't take rejection.
There was love there, but he didn't take rejection.
Is this what you're doing, dear young person this afternoon? Have you taken rejection with crime?
Is he everything to your dear hearts this afternoon?
Is he?
As we read in the song of Psalm.
What is more built? What is thy beloved more than another beloved, that thou should so charge us?
My beloved is white and Ruddy, the chiefest among in the Greek simple word, the myriads. The chiefest among the myriads. The chief is among 10,000 the altogether love.
If I could say nothing else but to draw your attention to a young woman, dear young man, to the blessed man, that blessed man in glory.
Surely it would not have been in vain this hour, this afternoon.
He is the solution to all your difficulties.
Christ.
Nor thy the Apostle could say, but Christ that liveth in me.
And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God.
Who loved me and gave himself for me. Yes, he did. And why did Jonathan go back to the house? He went back to the palace. He was a Prince. It was kind of something you'd expect of a Prince to go back, but it was a retrograde step. And if you read carefully, the second book of Samuel.
And chapter one.
You'll see.
The effects of it Dear young person, have you taken rejection with my savior?
Have you really taken rejection with him?
Isn't he worthy? Indeed he is.
He's worthy of every heartbeat.
Oh yes, he is. He's so worthy.
You wouldn't fail him if you really loved him.
Second Samuel 1.
What has happened? War broke out.
Saul is dead. Where is Jonathan? Dead on the battlefield. Why? Because he didn't take rejection.
With David, Jonathan is dead. This is a picture of many young men and women whom I know.
Just simply because they have never taken rejection with Christ, they are dead on the battlefield.
They are lost dynamic.
And I'm sad today to tell you that my own dear brother Jimmy.
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A man of 69 years of age, he's another dead on the battlefield of life.
Jimmy was to go and join me in Bolivia.
He marries a beautiful woman, but unsaved.
And he's lived to repent of it ever since.
Where are his children?
In the world.
Prosperous, Yes, because he's a prosperous. Well, he's home with the Lord, but he was a prosperous man.
His children lost dynamics.
Lost dynamic Jimmy is a lost dynamic.
He knew better.
He ceased to write me. I wrote him the last time when 1920. He's never replied sick, never had a letter from Jimmy to this day.
He's a broken man.
A broken man.
He knew better.
Here is the lament which is so sad.
Time is running on, but it's such a sorrowful Here's David contemplating his love, Jonathan on the battlefield. Saul is dead all the.
All God did.
Tell it, Marvin Gaye, verse 20.
On the streets of Escalon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph, he mountains of Gilboa, let there be no review. You know, do only fall from the very calm night. It doesn't fall on a stormy night.
Do speaks of refreshment, beloved.
And it falls when there's no.
Stormy wind blowing.
And I like to think of it in connection with the manner that.
Didn't fall on the desert of the sand, because then it wouldn't have been a type of the spotless humanity of the Lord Jesus. Where did it fall? It fell on the dews.
On the dew there was number spot in him.
But here it is, let there be no due.
Nor will it to be rain upon you. No fields of offering for them. Shield of the mighty is mildly castaway, the shield of soul as though hip not been anointed with oil.
As if he'd never been anointed with all.
From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the ball Jonathan turned not back in the sword of Saul returned not empty. Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives and in their death.
They were not divided. They were swift and Eagles. They were stronger than lions. He, daughter of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel. How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle? Oh, Jonathan, thou was slain in mine high places. I am distressed for thee.
My brother Jonathan, very pleasant. Hast thou mean unto me? I love to me was wonderful.
Thy love to me was wonderful.
I'll sing the love of women. How are the mighty fallen and the weapons of war perished?
Isn't this a sad ending? But there's one comfort here. I want to encourage you, dear young people, this afternoon.
Anything you would do for Jesus sake, for the Lord Jesus sake ascends like the offerings of the Old Testament as a sweet savour to God.
Every thought of Jesus and his love of His.
Intrinsic value for he is God over all things blessed forever. Every thought the young person that you may have even of concerning the Lord Jesus sends as a sweet savour offering to God. That's how God looks at it.
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And here he says, thy love to me was wonder. Yes, he does appreciate the Lord. Jesus doesn't forget.
Any decision you will make this afternoon and we trust there are some who would be willing to make a decision for Christ this afternoon.
Not me, our Savior. That would be glorious.
But as obedient children.
To his desire.
Would you make a decision like that for his sake?
Just look over at Chronicles a moment, please.
We haven't very much time left to take this up.
Here we see David in another role.
They're going to make him pain.
Chapter 12.
And we have a wonderful statement here in verse 16.
And the K And there came of the children of Benjamin and Judah to the whole unto David.
This is astounding. These were the these were the mighty men of Saul.
They came to David.
Unto the whole.
God.
Call these out and God called you out to take rejection with this blessed one. And they say here in in verse 18. Then the Spirit came upon a Massa Amasa who was chief of the captain.
And he said, Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse.
Peace, Peace.
Be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers, for thy God helpeth thee. Then David received them, and made them captains of the band.
Verse 29.
And of the children of Benjamin, the kindred of Saul, 3000. For him the two of the greatest part of them had kept the ward of the House of Saul.
I've been impressed with First Samuel 230.
Them that honor me, I will honor.
And I want to give you the original rendering of it, which is terrible. And they that despise me shall be more vile. Isn't that a dreadful thought? Yet it's the truth.
When we translated the scripture, we found that out.
To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of.
Ram.
And of the children of Benjamin the kindred of Saul 3000, and of the half drive of Manasseh 18,000 which were expressed by name to come and make David king.
And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times to know what Israel ought to do, the heads of them were 200 and all their brithmarth, their commandment of Zebulun, such as went forth to battle expert in war with all instruments of war 50,000 which could keep rank. They were not of a double heart.
Double heart.
And it goes on verse 38. And these men of war that could keep rank.
With a perfect heart to Hebron to make David king over all Israel, and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart.
To make David King the Crowley King.
Oh, you dear young people, will you do it? Not because I say so, because I'm nothing.
Because of the love of Jesus blessed heart.
Because of the honor of his name. Would you do this?
I can see there is a on the face of many young people here this afternoon. There's a longing in your heart and your soul.
One could notice it wondering what to do.
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What to do?
I've noticed beloved in this country.
That the pretensions and energy of man are strongly manifesting themselves.
But as one has said, but to learn in this day of grace, to be still and know that God is God is completely above the education of the flesh. That's what J&D wrote, and I read that as a young man.
And I'd like to quote again as from the Spanish.
This is what he wrote.
And I got it down. I have it down in my Bible. I'll put it into English.
If anyone speaks of separation from you without being humiliated, let him take careless his position. Become simply only that which at all times has constituted sex.
And produce doctrinal heresy nearest to Christ, he says, would keep us from sectarianism, the most natural weed of the human heart.
What a statement.
I've put this into Spanish 50 years ago.
For the sake of those dear ones we love.
And I'll read on a little farther.
Now I know he says that the present time of no servant which is worthy of him, if it's not done in humiliation.
This is not the time to speak of a place for ourselves. If the Church of God, so dear to Christ, is dishonored in this world, if it is scattered, ignorant, afflicted, he who has the mind of Christ will always take the lowest place. True service of love will seek to give according to a need.
And because of their need, he will never think of slighting the object of the Master's love because of their necessity. And then he made this statement. Man thought of God go forth into his service from a place of strength, realizing.
The degrees.
No, some of us have degrees which are not worth a snap as far as spirituality goes.
Where they have learned, he said, And he had degrees.
From the university several where they have learned their own nothingness.
Beloved, our faces this afternoon, you dear young people, your places in the dust before God.
Because of lack of love to Christ. Because of the willingness to give every heartbeat to Him who is so worthy.
Realizing their own nothingness.
Well, the time is gone.
They made him.
Little singer him in conclusion.
When we survey the wondrous cross #283.
When we survey the wondrous cross on which the Lord of Glory died.
Our richest gained we count, but loss and poor contempt on all our pride.
Forbidden law that we should boast save in the death of Christ our God, all the way in things that charm us most.
We'd sacrifice them to his blood #283 would a brother start that, please?
Realm of nature, ours that were an offering far too small.
Love the transcends our highest powers demand, our soul, our life are all.