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Surprise.
Me.
Sweet.
God, I'd like to see you.
Lord.
Perhaps in Luke 12 verse 8.
We need to we have two more reading meetings, including this one, so it might be nice to try to move it along to get down maybe to the.
Part way down to verse 34, if we can during this reading meeting, but perhaps Brother Lemoyne, if you'd read from verse 8.
Chapter 12 and verse 8.
Also I say unto you.
Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God.
But he that denieth me before men, shall be denied before the angels of God.
And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him.
But unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven.
And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say. For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.
And one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divided the inheritance with me.
And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or divider over you?
And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness.
For a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
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And he speak a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do, I will pull down my barns and build greater.
And there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.
And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then who shall those things be which thou hast provided?
So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.
And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life what you shall eat, neither for the body what you shall put on. For the life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment. Consider the Ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which neither have storehouse nor barn, and God feedeth them.
How much more are ye better than the fowls? And which of you with taking thought, can add to his stature? 1 Cubit.
If ye then be not able to do that, which thing is least? Why take ye thought for the rest?
Consider the lilies, how they grow. They toil not, they spin not. And yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
If then God so clothed, the grass which is today is in the field, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, how much more will they clothe you, O ye of little faith? And seek not ye that which He shall eat, or what you shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.
For all these things do the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knoweth that you have need of these things.
But rather seek ye the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Sell that you have, and give alms. Provide yourselves bags which wax not old. A treasure in the heavens that faileth not Where no thief approaches, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning, and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when He will return from the wedding.
But when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching. Verily I say unto you, that He shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meet, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch and find them, so blessed are those servants. And this note, that if the good men of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched.
And not have suffered his house to be broken through.
Be therefore ready also for the Son of Man cometh at an hour when you think not.
Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all? And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.
But and if that servant say in his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming, and shall begin to beat the men, servants and maidservants, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken.
The Lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he's not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant which knew his Lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes, for under whomsoever much is given.
Of him shall be much required, and to whom men have committed much of him they will ask, the more. I am come to send fire on the earth, and what will I if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straightened till it be accomplished? Suppose you that I'm come to give peace on the earth? I tell you nay, but rather division. For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided 3 against two, and two against three.
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The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father, and the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against her mother, and the mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.
Verses of this chapter, the Lord gives 4 special motives and encouragements to go on in the face of adversity. And the first one we looked at in verse three, and it's that all things are going to be brought into the light. And that's really meant, I believe, to be an encouragement to those that would suffer at the hands of those that would want to walk in darkness. And then you have His care and there would be those that would be persecuted.
And they could count upon his care, His love, his faithfulness. And that says not one of them in verse 6 not are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God. Even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore, you're of more value than many sparrows. So that's the second encouragement that he gives them, that they were cared for of the Lord himself. And then the third encouragement is in connection with the.
Him confessing them before men. If we confess the name of the Lord Jesus before men, we, by the grace of God, have any desire to present Christ as Savior and to identify with that rejected one in this world.
Why we confess his name in some small way, He's going to recognize that in a future day. He says, I say unto you, whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of Man also confess before the angels of God. What a wonderful thing it is. The Lord gives us an encouragement that He's going to recognize those things that we identified with him and spoke on his behalf in a world that had rejected him. And then the last thing in verse 12 is the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour.
What you ought to say. And so they could count upon the power of the Spirit of God. When the Lord Jesus was going to go away, and he spoke to his disciples, particularly in John's gospel, and I think it's chapter 14, He said he would go away and he would send the comforter. And so they could count on the power of the Spirit of God. And it was meant as an encouragement. What a wonderful thing it is for us in a world that has rejected the blessed Savior as these two sisters we heard of in the previous meeting.
Laid down their lives for Christ, they wouldn't cease to confess Christ before those that were persecuting them. And so we live in a world that is rejecting the name of Christ, rejecting the things of Christianity. And it's a wonderful thing in the day that we live in to confess the name of Christ and to walk in the power of the Spirit while we wait for him to come.
Comment on verse 9 Robert that is a verse that.
A lot of people find difficult.
Well, he delights to reward those that will identify with himself.
And we might come into a situation where we would hesitate to name the name of Christ, and we feel that we might suffer reproach and we shrink back from that situation. Well, the Lord would have desired that we would confess his name and that he could reward us for it. And so in a sense, we've lost that opportunity, lost that opportunity to identify with himself. And so there's a reward that's lost. I think that's perhaps what is being brought before us, is it not?
I was looking at it.
Timothy too, that is somewhat the same and I think it is something to exercise this.
We live in a world that is opposed to Christ and to not be faithful to him as treason. Really, it's very serious, but it's something that I think, like you say, we sometimes shrink from it. We need to be encouraged not to shrink from it. Second Timothy 2 and.
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Reading from verse 11, it is a faithful saying, for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him.
If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him, and here it is. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. Don't think it's talking about the question of salvation here. It's talking about the question of testimony and faithfulness to Christ and the resultant.
Reward that there will be.
There will be definite sense of loss at the judgment seat of Christ if we are not faithful.
And really, what are we afraid of in a country like this? We heard this afternoon about those who were martyred for their testimony. And as our brother Bill said, there are many this very day who know when they speak for Christ, or carry a Bible with them, or give any evidence that they belong to the Lord by their conduct they know what may be the result. Physical persecution, Prison.
Perhaps even laying down their lives physically for their testimony. But brethren, what are we afraid of in a country like this? A little sneer, a little reproach for the name of Christ?
Many of our brethren fear for their lives, but when we think of that relative to what we may feel, we suffer. And I say that word carefully. When we feel what we may suffer, and we will suffer a reproach, there is a reproach connected with our testimony for Christ. The world still hates him. The servant is not greater than his Lord. But I remember Charles Charles Whitaker saying one time.
When a brother asked him about his boldness in giving out tracks and speaking to souls here in North America, he said these people can't hurt me. He said when I was in Africa, I feared the headhunters. These people can't hurt me. They may say some things, but I'm not afraid of these people in that regard. Well, it helped as a young person to put it in perspective for me. But there is a reproach, isn't there, connected with our testimony if we confess Christ.
Either by what we say or by the life we live. We may not fear physical persecution, but there is a reproach. All they that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But again, Moses chose to suffer affliction with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, rather than to enjoy the accolades of Egypt.
And is it going to be worth it in a coming day? Will he be sorry that he gave up anything for, for, for, for the Lord and to serve the Lord's people? Not for one moment. Again, what glory is ahead? And brethren, to hear his well done in that day, His commendation, isn't that going to make it worthwhile? Are we going to suffer loss as Bob said?
Or are we going to give Him the joy, Him the joy of commendation, and he the joy of saying well done? We think of what a joy it will be to hear those words from him. But what about His joy? He wants the joy not of denying us before the angels, not of seeing a big bundle of wood, hay and stubble, those things that were not for His glory taken and burned up. But he wants the joy of being able to commend.
And confess us for those things that were for his glory.
It's interesting too, that it's before the angels of God.
Remember Brother Eric Smith speaking to us young people and commenting on the question of obedience and he said the angels know only to obey.
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Never do they disobey.
The angels, if there is one act of disobedience, they're lost forever.
But they only know how to obey. And he says they're watching us. We are a testimony to men and angels. And as they watch us, what do they see? Somebody that's disobedient.
And he said, this is what he used to say. What do the angels say when they see a disobedient believer? And I think that's perhaps what we have here. We shall they He that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. There will be a definite sense of loss in that day if there is not faithfulness to him.
It's helpful perhaps.
In verse 8 and 9:00 and 10:00.
It is with respect to the Son of Man that is the title of the Lord Jesus.
That he will take when he reigns over the whole earth, when he reigns and takes into his hands all the government of God in heaven and on earth.
And he hasn't done it yet, but he is the Son of man when he that is the title that he always referred to himself in the gospels as being who he was who do when Matt when he was asked the disciples who do men say that I the Son of man AM and they Peter gives the confession now at the Christ, the Son of the living God.
When He comes in power and glory, He comes as the Son of Man. And so I believe the force here is that now He doesn't have that place, but He wants His disciples, His followers, His servants in the world at this time to identify themselves with Him in His present position.
And to serve him in that way and so as the rejected man.
They have to identify. Do I identify when I am afraid to confess his name?
What am I really doing? I don't want to be identified with that name. I want to protect my own name. I want to protect my own reputation. I don't want people to think bad about who me and that's that produces a fear. But he's teaching them to serve him and to properly serve the Lord Jesus, our hearts have to be identified with him as Son of man in his present position.
With respect to the world. So in Matthew and in Luke later on, it's the Son of Man coming in his glory. Well then, what does he want to do?
Oh, you identified with me. Then I'm going to display you with me then in in the coming glory. And the angels are going to be observers of it all. They're going to see who is publicly displayed in that sense with him.
Are we going to be able to be displayed that way, brethren?
Are we going to hide our light under a bushel in order to have our own name and not associate with His position now in testimony for Him? Well then, when the day of glory comes, and when the Son of Man is displayed in all His glory before the world and angels, there will be a sense of either one who publicly now identified with Him or one who did not, because He will display those who identified with Him now in a special way.
And in a way that manifests to the angels and all these walked with me. And so it is in connection with reward or loss. And it will be a reward to the heart to to be as it were identified with him. I want to just make a side comment.
Just because it's on my heart, I was saying it to somebody today or yesterday.
Brother Merle Graham. Some here remember Brother Merle Graham.
And when the Lord took our brother home to be with himself.
In my own heart I could just see the Lord Jesus.
Putting his arms around the shoulder of Merle Graham and saying to me, this is my friend, this is my friend. Brethren, when the Lord comes in his glory, wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if he were able publicly to put his arm around us as ones who walked with him practically and said, this is my friend, this one, I'm going to sit on my throne with me. This one is going to be over this drive of Israel as we know.
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The apostles will be their special place of glory in the in the Millennium, but each one of us will have a place in the millennial glory with respect to the government of the earth, and it will be according to.
How we're living today for him.
Perhaps we see it illustrated a little with the life of Jonathan and David, don't we? Because we find that Jonathan wasn't willing to go all the way with David. He wasn't willing to to identify with David in his rejection. He went back to the palace and he was with his father and David no doubt felt it and felt it very keenly. David, of course, being a picture of the Lord Jesus in his rejection.
And it's interesting that there were those who did associate with David in his rejection. There were those who came to him in The Cave of Adalam. They were with him when he fled as a bird to the mountain and when he feared for his life from King Saul. Those that perhaps left the comforts of home and family and lived in conditions that perhaps weren't what they were normally used to or really conducive to what they would have normally chosen.
But poor Jonathan, if Jonathan had associated with David in The Cave of Adalam, he no doubt would have been associated with David in the palace, because David, the Lord's anointed, did eventually receive his Kingdom. And I often think of those who did associate with him in his rejection, those who were there in The Cave of Adalam, they no doubt had a special place. When David took the throne, those who slept with him in The Cave of a dullum reigned with help to reign with him in the palace.
And I realize, as Dawn has just said, that every believer is going to be with Christ and have a part and so on. But the illustration is there. John, poor Jonathan, he never lived to see David take his throne. He was slain with his father on Mount Gilboa because he didn't associate with the true king in his rejection. And yes, brethren, every one of us are going to have a place with Christ. Every one of us are going to come back with him.
In a coming day and there'll be something that he can commend for there'll be some little administrative position he'll give each one of us. But is it going to be really according to what his heart would have desired? Is he going to be able to say, so to speak, be thou over 10 cities? That's what he really wants to be able to say in each of your of of our lives in the coming day. So there we have it illustrated.
Jonathan wasn't willing to associate with God's man in his rejection. He never associated with him in the palace. Are we willing to follow a rejected Christ, a rejected king, now looking forward to the day when he's going to take his Kingdom, He is going to reign. A king shall reign in righteousness, and Princess shall rule in judgment.
I'd just like to read in Second Samuel chapter 19, Jonathan's son and Jonathan.
Had an effect, had an influence on his son. And you and I, each one of us, none of us liveth unto himself, and no man dies unto himself. And so we find that Mephibosheth didn't follow David in his rejection. And in in a sense it was part of partly Jonathans fault. Second Timothy, Second Samuel chapter 19 and verse 25. It came to pass when he was come to Jerusalem to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore went us not thou with me, Methodist.
And then he gives his reason.
But he was lame on both of his feet. And I just suggest this, that because Mephibosheth didn't see his father follow David in his rejection, and in a sense denied David the pleasure of his presence and suffering in his rejection, that Mephibosheth wasn't able to follow David in his rejection. He wasn't able physically to do it. But we know it's little picture to us, and it's a solemn thing.
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That if you and I will not identify with our Savior and our children see that we shrink back from identifying with the Lord in His rejection while we live in this favoured land. Why it may be that they won't identify because they just didn't see us do it. I want to just point out too, and second Timothy chapter one that the apostle Paul was encouraging Timothy to.
In verse 8.
Second Timothy chapter one, verse eight. He was encouraging Timothy to identify.
Not only with himself, but with the Lord. It says First Timothy a Second Timothy, chapter one, verse 8. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.
Nor of me his prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. What a privilege it is. And it's only in this scene, in the day that we live in, in the day of grace that we can possibly suffer for Christ in the coming day. It's going to be too late. When we see the Lord face to face, it's going to be too late. But Paul desired that Timothy, a young man, would not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.
I just want to fully encouragement of those that are maybe a little younger to just relay a little incident in my own life. My father, you know, we were brought up in Northern Ontario, 1St 10 years of our life along the Canadian Canadian Pacific Railway in the middle of nowhere. And then we went to school in a city in in Sudbury, ON and my dad took us aside as boys and I don't remember if my sisters were there.
But he said, you know boys.
You're different. You belong to the Lord Jesus.
And you've taken, you've confessed Christ, you've taken Christ as your Savior. You're different to the other boys. He says that's good. You're different. You make sure that you live for the Lord before those boys and have a confession of Christ before them. It's normal to be a Christian. It's not normal to live in this world and not know the Lord Jesus as Savior. So you're going to go to school and you're going to live a normal life before those boys and girls. And so I thought that was very good advice. It's a good thing for us to recognize that when we go to school, we go to the workplace.
We're going to live and we we face this world and that rejected the Lord Jesus.
It's a normal thing for us to live for the Lord and to present Christ to them in a public way.
Like to make a few comments on what is I think a root difficulty.
In us why we sometimes do not confess or identify with the Lord Jesus as we should. You turn with me back to Matthew chapter 16.
And verse 13.
Matthew 1613 When Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, AM?
And we know what follows. And verse 16 Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And that was the wonderful revelation to him. And having said those things, then it says in verse 21.
From that time forth.
Began Jesus to show his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders, and chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took him and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from the Lord, this shall not be unto thee. But he turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou art an offence unto me, for thou savorest not the things that be of God.
But those that be of men.
The Son of Man.
Not only was rejected, but he had to die.
He had to die.
And when he died, he died as Savior, but that put him into the place in which he is today with respect to the world. He is a man that the world has gotten rid of in that way.
And the difficulty we have sometimes is we want to trust like Peter did, and the Christ, the Son of the living God is Savior, but we shun to the identify with what it means his death means to our position.
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That is, in Christ we're dead.
With respect to our position, and we have with him in resurrection a new life in another world. The difficulty in the illustration in the Old Testament in Jonathan is this. Jonathan's father Saul is perhaps the supreme example of the Old Testament of this high as flesh can go.
Saul is, as it were, the epitome epitome of man in the flesh.
He stands head and shoulders above his fellow men. He had natural courage.
He desired natural glory, and anything that opposed that glory he was against, including David.
Jonathan is a picture of a true believer.
The son of a man of the flesh. But Jonathan's difficulty was he would not identify with David in his position. He wanted both. He wanted both. He wanted to have those things that man after the flesh desires that he got from Saul.
And he?
Would go. He loved David. He was a believer in David. He saw David as having the Kingdom.
Delivered to him, but his life was in the conflict of wanting to go on and enjoy the natural things of life that represent what Saul was his father in the flesh and not identify. That's the same reason why David's wife.
Saul's daughter couldn't go with David. She wanted the palace life as well. She wanted She loved David. She was married to him. But when he rejoiced before his God, she thought that lowered him.
His dancing was not appropriate to the honor and dignity of kings, and so she, they, they couldn't have fellowship in in David's place. And brethren, if we want to go on with the things of nature in our lives, we won't have the spiritual power given of God to identify properly with the Lord Jesus in this day of his rejection.
Because we're not willing to give up the place of nature. We want that which and so you find repeatedly that the Lord and Son of man calling the disciples to follow him. He's almost his first words are after you call him Lord is to deny yourself and take up your cross. That which speaks of the rejection of the world. The apostle Paul who didn't have this problem said, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross.
Of our Lord Jesus Christ, what? By whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. In other words, He took his place on the other side of the issue of death, and as was identified when the rejection of the Lord Jesus, but in the position in which his death brought him. And so must we, so must we. There is no other way about it.
Noticing this morning. Just a tiny little comment.
David was the 8th son of Jesse. Aid in Scripture speaks of a new beginning.
And our identification with the Lord Jesus has to be on a new principle with a new beginning, which is on the other side of death.
In Acts 4.
We know after the departure of the Lord Jesus to heaven.
The disciples had all good reason to be afraid of the Pharisees that they would be going after them now.
But they were not afraid.
I'm reading from chapter 4 verse.
Six and Anna's a High Priest, and Caiaphas and Son and Alexander, and as many as were the kinder of the High Priest, were gathered together in Jerusalem. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked By what power or by what name have you done this?
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Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if ye this day, if we this day be examined of the good deed done through the important man, by what means he is made whole, being known unto you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified.
Whom God raised from the dead, even by him does this man stand before you whole? This is the stone which was said, if not of you builders, which has become the head of the corner.
Neither is there salvation in any other, for there's none other name, and they haven't given among men whereby ye must be safe.
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John.
And perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men. They marveled, and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus.
And then we read in verse 15, But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the Council, they conferred among themselves, saying, What shall we do to these men? For they indeed, for they had indeed an notable miracle, but has been done by them, is manifest to all them that mountain Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
And verse 18 They called them, and commanded them not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered, and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hear more than unto God, Judge ye, for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.
And that is, beloved brethren, that's what we wanted to speak about, the things that the Lord Jesus has done for us.
We know later on.
Harrod killed James.
The brother of John by the sort, and that might have put a lot of fear into them when he did that. But yet then we see when he took Peter, how Peter got rescued out of prison and how wonderful the Lord preserved him and was an encouragement to the rest of them all at that time.
Verse eight, it says Peter filled with the Holy Ghost said unto them, And so he hadn't got a premeditated answer, He was hauled into court, so to speak, before these men. And this the chapter that we have before us, says in verse 11 That this would take place in verse 11, when they bring you unto the synagogues and unto magistrates and powers, taking no thought how or what thing you shall answer, or what you shall say. For the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what you ought to say.
And so it's a wonderful thing to have the peace of God in connection with desiring to give a testimony for the Lord, not denying His name, confessing His name. And if there is a consequence before this world in some way, perhaps not in this country, but others that suffer, we know that we may suffer in this country if we wait upon the Lord. We walk in the spirit, in the power of the Spirit. The Lord will give us an answer. And how many of our brethren in other countries?
We've heard of.
Has spoken the word of the gospel in the gospel word of the truth of God, and have found themselves in these circumstances, and the Lord has given an answer.
Well, it takes up the question of possessions next and the man that wants the inheritance divided and the Lord saw what was in the question the but the moral teaching, if you will, that we get from it is.
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What are possessions today? There's something to use for the Lord to make use of in service to Himself and but to be preoccupied and properly with it, and to make our lives rooted and anchored in the possessions themselves instead of using them for the Lord is to make this world.
The scene of our interest and as it's already been said, it's daily life in view of eternity, and this is the very opposite of that.
It's making daily life the essence of life in the center of our lives. And so he brings this matter, he said as as his What do I have to say to that today? What is that to me today to I'm not running the world, if you will, in its present form, the Lord could say to those people, So what am I to say about dividing the inheritance? And so the Lord isn't taking up those issues today. We may want to have.
Fair treatment and be ready to go to law to get it and so on of material things. But the Lord isn't promised that that's how it's going to work. He doesn't say we're going to have righteousness and an unrighteous world and so on, but it's more use what the Lord gives for himself, but don't use it. And here's the man that builds his barns and gets rich and what am I going to do? Well, what was he living for? Turn into your time.
He was living for time and we've had brought before us multiple times in these meetings that the Lord is saying to us, let's all live for eternity. Let's not live for time. Time's going to be gone, but what's left will be the how we live time in view of eternity. And that's what he says to this man. He was a fool. He said I've got years to live. I'm going to eat, drink and be married. The world says let's eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die, in other words.
I might as well enjoy all I can now because someday it's going to end. But that's it. That's all he thinks about. He never thinks beyond his present life and death. But the Lord is telling his servants, you live. You live in view of what's ahead, live in view of my Kingdom. And don't take the attitude of let's eat, drink and be merry, for we have many years.
And so there are two has thought to do is in verse 415.
He said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness.
And this the next two lines of that verse, That's, that's what I learned by heart, because we should all learn that by heart, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possessed.
That's something you think about.
It's not the things that we have that make us happy.
The abundance.
All right, I suggest there are two things to in this parable that bear on the present dispensation in which we live.
One is that Christ is not directly laying claim to this world. There is a day coming, if we could say it, when the Lord Jesus will be a judge over people. There is a day coming when He will administer justice in this world during the millennial day. But at the moment he's calling us out of this world for heavenly blessings.
So that's the truth. He wants to get through to us.
And the other thing that I think we need our attention drawn to our brother has just read verse 15. A man's life consists of not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
Any of you that have the Darby translation, It puts, if I could say it, A twist on it that is very, very instructive.
A man does not have to be in abundance for his life to be in his possessions. Or close to that anyway. Is that is that? Is that pretty close? Yes.
Because a man is in abundance that his wife is in his possessions. Exactly.
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That means that I don't have to be rich in order for my life to be in my possessions. And some of us that have traveled have seen individuals more occupied with, well, bits and pieces of this world. I even read about, and I don't want to pick on anybody, but I read about a man who was a rickshaw puller.
Calcutta in India and he was all excited about the prospects that he had and the life that lay ahead and he was in good health and he could make good money and so on. And you and I in North America would say, well, rickshaw puller, that doesn't sound like very interesting or prospective job. But our lives can be in our possessions no matter how much we have. Very, very solemn, isn't it?
Sorry, Bill.
Time that I start a parable and this parable actually starts in verse 16. The first thing that I try to do is I try to find what I call the key to the parable.
Sometimes the parable is out in the middle, sometimes the parable is after the end when it is explained by Jesus and sometimes the parable is got the key to it before you start it. In verse 15, it says and he said unto them, take heed and beware of covetousness. That was the emphasis that our brother on on these two verses. There's parable has a key to it about covetousness and how we are to take heed to it.
There's a lot of things about covetousness. Men think that once they have an inheritance, it's going to solve their problem. It's a false thing. By the way. Covetousness, I believe, is the last of the commandments, and it's the beginning of all kinds of of sin. Once you have a desire for these things, all kinds of sin begin at that point. And so he has a key to this parable.
And at the end of the parable, when you get down to 17, he speaks about Solomon and all of his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
In the Song of Solomon we can find our beloved coming down to this earth, to the assemblies and picking up a a Lily out of his gardens and taking it up to him. He has put his preciousness on us as a Lily, and that says that Solomon couldn't even be arrayed like one of these. That means that we are so precious and dear and of value to him that it is above anything on the face of this earth.
And so that's where the end of the parable starts in. And when you get over in verse 28, it's because we are of value to him. If then God so clothed the grass, which is today in the field and tomorrow discussed in the oven, how much more will He clothe thee, Clothe you, because you're of value to him. You are a Lily to Him above everything on the faithless earth, a precious gem that we are of His. He paid the price for us and therefore we are of value.
And verse 29 and verse 30 says that it is unspiritual to worry. Worry can cure absolutely nothing. And so we go on down there and look at verse 33. Here is our how we invest in eternal things. And so I'm going to let my brother continue to talk. But once you find the key, then the rest of the parable starts to open up to you.
Another aspect to what Bill has said to is connection with these things is that our hearts are really tricky. You know, we don't know our own hearts. And sometimes I think we feel if we had more, we could do more for the Lord. And we sometimes think that we've all thought that, I'm sure. But you know, if the Lord wanted us to do more, he'd give us more. And it's not a question of what we have, but it's a question as has already been said.
Of what we do with what is already in our hand. If the Lord puts a dollar in our hands, then we're to weigh that in His presence and in the light of eternity. If he puts $1,000,000 in our hands, well then that's a, a, a weighty thing to bring before the Lord and to weigh in the light of eternity. I say that because I knew a brother and he went into a business scheme and put his whole heart and soul into it and it was over and above his normal work and profession.
Then calling in life in a secular way and it really he, he told me himself he was doing it so he'd have more to use for the Lord's work and the Lord's people and so on. But you know, it took him away from the assembly meetings. It took him away from time spent in the Lord's presence and with his family, and it led to some very sad things in his life. And so, brethren, it's not a question of whether we're rich or poor, whether we have great possessions or small possessions.
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It's a question of what we set our heart on and what we do with what the Lord places in our hand today. Again, when you come to the parable about the talents, it wasn't a question of how many talents that person was given. It was a question of what they did with what they were given. And they were held responsible not for something they weren't given. They were held responsible for what was placed in their hand.
And everyone of us in eternity are going to be held responsible for not how much we were given or how much we accumulated or had, but what we did with what the Lord placed in our hand, whether it was in a temporal way or in other ways as well.
I've enjoyed that gym in connection with the Apostle Paul in the book of Philippians, he says in verse chapter 4 and verse 11, not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned and whatsoever state I am. In other words, it didn't come naturally, he said. I learned it therewith to be content. I know how to be a based and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things I am instructed.
To be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me.
So the lack of material things was not a hindrance in the work of the Lord.
A abundance of material things was not what enabled him to do the work of the Lord. It was having Christ, as is all. And I think that is a very important thing because we always have the tendency to look at somebody else that has more material things and to say, like you say, well, if I have more than I could do more for the Lord. No, brethren, it is what you do with what you have right now. That's the point.
And I marvel as we see the Lord Jesus and his life down here, brethren. Nobody that was poorer than him. Naturally speaking, he had.
Next to nothing. As he passed through this world, I've tried to think of what did he possess, materially speaking. The only thing I can come up with were the clothes on his back, which they took away from him when they crucified him, but he never lacked when it came to supplying the need.
For those that were in need, here's a group of 5000 men, women and children more and they were hungry. And he tested his disciples. He says, what shall we do for these? And there was a lot of calculating and reasoning.
What did the Lord use? Something that just seemed so totally, totally.
In able to meet the need 5 little rolls and two fishes. What is that amongst so many That was what God used and so I think it is so important to realize it's not in having abundance that capacitates us to serve the Lord. It is not having abundance I should say. It's not having a lack of that those things that hinders us serving the Lord it is using.
Whatever it is that is in your hands right now, I've been amazed when there is that simplicity of faith and looking to the Lord in Latin America where there's quite a bit of poverty in areas, how the Lord just opens up things and things are done that you would not have expected. In fact, I say, brethren.
Some time ago in Bolivia, the brethren came to me when I was about to travel to the United States.
With a letter from a large city in Bolivia. They were meeting there and they needed a meeting room and they wanted me to take this letter up to the North American brethren to say we need some help in building a meeting room in this city.
I said, brethren.
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We're not starting the right place. You do not go to your North American brethren. You go to the Creator and Sustainer of the universe. If I take this letter, I'm going to limit you in the true resources that there are. Excuse me, I prefer not to take this letter and I don't know how much they understood it right at the moment, but.
I really do believe that rather than that.
What it is that will make you a useful instrument in the Lord's work. And like Bill said in the meeting, we're all in the Lord's work. Brethren. Don't go looking at certain ones as in the Lord's work. We all serve the Lord Christ, some in different capacities, that's true. But if we just use what He has put in your hand right now, God can make it a tremendous blessing.
He uses things that are small in a mighty way.
Make us earthly minded, we're heavenly citizens and really this is what the Lord was bringing before them to that this man was this parable he tells him of the ground of a certain rich man that brought forth plentifully. It had to do with this earth. But you know I I I enjoy too in connection this connection in Hebrews chapter 13 verse five and the Lord says there let your conversation or your manner of life be without covetousness, without the love of money.
And be content with such things as you have, or be satisfied with present circumstances, as Mr. Darby translates it. For he has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. So what captivates the heart of a believer, a heavenly citizen, is the man in the glory, and as you say, the resources that he has for the path of faith. That's what ought to captivate your heart and mind. It's lowers the standard, it lowers the dignity of the position that we occupy before God.
Sons of God, if we get occupied with those things that have to do with the things of the wealth and the money and all those things that other people are, their hearts are taken up with. What a prospect. You didn't read verse six, brother, Please read that too.
So that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear, what shall man do unto me.
Like to comment?
Different direction. And on verse 21 we should be occupied with treasure, brethren.
We should have a great interest in treasure.
But let's look at how we should see it in verse 21. So is he that layeth up treasure for whom himself?
Is that the whole idea? I lay up treasure for myself?
But I do care about treasure. And Sir, do you?
We want it. We want our God. We want the Lord Jesus to have a full treasure chest.
A complete and full treasure chest. We see the Lord Jesus. He came down here and as far as his personal possessions and all that he had, He was willing to give it all up. But he was rich toward God. He wanted God to have children. God wanted to have children, and he was willing to lay everything out so that the heart of God and his treasure chest might be full.
The Apostle Paul, when he looked at the Philippians Saints, he looked at him and he saw him as the Lord's treasure.
And he looked forward to the day when he could see them in the presence of the Lord and the richness of it. And the Lord doesn't make any man is debtor. The apostle Paul is going to have the eternal joy of seeing the Saints of Philippi, the treasure of the Lord. But the Lord is going to say, yes, Paul, but they're your treasure too. They're your treasure too. You were used and and brethren, someday what we really count as treasure.
Will be manifested. We all have the present privilege of being occupied with what's really a treasure but whose treasure our own or his will let us be occupied with what's a treasure to him, the Lord Jesus and Speaking of his own, he said, behold I and.
Or he said, speaking to the Father in his prayer, Those that thou hast given me. And he gave everything for them in that sense, that they might present them to God in all their perfection of the way they had been given to Him as a gift.
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Take our children.
Our children are brought to us as as entrusted to us through in that day of manifestation. Present them to Him as a treasure.
For his own heart. And so it's a serious responsibilities that we bear.
But let's not think about it as treasure for ourselves.
To give a little illustration, tell a little story, as it were, and he would say that each one of us is preparing a little gift, a little box to present as a gift to the Lord Jesus. When we see Him at the judgment seat of Christ every day, we're adding a little bit to that gift. And in as much as we desire to live for His glory in this scene, we're preparing a little gift for Him. Some, perhaps like the apostle Paul, will come with a very large box.
As it were, and and that which was done in their lives, in his life will be manifest at the judgment seat of Christ and he'll get a full reward and others of us will enter into his presence and we'll have just a little box. And how we'll wish that we had lived every day more fully to his glory and had less of the things of this world before us as an object. So what a privilege we have to just as this.
Scripture says.
The treasure. So is he that layeth up treasure for himself.
In selfishness.
We ought to be characterized by those that are unselfish and using our lives unselfishly for the glory of God.
Our time is nearly.
Pretty gone, but just one comment to that I think needs to be made so that no one gets the wrong impression. Nothing of what we have here in this story about the rich man that built his barns greater or in the instruction from verse 22 down to the end of verse 30. Nothing there in any way encourages laziness, does it? God would not have us to be lazy or.
Slothful in our everyday lives and in the work that we do. Oh no. And it does not in any way predicate against a young person making due preparation for a career or for whatever job they may feel that the Lord has fitted them for and doing it diligently before the Lord. And we have many other scriptures that would in every way encourage us to do that. And so it's in no way suggesting that we should just sit back and say, well, the Lord's going to look after us.
But the whole question is, as our brother Dawn and others have brought out, what is our motive? How are we looking at the whole thing? That is the real question, isn't it? Go ahead.
Doesn't always mean to have money.
To be rich in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Is is very important. I'm just seeing. Just try to tell a little story of my own life.
When I first came to this continent, I walked the street of Hamilton ON.
On a warm summer day.
And I was so lonely.
A man came along and took my picture.
And he said, well, here I took your picture.
You wanted I gave him my address and he sent it later and I got the picture and every time I look at it today, I said there was a loneliest time of my life when I walked the streets of Hamilton and had nobody.
I didn't have the Lord.
And that's what I was really missing.
If I would have had the Lord, I would have had the one, the only one to make happy. But it wasn't six years later.
That I got saved and I had lowered my heart. If I would have had the address of Bill Frost at that time in Hamilton, maybe I could have visited him and he could have encouraged me.
But I didn't have it.
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And I didn't get one either. I had to wait six more years and ran through a lot, a lot of things until the Lord saw it fit to save my soul and make me happy.
Oh, say goodnight, greatest love man at the time. A promise to get to the water will provide.
It is always open. No, no, no, wait, no, no, it's fine, thanks. I spoke over the Lorraine in our strange. Drives me about, but sure God.
Drugs and all dangerous. All the water will come upon you.