Maine Conference: 2015
Table of Contents
Ephesians 4:1-6
Reading
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We think #172.
We'll teach us more, my blood way. Holy Land of God, fix the rooter.
Midnight race those redeemed by blood 172.
Dread.
You surprise each hour and meet I'm traveling home to God and a great 3 grace inspire.
Souls with strength divine.
The other thought God is fire and grace and service.
Our God and Father this morning how we do thank Thee from the bottom of our hearts.
Or the exceeding riches of thy grace, and thy kindness to us.
We thank you that's all has by Thy grace saved our souls.
And we thank You that Thy grace provides for us each step of the way.
On the way home.
And we thank these that glory awaits us. We thank you, Thomas, give both grace and glory. We feel so favored.
We absorb it.
We're making it all possible.
That we could be brought into a position of unspeakable favor before the accepted in the beloved. We thank thee for our Spirit, Lord Jesus.
We ask that because we have sewn together and I will teach us more. God bless ways, Lord Jesus.
We have to tell with six.
And root us in thy grace as those that have been redeemed by blood.
So here we are this morning in DI presence we.
Thank you.
And by thy grace, I was brought us near to thyself.
We thank Thee for the privilege of being gathered simply to thine age that Jesus.
And we do hope today that all will give us a portion from thyself to feed our souls.
We pray that I'll just guide us through what we should take up during the Bible readings. We thank you for each one present. Thank you for the children.
And for the young people, the teenagers as well as the older ones.
And tell us know the need of each heart we look to these five eye.
Spirits, through thy precious words that will just minister.
Our soaps and that it might indeed cause us to.
With one mind and with one mouth, glorify these.
For all IPS nitrogen. So we asked as we feel our weakness, we feel how dependent we are.
But we know what I desire and I delight just to bless, so we may also be give thanks for this time together, seeking that direction and precious worthy name of Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Amen.
Under the brother might think of the.
Ephesians chapter 4 in our chemistry thing of.
Grace. We have grace for our salvation given to us, but we also need the practical grace for our pathway the Lord provides for us to walk.
We lost the grace.
We've got feet and shots forward.
To give them instruction.
We should walk in the new life that we can see.
29th versus especially that.
Mr. Grace along through.
OK.
I'd be happy to have somebody to read it.
I'll I'll read it unless you would like brother. I said no.
For Ephesians chapter 4.
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called, with all loneliness and meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called, in one hope of your calling. 1 Lord, 1 Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all.
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And through all, and in you all, but unto everyone of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Wherefore He said, when He ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He may might fill all things. And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.
For the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the **** of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they let they let lie in wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up unto him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.
From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplier, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, make an increase of the body onto the edifying of itself in love.
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that he that ye henceforth walk, not as other Gentiles walk.
In the vanity of their minds, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through ignorance, through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart, Who being past feeling, having have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ, If so be that you have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus.
That you put off concerning the former con conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and sin not. Let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil.
Let him that soul steal no more, but rather let him labor working with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth but no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you with malice.
With all malice, and be kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.
OK.
Chapter 3 is a parenthesis.
And so chapter 4 is really picking up from the end of chapter 2 and the apostle and the.
The first three chapters really establishes doctrinally our position, uh, accepted in the beloved all the, the, uh, blessings that God has brought us into and where we are positionally, individually and collectively.
And the end of chapter 2, verse 21. And whom?
All the building, fitly framed together, groweth into an holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builded together for inhabitation of God through the Spirit. And so he's Speaking of the collective side of things, the Church of God and seen as a building.
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And.
The Lord Jesus Christ said upon this rock, Speaking of himself, I will build my church, my assembly. And so it's the Lord's building, and yet in verse 22, whom he also are builded.
He's making a present application and the builders not specifically named because he's going to start to go into the sphere that brings in our responsibility.
Chapter 3 of parentheses. We'll skip over it.
Where I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith thee are called.
He's going to take up more of the responsibility side now because he's laid before us the position that we've been brought into, but with position and with the blessings he gives, has given us calm privileges and responsibilities.
And this chapter begins to take up that side of things on through the rest of the book. Privilege and responsibility.
We sang together. Grace taught our wandering feet to tread.
That heavenly ghost.
And here we have.
Walking worthy of the vacation for the calling.
We're with ER core.
The only way that we can walk for God, I believe effectively is if we have a knowledge and appreciation for the grace that he has displayed toward us. And you know, grace is unmerited favor.
It's getting that which I don't deserve.
You know we deserve.
To go to hell.
Because of who we are and what we have done, we deserve judgment.
But we find that even though we have.
Rebelled against our Creator.
Against God.
Himself rather than abandoning.
You and me, what does he do? He reaches out to us to bring us into a position of unspeakable favor, and I believe that's what we have in the 1St and 2nd chapter of this book.
You know, inverse stuff.
Seven chapter one says in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches.
Of disgrace.
When we come over to Chapter 2.
We find that God has raised us up together. Verse six hate us, sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show.
The exceeding riches of his grace.
In his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus for my grace, are you saved and so on. So if we.
No, and appreciate the goodness of our God.
Tolls out.
In the unspeakable gift of his dear son.
The one chief Treasurer, as we often sing, is bosom freely gave his own pure love invention, his willing mind to stay.
And this works in our soul to give us a desire.
To please the Lord.
And it's not because we're subjected to rules and regulations.
It's not a question of do I have to do this or do I have to do this?
That for God, we want to do it.
Because of Islam great sprayed towards.
And so this is the footing I believe on which the Costco.
Peaches.
These ephesians that they would walk worthy of the.
Location where? With the airport?
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And Paul, he was a prisoner.
He was a prisoner of Rome.
But he doesn't speak of it in that way. He says I'm a prisoner.
Of the Lord.
And.
The circumstances from all outward appearances.
They were.
Really undesirable.
Before the world, but, you know, fall.
He was willing to stop her for Christ.
As he contemplated the grace of God and how Christ suffered for him.
What is worthy?
Means what? What is meat? What?
What is the?
Proper.
Response.
Right, that's worthily and, uh.
So in the context of grace, where the lead does not have to do with.
Some kind of, uh.
Something you can be proud of.
Or even something admirable.
Usually worthy. Worthy is thought of as, you know, matching.
Kind of in quality matching something, but this is not the context here.
What is worthy of grace is lowliness, is not to walk with your nose in the air, holier than thou, better than others. That's this is not what it's talking about. What? What is meat? If someone has shown you grace, if you deserve to go to hell?
But God instead sacrificed his Son to save you. The response to that is not anything proud. The response to that is.
You hang your head and you realize I was not worthy of this grace.
And So what meets that is loneliness.
We're told to walk worthy. Second verse told us how to do it.
And meet.
Very easy to read these things, but the.
Carry them out or something else, something many things in the word that we know we should do or shouldn't do.
Sometimes we we are. It's harder here we're told to walk worthy.
How to do it? Hold your knee, pushing yourself forward. Or you said don't be proud of it. Something to be thankful for, not proud of.
Was there before that I.
A lowly brother doesn't, uh.
Goodwill vents.
And the makeup other doesn't take offense and Big Brother doesn't give offense.
So we're going to do that.
But if we're walking like we should be, wouldn't be offensive.
The vocation is the truth of the one body that the apostle brings out.
And the habitation of God through the Spirit.
The apostle, for the abundance of the revelations that he received, also received something else, the thorn not in, but for the flesh. Let he be puffed up through the abundance of revelation. You know, sometimes we receive a thorn for the flesh for other reasons than that. We've entered into the truth of God in such a full way as the apostle that we need something to keep the flesh down. We have other reasons.
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But there is the danger of entering into the truth of God and then becoming proud in connection with either the knowledge or the practice of it. And so the apostle was given the thorn for the flesh.
And.
He wants us to walk worthy of it and so it's been brought out. It's got to be in humility. There is the danger of pride coming in in connection with position that we have been brought into as believers.
The apostle says he is a prisoner.
As well.
You know the Jews listened to him in Jerusalem.
Up to the point.
Where he brings out that the Lord sent him to the gentiles, and then they wouldn't hear him anymore.
And it was for the truth that Jew and Gentile were blessed in equality.
Joint partakers of Christ and the Gospel. A joint body.
And joint heirs.
The Jews would not dare to hear them.
And so it is for the truth of the one box.
The assembly, the habitation of God by the Spirit that Paul was a prisoner.
And there is a certain sense in which.
The more we understand and walk in the good of that truth that we will find there is opposition to it and we may come into a place.
Too, in a certain sense of ******* there will be things that.
Come in or we have to walk. If we're going to walk worthy of that calling that we have to walk in separation from what would be contrary to it. And we can find ourselves in a certain sense in a position like Paul.
And brother Lil used to stay back home.
In professing Christianity, Paul still in change, the truth that he received from his son is Christ is still largely rejected and refused.
And we will find that we are in that place as well.
If we want to walk in that truth. And so he brings that out, that he's a prisoner of the Lord in connection with those truths. But he says now I want you to walk Word and I want you to walk. You have your walk be in accord with the position that you have been brought into. But here is the spirit in which it's going to have to be walked in.
I think the new translation, uh, as in the in the Lord.
Out all the water, but in the ward, which is that one little word makes a big difference because.
There are loads a day that would say they're serving God and it's.
Have a necessity or just a religious thing that they're serving and may not even have life.
Their religious people out there that that are caught up in that kind of thing they could say, well, I'm serving God, but here the he makes it clear that it's in the Lord. He put his trust in Christ. He's looked at as being in him and so are we if we have accepted crisis or Savior.
We are in him and I think that.
They've got that word is a lot bigger than it's nice to look at it that way. If we're in Christ the apostle Paul who's serving the Lord in the Lord, he was serving the Lord in that way and.
That's the way that we can serve it too. We should look at ourselves as being a prisoner in that way.
We don't want to do anything that would offend him.
Anything that would cause.
And so we we want to do whatever we can that would we would have the words of Google.
00:25:05
Serve is a popular little uh, saying, umm.
May not get it all right. It's only one. Life will soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. I think it if you're wiser to say only what's done in Christ will last because there's a lot of people that presume to be doing things for the Lord.
He may very well say, I never knew you, but if we say only what's done in Christ.
Will last. That's.
I think that's more scriptural.
I have a question the beginning of the third chapter.
Also I call prisoner of Christ Jesus.
Here I'm using the new translation. I have to have that open. I, the prisoner in the Lord exhorted, wondering.
Why the difference in the way this is brought before us someone?
Enlightenment.
OK.
I would.
I would go back to where from the very beginning the Apostle Paul was told by the Lord that the Jews will not receive you. I'm sending you to the Gentile.
And.
And yet you find wherever Paul went, first people he went to was the Jews and he fought and, and tried to get them to receive his message. He felt this, you know, you are the ones that you are the ones that should be receiving. And uh, even said I would even, I would even be willing to be a curse that my brethren would receive this.
So he just.
As we know, and you follow his ministry through the book of Acts, you just can't let that go. He, he, he wants to get the Jews to receive this, even though the Lord said they're not going to receive it. I'm sending it to the Gentiles. Well, what happens eventually in attempting to get the Jews to receive it, He ends up in bonds.
And so I believe that's what he means at the start of Chapter 3 is I'm a prisoner.
For your sake. For the sake of you, Gentiles.
And so the Lord was like, no, OK, so you're not going to cooperate then, you know, you can put a hook in your nose. I'm going to lead you where I want you to go. And he's led to Rome and that's where he ministers. This is where we get most of the New Testament was from when he was a prisoner. And that's where all the truth that blows out to the Gentiles comes from. So I think that is what, Chapter 3.
Chapter 3 I'm a prisoner, it says.
Of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles.
But in Chapter 4, it's a totally different character. It's just Bern brought brought out.
If he had never gone out to the Gentiles, he would have escaped.
And a large measure of the reproach.
So how do we apply that today? The apostle Paul brings out the heavenly calling of the Church of God.
We're not of this earth. We're members of Christ's body. We belong to glory where he is. Stephen looked up and saw.
The Lord in glory, standing at the right hand of God. And there is our place too, out of this world.
Weekend escape reproach too, you know.
We can escape reproach too, by not confessing our heavenly calling in this world. And Paul's ministry largely is bound up with that fact of the that grace has called us the heavenly calling and.
Professing Christianity has really departed from that heavenly calling and that heavenly character.
See her portion in this earth and in earthly calling.
And if we seek to walk in and confess the heavenly calling, we're going to find reproach. We can avoid it. The apostle didn't avoid it. So he was the prisoner for you Gentiles, in order to carry that truth to them.
00:30:14
They could not have prices.
It's all the same spec and Trinity.
Chapter One.
Fall since all day that are in Asia.
And there he was in prison and chains.
There was one who came to visit me and that's the forest, I believe it was.
It wasn't ashamed of the chains. It wasn't ashamed, of course, because I believe he knew Paul.
Had the word of God.
And that he was promoting the truth of God even though it wasn't popular in the world. And truly, as you point out.
To indicate that our prospects are heavily as Christians. It's not popular in the world.
And the world looks upon a Christian often is.
One that's so heavenly minded he's of no earthly good.
I mean, you talking about heaven, that's where you're going. Well, I believe that there is reproach connected with this profession, but really this is what our quality is, because where is the Lord Jesus Christ at the present time? Where is it?
Is he here on Earth as he was almost 2000 years ago?
And that's where our hopes are in Christ and their heavenly because He is sitting at the right hand.
Of God.
And also the desire is that we might set our affections on things apart where Christ sits.
But there is a tense testimony to render here in this world to Christ.
And the fact is that we are members.
Of his body, the true Church.
And you cannot give testimonies to witness in a practical way to the truth of the Church of God.
You're just one person.
There has to be more than one in order to testimony. Witness the Church of God. Now I believe Satan would seek to divide and scatter.
The Saints of God, that this testimony might be extinguished.
But I do believe God maintained the testimony collectively.
In the name of Christ, but.
Belief in a practical way to display it before the world involves we have here in verse 2, loneliness, neatness.
Long-suffering for bearing one another in love.
I've been endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit.
In the Father's peace.
And the day of Pentecost, I believe that all believers were baptized by the Holy Spirit into one body.
Is that not the unity of the Spirit?
The fact that we are all.
Baptized into one part.
Now we are sorted here.
To seek, I believe, in a practical way to demonstrate that unity.
We see the word peace.
It, uh, puts responsibility on us to keep that unity.
He said that on the day of Pentecost.
The church was formed the Spirit of God.
And all believers were baptized into that one body.
Endeavoring to keep the unity.
As we know failure on our heart.
As we look around today, we can't say that.
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The body of Christ, it practically is one body anymore.
It's all split up into little divisions all over the place, different names, different titles. And so practically speaking, that testimony of the one body has been lost.
In the world.
There's a remnant testimony of it.
And, uh, and we endeavour to keep that.
Lord as he graciously provided a remnant testimony to the one body, but uh, Patrick's and speaking that testimony to the world has been lost, but, uh.
It's not loss of God. God preserves it. Every believer we know is in the body of Christ and preserve that way and cannot be removed.
There's also the practical part of it, and that's what we have here. Endeavors. Keep it and on that part you have built.
There is a.
There is a teaching.
That it has gone out.
Amongst the gallery of Saints, I've heard it.
For more than one source.
And uh.
And the teaching is that it is not telling us to keep the unity of the Spirit here.
But that is the point here, is to keep it in the bond of peace.
The teaching is that the unity of the Spirit is kept by God.
And our responsibility is to keep it.
In the bond of peace.
They're all fathers have heard that not.
That does not agree with what?
The great earlier brothers and teachers.
And I don't believe it's what this verse is saying either.
For one thing.
It is the fact that there is one body that is kept by God.
That's what's kept my thought. There is one body.
The unity of the Spirit speaks of the manifestation of that one.
And that is our responsibility to keep.
Now in the bond of peace, the teaching centers around the Word and I believe.
That it's like, you know, keeping.
Keeping your You know, your oatmeal in a sealed container, you know it's it's.
Where you keep how you keep this important?
That's not what this is teaching. For one thing, the word in in Greek.
Is used in a number of ways, but here if you turn to Romans chapter 12 and the last verse.
OK.
Romans chapter 12 and verse 21 it says be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good. The word with in that verse is in the Greek word Eng that we translate in usually.
And so that that word een is used as a umm, as a way of doing something. And that's the way it is here in this verse. We are the teaching here is for us to keep the unity of the spirit by means of.
The bond of peace.
That's that's the way the word is being appeared. It's by means but.
The teaching is to keep the unity of the Spirit, and that is to maintain that manifestation or expression of the oneness that God keeps. But it is our responsibility to keep the unity of the Spirit.
And this is more.
Than just, you know, being warm and friendly to your brethren that are that you meet on the street or at work or something. You know, it seems there are some that the word church only means one thing to them. And that's the aggregate of all the believers on the face of the earth. But it's not used that way in the New Testament. That's not the way Paul uses it. He's referring to a practical meeting. And for me to for bear, you know, for us to, for bear with one another in love.
If we just meet each other once in a while.
00:40:03
Where's the need for forbearance?
We find the need to prepare with one another with those that wear yeah, rubbing shoulders with on a regular basis. That's when there's a need of preparance, just meeting someone at work and.
Trying to, you know, and it's good we should we, they're our brethren. We should try to feed them if we can. And you know, but the need for really building up need for, for parents, for one another, forgiving one another and all this that's only gonna come if we're meeting together on a regular basis.
So that's where the assembly, where the rubber meets the road, so to speak, where God's going to get the manifestation of the unity of the Spirit.
Is in practical practical assembly.
Almost all of the New Testament exhortations as to the practical display of love and grace and all its attributes are within the household of faith.
Often profession Christianity makes it towards the world, but read them. It's within the household of faith. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples. If you have love one for another. It's part of the testimony that we render in this world through Christ. And so the expectations are really most of them connected to the exercise of those things within the household of things.
Endeavoring doesn't mean just give it a good splatter.
The thought is to to keep it, not to just give it a good try, but to keep it and to be diligent about the keeping of it.
Not to just say, well, I gave it a good try, it didn't work.
That's not the excupation.
I've enjoyed if you pardon that. I guess every illustration probably has holes in it, but.
My children thinking back to the days when they were at home.
And we formed a family together at home. They had a certain responsibility in connection with being my children.
And they've had have a unity that is particular to them. They're all children of the same father.
And.
There's responsibilities that go with that, obedience to what I have to say. It's certainly part of that is a fellowship that they enjoy in that family, brothers and sisters, if they're all out playing.
And a call goes out. It's time to come in for supper.
Their responsibility.
Is to obey and.
Four of them say, you know, we're having a really good time out here.
And, uh, we want to stay out here and four of them say that's the time to come in for supper and they start to head in for supper. And the four that want to stay outside, What are you doing? We're having a good time out here.
You're spoiling our unity.
We're all brothers and sisters. Let's stick together.
And the other four say that's it's time to commit.
Time to commit and they head on in.
Who's keeping the unity, if I can put it that way, of their father?
Before that, obey.
Bad word. And what if now the other four that stayed out my claim that they're spoiling that unity, are they?
No, before that. We then are endeavoring to keep the unity that's proper to them as my children.
And so there's a responsibility incumbent upon us to diligently keep the unity.
That was formed by the Spirit of God that embraces every member of the body of Christ.
And it's only going to be kept in obedience to His Word.
In subjection to his work and even if others are not interested who are part of that unity.
00:45:09
Others are not interested in keeping it. It does not matter. It's for us to obey and to diligently keep that unity that is ours.
Formed by the Spirit of God, kept only in his powers.
But practically kept with certain characteristics, loneliness, meekness, the uniting bonds of peace.
Was it Hezekiah that said that there may be peace and proofs in my time?
Got the order wrong.
2 fantasies.
We see that as rain began with such faithfulness and recovery, but in the end his heart was lifted up.
There's another striking example of that, and that's in the book of Esther.
You know in the book of Esther, God's name is not mentioned once through the whole book.
There was a little company of Jews who had responded to the liberty proclaimed by Cyrus to return back to Jerusalem, and they had gone back, they got involved in mixed marriages. And he read and Ezra and Nehemiah, and they had to judge themselves before the Lord, and separate must have been hard from those that they had married that they should not have.
But back in Mesopotamia.
Whereas there and more to Ki were.
After Mary's a gentile king.
A marriage that the scripture would say no, she should not have done.
God, Provident providentially uses it for the preservation of even the Jews in Jerusalem.
He's able to overrule everything.
So that doesn't make what she did right. And in the end the proclamation goes out in connection with that. And again, a piece at.
The orders reversed.
It's not an order of truth and peace.
Because things are not really in order.
Connection with Esther's marriage. God used it. He overruled it, even affected those back at Jerusalem, but at Jerusalem, where they were endeavoring to keep the unity that became the children of Israel.
And to be where God center was in this earth, they had to obey the truth of God. If they were going to go on in that unity and in connection with their mixed marriages, they had to judge that in the sight of God.
I believe that the Spirit of God.
Gathers souls in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The function of the Spirit of God is to exalt Christ, to honor him. And you take a verse like Matthew 1820, we're familiar with where two or three are gathered.
I believe it's the Spirit of God at work in the soul.
To gather 1 to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I wonder if this doesn't tie in with the unity of the Spirit.
Now to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Wonderful privilege.
And.
I believe there's a great responsibility connected with because truly to be where he is is to submit to him through his authority.
Which the flesh.
Is not interested to do, but I believe if you're walking in the spirit, we would like to be in his presence, to be where he is.
And I just see.
In a very popular.
Modern Translation.
In that verse.
It says something to this effect where two or three come together.
In my name.
There am I with them.
00:50:01
Spirit.
And I believe that.
Sometimes we allow our bones.
Will to direct this.
And I talked to folks like this, and perhaps you have two. They're looking for a place.
Where it suits them.
Where perhaps they have, uh, well, music or dynamic preaching.
Or perhaps very ornate buildings.
All of these things that appeal to an individual.
And they say, now that's where I'm going to test my ankles.
I don't think that's unity of the Spirit.
As believers, we need to look for the Lord.
Yeah, he might guide by his spirit.
And.
Of course.
Often we find it.
The Lord is not at the center.
You know in glory the Lord Jesus Christ will be the center.
Of that fast in the floor and we're going to be gathered around him and he will be the center of attraction. Well, as it is in heaven, so he is on earth.
But I fear that sometimes.
It's not price to extension.
Somebody else?
Luke 22, They just.
Site that doesn't really have to do anything, did they? They asked a question.
Where we'll now have it prepared. Always done for them.
That the Lord guided them.
To the place where he would meet with them.
Man bearing a pitcher of water. Holy Spirit followed the large upper room. It was all unprepared for them. I didn't have to do anything. All they had to do was show up.
And uh, really, it's no different today. If there's a desire to to remember the Lord and be in His midst, the Lord will.
Give the right direction before you do the work go.
It's all Invisible Man has his own ideas.
And and where he might make where he should go. And he and he doesn't ask the question to the Lord, he takes it upon himself. And he likes his will decide where where he should go.
Then there's a problem, and that's what's happening.
All around us we see different little groups meeting here and there.
It all hinges really on.
Whose will is?
Is active or responsible for the gap?
And I know there's been a lot of controversy about this, but in Matthew 1820, when it says are gathered, that is a passive verb, and anyone who says otherwise, it just doesn't.
No Greek or Greek word forms. It is passive.
They are gathered. They don't gather. It's not their will. They don't come together by their own will. They are gathered.
And that's crucial.
Because there's a, you know, there's lots of Christian groups and meet just like we do.
And you hear people say, well, they're the same as you.
Well, outwardly that may be an appearance. It may be insane.
But what's going on inside the hearts? That's something that you don't see.
And that elbow hinges on that. And so let's agree if we don't talk about us and them don't need to, let's just agree that the Word of God says that it's where two or three are gathered that implies submission.
And let's agree that if two groups are both in submission to the Holy Spirit, they would be in fellowship with one another.
Let's agree on that. You can't have two in submission in the Spirit of God, and there's not unity manifest.
So either both one or both are wrong, but they can't both be right.
00:55:00
That doesn't make them not Christians. That's silly.
But let's just agree that.
It is a matter of submission to God.
And if it's man's will that has built it, it's man's building it's.
It's man's will that is set up the table. It's man's table.
Don't need to talk about us and them, but we do need to agree that according to the scripture.
There's just one body and there's just one fellowship and the unity.
Has to be manifested, and if there's submission to the Spirit of God, that unity will be manifest.
OK.
Another thought and connection with the bond of peace is.
A practical one for our own hearts, not so much in connection with our interactions with one another, but what about my own state of soul and connection with the truth of God? You know, we can get really anxious about things, can't we? We can get really over rock that things aren't going in a particular way in connection with the practical display of this truth and in the day of weakness.
And feebleness. Umm, we can get restless and.
Anxious, but you know the Lord will maintain though being a remnant characters our brother brought out. Uh.
A place where we can practice the truth of God according to the Word of God.
So in verses 4-5 and six, these are statements of fact, aren't they? This is what was said earlier. These are things that are facts that are maintained by God.
There is one body, there is one Spirit, 1 hope if you're calling 1 Lord, 1 faith, one baptism, one Godfather of all.
These are facts. These are.
These are foundation, they are unmovable.
And maintained by God.
We could be thankful for God's sovereignty.
Doesn't feel.
We can be thankful.
For #1 just repeat it over and over and we'll.
Can you imagine if it's it?
OK, two back 2000, what confusion would raise?
But you know, God has given us this truth in a way that we don't have to be confused.
We just have to look to him, the guy.
There's one way of salvation.
There's one way to get it.
Now the president.
Part of me to mention this stuff.
He said Jesus.
Is a way.
But he wouldn't go so far as to say he's the only way to have.
One way too heavy. And afterwards Jesus Christ. And if we don't accept that?
We can.
OK.
Remember, as a young believer, someone showing me, uh.
The nurses, uh, really that all, all of humanity is encompassed and it was helpful to see it in that way, trying to sift this, these things out. There's one body that's, those are those that are truly, they belong to Christ. And again, they're not all the testimony isn't there today that all true believers are one body. That testimony is not there, but the truth of it is there. And that happens when a person accepts Christ.
And then there's one faith 1 Lord, there's a profession of Christianity, and we know that the end of that profession.
01:00:01
Will be apostasy, but it's a profession that molds Christianity the faith of you know of Christianity and there were many that are that make that profession that do not have life. They are not saved, they do not know the Lord firstly.
And then the third, you know, you can think of it as a sphere within a sphere within a sphere. And the third sphere includes all of humanity. We're all made in the image and likeness of God. So there's a sense in which God is is the father of all humanity. And so that's the third step. So there's really 33 spheres here, and they encompass all of these.
We have in chapter 2 That.
The church is a habitation of God through the Spirit.
Is what the apostle is taking up that were to walk worthy of that location and so as these spheres go out, they get greater and greater, don't they until they encompass all creation and it's a tremendous estate.
But he who owns it all dwells in the House of the estate, the habitation of God through the Spirit, and that's that very center unity.
One body, one spirit, 1 hope of Our Calling. Only true believers have that hope.
And that's where it comes back in and says.
One God and Father of all, who is above all and through all. Now He comes right back into the center. And then you all, and you all the believer. Habitation of God.
Atmospheric.
Our our time is just about up. I'd like to make just one comment.
Goes back to some things said earlier. In Matthew 18 and 20 I was emphasized how that the Spirit of God is the one that gathers people out together to the precious name of Lord Jesus alone.
And, uh, I was just thinking how if we connected that up with, uh, Hebrews chapter 13.
It seems to me that.
There's a responsibility for us to respond to the Spirit of God. That is, we ask, where wilt thou that we prepare? And then when the Spirit of God shows us, and then we should follow up. So in Hebrews 13 and verse 13 it says, let us go forth therefore unto Him, without the can, scaring his reproach.
Now there's two things there. One is that the place of gathering seems to be without the camp.
Outside of what we might call Christendom.
Because it's lost its testimony.
The other thing is that it's bearing his reproach. It's not a popular place.
There's not many who desire to remain in that place because of the reproach.
And to escape that reproach may end up compromising, if we will.
I would like to draw your attention to the end of verse 16.
With such sacrifices, God is well pleased.
And so we should ask ourselves, do we want to please God?
Or are we interested in pleasing ourselves?
Says if we obey what it says here.
Then God is wealthy.
Is truly established bringing joy with happiness in our souls.
01:05:03
When we go God's with.
And I think how the Lord Jesus said, if you know these things, happy are ye if you do.
And so it's important does show us the way.
To take the steps.
You know, because light accepted.
Bring it back.
But why reject it? Bring it tonight.
OK.
OK.
Could we sing 230?
OK.
I say it hasn't got no Ohio.
Lords of Rain check Long.
I think I didn't watch the chair by the heart and waste smiles.
When I left home, they used to do the flowers.
We gave a lot of time.
And they would like.
To be.
And I never saw that brown strand and white sugar flying.
And I can't remember anything.
OK.
OK.
The Rock and the Rod
Address—Steve Stewart
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Let's look through the Lord our God and our Father.
We thank Thee for Thy precious word we know are able to meet our needs, so varied, so many.
From Thy precious Word. And we just pray that Thou art, by the Spirit of God, open from its pages to our spiritual understanding that which is needful.
And so we do thank Thee for Thy ways with us through the wilderness path. We thank Thee that it leads us on to glory. We thank Thee to know that everyone of thine own.
That is, walking the wilderness way will certainly end their path and the glory above. And so we just pray that thou help us as we open thy word to.
Clean that which I would have for us, and ask for thy help, and we would ask it, our God and Father, for the glory of thy beloved Son, the blessing of thy people, in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Amen.
I was wondering what to take up and a brother came by.
While I was sitting in my chair a little bit ago and he just shared a verse I'm gonna share with you and.
Felt that was.
The Lord's direction. Deuteronomy 3210.
He found him in a desert land, in the waste howling wilderness. He led him about, instructed him. He kept him as the apple of his eye. My brother said to me, there's the history of the believer.
And yes, we are in a wilderness path.
And there are lessons in that path that are so deep, so real.
In God's ways with us individually and collectively, and I'd like to look at.
Some of those things this afternoon.
I like to start with some verses in the New Testament before we turn to.
The book of Numbers in chapter 20, where I'd like to primarily stay, and the first one of those verses is in the Gospel of Matthew in the 19th chapter.
Matthew 19.
Verse 23 And Jesus said unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of heaven.
And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.
And when his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
But Jesus beheld them and said unto them, With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.
First, Peter.
And the 4th.
Chapter.
First Peter, chapter 4.
Verse 18.
And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the Sinner appear?
Romans.
Chapter 5.
Romans, chapter 5.
And verse 10.
For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.
Much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
And then one more portion in the New Testament from the book of Hebrews.
Hebrews, Chapter 7.
00:05:02
And verse 24.
But this man, because he continueth, ever hath an unchangeable priesthood, wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such a high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.
Made higher than the heavens, Peter says, if the righteous scarcely be saved.
Salvation is looked at in two ways, perhaps more, but two ways that I'm thinking of in Scripture. One is the salvation of our souls, Peter says. We have received that.
Having received the salvation of your souls that we have, but there is salvation.
That is not going to be realized until we get to the end of the pathway, when He brings us safely home. Salvation that brings us spirit, soul and body.
Into our proper dwelling place the Father's house on high, and there is salvation that's looked at at the end of the pathway. And Peter looking at the whole path and the trials that come with it, and the testings and the difficulties of that path, says the righteous are going to scarcely.
Be saved.
It's that difficult, there's that much opposition.
Who then can be saved? The disciples said.
But we're saved by his life.
He ever lived to make intercession for us. He's living at God's right hand, and it's through his mighty intercession that our souls are kept on their course, and as through his intercession and His life living for us on high, that we're going to be brought safe home. The glory. I'd like to turn back to Numbers 20. We have in that chapter a wilderness.
Scene.
And I'll just ask the pardon of those who perhaps heard me speak on this before. Trust you'll just.
Bear with me again.
It's a wilderness scene. It's not long before they are going to enter the land. They've come.
Perhaps 38 years.
Through the wilderness journey at this point.
It's a scene that starts with death.
And that ends with death, And this world that we pass through is stamped by it.
Let's read it together.
Numbers 20, verse one. Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation.
Into the desert of Zen in the first month. And the people abode in Kadish, and Miriam died there, and was buried there, and there was no water for the congregation. And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. And the people ***** with Moses, and spake, saying with God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord. And why have we brought up the congregation of the Lord into this wilderness?
That we and our cattle should die there. And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? It is no place of seed, or figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates, neither is there any water to drink.
And Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly unto the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation, And they fell upon their faces in the glory of the Lord, appeared unto them. And MO And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes, and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock.
So thou shalt give the congregation, and their beasts drink.
And Moses took the rod from before the Lord as he commanded him. And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock. And he said unto them, Hear now, ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock? And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice. And the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.
00:10:25
And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, because he believed me not.
To sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel. Therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.
This is the water of Meribah, because the children of Israel strove with the Lord.
And he was sanctified in them, and now down.
To verse 22 And the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, journeyed from Kadish, and came unto Mount Hor. And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, and Mount Hor by the coast of the land of Edom, saying, Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, for he shall not enter into the land which I have given unto the children of Israel, because ye rebelled against my word at the water of Meribah.
Take Aaron and Eliezer's son and bring them up onto Mount Horror, and strip Aaron of his garments and put them upon Eliezer's son, and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there.
And Moses did as the Lord commanded, and they went up unto Mount Hor in the sight of all the congregation, And Moses stripped Aaron of his garments.
And put them upon Eleazar's son. And Aaron died there in the top of the mount.
And Moses and Eliezer came down from the mount, and when all the congregation.
Saw that Aaron was dead. They mourned for Aaron 30 days.
Even all the House of Israel.
They said this chapter opens with death of one who is called a prophetess.
It closes with death of one who was the priest.
And in between there's murmurings, there's complainings.
There's death.
And circumstances there's.
Death and family.
There's tumult and agitation.
And rebellion.
This is really a wilderness scene.
This is the reality.
Of the path.
You know, when you and I were first saved, perhaps, maybe when we were first gathered to the Lord's name and embracing the truth of God, and it was coming home in such a fresh way to our souls.
We were like Miriam on the other side of the Red Sea. She picked up that Timbrel and.
Being a prophetess, she led those singers of Israel.
And a song of triumph and praise to the Lord.
But now here her hands are folded in death.
Her lips are sealed. She's not going to sing again.
She's not going to pick up that Timbrel again.
And you know, for you and I as time goes on in the path.
Same thing can happen.
Exercises can grow stale and hold.
The weariness of the wilderness way presses in upon us and there isn't the song on our lips like there used to be. There isn't that.
Uh, joy.
That perhaps we once had.
In the Lord.
And what replaces that voice?
Of singing and joy and triumph.
The people ***** with Moses.
They murmured, they complained, they were discontent.
00:15:05
In their circumstances.
And that can come into with us, can it and replace.
What had been once the high praises of God in our lips?
And they complained and accused Moses of bringing them into a place where they would die our cattle.
All our circumstances.
Ourselves. Our families.
Everything's just gonna die.
We wish we were dead.
Have you heard anybody say that? Wish I was dead.
What a thing to say, you know.
You probably heard it. Maybe you've said it.
Isn't that what they're saying?
Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the Lord.
Wish we were dead.
This wilderness path to them.
Had become an evil place.
This is an evil place.
There isn't any resource that we can see here for us.
Nothing to sustain us here.
No, the eye of nature can't see anything to sustain us in the wilderness path. Only the eye of faith can see that.
This is no place of seed or figs. You know in the things that they name here.
Are all the things that they had heard from the time they were little. This isn't the generation that came out of Egypt, although they speak of it.
This is the next generation. The generation that came out of Egypt was almost all dead.
They died in the wilderness because of their unbelief. This is the next generation. They didn't really remember Egypt.
Or if they did, it was very faint, but they had heard from the time they were little of the place that they were going to. And it's wonderful blessings.
And they said we don't see any of that.
You've been talking about that for a long time.
Not here.
We've heard about the blessings.
That are ours and heavenly places in Christ Jesus since we were little.
After a while they can kind of go in one ear and out the other, can't they?
Kind of.
Aren't fresh and real in our soul because they have to be laid hold of by faith.
Nature. Nature can't discern it.
I want to turn to.
Hold our place there scripture in.
Deuteronomy 8.
Verse 2.
And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God LED thee in these 40 years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldst keep his commandments or no. And He humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manner which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know that He might make thee know that man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that perceiveth out of the mouth of the Lord.
Doth man live?
Met a young man just before this meeting. His name is Caleb.
See Ron? There's Caleb.
00:20:00
Caleb, I got a question to ask you.
Before Brother Masro gave thanks for the food, did you believe you were going to get some lunch to eat?
Yeah.
Did you have it?
Are you full?
Faith believes that God is going to feed us and can feed us in the wilderness.
But when we've been fed, it changes from faith to reality. I know I'm full.
When I and I know I've been fed, it doesn't take faith anymore. It's reality. But you know, he brings us into a place where we're hungry. He brings us into circumstances where we're thirsty.
Because while we're surrounded.
By everything that might satisfy the flesh. And while we indulge in those kinds of things, we'll have no.
Taste.
For what he has for us.
When we feel full, we don't want anything else. The full sole loathes the honeycomb. And so He brought them into a place in His ways with His people, that they would be thirsty and hungry, that He might feed them with food that they knew not, food that was not discernible by nature. And the food we have in the precious Word of God, the food He has for us as His people in the wilderness, is not a food that is discernible.
By nature, but when we're surrounded with that which feeds what we are by nature.
We won't want or discern what He has for us in His Word, and so He brings the trials He brings.
Those things in the wilderness path.
To make us thirsty and hungry.
So that he can feed us.
With what is better?
Infinitely better that we would never have a taste for or a thirst for otherwise.
His desires to do us good.
And here they are in that wilderness way, and he's brought them into just such a place.
Now this is, as I mentioned, towards the end of the wilderness journey.
God had suffered with them.
We know how he met.
These complaints earlier in their history.
And visited them in his chastising ways with them.
We know how many fell in the wilderness and the judgments of God.
Because of their stiff necked ways.
And they've come all the way through this wilderness and justice about to enter the land, and here it comes again.
How is God going to meet it?
How is he going to meet?
This rebellion and this complaint.
Well, the glory of the Lord.
Appears.
You know, in other instances the glory of the Lord appeared.
Judgment fell.
The glory of the Lord appears again here. Moses and Aaron fell on their faces.
Word for us if we're seeking to serve the Lord.
Connection with his people when difficulties come in and.
Circumstances arise and there is complaint and maybe even rebellion.
And unhappiness among God's people. The place for us to be is where Moses and Aaron were on their faces before the Lord. But I would say the glory that appears here is not the glory of judgment.
00:25:00
But the glory of His grace.
He's not going to meet this with judgment, He's going to meet it with grace. He's going to fall back on the resources of his grace.
As we read in Ephesians, it's the glory to the praise of the glory.
Of his grace. God is a resource in himself. Yes, He can come in and discipline, and he does chasing his people, but he's never bound to that and he can always.
Always fall back on the resources of His grace.
And so he tells.
Moses to take the rod. He doesn't speak a word of reproach.
He doesn't call them stiff necked or rebellious or.
Any of those things.
And he tells Moses, go take the rod.
And I want you to go speak to the rock.
Well, we need to look a little at what that rod and that rock speak of. They really speak of Christ.
And this is the way God is going to meet.
The difficulty.
Maybe we can.
Just turn to Exodus.
In the 17th chapter.
We get there at the very beginning of their pathway where they complained again.
They accused Moses of bringing them into the wilderness to kill their children and cattle with thirst.
They were ready to stone Moses, and the Lord tells him.
In the fifth verse, to go before the people, and take with thee of the elders of Israel, and thy rod, where with Osmotis the river, take in thine hand, and go, Behold, I will stand before thee upon the rock, and Horeb, and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so on the side of the elders of Israel.
I'd like to just look over at a portion in.
I think it's the 78.
Psalm.
Home 78.
In verse 15.
He clave the rocks in the wilderness. He gave them drink as out of the great depths.
Verse 20 Behold, he smote the rock at the waters gushed out.
One more scripture in First Corinthians 10.
One Corinthians 10.
Verse four And it all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them and that rock.
Was Christ.
There in Exodus 17.
A beautiful picture is given to us. The Lord Jesus Christ, that rock God, tells Moses to take his rod that he smote the river of Egypt with and turned its waters to blood.
Turned it to that which spoke of judgment.
It was a rod of judgment.
And God used it to bring judgment down on the land of Egypt. It brought in death.
And God tells Moses to take his rod of judgment.
And go to that rock and smite it. And when he did, the waters gushed out of that rock.
And the psalmist says out of great depths, out of the depths the waters flowed out.
00:30:06
Out of the depths of the heart of God.
Flow those streams of refreshment.
For the sufferings and death of our Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross. And Jehovah's rod lifted up, smote him there upon that cross.
He bore the judgment.
A blessing might flow to you and to me.
And he was raised from the dead, and he seated at God's right hand, and there in the glory.
Given the Holy Spirit, he shed him forth.
And he could speak of the believer, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this fake he of the spirit.
Which was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified, but the moment that man.
Stepped into the glory and sent the Spirit of God down. He filled the hearts of his own.
And to this very day, the indwelling Spirit of God is the one and the power by whom you and I enjoy those streams of refreshment.
Had come from the one who gave himself for us in Calvary's cross.
Here He is in us, a well of living water springing up into everlasting life, and worship and praise we find in.
John's Gospel chapter 4 and the testimony of Christ goes out from the inmost affections of the heart of the believer occupied with Christ, out to others to refresh them.
That rock followed them through the wilderness. What had happened?
That they were thirsty then.
It seems, for the first time, that rock had failed.
And their estimation. And there was no water.
You know, dear ones, it was mentioned.
I believe in the scriptures that our brother read earlier that it is possible to grieve.
The Holy Spirit. It's possible to quench the Holy Spirit.
It's possible for us to act and conduct ourselves in such a way that we stop up those springs of refreshment that He has for us.
And such was that condition of things that we read of in numbers 20.
It was a grieved spirit.
And maybe we feel sometimes in the assembly that there aren't those streams of refreshment and blessing like we would have expected or we knew in the past.
And dear ones, maybe we just really need to look inward and say, am I grieving the Spirit of God?
Is there something in my life and my conduct that's quenching those streams of refreshment?
Oh, it's out of the depths of his heart.
That he would refresh his people.
Yeah, he loved the people.
And so he tells.
Moses.
To take the rod.
And go speak to the rock.
Now let's look a little at the rod. That rock was Christ, those streams of refreshment.
A picture of the Spirit of God flowing out as a result of His finished work and His glorification.
To refresh us in our inmost being.
Spiritual streams. But what of the wrong?
Let's look back a little earlier in numbers.
Where we get a time of rebellion that took place.
There was a man named Cora.
A man named Jason, a man named Debyram they aspired to take.
The priesthood.
They rebelled against Moses and Aaron. Really, they rebelled against God.
And God brings judgment on them. I just want to maybe touch on a couple of verses.
00:35:14
Verse 31 of uh, excuse me, of #16.
And it came to pass, as he had made an end of speaking all these words at the ground clave asunder, and was that was under them. And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Cora, and all their goods.
They and all that appertain to them went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the congregation and all Israel.
That were round about them fled at the cry of them, For they said, Lest the earth swallow us up also.
And there came out of fire from the Lord, and consumed the 250 men that offered incense.
God brought judgment upon that rebellion. They really were despising the priesthood of UH.
Of Aaron, God had appointed him as priest and they said we can do that too.
We want to take that place. It's really a picture of rebellion against Christ, our great high priest.
And God brings judgment upon them.
But what happens on the marrow? Verse 41 of chapter 16? The children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, You have killed the people of the Lord.
The less than 24 hours.
After they saw the earth open up her mouth and swallow up Cora and his rebellion, and that fire came out from God and consumed the rest less than 24 hours later.
They are coming to Moses and Aaron saying you've killed the people of the Lord.
And the glory of the Lord appears again in verse 42.
And verse 43 Moses and Aaron came before the Tabernacle of the congregation, and the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Get you up from among this congregation.
That I may consume them as in a moment, and they fell upon their faces.
And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a censor, and put fire therein from off the altar, and put on incense, and go quickly into the congregation, and make an atonement for them, for there's wrath gone out from the Lord. The plague has begun. And Aaron took as Moses commanded, and ran into the midst of the congregation. Behold, the plague was begun among the people, and he put on incense and made an atonement for the people.
And he stood between the dead and the living.
And the plague was stayed.
Without a commandment from God just by.
How do I want to put it? Spiritual instinct of a man who is close to the heart of God.
He commands Aaron to put incense in that sensor.
On coals of fire from off the altar, and to go in among the people of God and God's high priest, who they had just been rebelling against, who they had just spoken against, that very one goes and stands in between the living and the dead.
And by that means alone, that entire congregation was preserved from death.
Otherwise, they had all perished in the wilderness at that point.
And God is bringing out.
That the only.
Way he's bringing into.
Prominence.
Into clear relief that the only thing that is going to get our rebellious people through the wilderness.
Is the priesthood that he ordained.
The very thing they rebelled against.
00:40:02
And in chapter 17.
God tells Moses to take one of the each of the heads of the tribes of Israel.
And each one of them is given a rod, just a dead dry stick.
And Aaron is given one too, and they're laid up in the Tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord.
And the next day those rods were brought out.
And verse 9 Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord.
Unto all the children of Israel. And they looked, and took every man as rock. Each head of each tribe they got their rod.
Same old dead lifeless stick.
That was there the night before.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony.
To be kept for a token against the rebels. And thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me that they die. Not what happened when Moses Rod was brought out.
In verse eight, it wasn't a dead dry stick.
It had butted, it says, and bloom blossoms and yielded almonds.
It was life out of death.
Picture of a better priesthood.
Looking on to Christ and his priesthood. Fruitful.
Priesthood.
And that rod, though it spoke of authority, and Christ has it, it was clothed.
With what I'll call priestly grace. It budded. It bloomed.
It brought forth almonds. Life was brought out of death.
And what does the Lord say about that rod?
He says keep it.
And thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they.
Die not.
And now in our chapter 20, God says to Moses, take the rod.
He's not Speaking of Moses Rock, that rod of judgment that smote the rock in the wilderness and the waters gushed out. He's speaking about Aaron's rod, that rod that budded because what had happened? They had fallen into murmuring and complaining again. And if he took the rod of judgment, it would quite take away the murmurs.
Into a lost eternity.
Yes, his judgment can quite take away the murmurs it did before.
But he says keep this rod to take away the murmurings.
Not the murmurs.
Because if he quite took away the murmurs, who then can be saved?
Who then can be saved?
And so Aaron and Moses. Moses was to bring that rod of Aaron's blossomed butted.
And he was to go speak to the rock.
And he did take it.
And he goes to the rock, and he gathers the children of Israel together.
If he breaks down.
We are speaking meekness and loneliness.
Moses was the meekest man in all the earth.
And he broke down on that very thing.
38 years. He had suffered their manners in the wilderness. 38 years.
Long years he had put up.
With accusations and rebellion.
And complaining.
Over and over, he had been humbled.
00:45:02
And it was like, this is just too much.
I just can't take it anymore.
Nothing really manifests our state of soul.
Hi, Gwen.
Failure, evil coming among the people of God in two ways. Either we don't discern it at all because we're careless, and we can fall into error that way.
Not even seeing that it's there.
Or we can see it, and we come so vexed that we get in the flesh.
And we don't discern how to take it up and handle it in His ways of grace, even though though it may require discipline in the assembly or His Father's in our homes.
Perhaps those two things.
We might say there's nothing that canmore.
Press in upon us and draw out the flesh and failure and evil amongst the people of God and in our own children.
May have been a Bayou died before the Lord, you know.
Way back in the beginning of the wilderness journey. How it must have broken Aaron's heart.
And Moses came to him. They had just had been anointed with that holy anointing oil, and with blood and head on the garments of the priesthood, its bonnet and mitre and all.
And Moses says to him.
Uncover not your head.
Rent, not your garment.
The holy anointing oil of the Lord is on you.
You know, brethren, I think in Aaron's life that must have been a a difficulty in in trial that I can hardly enter into.
Two sons in the same day trying to do things in a religious way. Perhaps alcohol was involved because later the Lord brings that up.
And they died before the Lord.
It's difficult.
When discipline has to come in, in the assembly and it's our relatives and maybe even those who are that close to us.
And when the pressure is there and those kinds of things, the temptation is to uncover our heads.
The covered head speaks of subjection to Christ and to His Word.
And we uncover our heads and we try and handle it out of our own head instead of the word and subjection to the word. And what's the next thing that happens? It doesn't work.
And we get frustrated.
And we rent our garment.
The government speaks of Christian character.
And what happens when you run the garment? You expose what's underneath the flesh and all its ugliness.
And our brethren never forget.
The site.
They may forgive.
I don't forget.
And though you're ever so careful to mend that garment and sew it up.
The seam is always there.
The scars there.
It's not going to go away till the judgment seat of Christ.
Uncover not your heads. Run not.
Your garments.
Overcome with evil rather than overcoming evil with good. God was going to meet this circumstance in his ways of grace. But Moses?
So.
Overcome.
With the the misbehavior of the people of God.
And trying to, you know, we can try and shelter ourselves from it.
By doing what?
By getting in the flesh.
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And saying, ye rebels.
The Rebels.
And.
In the flesh, we can't rise above the evil.
Were overcome by it, we'll exalt ourselves and will dishonor God.
And so we use the very gift of God.
That he was going to give water out of that rock to exalt himself. And he says, ye rebels, must we fetch you water out of this rock? He wasn't getting water out of that rock for them. God was going to do it.
But he says, must we fetch you water out of this rock?
And it says he took his wrath.
Not Aaron's rod. God had said take the rod and speak to the rock.
But when they got to that rock, he took his rod, that rod of judgment, and he smote that rock.
And he smote it twice.
Oh, don't you get the sense?
He just would have liked to smoke them with that rod.
And he takes it out on that rock.
And he spoiled one of the most beautiful types.
Of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ in his atoning sufferings that was given in the Old Testament.
Never will Christ be smitten again. Ever.
It was once on Calvary.
God didn't say smite the rock, He said. Speak to it, speak to it.
And he didn't sanctify God in the eyes of the people. He failed to represent God as he ought to have represented him.
Before the people, God is never weary in well doing.
He is never tired.
In his ways with us.
To seek to work with us. He's never weary.
And he failed to represent him as he ought to.
And God says you're not going into the land, you're not going to bring this people in.
He was to take the rod that would take away the murmurings of the people, not the rod of judgment. He was to speak to the rock. He was to lay hold. And you and I need to too, in times like this in the wilderness way, to lay hold of the high priestly grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to go to that throne of grace and find grace to help in time of need.
To speak to the Rock.
At those streams of refreshment and blessing might flow.
But he takes the rod of judgment. Oh, we can take things up in a judicial way. Not saying that discipline does not have to be an exercise in the assembly. It does, because holiness becomes the House of the Lord. But we can take it up in the flesh.
And myths represent.
The heart of God to His people.
And so Moses could not go into the land, and Aaron was with him in it.
And at the end of the chapter, Aaron dies before the Lord.
Oh, Moses had said. I cannot speak.
And repeated himself over and over until finally God gave him Aaron.
To be his mouthpiece and now Moses on hands as to take those garments off Aaron.
And give them to his son.
And he dies before the Lord.
There is a government of God in our lives, but there is grace to.
There is grace too. The only thing that was going to bring them into the land was grace. And the only thing that's going to get you and I all the way home, dear ones, is a high priestly grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, once Aaron's rod butted, there wasn't any other rod in the sight of God. He said take the rod. He didn't even distinguish take Aaron's rod. He just said take the rod. There wasn't any other one in his sight from that moment on.
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Then Aaron's wrought.
Let's turn to Deuteronomy. We just have just a few minutes.
Moses besought the Lord.
And the Lord to just go ahead and go into the land, Would the Lord not allow him to go into the land? And the Lord said to him, Speak no more to me of this matter. Paul besought the Lord for that thorn in the flesh. And the Lord said, My grace is sufficient for thee. No temptation had taken you but what is common to men. But in the temptation he'll make a way of escape. What does that mean? The trials that come in, like we read of in Numbers 20, have within them.
A temptation to escape it through getting in the flesh and acting in the flesh. And there's a way of escape to lash out in the flesh.
But that's not the way of escape for a believer. The way of escape is my grace.
Is sufficient for thee.
Number Deuteronomy 34.
Moses went up from the plains of Moab into the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is, over against Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead unto Dan, and all Naphtali, in the land of Ephraim, and Manasseh, and the land of Judah, and unto the utmost sea and the South, and the plain of the valley of Jericho, and the city of palm trees under Zoar. And the Lord said unto him, This is the land which I swear unto Abraham.
And unto Isaac and unto Jacob, saying, I will give it unto thy seed, I have cause thee to see it with thine eyes.
Thou shalt not go over thither. So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died.
There in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.
Verse 10 And there arose not a prophet since, and Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew.
Face to face.
His government carried through and Moses life. He didn't go into that land but it was mixed with grace.
And so it is in each one of our lives. He showed them that land.
Moses got a view of that land that none other ever had. He got it in company with the Lord.
As it were going hand in hand with the Lord, as the Lord pointed out every detail to him.
Who knows because what the Lord time is nothing.
He showed them every detail, perhaps in our time, just in a moment of time, but he saw it all. He saw it from Heaven's view.
He saw it as the Lord saw it.
He was in the presence of the Lord.
On that mount.
He died according to the word of the Lord, just like he lived his life.
And he went into the presence of the Lord from the presence of the Lord.
Didn't miss a beat. There wasn't ever a man like Moses.
Who knew the Lord face to face?
Until he came.
Of whom, it is said, the law came by Moses.
But grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Can we take time to sing those last?
Four versus.
Oh, 76.
If I was one shall bring.
Your dreams of all it is standing run on the shelf when it's hard. Mercy Spring.
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In my life, sunshine.
Flavor. Shut up, I'm smiling.
Thy heart something.
Grass is in.
No stranger.
Thoughts of me please stranger.
While in court above.
Good to his right shall bring me crazy.
With a world known for.
Our God and our Father, we do.
Pray for Thy blessing on Thy word.
And though thou art able to take these things and make them good to conscience and heart.
We think of that high priestly grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, how at rod bore fruit, and may His priestly grace bear fruit in our hearts for His glory. We thank Thee that we have in all the way home Savior and the precious Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We give thee thanks, Amen.
Ephesians 4:7-16
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Could we sing #10?
Those who came.
Later we're in Ephesians chapter 4, probably verse 7. But unto unto every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended upon high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Now that he descended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things.
And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. Unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and ***** craftiness.
Whereby they lay in wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up unto Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.
From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supply, according to the effectual, working in the measure of every part, make an increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk.
In the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened.
Being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart.
Who, being past feeling, have given themselves over unto lasciviousness.
To work all uncleanness with greediness, but you have not so learned Christ.
If so, that you have heard him and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus.
That you put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and sin not.
Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.
Neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labor working with his hands. The thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. But no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice.
And be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake.
Hath forgiven you.
I think you mentioned earlier that.
Grace is the unmerited favor of God.
And uh, you see here that gifts also are.
The grace of Christ and giving them to us.
Not something that we burn or that we.
Need to go to school to obtain or they're given out or.
Lord, and then it's like race that that the one receives them.
I think there's a.
There's two things that the scripture says are measured, and two things that aren't measured or given without measure.
And grace and faith are said to be given in measure, and I believe the measure is is varies with individuals. That's why you never try to live according to someone else's faith because they may have a different measure than you.
00:05:05
Or to or to require them to live by your measure.
But there's there's two things that aren't measured. That's the spirit. It's given without measure. And the book of James Wisdom can have as much as you want.
We have that thought, brother, uh head and uh, Romans chapter 12.
All right.
Measured base.
Enrollment chapter 12 and verse four is verse as we have many members in the body. All members have not the same office.
So we being many are one body, and Christ, and everyone members one of another having and gifts different differing according to the grace that is given to us. Whether prophecy, let us prophecy according to the proportion of faith or ministry. Let us wait on our ministry. For He that teaches on teaching, for he that exhort us on expectation, He that giveth, let Him do it with simplicity.
He that ruleth with diligence see that showeth mercy with cheerfulness.
And so on. So we, we have there that, uh.
Were to uh.
Exercise.
What we have been given.
One one has been given a gift of prophecy. Shouldn't be worrying about being evangelist perhaps.
Stay within.
The realm of what the Lord has given to us.
Use it that way.
You know what to uh.
Don't want to be caused controversy, but you know in the scriptures there are evangelists and teachers and prophets and different gifts.
Things in our day, we have laborers and they're supposed to do everything.
That's that's not scripture. Umm.
The only time I mentioned labor is worth.
Leading ones in assemblies.
That, uh labored in the word, in teaching.
Other than that, I don't think we have quote quote laborers really in the New Testament.
So I think that's wise advice rather than.
We should stay within our gift.
And we should not expect.
You know, we should not expect someone who's a teacher to be a gospel preacher, and we shouldn't expect a gospel preacher to be something they're not. So we should neither go beyond our gift, nor should we expect anyone to go beyond the church.
Also verse three in that chapter, Romans 12.
Uh, the end it says God. It belts every hand and the word top is not there. In the Greek, God has felt every man a measure of faith.
In the face, you know the gifts, the faith. The gift can be the same. The measure of faith may not be.
You know you may, you may God's gift, you may be to be an evangelist, but you may not have the faith to stand up the podium.
Right. But you have the faith to speak to people on the street or at work or one-on-one or in a few groups and maybe not have the faith to get up before a lot of people. Still an evangelist. You know, you don't find Philip speaking to great crowds of people. He spoke to a few in Samaria and he's called Philip the Evangelist. But you don't, you don't say I'm speaking to thousands.
But he says he was an event, so he had a measure of faith that enabled his gift.
It's spoken of his grace here and in Romans, I think, Peter says, having received.
Uh, great, spelled minister the same.
Gifts are brought out in different ways, enrollments and the service of the Father, and he gives them in Corinthians. It's in the power of the Spirit of God.
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He.
According to his own sovereign purpose, places them, gives them where they are for the application of the whole body. Ephesians takes it up a little differently.
Umm adhesion takes up the gifts as persons themselves, and they are as person gifts of Christ to the Church also takes it up in this chapter in another way.
And that's joints of supply. And uh, we have, every one of us has given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
I would say not everyone of us. There may be very few of us really. If any of us, even here in this room are a gift of Christ to the church, I would say that that's a little.
More of a a rare thing, but everyone of us has been given grace in some way or another to be used of the Lord for His purpose, to nourish and minister to the members of His body. And each one of us is a joint of supply.
So each one of us has a joint action. And what is a joint? Do it. Because if you don't have any joints, you'd be stiff as a board. You couldn't even smile or anything, right? You? We have to have joints to give our bodies mobility. And you know, the wonderful thing about the body of Christ is Satan. Saudi got rid of the Lord, didn't he? First he was on the cross. Oh, then he raised from the dead. Well, then he went up to the guard. Good.
They have Pentecost, there he is again, and the members of his body here in this world. And Satan was aware of that fact a lot quicker than the Saints were.
And the body is here, our head, Christ is in heaven, all indwelt by the same Spirit of God, uniting us to Christ. And according to the direction of the head, the body moves.
And it reflects what's in the head. And so it's the same with our bodies, right? We want to do some kind of work in our head direction. Our arm moves out and our hand picks something up and maybe our mouth talking at the same time and something else. And it's all the direction of the head. And so my body ends up displaying what's in my head. And so here's the body.
Christ and his members here in this earth once again, and when functioning according to the Word of God, it's a display of Christ here in this world. And so each one of us lends mobility in some way to the body for the display of Christ in this world. But those joints are joints of supply too.
You know, when they put pipes together in the house, we're supplying water. You might have a joint to get around the corner, but it's also supplying water. It's getting water where it needs to go. And each one of us is a channel of supply to the to the other members of the body of Christ for something that the Lord has that he wants to minister to in some way or another to the whole body. So I would say each one of us has been given grace. We find from Corinthians, each one of us has a gift.
To be exercising the power of the Spirit of God. Each one of us has a gift in Romans 12 and exercise in service to the Father, yielding our bodies a living sacrifice. But in Ephesians, for each joint of supply, we've each been given grace. But on top of that, He has given particular ones as His own gifts to the church. Not every member could be a gift to the church, otherwise it really wouldn't make sense that He's given.
Some as gifts to the church, and that's really the emphasis. He gave some a limited quantity of apostles. He gave some prophets and teachers, He gave some evangelists, pastors, teachers. It's a it's limited in quantity. In that sense, gifts of himself to his church and they have a very special place that they fulfill.
May I should continue on that a little bit 'cause that can be kind of a confusing thought at first and often in the way we think of you in the Old Testament.
In the book of uh, Ezra, when they were building the temple and they left off for a time in building and got discouraged, God raised up two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, and they prophesied to the people of Jerusalem, His people there, and they were stirred up and they all began to build and each one had a different job to do. Some were bears of burdens.
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This and that and so on. But he gave two special gifts, you might say.
To stir up and get the work going.
And that's really what we have. And verse 11 and 12, the gifts are given verse 11.
For first of all, the perfecting of the Saints, His work in the Saints at large.
For the perfecting of the Saints and.
For the work of the ministry, it literally could be translated with a view to the ministry. We're all in the ministry. We all are in a place of service. And so he gave these gifts to the church for the perfecting of the of the Saints with a view to the fact that they would be exercised and stirred up in their service. Each one and whatever they do, like all those builders and the MIFA, each one a Mason, a Carpenter, whatever they did.
Stir it up to that work and with a view to the ultimate and the edifying of the body of Christ, the building up of the body of Christ. And so each one of us is in the ministry. Each one of us is a joyous supply. Each one has been given grace, but he gives special gifts, these particular individuals, to the church for the stirring up of that whole thing.
That the whole body might be edified. So not everyone of us in the Ephesians sense of gift is a gift of Christ in the church, but in the Corinthian sense we each have a gift, and in the Roman sense we each have a gift from God in in service for him.
One, uh, one man once said that one of the problems is that the gifts as we have here.
UMM misapplied their gift and they thought the gift was burning and of itself and so they use it for their own glorification.
And that's been a problem in christened them all along. The gifts are for the protecting of the Saints. The gifts are not for direct ministry in and oven itself. And they're not the only ones that can minister. But that's the mistake that has been made. The gifts are not the only ones that minister. They are for the perfecting of the Saints and then the Saints minister.
Everyone in this room is minister to minister, the two other members of the body and the gifts are to perfect the Saints, that is, to perfect the means to equip them.
So the gifts equipped the Saints and you know, you get around an evangelist, you learn how to evangelize.
You get around a teacher, you'll learn how to teach.
You get around with the profit and you can learn how to prophecy. You know they perfect the Saints. They equip them.
I used to think about a brother. He's here, so I don't mention, but he's pretty good at the piano. You know, you might say in a natural sense, he skipped it. And by the way, spiritual gift is not natural. We say someone's gifted. What do we mean? If we mean they're naturally gifted? That's not spiritual gift. That's natural.
But in a natural sense, he's, he's a good piano player and, uh.
I I seriously doubt that I could ever be that good.
But you know, I'm sure he could teach everyone of us to play to some extent.
He's gifted, he's really good.
But we all could learn to fight someone.
And so, in a sense, the gifted these gifts here. They equipped the Saints.
To enable them to minister.
These different ways, but it's the Saints in general that minister to the to the end result that the body of Christ is built up.
The broader sense taking on gifts has been mentioned in in.
Believe you referred to Corinthians making out First Corinthians 12.
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As you mentioned there in the 27th verse now already in the body of Christ and members in particular, and God has set some in the Church. First apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers. After that miracles and gifts of healings helps governments, diversities have done.
That little word helped. That's one thing every believer can be is a health.
And.
Over in.
Philippians, Chapter 4.
The Apostle Paul reigns us this gift out the forefront.
This is in.
Verse one of chapter 4 of Philippians. Therefore, my beloved, dearly beloved, and long for my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord. My dearly beloved, I beseech Euphrates and Cynthia that they be of the same mind in the Lord. And I entreat thee also through Yoko, help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellow laborers whose names are written in the book of life.
Here, he has to stir up a couple that should have been helping.
The the sisters and the work that they were doing and they weren't. And so he, he gave them a little bit of a review to stir them up that they would help. Oftentimes we need that to ourselves, but it's something that each one of us can do. There's opportunities that we can help in certain situations in the assembly. There's always something to be done.
Say these are things that we can do.
Are they our responsibility to do them?
Are you responsible?
I believe it can be said that we should exercise the gift that the Lord has given to us.
And try to recognize that and stay within that to a great extent. In small assemblies there may be the necessity to go from one thing to another, but there are those perhaps that are better gifted in a certain way than.
And then you might be and.
I had this thought before me that we should recognize the gift that another has in the assembly, not only for ourselves, but recognize that others have a particular gift and can do things better than we can because they are gifted of the Lord. And here's an example in the book of Acts Chapter 11 which may help to illustrate what I mean.
Without reading the whole portion of.
Chapter 11, verse 19 speaks about how the things were scattered because of the persecution about Steven. And they went on their way and came to Antioch and they preached the gospel. So you might say, well, these ones, they had a gift in evangelism. I suppose each one of us should have some inclination.
Toward evangelism. But there are those that are definitely gifted in that in that regard.
And so when there were those that were believers and word came to Jerusalem, it says in verse 22 That they send forth Barnabas.
And verse 23 says, who when he came, had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted the mall. That was purpose of heart. They would cleave unto the Lord. Here's a man that had a pastor's heart, you might say cared about the people of God. It doesn't say that he preached so much, but that seemed to be his gift.
But then, uh, if we go on a little further, in verse 25, it says that Barnabas departed to Tarsus or seek salt.
And when he had found him, he brought him onto Antioch, and it came to pass. And a whole year they assembled themselves with the church and taught much people.
00:25:10
Well here he recognized and believed that Saul had a gift in teaching and so even though Barnabas is included, I believe in when it uses the word they in verse 26.
Yet I believe that he recognized that Saul had a gifted teaching and so.
What did he do, Try to get along by himself? No, he went and he found some and he brought him there because he saw the need and recognized the gift in another. So I believe that it's important to to not only realize that we have a gift of some sort.
Uh, in terms of the body, as illustrated in First Corinthians 12, uh, a hand can do a certain functions that it's not as easy for a foot to do.
And so depending upon what is needed, the hand may be more convenient, but in another case it may be the foot. And so if we try to substitute one for the other, then it doesn't get done as well.
And so not only recognizing the only gift, our own gift, but also the gifts and others. And to support it as well, I think in the verses that we had just previous, is to not only recognize, but support someone if, if it's necessary for a person to travel to a certain location because of a need for evangelism, shall we say.
And they don't have the funds we can supply them and things of that nature so we can support.
Uh, I guess the point is that we don't compete against one another, we complement one another.
Subject isn't the body of Christ in Matthew 25, but responsibility is still brought out in the talents that were given. According to everyone, several abilities and the one who didn't take up his responsibility was cast into outer darkness. So.
Uh, really brings before us that the seriousness of the responsibility that were to, uh, take whatever service up and whatever ability he gives, uh.
To serve him. But the confidence of the ones who served him was that.
He was a a good master and so it's grace that's given to us. Isn't it a sense that this is his way of ministering to his people and it's a motive of love?
I believe so. I'm in that parable. Sometimes it gets mixed up between what's terrible and what isn't, but it's a parable, and the talents are not literal, and I don't think natural ability is literally either.
So what it What answers to talents Maybe gift, But what answers to natural ability in the parable would be faith. According to the scriptures, we're giving gifts according to the measure of faith, not according to our natural ability.
That call apparently did not have natural ability in speaking, but God chose him as the vessel to reveal the highest truth. Corinthians thought his speech was not very good.
He was naturally gifted in speaking. They would have said he was a good speaker, but they didn't. They said his speech was contemptible, but he's the one that God gave that gift to.
There is a promise of, of present reward too, and, uh, doing what the Lord gives us to do, says in John's Gospel, if you know these things, happier ye if you do them.
So there's a promise of being happy, being content. If we're we do what the Lord has given to us, we can have a happy Christian life.
That's the present thing, present possession.
In uh, the Apostles letter for the Colossians, apparently there was a brother there by the name of archipelas.
And watches for this 17, Paul says.
Say to our tippets, take heed.
Through the ministry which thou hast received in Lord without fulfilling. So there was a responsibility on a part of archivist to fulfill the ministry that was given to him. And I think that's very true that when we do what the Lord has in mind for us to do, it brings the joy and fulfillment into our souls and.
00:30:28
I connected with uh, Proverbs 11 where it speaks there about uh.
There is that scatter.
And yet increased.
And there is that which withhold it more than is weak, and it tends to poverty.
And a liberal soul shall be beat, and he that waters shall be watered also.
So if the Lord gives us something to give out.
We need to do that.
Because I believe.
The other person is going to get a blessing.
I'm going to get a sense of fulfillment in my own soul. I'm going to get a blessing out of that, and it glorifies God.
And so.
You know, uh, with his mother, Jesus called the servants whatever he says unto me. Who?
So the Lord is leading you to do something. Do.
Because if we don't do it, it's really quenching spirit.
You know, I, I think while you umm.
Sometimes people hesitate because they're afraid. What if it's not of the Lord?
Well, it's good. It's good not to be loose.
Right.
And it's really bad if you ever obtain a position among the people of God where you're comfortable, so comfortable that you, uh, you're not worried about that anymore, that's bad.
We should forever remain in fear of the Lord, and we want to edify the Saints. We don't want to put something out that didn't come from the Lord. But.
But we're told to submit it. Let the prophet speak two or three, and let the others judge. And there's a brother who once said it takes love to trade, referring to that parable in Matthew 25. In other words, if love would say.
I've got to stick my neck out, so to speak, for the sake of my brother, because this might be from the Lord. They might need it.
And I'm going to trust that if it's not the Lord, my brethren are going to judge that.
They're still going to love me afterwards and no harm is done. We need to have that add to. I'm speaking especially to the younger ones. Don't be so concerned about whether you're gonna make a mistake. It's good.
Not to be loose and to try and follow the leading of the Spirit, but submit it to your brethren. Submit yourself to your brethren and be willing to have it judged and be willing to maybe find out that you made a mistake. You'll learn from them, but it's not love to withhold it out of fear of making a mistake. That's not love.
So David said that I believe in Psalm 18, Thy gentleness.
Has made you great.
Well, you know David, he made some mistakes.
But he knew the Lord is merciful. The Lord is not going to pound time. And I think that was the problem with the servant that went and hit the town.
Why do you do that? Well, he said to the Lord, I thought you were an austere person.
You know we can solve it on and so forth. The Lord is not in lost your person.
The Lord is gracious.
And I I, I'm off to myself. I found the the brother to be very great.
Think of that verse in a.
Proverbs 17 make an application bitter is a dinner of herbs where love is then a stalled office and hatred there with going back to our brother's question about who's responsible. Are we responsible? And you know in the small assembly there may not be a lot of gifts.
Great gift, but but there's still work to be done and really, and I think it's been touched upon, it's really love.
00:35:06
Which is the energizing force. So we have in our chapter, you know, that the body is built up in love, not in gift. The body is not built up in gift. It's built up in love. The Lord gives gift and going back, you know, to our brother while he's coming, we, we can always be confident in our local assembly, whether there's just a handful of as, as the old brothers here used to say, a bunch of crooked sticks with just an old bunch of crooked sticks.
The Lord is faithful and he will provide. And so really we need to, we need to have love and as it says in our chapter, speaking the truth in love. So we're all responsible to to learn the truth. You know, that is a responsibility we all have is to learn the truth.
To feed on the truth, to judge those things that are not true.
But you know the Lord will bear with.
With the lack or or maybe the weakness in gift and we'll have a beautiful dinner of herbs you know he feeds his.
I'm thinking of the fact that you might say something and you don't want to bring it out too. You made a mistake and you said no. Upgrade you for you go to the first chapter of the book of James.
James chapter one.
In verse 5.
Any of you relax with let him ask him go. Give us all men liberally and upgraded not.
You might go into something foolish you're asking for, but the Lord isn't going to.
Judge you for he's not going to get upset with you.
Give you what you asked for, even if you ask it for, perhaps in the wrong way. In the wrong way. You don't have to remember though, that the.
Sometimes God's answer is no, but here He's not going to take it up with Him and say, why did you ask that? I believe it's the same with bringing forth something from the Word of God.
I know I was deleting one time when a brother made a comment. I'm not going to say what it was, but it was not according to scripture.
Pretty bad. So my other brother corrected him. Why didn't he, after meeting the brother who made the mistake, went up and put his arms around the other brother and thanked him? Well, that should be the right attitude, just like it says here.
The reason I asked that question was I was speaking to the brother recently. Just a few.
Days ago and I was surprised when we were talking.
That he felt that salvation was.
All that was needed and once that was achieved, once he had received that.
There's really nothing further you had to do unless.
God had a special work for him and and he'd be shown that and and that was really all there was.
So I asked the question on responsibility because I would fear that many of us might sit here and have that same thought.
The Lord would have us to go on to serve Him and take these things that we've been given.
And to use them for the best of.
Abilities that he's given us, so it brings glory to him.
I was reminded of verses at the end of Colossians. I thought of these after speaking with the gentleman. I hope they apply Colossians chapter 3.
Verse 22.
Servants obeying all things, your masters according to the flesh, not with thy service as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fear in God. Whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, not unto men, knowing that of the Lord He shall receive the reward of the inheritance, please.
Serve the Lord Christ.
I feel we have a great responsibility with the privilege that we've been given.
That we should not take it lightly.
There's a verse in Ephesians chapter 2 That perhaps speaks to what you just mentioned.
00:40:03
Versus 89 of course. Remind us that.
Works have no value in salvation, as it says, for by grace are you saved through faith, and that's not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of worthless any man should pose. So works are not in the picture there. But verse 10 goes on to say, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus.
Unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in there.
So that's the natural progression of the believer.
First were saved by the work of Christ, not our own, but then we're all deserve to do the works that He had set out for us.
So, uh, it's true that, uh, what brother granted said was true of every believer. It's not true of just some just gifted ones or whatever. True of every believer.
We have that responsibility and it really comes down to when it says the body builds itself up in love.
You know, it comes down to.
Is your concern the Lord's body as a building up to the Lord's body? Where is your concern about you?
And your glory and your reputation or whatever. And you'll find in yourself that that's a conflict.
So that's all you need to say. What is my concern here? My concern about the Lord and His people, or my concern about me and my face?
And it's very liberating to be done with self.
Not only liberates you, but.
Helps helps the body, but it's good to remember as long indicated, the water. Not only is the Lord gracious, but so are your presidents and.
Those that have been saved know that they they had no place here more than anyone else. And so we can be gracious with one another. I know my president has been more than gracious with me so.
It's all about love. Love will erase a lot of the difficulties.
I've always enjoyed in the book of Acts in chapter 23.
Paul was brought before the council and he created a dissension there between the capacities and Pharisees fight.
Revealing that he himself was a Pharisee and so forth. And.
So.
The Roads of great Pride and.
One party saying, We find no evil in this man, and so forth, but it says, the night following the Lord stood by him and said, Be a good cheer, Paul. For as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome. As has already been mentioned in the previous meeting, Paul was not sent to the Jews, he was sent to the Gentiles, but he had that that love for his brethren, and the desire for them to recognize.
Who the Lord was that he was a fulfillment of all that they had been waiting for. But you know, there are times that.
That in our frustration.
We, umm, speak in a way that is not of the Lord, but yet here the Lord doesn't chide him.
You know, the Lord is very gracious. In fact, he commands him for his faithfulness, which is remarkable. And then he says you're going to Rome.
It's been stated several times already, but perhaps it.
A good summary of what's being said with respect to our responsibilities with gifts could be found in Colossians Chapter 2.
Was 19. It's in the negative sense, but I'll omit the word not and put it in a positive sentence.
Holding the head from which all the bodies by joint and band, having nourishment ministered in it together, increases with the increase of God.
00:45:07
And it's at the direction of the head. If I have an itch on my back, my hand doesn't know.
But flowing from the head directions, my hand, I can reach around and get my back or if I'm hungry or the list goes on. And so we have these lists of the gifts, some of the gifts that were given profits, some evangelists, some pastors, some teachers. That there is a gift of an evangelist didn't mean that in a setting like this, the evangelist should get up and give the gospel and, and over and over and over again. There would need to be the teaching of of the teacher who would need to be the shepherding from the pastor. And so it's at the direction of the head.
And so just because there's a gift doesn't mean that it needs to be exercised right here, right now.
But there needs to be the holding the head and that's really where the direction comes from and that's where there will be the blessing and and the increase of the body at all.
I'd like to move on but I just wonder if his brother had a comment on.
Captivity Capital.
He he defeated Satan that cross, didn't they? And we who were as captives have now been freed and he's actually led the one who was our captor, captor and we who were in the service of Satan from his instruments and played against Christ are now been employed in Christ service.
And that very warfare, but on the opposite side, and it's all of Tarsus was certainly one of those examples of one who was in state and service and his captive, but now free.
And uh.
On the in the service of Christ. But Satan is a defeated foe. He's been LED captive and we should never meet him as anything else but that as a defeated foe, not in with any sense of carelessness. You know, we need to understand the power of the enemy. But he is a defeated foe and resist the devil and he'll flee from you. Why is that? Because when we resist, he meets Christ.
And Christ defeated him. If he meets me, I'm in trouble. So if he meets Christ in me, he's going to he's going to sleep because he's a Bethesda ball.
That's nice, an old brother that's going to be with the Lord now. I remember him saying one time that, uh, put it this way then.
We were held in captivity by a bad man, Satan, who sought to do us harm. Well, the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross. He took us captive. A good man took us captive and the good and keeps us and he will all the way home.
The other thing those verses bring out is really where the source of all true Christian ministry is. It's from an offended Christ based on accomplished redemption. And so it's from Christ and glory on that finished work that it comes down and what is the end of the object of it.
And that's really given in verse 13.
Until we come, all come. That one left out. The apostle said that.
His desire, which is God's desire, was all men would come into the knowledge of the truth. All come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. A deeper and fuller acquaintance with the Son of God.
Is the object of that ministry. It could bring us into a fuller and deeper knowledge and appreciation of themselves.
00:50:08
That's the quality of the eternal life.
And we have to know God, the only true God. And Jesus Christ says he has friends. This is my paternity.
The object of the industry, as you say. I believe this.
To bring souls.
Close to Christ.
Enjoy Christ to know Him.
The only true God.
And we'll be looking to the Lord for direction as to our ministry.
You know those syntax as you were pointing out there, because of the persecution in Jerusalem, they go out.
And they spread out with the message of the gospel.
Well, who sent it out to Cyprus or for those other places?
Was it some missionary board?
Some council in Jerusalem? No, I believe.
That they were so filled with the gospel of Christ.
The Apostle Paul, he said, we believe and therefore do we speak.
And so they went out.
And I believe they were looking for their ministry, their message.
And I believe that's very important.
That's how we can keep the ministry fresh.
Otherwise, if we're looking to some individual, it's throughout.
To give it out and so on.
You might die.
You might say.
To check the sink to the level of that individual instead of bringing up the other crust.
No, it's not that we should ignore our brother, you know, respect the ministry. I mean, the fellowship is important, but.
We look to Christ. Direct instructions is what he would have to say. Let's do it.
It really takes into all that has to do with the Lord.
To say why? I just want deeper acquaintance with himself as this person. But I really don't care about church truth. I really don't care about those things. Let other people worry about that. As long as my heart's just right with the Lord and I just go on the Lord with the Lord by myself. It's really to ignore those things that concern him. Where is his heart?
Where is his treasure? Our treasury is in heaven. Where is his? It's here on the earth. It's his own. And how intimately he is interested in his own and the the testimony that ought to be in display in the unity of the body here in this earth, He's intimately concerned with it.
And so to be increasing in our acquaintance with him is to be concerned with what he's concerned about, to be interested in what he's interested in. The more I grow interested in one who who is may become my mate for life, aren't I interested in what they are? It would be awful selfish if I wasn't say, oh, I love you dearly, but I'm not interested in what you are interested in.
Well, I don't know. How attached are you anyway? You know, you might come back to that, no?
If we really are growing in our acquaintance analogy and it's going to be with a growing interest in all that experience and all that, he's interested.
00:55:03
And in Philippians chapter 2.
Umm in verse 20 it says I have no man like minded who will naturally care for your state.
For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ.
Well, in context, the things which are Jesus Christ are the Saints.
Hey, Paul's talking about it. I I don't have anybody who's like mine or they don't care about you.
Everybody is caring about themselves.
Everybody like mine will care about you. And then he says they all seek their own things, not the things that are Jesus Christ. Now in context of things that are Jesus Christ are the Saints.
Timothy wasn't a neglected gift within him.
What happens if those gifts are neglected and the person, the people that have them are not using them?
We have it here, I believe in our chapter.
Can be LED above. With every wind of darkness, we can lose that truth that has been given to us and trusted to us.
It doesn't just say if you hear that.
This is weed that we had for if you don't want children that takes in those that have gifts too.
Uh, those things are neglected.
Then.
He can be cost about with every windows doctor but a slight of men and craftiness whereby they lie and wait to the sea. This is an ongoing thing in the world.
Present day and every day that there are those out there that are seeking to draw souls away from the Lord and.
We need to be wise and the only way that we can be that way is is to maintain.
The word that God has given to us, entrusted to us.
And, uh, build one another up, encourage one another in those things that are that are true.
Otherwise it says here.
We're not immune to be LED away.
Anyone of those?
So it's, it's the Lord's will that believers would grow just like a child. You know, children are young, they need parental help. They'll get themselves in trouble. They don't, they don't understand and they, they got to be washed out or they get in trouble. They could get hurt. But we expect that they, as they mature, they're going to have those judgments and they're going to be able to discern and, and to, and to keep themselves.
Say and and to walk intelligently, so to speak. And that's God's will for every believer.
That we would grow as individuals and be able to have that discernment. And that's really the end, another end really, of Christian ministry.
That we would, you know, have that. And so you know that I think it's helpful to read that verse.
We can find it again.
OK, verse 14.
In order that we may be no longer I'm going to I'm reading it in the new translation in order that we may be no longer babes tossed and carried out by every wind of that teaching which is in the sleight of men in unprincipled cunning, with a view to systematize era. And then it says, but holding the truth and love, we may grow up unto him in all things, which is so, you know, God's desire is that we would be able to discern.
And that we would grow up unto him.
And to understand as it's been brought out his thoughts and desires. But you know, we have this this unprincipled, cunning, systematized era. And you know, there, as has been said, there's there's opposition and it even comes in to the professing church and, you know, one of the very first manifestations.
01:00:16
Of of really a.
An attack, if you will, was.
When Ananias and Sapphira.
Lied to the Holy Spirit and.
You know, they were acting as if the Holy Spirit was not present in this entity which is the body of Christ and they acted as if it wasn't so much that they didn't give the money to the apostles. They lie. They asked you this, the Spirit of God was going to be well, there is systematize era around that very thing today as a matter of fact.
You know you can and and you know it's cunning, it's clever. You can hear someone teach and it it there, there are very good.
You know, whatever doctrine it is, the people that push it are very, very good and they use scriptures, but it doesn't come from the Lord and it doesn't honor the Lord. And we have to be discerning in these things and we do have to challenge these things with Scripture and seek to know the Lord. And good ministry will help us always bring before us Christ and His purposes and His desire.
Verse 15 says but speaking the truth and love it.
J&D's translations holding the truth. Other translations too.
Holding the truth.
In love.
It's not holding the truth and pride.
Holding the truth in love.
If you're concerned about.
Getting things right.
Holding things.
Being in the right path and so on.
If your motive is love for the Lord and for his people.
That's the best way that I know to be assured that you you get things right.
And then even if you get things wrong.
Could be literally translated being truthful and love to God is light and His love this love without being truthful in love.
There is a display of that, but it leads down the wrong and lead down the wrong path. So being fruitful in love, God is light and love.
And so love needs to.
Have joined with it.
True if it's going to be X.
Exercise properly.
The proverb faithful are the wounds of a friend that has.
Has to do with that, right?
Faithful of the wounds of our friends so.
It's not a love, You know, if I'm if I'm teaching something wrong or doing something wrong or speaking something wrong, for someone to just sit by the way and be quiet, that's not love.
Lord Jesus Christ, He was full and He raised and truth.
I believe somebody said Grace.
Is the activity of love.
In the midst of evil.
Grace and truth is light.
Shining in this darkness.
Go back to 13 for a minute. We all come in the unity of the face to face. There is that whole body of truth committed to the Saints of God. There is one faith as well. We get it earlier in the chapter. And the faith brings us into unity, doesn't it? The Spirit of God would lead all the Saints down the same path. It doesn't have a different truth for you, different truth for me. The world has a saying, well, that's true for you, but it's not truth for me.
01:05:26
Child of God should never say that ever. There's only one faith, there's only one truth in the Spirit of God with all lead us all in the same direction. And so when he is able to minister to us in that way, where is the end going to be? Till we all come in the unity of the faith, there is one truth.
Of God's Word, the unity of the faith. It has a practical outworking too.
And the endeavoring to keep the unity of the spirit and uniting bond of peace.
We've spoken of the knowledge of the Son of God, that deeper acquaintance with himself and all that concerns him unto a perfect or a full grown man. God does not want us to remain as we've had children or babes, a place of weakness and exposure where we're knocked all about, tossed about. Really. I think might even have the same word as Buffett is when they smoke the Lord. I think it may be the same word buffeted.
And.
He wants us to be grown up into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. There's the natural stick. He wants us to be grown up in that measure. That's all it is, I believe, is to come into the fullness of the knowledge of the truth that is proper to us in our dispensation, Christian truth. He doesn't want us to just say, well, I'm saved and I know I'm going to heaven. Don't bother me with the rest.
Will be tossed to and fro. We'll be knocked right around.
Just like little children in the storm.
We won't be able to stand for a minute. He wants us to be grown up in the truth of God, and in that way children is looked at. Sometimes being a child is looked at in a good way. Is newborn babes. Desiring the sincere milk of the Word is a positive thing. I should never get out of the place where the Word of God isn't my proper food, just like milk is a proper food to a baby. But here it's not a desirable condition to be in.
He wants us to grow up.
To grow up. And so the psalmist speaks of that man's house and his children like olive plants around the table. And he says that our children might be grown up, and they're you.
He wanted them to be mature and.
Truth of God, and that's God's desire for us to that we wouldn't be henceforth children.
I'd like to make a comment on whether what our brother John brought out to systematize error.
There are whole bookshelves full of books called labeled systematic theology where men have, and even Christian men have taken up some verse, taken it out of context, put a certain construction on it, and then develop the whole system of theology in which they attempt to explain the Word of God, the truth of God and its error.
And they revolve all the word of God around that thought.
And say, this is how you understand and interpret the word of God. And they deny this truth, that it's only by the Spirit of God that we understand the Word of God and he is its interpreter, not a system of theology.
And I really believe the Spirit of God had that in mind and how the great systems of professing Christianity have developed around systematized.
Error, not just.
Here and there sort of a scattered popping up here. It's a systematized. There's a whole system developed around it that supports it and keeps it going. And if you're going to go on in that, then you've got about to that system.
Of key chains of theology.
Systematic Theology.
01:10:01
It's not what we get in the Word of God. He has that which.
Everything revolves around and by which we understand the Word of God and the Spirit of God makes it good for us. Christ is the center of everything that God is doing.
Everything, everything hangs upon that, and that is where I think the Spirit of God would lead us to until growing up in the knowledge of the Son of God. He's the center of everything that God is doing.
Occipital and the 2nd grindin's tube verse 17 says we are not as many.
Which corrupts the word itself. The margins of others should deal deceitfully.
With the word of God.
But there's a sincerity, but as a God insight of God, speak me in Christ.
Safety is the master receipt.
And he has been so successful.
And today, I believe in turning souls aside from the truth.
What he does is mix.
Truth with error, which in the final analysis is no truth.
But he's very cagey.
Somebody said one time if you had a glass of pure water.
And then you're ready to drink.
Something comes along and puts a little drop of poise into the water.
Are you going to drink it?
Person said well, you know, it's just a little drop. No, we don't want to drink that.
So I'll say we look to the Lord that we might.
Be guided by His word.
And that he might be found in the truth as it is in Jesus.
We have later he's Shafter there's 21 if so be that in the third in and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus.
Just the way, the truth and the life.
I'm just looking at these verses in Second Peter chapter 3.
Second Peter three. We could probably read more, but verse 16.
And also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things.
Which are some things hard to be understood? Which they that are unlearned and unstable rest?
As they do also the other scriptures under their own destruction. Ye therefore beloved, seeing ye know these things before.
Beware lest ye also, being LED away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in grace in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.
And just connect over to the Hebrews chapter 13.
Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 8 says Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever.
You're not carried about with divers and strange doctors.
It is a good thing that the heart be established with grace.
That's good, brother, because you know.
In the schools of professing Christianity, systematic theology is most often.
Based upon an error that the Hebrew believers struggled for. That really is that is true whether it's saying the covenants of the center of all that God is doing and by that we interpret the word of God or whatever it might be.
01:15:00
The things that the Hebrew believers struggled over are the very roots of those systems of theology.
Colossians Chapter 2, it says.
No man beguile you of your reward and voluntary humility worship of angels intruding into those things which he has not seen mainly popped up by his flesh in mind and and really to focus on this verse and not holding the head from which all the joints as we have been speaking in bands having nourishment ministered and knit together increases with the increase of God, so.
These systems.
Are are very cleverly built.
And they work within, within the context of the system they work. And they are based upon scriptures. They will be based upon scriptures. So, you know, we have to not approach these things intellectually. Christ must. The Lord must be given His place. And that's the only place we can be kept safe. The Lord is the head as we've had. He's the head and he is in heaven. His body is upon the earth.
And it's the Spirit of God.
That he sent down and if we get any of those things in the wrong place.
We're not going to be in the right place and we should not be foolish enough to think that we're smart enough.
To delve into these things and figure them out on our own because the people, they're very cunning. It's scary. I, you know, I've been given, I was given, you know, I've given, people have given me things to listen to and I will sometimes do that.
So I prayerfully something that I know may know be coming from another direction, whether it be, you know, covenant theology or whatever. But it's a prayerful thing and and it's a thing you got to do and you can say just Lord.
Help me, I'm going to listen to it so I can respond to somebody in faith. I need to be very prayerful about that. I am not smart enough to outsmart these systems of theology. I have to pull the head and the and the Lord is faithful. You'll keep us if we give him his place, you know, and that's a beautiful thing. He needs to be given his place.
Any system, no matter how good it is in terms of what it does and all the good it accomplishes, the Christ the Lord is not given His place.
You know, it's, it's not of him ultimately.
#276.
Gospel 1
Gospel—Wally Dear
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Good evening.
We certainly welcome each and everyone to our gospel meeting here tonight.
And as the customers, we begin with singing.
You know it tells us in the scripture.
To come into His presence with singing and I believe here tonight we are in the presence of the Lord, the Lord of glory. He is with us here tonight and we have something to sing about.
Those of us who have come to know the Lord Jesus Christ and I believe singing is an indication of joy.
Happiness.
And so I'd like to begin tonight.
With #5 perhaps you could stand and sing number 50. Happy day.
When Jesus washed my sins away #5.
Umm umm, I'll be there, I'm feeding it when Jesus was lost my sins away.
To us and pray. And every coin came every day.
Thank Jesus, one thy pimple.
It can't be How to watch and pray and live rejoice in every time.
Let's look to the Lord in prayer for His help.
Our godfather, we thank thee tonight.
Yeah, we can sing.
Oh Happy Day when Jesus washed my sins away. We thank you, dear Father, for thy love that has sent the Savior.
My beloved son.
We thank thee for his finished work on the Cross of Calvary, and we thank Thee that we can open thy word.
And we can rejoice in the exceeding riches of thy grace and thy kindness to us.
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We thank you that we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you we can enjoy the peace of God.
And the God of peace goes with us.
But just now we pray especially for any in this hall, perhaps a boy or a girl.
Or perhaps an older one?
Who sang?
This him.
But never yet.
Have had their sins washed away.
We do pray that.
Thou will make this day.
A day of conviction.
That this day might indeed be a day when they would feel the weight of their sin.
And that they might be miserable.
Until they have called upon thee for salvation.
And be able to sing in truth. Oh Happy Day when Jesus washed my sins away. Now we ask thy blessing on Thy word here and wherever it's proclaimed worldwide.
We thank thee for thy long-suffering grace and I desire that all should be saved. And so we commit the meeting today and give thee our thanks for this time together and I alone, most worthy and precious name, Lord Jesus.
Amen. Well, we know what it is that washes white as snow, so I think we should sing a song about that. Let's turn over to.
32 What can wash away my seeds #32?
And we could just remain seated.
For what can what?
That make me wine and strong.
No one that I'm trying to help. Nothing but the bloody Jesus.
For my pardon, that's my way. Nothing left the ball of Jesus.
Oh Christian is the glow that makes me white and snow.
All my hope and peace, nothing but the blood of Jesus.
On my right just.
We came to the conference.
Yesterday.
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And I noticed over the past few days.
2 words have been spoken to me and I've heard them spoken to others many many times.
You probably know what I'm thinking about.
Anybody venture a guess?
2 words that we hear often at this time of the year.
Mr. Mazzaro.
Exactly. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas.
Merry Christmas.
You know, somebody that's married is a happy person.
That's supposed to be a happy time of year. Everybody rejoicing. Well, I wanna tell you something.
There wasn't too many.
Businesses open yesterday there was a gas station open.
In the town of Lincoln.
And I must say, I never see so many people in that service station before.
They were in there lined up buying food, paying for gas, and so on and so forth.
So I stood in line.
And when I left.
I got in the car, my wife said to me, what is wrong with all those people?
They're so gloomy.
They all appear glum. And I got thinking, yeah, that's true. I don't even think I saw a happy face.
And yet it's supposed to be a Mary Day.
What is the problem here? So we try to analyze why it is that these people are unhappy, because it really appeared that they were. Well, you know, many people are disappointed.
I talked to a brother while he's sitting right here tonight.
And he said something to the effect that, you know, we get psyched up for this Christmas Day.
But December 26 rolls around and it's like we do a crash landing, he said. He was so disappointed often the next day.
Well, I think many people are disappointed even on Christmas Day Now you know, it's a wonderful thing that Christ was born.
But I do believe that his birth is not enough.
And so as we sang these hymns here tonight.
What we're thinking about is birth.
Are we seeing about his debt?
We were singing about his precious blood. It was shed.
At the Cross of Calgary.
At the time of his death.
The precious Savior there on the cross.
Gave his life and he shared his blood to save your soul and mine. Marvelous to contemplate the Son of God giving his all, giving Himself, shedding his blood on your behalf and mine.
You know, we have great leaders.
In this world we have presidents, we have prime ministers.
We have czars.
We have kings, but what I notice.
Is that these ones who are so important?
They send someone else.
Into battle.
To shed their blood.
They don't shed their own.
It's something to think about, but the Lord Jesus, the greatest of all, the Creator, he shed his blood.
In order to redeem us, In order to cleanse us.
There's no other remedy for seeing apart from the precious blood of Christ, so I'm glad we started with those hymns now.
I was thinking, particularly tonight, of a story.
And it's not my wallet.
00:15:03
It's in the Bible, but it's a story we often refer to and use in the gospel.
But I find that it never ever wears out.
I enjoy it just as much today as when I first heard it, maybe when I was about two years old.
No.
Some years ago I was in Washington, DC and we had the opportunity to visit the.
U.S. Treasury Department and they were printing.
Bills somewhere $1.00 somewhere five dollar $10.
$20 and it was quite a sight to see a big skit of paper piled up there and find out that whoa.
That's a big sheet of $20 bills.
But what I noticed was this going on.
There was a machine over on the shelf and it was doing this.
So what's that all about?
Oh well, that machine there is testing.
The durability.
Of the bill.
And you know, it was going like this and I don't know how many times, Hundreds, hundreds.
Perhaps thousands.
And then?
The bill ripped.
It wore out. It was done.
You say, why am I talking about?
U.S. Treasury and dollar bills.
It's because.
Our bills wear out.
$20 bills wear out, but what we have in the Bible, it never wears out. And this book that you're looking at here in my hand and you have one in your lap, it's open here on earth and it's gonna be open in heaven.
For ever and ever.
And ever. This is the most important book in the universe, the Bible.
And the Lord Jesus said heaven and earth passes away, but my word shall not pass away. But now I'll tell you the story I want to turn to tonight is found in Luke's Gospel, chapter 10, Luke chapter 10.
And as I say, it's a familiar story about how wonderful to see in this story.
The grace of God in meeting the need of a poor, lost, helpless, hopeless Sinner.
It's a wonderful story. We're gonna start at verse 25.
Luke chapter 10 and verse 25.
And behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? How read us thou? And the answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.
And he said unto him, Thou is the answer right?
This.
And thou shalt live.
But he willing to justify himself.
Said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor? Now? Let's just stop there.
Behold, that means listen up.
Pay attention.
A certain lawyer stood up.
A lawyer is one who is familiar with the laws.
And in these days, a lawyer would be familiar with the law of Moses.
00:20:06
Should be familiar with the Old Testament.
Taught the law.
And here's one that stands up before Jesus.
And has a question.
But notice it.
Says faster for teacher.
What?
Shall I do?
To inherit eternal life.
Here's a man tempting the Lord with a question.
The man was not sincere.
You know these lawyers and these Pharisees, I believe they recognize that the Lord Jesus.
Was bringing a message that was different than what they were accustomed to hearing in the law.
Do and Liz.
The Lord Jesus was here.
Inviting.
Boys and girls and men and women, to come to him for salvation, to believe on him. You could say, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me.
Has everlasting life, and to accept this message would be to set aside the law.
And the Pharisees did not appreciate.
This kind of teaching.
I believe they were.
Proud of their religion.
That they had what no other nation on earth had, which is the 10 commandments.
And they would stand up, and they would find fault with Christ and seek to trip him up, to trick him into saying something that would make him look like a fool.
But you know what?
The Lord Jesus.
He had a way about him, he's all wise and he could turn the conversation around to where.
The ones that we're trying to.
Depreciate him, they were the ones that.
Became.
Or look like a fool.
It's marvelous to contemplate how the Lord He dealt with questions.
And somebody said, you know the Lord Jesus.
He didn't answer questions, but he answered souls, and he could see through this individual that this man is not sincere, that this man does not have a penitent attitude.
That this man, perhaps is trying to.
Now you know the Lord Jesus.
He did not repudiate the law.
In fact, he was here on earth, and he fulfilled the law to the very letter.
And in doing so, I believe he did expose.
Those that were self-righteous and claimed to keep the law.
And yet.
They were sinners as much as anyone else. Now you notice the question this man asked. What shall I do?
To inherit eternal life. No word about salvation.
You turn over to Acts chapter thir 16.
You have a man that is in earnest.
He knows his sin.
He wants help.
Outside of himself.
And he appeals to Paul and Silas. You know the story.
Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
00:25:01
Now that's a good question.
Salvation is what we all need, no exceptions.
But I don't think this lawyer felt his need.
Before God.
Of salvation.
I don't believe he give honor, respect to God.
And he thought more of himself.
And that's the problem, you know, the enemy of our souls.
Tries to.
Give us a.
Understanding of God.
And also.
A false.
Value of what we are.
Well, the Lord Jesus here.
He said to this man, what is written in the law? How read is thou? He will take this man up on his own terms. This man is not repentant. This man has no appreciation.
For the salvation that Christ can offer.
And so the Lord Jesus, I believe, is going to.
In a very remarkable way, give this man to feel.
That he is a Sinner.
You know there's a verse back in Proverbs. Let me just read this here in Proverbs chapter 26.
And verse.
5.
Proverbs 26 five answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit. I believe that's exactly what the Lord Jesus was doing.
In this.
Situation.
Answering the man.
According to his folly.
That he might not.
Be taken up with his own conceit.
The man answers the Lord.
In verse 27.
The answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.
And thy neighbor as thyself.
This lawyer, he knew what was written in the Old Testament.
Because this comes out of I believe it's Deuteronomy chapter 6 and combined with perhaps Leviticus 19.
And he could quote this. And the Lord says to this man, Thou hast answered.
Right. In other words, this man, he gave a good answer. He gave a right answer.
But the question is.
Did the man live?
To the answer that he gave.
The Lord Jesus says to this man, this do and thou shalt live.
But he willing to justify himself.
Said unto Jesus, And who is?
My neighbor now do you think that's a good question?
Who is my neighbor?
I don't think.
That is a good question.
I believe we all ought to have the answer to that question in our heart and mind.
Our neighbor being anybody who crosses our path, to whom we can be of assistance, who we could be a help to.
But this man, he was trying to diminish.
00:30:05
The demand of the law, I do think.
That this man.
In his heart of hearts.
Realized that he did not live up.
To what he had just said.
No, the Lord Jesus.
Over in, uh, I think it's Matthew chapter 22. He said the same as this, uh, lawyer. I think it's Matthew chapter 22.
And so we see.
That the answer was right, the answer was good.
Verse 36.
Chapter 22. Matthew.
Well, let's read verse 35 about 30-4. But when the Pharisees had heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, they were gathered together. Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law. Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all the heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first.
And great commandment. And the 2nd is like unto it.
That love thy neighbor as thyself.
So that was the answer the Lord Jesus gave. Same answer as this lawyer gave.
But the word?
Had a story to tell.
And when this man.
He sought to justify himself.
The Lord tells a story.
Man, he often he seeks to justify himself.
Rather than justifying God.
Rather than bowing to the word of God.
And to God's.
Viewpoint to the truth.
He stands up before God.
As though.
He can stand before God on his own merit.
He testifies himself.
What this man ought to have done.
Would be to acknowledge before the Lord Jesus.
I have not lived up to these commandments. I have not lived up to the law.
And I'm a Sinner.
And I'm looking to you in repentance.
For salvation, the Lord Jesus would have met his need right there and then. But his attitude?
Was.
Not good. I wonder if you're tonight, would there be anybody in our little company whose attitude is like this lawyer seeking to justify himself?
Without taking God at His word and accepting God's judgment on ourselves that we're all bad.
There's none that do it good. No, not one.
The law.
Was given of God.
Very.
Important part of Israel's history when God gave to Moses the commandments.
And God communicated with man that which would be good.
For him to do if he could do it.
You might say a way of life.
That would be very.
Healthy.
Would be that which would be a quality life.
00:35:01
To be able to live in this way.
I used to work with a man.
Running a print press and you know this man.
He told me he really appreciated the laws in the Old Testament and he said I read the book of Deuteronomy with my family.
And that's good advice.
And it is good advice.
But the problem is, this man had no interest in Jesus.
He did not feel his need as a Sinner before God.
And look out of side of himself to Christ.
But the law, you know, it tells us it's holy. It's just and it's good.
And as it tells us here, the first commandment, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, loving God.
Oh, how good that is.
But how many have loved the Lord their God?
With Walter Hart, with all their soul, with all their strength, and with all their mind now.
The second.
As it is related here because we know some of the commandments were God word and some were man word.
Love thy neighbor as thyself.
How many have actually loved their neighbor as themselves?
I heard one time about.
Man, and it was many, many years ago.
In uh.
Over in England.
There was a fire that broke out in the community.
And it was a raging fire.
And there was a man that.
He was concerned about.
Saving a friend of his that was down the road.
And somebody said, well, you know, there's the fire is overtaking your home.
It's overtaking you home.
And your furniture. Someone is being burned, he said. I wanna save my friend. And so he went. And apparently.
He risked his own life to go into a burning building to save his friend while his own house was burning. Well, you might say that is truly love for one's neighbor.
But you know those cases are very few and far between.
And the fact is that nobody, I don't think really loves their neighbor as themselves apart from the Lord Jesus Christ.
And this lawyer is questioning who is his neighbor. You can see there was not love in his heart.
Because if there had been he, I don't think he would have asked this question.
But the Lord Jesus then goes on to describe.
His own mission.
And how that?
He was an example.
Of one who loved his neighbor.
As himself.
Now, tonight.
We're not here to preach the law.
Because by the works of the law, no flesh can be justified.
And the fact is.
According to James, that whoever.
Keeps the whole law and yet offends in one point he is guilty of all. Now what did the Lord Jesus say to this lawyer? He said.
Do and.
Live.
The fact is, the lawyer was dead.
He was dead.
Already in his sin and that's how God views the Sinner did.
00:40:05
I believe that the law 10 commandments.
And only one who kept the law in its entirety.
The Lord Jesus could say, which of you convinces me of sin?
He was the Holy.
One, he was the just one, and when all others had come short.
He was here and enjoyed God the Father's commendation. You know, at his baptism, it tells us the heavens were opened and there's a voice from heaven. This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
There wasn't one.
Thought word.
Or action on the part of the Lord Jesus Christ that offended the Father. He could say, I do always those things that please the Father.
But nobody else could say that.
And yet many today they have a false.
Evaluation.
Of who they are.
And the Pharisees were like that.
You know, they were self-righteous. They looked down on others.
And so others were sinners, and not themselves.
Now if you wanna live.
By keeping the law.
God gives.
The way to do it?
Keep the whole law, all 10 commandments, and you will live.
But if you break one.
You come short.
Now I hear tonight brought.
Couple of rulers.
And these are 10 inch rulers.
And I thought these.
Rulers.
Perhaps could be used to represent the 10 commandments.
There's 10 inches on the ruler.
And so we have this ruler.
If one is to earn their way to heaven.
They have to meet.
All ten of the commandments.
Now I got another ruler here.
You know there was a man.
We read about him in Luke chapter 18 tells us he went into the temple to pray he was a Pharisee.
And you know, he, he prayed with himself.
He's praying to God and telling God how great he is. He says. I am not an extortioner.
I am not unjust.
I am not an adulterer.
And I'm not like that publican over there. He's pointing to the publican. But even as he did, he had three fingers pointing back at himself.
This is I.
Fast twice in the week and I give ties of all that I possess.
And he had a really good opinion of himself.
And there was another man, and that was the publican, and it tells us that he stood a far off.
And smooth upon his breast. And he simply said, God be merciful to me, the Sinner. You know that man that justified himself, that Pharisee.
Never received the blessing but the one.
Who is willing to acknowledge his sin? We find that he went down to his house justified.
00:45:00
God justified him.
And so that's how we need to be before God. We need.
To acknowledge our sin, look outside of ourselves for mercy.
But.
We have all broken the law and so I'm gonna just take that ruler.
And that rule is broke.
This ruler.
Is done.
Is this ruler good anymore?
Is this ruler of any value?
Well, this ruler measure up.
To this ruler here.
No, it's broke.
It's bad.
And the fact is that each and everyone of us have come short of God's standard. God's standard is this.
And here we are.
Having come short of the glory of God. And so we got a big problem. We are.
In need. And so the Lord Jesus tells his story in verse 30. It says Jesus answering said a certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho and Solomon thieves which stripped him of his raiment and wounded him and departed, leaving him half dead.
By chance there came down a certain priest that way, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. And likewise the Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own feast, and brought him to an inn and took care of him.
And on the Morrow, when he departed, he took out 2 Pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again I will repay thee. Which now of these three thinkest thou his neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves? And he said, he that showed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and through thou likewise. And so this is the story. But you know this story is a description.
Of the very mission upon which the Son of God was sent.
Can Can you imagine if the Lord Jesus.
Had put forth the question, who is my neighbor?
When he was in the glory, who is my neighbor? Perhaps he look at the angels, and there they were.
But he saw in you and me.
Those for whom?
He wanted to give his life and shed his blood. And that's the story we have here. You see, it tells us that there was a certain man, doesn't tell us his name, but he's going down from Jerusalem to Jericho.
Jerusalem being a place of blessing, that's where the Temple, the House of God was.
But this man has turned his back on God and going down to Jericho where we find the curse.
Jericho was a mighty city that confronted God's people when they entered into the land of Canaan. The huge walled city was a wicked city.
But we know the Walls of Jericho came down.
You know, miraculous way.
And God said, cursed is he that rebuilds the city. There was a man who, in rebellion to God's word, rebuilt the city, and it cost him his two sons. And that was prophesied as well. But it's the city of the curse now, I believe it's a city that represents the world in which we live, and you know this world.
00:50:03
Has no love for your soul this world will take.
Everything it can from you to advance its own agenda.
And leave you.
Behind.
You got something to offer? I'll take it. The world says this.
But the world is taking from you and really giving nothing in return.
Now this man tells us he fell among thieves.
Well, what would you expect If you turn your back on God, you're going in the opposite direction. You think that everything's gonna be OK? No, you're gonna have big problems. But this has been the history of mankind, right From.
The start of.
Genesis we read about how that Adam and Eve when God came in the cool of the day looking for their companionship.
What were they doing?
They were going away, they were running, they were hiding. They're back to God and it's been the history of mankind ever since.
Cain He went out from the presence of the Lord to build a city, surround himself with all types of industry, entertainment and so on in order to shut out God.
And I believe today man is shutting God out of.
This world, he wants to run this world the way he pleases.
And leave God out.
But we know.
God will have the last word, but here comes.
Somebody says.
He fell among thieves, stripped him of his raiment, wounded him, departed, leaving him half dead. The man is helpless.
By chance there came down a certain priest that way, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. I suppose the priest, he had a position in the temple. He was one that promoted the the law.
But was there love in his soul for this poor man that was languishing on the side of the road? No, it tells us here. He saw him.
But he passed by on the other side. He was no more neighbor to that man. This was the lawyer. And then there comes a Levite, and I believe a Levite. Perhaps he had a position.
Perhaps a little below a priest, but nevertheless again motivated by law keeping and he too wasn't safe.
When he was at the place, he came and looked on him and passed by.
On the other side, now you know the law says love God, love your neighbor, but there's no power in the law to do it.
No power there, actually. The law is that which exposes our sin, the laws that which convicts of sin. We compare ourselves to the law, just like we might compare this broken ruler to this one here.
And we find out.
How bad this one is? This is no good.
This is the standard.
So there was no help.
From the priest or the Levi. However, in verse 33 it says but a certain Samaritan as he journeyed came where he was, and when he saw him he had compassion on him. You know compassion is to have.
An intense pity for somebody who's in trouble, in need, with a desire to help them.
And this man, he had compassion, you know, it says that the Lord Jesus many times that he was, he had compassion on a multitude.
There was love in his soul because he was full of grace.
00:55:03
And truth, and I do believe we see pictures in this Samaritan, the Lord Jesus who came, He saw you and me as his neighbors, and he came to where we were.
Right down into this little speck in the universe of God called earth, in order to meet you and me in our need. And He came with all that was needed. You notice this Samaritan? He had with him oil, and he had wine, and he had that which could bind up his wounds.
Oil and wine.
The Lord Jesus.
He has met our needs. You know these wounds of sin are so deep.
And so ugly. But the Lord Jesus is the one who is the remedy. And I believe on the cross of Calvary the Lord Jesus gave his life. He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.
Chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. Christ also suffered for sin, just for the unjust to bring us to God and as we sang at the outside of the meeting.
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. And so the Lord Jesus was the one, the only one who could meet our need.
Perfectly, just as the Samaritan tells us he poured in the oil and the wine. I suppose the oil would be soothing and the wine perhaps having an alcohol content might be somewhat of an antiseptic. But you know, you read back in the Psalms about how that.
Wine. It makes glad both the heart of man and the heart of God.
And the oil makes his face to shine.
And I think.
As we said earlier, as Christians we ought to be rejoicing.
We ought to be happy.
As we contemplate the salvation that we have in Christ.
We ought to be rejoicing.
And.
So the present need of the man was fully met. And now the Samaritan's office Beast the man.
Who was half dead is on the beast being taken to the inn. It says he brought him.
To an inn and took care of him, and on tomorrow when he departed he took out 2 Pence and gave them to the host.
And said unto him, take care of him, and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again I will repay the. I believe the Samaritan had on his mind while he was absent from this man, this man's situation, and you know the Lord Jesus.
At the present time.
He's absent in body. We know he's coming again, but you and I are on his mind.
And the fact is he provides for our every need, both present and future. And so it's a beautiful story. And so the Lord Jesus says to the lawyer, which now of these three.
He said he just showed mercy on him.
Then said Jesus unto him, Go and do that likewise. Now you know mercy.
Is what we need, and the lawyer acknowledged that mercy is what was shown to that man.
You know the law is that which man takes, although it's fully testing good.
And.
It's designed to convict souls of sin. What does man do? He takes it to exalt himself and sets God's mercy aside.
Like the Pharisee in Luke 18, but the publican.
He said God be merciful to me, the Sinner. You know God is rich in mercy.
01:00:04
And you want to show it to you here tonight. And so we're going to pray.
And.
If you're still in your sins.
You're like this.
This is.
You don't measure up to this. You come short of the glory of God, and there's only one that can fix your problem, and that's the Lord Jesus. And so as we pray here tonight, you can ask the Lord Jesus to save your soul.
Call upon him. It's so simple.
As we pray, simply say, Lord Jesus, I know I'm a Sinner.
I would.
Like you.
To wash my sins away.
Because I wanna go to heaven to be with you. I don't wanna be left behind here for judgment to go to hell, because that will be the result. If when Jesus comes, you're left here in this world, you're gonna find yourself in a lost eternity.
And so tonight is your opportunity to be saved.
OK tonight.
Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank Thee tonight for the message of the gospel. We thank you for this Samaritan who as he journey came to where this poor helpless man lay, poured in the oil and the wine, and then place them on his own beast and brought him to the inn. And we see thy love and grace pictured.
In all of this, Lord Jesus, that thou wouldst come to where we were, we thank thee that it's a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. We ask that if anybody here tonight.
Is standing on their own merit as a means of salvation, seeking to justify themselves. May they be broken down before thee.
To acknowledge their sin.
And that there would be repentance, a change of attitude, heart toward thee, our God, and that each might put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus, the one who loved us, who on the cross gave his life, shed his blood.
Who died that we might live, and who is now risen and coming again?
So we ask thy blessing and thy word here, and wherever it's being proclaimed, we ask and give thanks.
And the most worthy and the precious name of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Satan's Reward and God's Offer
Children—Jonathan Boulard
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Any other, uh, any, anyone else who wants to sit on the front ropes and, uh, I'll be able to talk to you too. So it'd be, it'd be my, uh, make my job a lot easier if you all come up on the front row so I can talk to you and you can hear me. So who has the very first song, the Sunday Field this week? Anyone, anyone want give one out on him? She's here.
If you're sitting on the front row, you get you get first first rate of refusing. So does anyone have a song they'd like to have to sing here this morning?
All right, let me do 1250. There's a lot of new theaters and whatever. Due to the relationship to all my kids, Leslie don't have to work for him all my day.
One little time to speak to you one day your heart for him, thou in my ear take them, Lord, she's thousand last time being always taught me and true to me.
GIGINGSIBRI, N G.
Call 30922 TRU.
And him and have all their sins now washed away.
You've got one. Well, I'll need to get you next because we've got two boys in a row and oh, you got a hand up. We'll take a girl. This stuff. What number did you want to see?
#3 is that, uh, a little ship was on the sea? OK, well, let's sing that.
The shore was near an end and those on board grandparents had breathed out soon to reach the land.
And all but one were sore afraid of sinking in the deep.
And everyone's on a pillow laying, and he was fast asleep. Master Weparish, Master.
Save they cried, their master.
Heroes, the beautiful wind and wave and steal them with a word.
00:05:02
He turned, the storm said please be self. The grazing girl was seized.
Almighty, when the day is well and all of our hearts in peace.
A gravely wandered soul may queen and thug as well as they look at the exploration.
Nsnoise.
Birds will never.
End.
Thank you. That was a good song to sing. Where I work, I get to, I get to go on the water a lot. I get to go to work in a boat quite a bit. And uh, so there's sometimes I look out from the dock and I look down the lake and there's some big waves. Sometimes we'll be up to maybe 2 1/2 Three feet high and I think maybe I'll drive by truck to work today. I don't think I'll take a boat, but here, these disciples, they were out in the storm. They had no choice. The Lord had told them to be there, but the Lord knew it. They were going through and the Lord helped us. So that's, that's nice. So I think of this, I think of this song and I think of those storms quite often because I'm.
And it's talking about a happy day, so we should be happy as we're considering it.
My choice only my danger, and my God rejoice. And how they travel.
Nsnoise. Happy day, Happy day, Nsnoise.
Well, I haven't seen that last night in the way it is not me now till one second Grace and the praise Joy sing every day.
And the day and the day.
When Jesus was my sins away.
Long dividend heart exhaust, as well as the censor dust. Nor ever from thy Lord the Father, with him of her mother, every good person.
When Jesus was my sins away.
Three or four.
Many answers right here. Open door.
Nor whilst my heart be great on Christ's Son of God.
OK, good, because it wasn't all right. We could sing the whole whole song, but then we wouldn't have as much time for some other things. So let's sing the 1St and the last verse with the chorus.
Is the savior of sinner's right in the savior for me the Long Island was changing since darkness now by his grace by every.
How shall I download it? Praise and this is the Savior for me.
Save it, you're upset you're a standards like me.
Sherry and blood for my ransom.
This is my savior for me.
Yeah, I think we have time for one more.
Well, I, I saw Sam's hand up last time and I, I skipped over him. So maybe if we have time at the end, you can, uh, you can try and remember your number and we'll send yours. But what, what number did you wanna sign there, Sam?
Number six, OK. And we'll, uh, we'll do the same thing we did last time with the 1St and the last first number six.
To our world I've been undone. Jesus Christ was Christmas decline. Wise horses gave us a sign.
Huntington.
Highlights and goddess flowers.
00:15:19
Shining, shining and dangerous things.
I think.
From the phone.
God is life.
Let's ask for help. We need help this morning when you have the word of God open and we're speaking to each one of you. So let's pray and ask the Lord Jesus for His help.
Our loving God, our Father, we thank you for this opportunity, this meeting set aside where the children can be specially addressed and we can speak directly to them. We thank you for each child who's here and we thank you for thy love toward them. Lord Jesus, we thank thee for, uh, each one who's sitting on the front row and can be, uh, spoken to. And we ask for Jesus that there would be a message that they would be able to understand and would enter into their hearts.
And we desire most of all, Lord Jesus.
And I would, I would really hope that I didn't get asked to say the verse because I'd be nervous and I wouldn't look at that, wouldn't look at the speaker. If they look my way, I I turn around. So I'm not gonna make you say your verse even if you did memorize it. But if any of your children want to say your verse, you worked hard on it and you'd like to say it, that'd be fine. So do I have anyone who'd like to say their verse? You'd like to say their verse. Great. OK.
I don't know.
Ephesians chapter 4 verse 32 and I don't remember either. I fell out of my head. Be kind.
Great. Thank you. Does anyone else wanna say the first?
I, I think it is umm, that's the 1St that I heard last week and last uh came in base marches to a different drum than everyone else. Did you learn the difference? Did you learn a different verse?
OK, well, let's let's be kind.
Therefore, let's start be kind one to another.
Tender hearted.
For Christ's sake.
Ephesians 4.
32 great, thank you. Thank you both for saying the 1St and uh, usually I know that verse, but it's, it's an interesting thing when you stand up in front of a bunch of people, your brain doesn't work very well. Umm, so I, I thank you children. When you, when you stand up and you try and say your verse in front of people, you have a similar experience sometimes, but that's all right, because if, if we work hard and we memorize it, it goes into our head.
00:20:05
And it goes into our heart as well. And so a long time later, they'll still be there in our heart, which is good. So I'd like to tell a couple of stories from the Bible to your children here this morning. And there's stories that I've enjoyed. I, I really appreciate it and I hope you will as well. And to illustrate that story, I've got an object lesson on the table. So can any of you children tell what's on the table there? What's on the table?
Water. Is there a little bit of water? A lot of water, one and some ice.
And there's cuts, that's something that's necessary if you're going to drink water as well. So sometimes people get thirsty and they need water. And so there's, there's two pitchers of water out there. And maybe towards the end of Sunday school here, I'll, I'll give some of you children a drink of water if you're thirsty. And it'll, it'll, it'll serve an object lesson. I, I hope you won't forget it, but we'll get to that in a little bit. But you can, you can work up a, a, a big thirst here while, while we're talking and while you're listening and, and, uh, maybe you'll be ready to drink some water.
Is tell you about.
222 Choices, two options.
There is a verse in Joshua that says, Choose ye this day, whom ye will serve.
Who had his dwelling among the tombs, and no man could bind him? No, not with chains, because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by them, and the fetters broken in pieces. Neither could any man tame him.
And always night and day he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying and cutting himself with stones. And when Jesus saw, and when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, and cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou son of the Most High God, I adjure thee by God, that thou torment he not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
And he asked him, what is thy name? And he answered, saying, my name is Legion, for we are many.
And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
And forthwith Jesus gave them leave, and the unclean spirits went out and entered into the swine, and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea. They were about 2000 and were choked in the sea.
And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city and in the country, and they went out to see what it was that was done. And they come to Jesus and see him that was possessed with the devil, and have a legion sitting and clothed.
And in his right mind. And they were afraid he could stop there.
00:25:59
In the tombs? Do you know what it means to live in the tombs? What does it mean?
You don't have anyone to keep you company. You're in you're in a graveyard and here you read of him. He was bound with chains at different points in his life. Have have you ever any of your children? It's it's a fun game to play sometimes, but if any of your children being tied up with rope and then you try and get out of it because if any of your children got to do that, no, Oh well, fun activity that you get to try someday it's.
It, it, it's more fun than it sounds, but it wouldn't be fun if you got tied up and you couldn't get out and everyone just leaves and go ahead and go goes and have a lot has lunch or supper or something like that and you're left tied up and not. But here, this poor man, he was, he'd been tied up in chains. He was living in the tombs. He was crying day and night. He was cutting himself. I cut myself, but it's, I do it rather often. I probably have about half a dozen cuts and Dings on my hands right now, but it's never intentional. But this man, he would cut himself and he was sad.
And he was miserable.
You know what? That's what Satan does for the people who follow him, who do what he wants them to do. He does his very best to make them just like this man that we're reading about.
N this man was miserable. You know what, Satan will come to you and he'll say, oh don't, don't listen to the Lord Jesus. Don't come to the Lord Jesus. You'll be miserable if you come to the Lord Jesus.
But you know what? That's a lie. Satan can't tell the truth. He lies. He's a liar and the father of it.
Yeah, a pig normally wouldn't do that, would it? Pigs are, I mean, they like to play in mud, they like to eat food and and they're they're happy as a pig in mind to do that, but.
00:30:00
They ran down and they they all died.
And they they did it. You were right in your answer, because they had those evil spirits that were that were pushing them to do that.
That's what Satan wants to do to each one of us. He wants to ruin us. But why, why did those evil spirits make those pigs go down that hill? Do you know? And this was, this was what really bothered me. Do you have an idea? Well, that's a good guess, but I don't think that's the answer. They, they could have went anywhere. I, I take it. And, and we see that in other, other places in scripture, but they, they could have went somewhere else and, and done something else. So that, that wasn't why they killed all those pigs.
And anyone else have it? Have it yet?
That's the answer. That's that's good. And I, I was a lot older than you are before I figured that out. Satan is a destroyer. We read of that. One of his names is Apollyon. And that means destroyer. And Satan wants to destroy everything he can. He ruins everything he can. And so he, he got, he got in Satan and his his servants were in this man.
In this man called Legion and they were trying to ruin Legion.
Driven down the steep hill into the sea and they were drowned. And that's what Satan does. He's a destroyer. He hates God and he hates you. And if if you listen to him and you, you try and you try to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, he's going to do the exact same thing to your life. And so he's a terrible, terrible master to serve.
And so it's good to realize this because sometimes Satan, it says, Satan comes to us as an Angel of light and he'll say, oh, here's something wonderful. God isn't giving this to you. This is you. You need this to be happy.
But it never works out that way. He, he's a destroyer. So that's, that's one person. That's, that's one being that we can discuss. And so I, I mentioned that verse at the beginning, choosy this day whom you will serve. So that's, that's one option. Let's look at the Lord Jesus just for a few minutes and, uh, far more pleasant and enjoyable.
Object look at so we, we saw, remember the storm that we mentioned and uh, how they, we sang about the little ship was on the sea and they woke the Lord Jesus up. Do you know the Lord Jesus? He wanted to talk to that man Legion. He wanted to meet him. You know what? He went in a boat. He went through a big storm, big waves went all the way across that lake. He talked to that man and he turned around and he got on a boat and went all the way back. He just wanted to talk to that one man.
And you did.
Isn't that nice? You know, sometimes, you know, you, you little children here, you'll, you'll maybe be running around and oh, maybe you're in the food line and it, it like maybe an adult to help you reach into that food tray and, and help you grab one of those sausages, those meatballs, because they're really good meat. Can can you help me? Can you? And, and maybe they don't. Maybe people don't even notice you're there because you're small. But the Lord Jesus, he knows about you. He cares about you. We read one story where the Lord Jesus, there was 99 sheep and one got lost.
And it's a picture of the Lord Jesus. How?
00:35:39
And so he wants you to come to him and to have those sins washed away, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you can be saved. So here we see that He came all that way and.
Set this man free. He, he delivered him from those demons. And we see at the end of this portion that this man was sitting clothed. How did that go? Sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And so this man was far, far better off when he had met the Lord Jesus.
And I really, really like these verses and I hope your children appreciate them as well. So Mark chapter 10, verse 13. And they brought young children to him that he should touch them.
And his disciples rebuked those that brought them, But when Jesus thought he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer, or let the little children come unto me, and forbid them not, for such is the Kingdom of God, Verse 16.
He took them up in his arms and put his hands upon them and blessed them.
I've got those pictures of water up top and it's a little bit of an illustration.
Umm, we have, uh, we have what Satan has to offer in one picture and we have what the Lord Jesus has to offer in one picture. And, uh, I, I'd like, I'd like to volunteer to, uh, to help me here Is there, is there you'd like to help me? OK, you wanna come out?
Yeah, well, that's, that's the initial. But did you know there's been a lot of people who have died when they're out on the ocean, they run out of good fresh water and they're so thirsty, they have some salt water and you drink salt water. And this is maybe a little bit more salty than the ocean. I wanted to make sure you're new to the salt in it. But you you have you have a little bit and and if you feel, you feel good for a little while, but you know what, before too long, you're thirsty then and you're more thirsty than you were the first time. And so.
You, you have more and more and more and more and it makes you thirstier and thirstier and thirstier. And you know what? That's what Satan does. He, he says, oh, you're thirsty. Let me, let me give you this.
You have a little bit oh wow, oh boy, this is water. This is good, but makes you even thirstier the next time. And, and he you know, if you give me salt water giving and you go chasing after different things and they do not satisfy. Salt water does not satisfy.
The Glory of Christ
A Fixed Heart
Habakkuk
Ephesians 4:17-32
Prophecy
Ephesians 4:17 on