Open—K. Rawlings
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#330.
Nsnoise.
3:30.
9/9.
Three.
Don't.
Claustrophobic.
Nsnoise.
Uh Oh my.
God.
We.
Right.
Now.
Song of Solomon chapter 2, Song of Solomon chapter 2 and verse 10.
My beloved faith and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away and pray together. Did I understand right this is more or less an open meeting.
00:05:01
I've enjoyed the emphasis on God's Word here. How necessary that is.
Umm, is.
God has honored his word above his name. It's beautiful to see as the address is the the Church of Brotherly love. These these two precious things.
Umm, in a special way.
Now I kept my word and not denied my name.
And of course, his word communicates the worth of his name.
And that blessed hope that was referred to just just now.
And I think of, uh, a verse, uh, in Revelation.
Uh, chapter 22.
The way he concludes this book, Revelation, this special book that's been introduced with a blessing promised.
Verse 16 after he told the tale of judgment on this poor world, that we're here to bear witness to the Savior's name.
He says.
I, Jesus, have sent mine Angel to testify.
Aren't you these things in the churches? I am the root and offspring of David and the bright and Morning Star.
And now this verse especially, and the Spirit and the Bride say, come. I really like that. It struck me a couple of years ago.
It reminded me of the Commission that Abraham gave to his servant to go get a bride for Isaac.
And he succeeded in that.
And I think of a parallel thing here in the language of this.
Simple expression.
And the Spirit and the Bride say come. It's like the Spirit's work is done.
And it's like two different individuals.
They both say in a duet. Come.
And it reminds me of when.
Rebecca lighted off her camel and went to Isaac.
But I won a title. My little talk.
Meanwhile, meanwhile.
About uh, I don't know what it was about 11 years ago or something like that. I didn't write the date in my Bible, but.
On the table at the Burbank conference, I saw the Bible Truth Publishers that offered an Interlinear Bible by JP Green. If you're not familiar with that, it's a It's an interlinear.
Writing in uh.
You have the English and the umm, the corresponding Hebrew, or in uh, Greek words with it, with strong concordance numbers for reference.
We are very privileged people with a very privileged language.
And a very privileged country to have all these.
Uh, reference works.
To help us get acquainted with the reality of the truth of Scripture.
And, uh, I, I have really enjoyed that, uh, that volume I bought.
Uh, I, uh, there was a brother that came from Alaska to our meeting here a few months ago and he said he, on the way he stopped and aggression Oregon assembly and he talked to his sister there that, uh, is now, if she's still alive, uh, I think someone, Greg, you can tell me is, umm.
Our sister Umm.
Umm, mail still alive? How's she doing?
That's good. That's good. I'm glad to hear it. Well, this brother told me that he'd had a visit with her and and that she told him she'd bought an Interlinear Bible and was really enjoying it.
00:10:13
I just couldn't resist. I had called her up. Well, I, I knew I could. I didn't want to call her directly. I didn't know her health condition. The last time I seen her when she was 99 years old, she was playing the piano, went at hands, umm, and Susanna's wedding hands, uh, Buchanan and uh, but I called a few months later and, and.
At at her daughter's and how?
Gordon and Faith, sister's home and Faith says, Oh yeah, she's right here. Uh, yeah. Would you like to talk to her? Yippee. I'd get to talk to her.
So.
It's such an encouraging to me how much she enjoyed it. She bought it about the same time I did about 10 years ago.
This lady, 90 years old, thought she could learn a little bit and it just thrilled me and she had enjoyed it as much. You know, she can hardly keep the cork on her bottle.
How often?
Often feel the same way. Well, last spring I got interested in just looking at the feeding of the 5000. It's in all four gospels, and I thought, you know what must be pretty important?
So I started looking at things and we'll turn to Matthew.
Chapter 14 is the first account.
And uh, let's see here.
OK, verse 13, when Jesus heard of it, departed thence by ship into a desert place apart.
And when the people had heard of it, heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. And Jesus went forth and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. And, uh, when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place.
The time has now passed. Send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves vittles. And Jesus said to them, they need not depart.
Give the event to eat when they say to him, we have here but 5 loaves and two fishes. He said bring them Heather to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass and took the took the five loaves and the two fishes.
And looking up to heaven, he blessed and break, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude, And they did all eat, and were filled or satisfied, and they took up of the fragments that remained 12 baskets full.
And they that had eaten were about 5000 men beside women and children.
And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
I want to call your attention to verse 13 again. When Jesus heard of it, what had he heard of? Well, it was the fact that Herod had.
The story about how John the Baptist got beheaded? Well, that's an all.
Three of the first accounts, so this story about the feeding of the Five Palace and immediately follows.
The beheading of John the Baptist.
Umm.
And I guess I better tell you right now something what I've got in mind by titling my talk meanwhile.
In reference to, uh, one more call the way.
This scene of the feeding of 5000 is in a desert place, A wilderness place, a place where, uh, people don't usually go. And Jesus.
00:15:00
Takes them out there. We have a wilderness scene.
And in all of four, four accounts, it's in a wilderness scene.
Well, and I think that, uh, the way I've taken the fact that John's beheading just before this is a show.
Us what character of this world is that we are in we offer singers wilderness wide, but it's a little hard to get the concept when we're in a land of.
Great relative material prosperity.
But it really is, and I think we're starting to see the true the world's true colors coming out.
Well.
Anyway, Jesus had been.
Uh.
He sees these crowds.
Let's see.
Each story is a little different and I I want to get the story straight here, but not to go into too much detail. The details I want to concentrate on are really in some of the other accounts. This is the shortest and most general, but I just want to call attention to the fact that he had compassion on them and healed them and.
The fact that the disciples saw a need and thought the Lord needed to know about it. And we're in a desert place. These people need food and it's getting late and, and and on, you know, and the Lord says we don't need to do that.
The Lord took charge here in Matthew's Gospel we have the king of Israel and I I assume that it was generally they're up in Galilee. They were.
They were people of the Jews. It's called Galilee of the nation. So I'm not perfectly clear on that. I know that we have Judea down South and Samaria in between and then Galilee. And he was the light of the people that sat in a dark place there. And and so we had compassion on them and they healed them. Well, let's go to.
Mark's Gospel.
There's some things, there's a thing or two added. One thing I want to call attention to is chapter is chapter 6, verse 34.
Well, no, I'm going to go to verse 31.
Oh, there's another event here.
Verse 30 And the apostles gather themselves together unto Jesus and told him all things, what they had done and what they had taught. He had sent the 12 out. He'd appointed 12 and he'd sent them out with some instructions. And they come back and report what they did. And again, that immediately follows, uh, John the Baptist death, uh.
But remember, when he had sent them out, he had told them, I send you as out as sheep in the midst of wolves.
The I think he had said to this group.
The wise as serpents, harmless as does.
And they come back and report what they had experienced. And he said then come yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while, for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.
Well, some of you know, Christian service in a character like this that I don't know anything about. I can always, I can imagine that, but I'm a timid character and so I kind of stay in the shadows.
Uh, but I really appreciate those who are out there busy with the gospel and, and seeking to shepherd the Saints. They're really entering into the heart of the Lord.
Uh, so he wanted to give him a break, OK and he parted into a desert place by ship privately verse 32 and the people saw them departing menu him ran afoot thither out of all cities and out want them and came together unto him. He really had a greeting party on the other side and you know, I know how I feel in this We need a break. I need to break my disciples need a break. Look at this crowd.
00:20:04
Look at this verse.
34 And Jesus, when it came out so much people and was moved with compassion toward them, because.
They were a sheep not having a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. Here he brings in his compassion as a shepherd. The condition they were in and sheep really need a shepherd. They need to be cared for and so.
He began to teach them many things.
And, and we do need teaching that, you know, a pastor teacher, the two things that go together, a shepherd teacher.
And so he's, he's doing that. And you know, in March, he came, uh, not to, not to be ministered unto, but the minister and to give his life a ransom for many. So here, here he is in this function of ministering and I want to go down, uh.
To umm verse 39 now.
That Mark adds something here that we didn't get in Matthew and he commanded them. That is commanded his disciples and Matthew. He commands the people directly to sit down here. It's like the king really calling the shots. I guess I don't know. But anyway, he gives the the drive disciples some lessons in can I say this matter of.
Ministering and service.
And so he commands them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.
It's green grass now.
Again, the shepherd show in his color. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, and that's the way they ate. They recline usually.
Umm, and I think I'm, I'm guessing is that if I remember right, uh, that's the word use here. Make them lie down. Umm.
It's in green pastures and they sat down and ranks by hundreds and by 50s. Well, I'm going to dwell on this a little bit to give a little more character.
And what I mean by mean, well, meanwhile, you know, our journey is a wilderness journey, but we have.
We've been predestined to glory.
And uh, there is provision meanwhile.
And this is where the value.
Of my interlinear Bible.
Really start shining to me.
Verse 39 Companies, the word companies.
I looked it up in strong concordance because I I follow along pretty close. I've tried to learn Greek and I try to exercise myself in reading a Greek New Testament. And I came across this word one day and I hadn't seen it before, so I looked it up.
And I was just kind of bowled over at the, uh, they gave a, you know, kind of described what it meant, but they coined it.
In a word that just bowled me over.
It means drinking parties.
What?
The Spirit of God chooses his words. There's something else. This is the only place in the whole Bible.
You find this word in the Septuagint, the Greek translation. The Old Testament is not there. It's here, one place. Why?
OK, let's just go on.
Verse 40.
They sat down in ranks by hundreds and by 50s. I looked up that word. Ranks.
It's like rows of leeks or onions. Anyway, planted rows.
So uh, it ranks Looks like a military war, but I don't know if it is or not.
But it's kind of suggestive to my mind, what the people lusted for in the wilderness in the days when Israel went through the wilderness from Egypt to Canaan.
00:25:07
Just a word, just something suggestive.
But the spirit coined it, or used it, I should say. It was in.
Common usage among men in those days. God expressed himself with known words.
And, uh, it was by hundreds and by 50s. Well, I puzzled over that for some time and I wondered. And one day it hit me, why that?
Yeah, we know they were feeding 5050 * 100 is 5000, so apparently, see that's a big rectangle on the wall there. Well, that's about the proportions of a grid, apparently set the count of these 5000 men out on.
50 by 100 and rows.
That reminds me again.
Of the Court of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness.
It was 50 by 100 cubits.
And so I'm starting to get ideas. This is the great shepherd of the sheep.
Leading us through our wilderness.
This is what it's picturing to me.
Uh, let's see.
You know there were these twelve had just returned from their first mission. The Lord had sent them on. They were apostles. They were sent once.
They were chosen for this job. They had come back and related all they did. Now they're getting they were all worn out from the service. Now they're getting an object lesson.
An object lesson.
They hadn't had time to eat.
But this frustrating moment, which it could have been, the Lord never saw it that way. He came to minister.
He has 12 baskets leftover.
I guess the way others have defined it, the little lunch baskets, one for each apostle. A reminder.
That he had compassion on them too.
As well as the crowd, you know, I get so interested.
In wanting to communicate something of the grace of our Savior, sometimes I forget those at home.
Lord wouldn't like that.
The last word here is something for each of you of my scent once.
Let's go to Luke.
You're still wondering about what the spirit of God would use a word like drinking parties out there. I see 5 loaves, 2 fishes. Where's the liquid? You know I'm.
Uh, is it random or is it intentional?
Luke chapter I think it's.
8.
Uh.
Verse 10.
Just to bring in something.
Here, Chapter 9 of Luke. I'm sorry. Thank you. I didn't hear what you said but I picked up on it and my eyes read Chapter 9. Thank you.
Verse 10 And the apostles, these sent ones, when they returned, told him all that they had done, and he took them and went aside privately in the desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.
No, I don't know if this is the same. I think there's more than one, but it reminds me of the place where I think it was here and Andrew and Phillip at least had come from.
Uh, so it was maybe a place they were somewhat familiar with. I don't know. I, I, a man told me a while back that, uh, he was shown that place that they think pretty certain that this is the place where he fed the 5000. There was still a little grass there.
But uh, maybe not the extent that it was then, you know, sin effects.
Even the, the ground we walk on. So I think expressing the profit, the land, mourn it because of the sin there, the sin of the people thereof. But anyway, uh, that's, that's, uh, kind of a tangent. Let's go on.
00:30:13
Uh, and the people, when they, when they knew it, followed them.
Uh, and he received them and spake unto them. Now it tells us that he, uh, is teaching them about the Kingdom of God.
Luke's gospel is about Christ as the the righteous man, the perfect man.
Uh, and uh, the Kingdom of God involves man.
We had reference to Hebrews 2. What is man that now we're mindful of him? God had a purpose in Adam and Eve, and He's not repented of that purpose. Though man fell and fell under our power greater than him, he's still going to have a Kingdom in man that He's pleased with. And Christ heads up this Kingdom, so He teaches about it.
And he healed all that had need of healing.
You know the Millennium will be a wonderful time.
Has called in one place the regeneration and, and, and uh, uh, the earth is finally gonna bring forth its fruit. It'll be a a time on the earth itself. We'll get a healing, but it heals the people And, uh, anyway, I want to get down to verse 14 for there about 5000 men. And he said to his disciples, make them sit down by 50s in a company.
Well, he only mentions 50s and I look up at that rectangle. You can just about divide it in two. Say it was 100 by 50.
Units, and apparently Luke sees them in two squares of 50 by 50.
And.
That interests me. I've studied the Tabernacle quite a bit and I've drawn scale drawings and that kind of thing, and I really enjoy it. There's things when you're forced to try to make it according to scripture. There's things you notice that.
Uh, you don't otherwise see, but anyway, uh, the house is in one section, uh, one of these squares, you might say it naturally divides itself in two squares, the Tabernacle, the cord of the Tabernacle. And if you put the, the central object of where you enter in the gate, the first thing you would come to is the brazen altar. Well, I put that right in the center of that square. And I thought one day a few months ago, what if I put the arc?
In the center of the other square, and then according to dimension I put it in the center of the Holy of Holies where it was placed and going by the other dimensions.
Where? How would the house lay out the Tabernacle? Well, it so comes out that the door comes exactly on the dividing line.
Between the two corks like Luke suggests here.
And uh, it's interesting to me knowing the volume of the Tabernacle according to description is 3000.
Cubits, I guess you would say cubic cubits and the the court is 5000 square. Well, we have those numbers show up in X. You know, they were the first time the gospel was preached there. Pentecost or three about 3000 saved next time there were no murders about 5000.
Well, back in the wilderness under law, Well, yeah. Anyway, they had already said they they committed themselves to the law. We'll do whatever you say.
And the golden calf incident, 3000 died.
What's the difference?
We know a blood that speaks better things than evil for our wilderness journey. It speaks life. It speaks forgiveness. The life of the flesh is in the blood. I've given it to you on the altar. Make an atonement for your souls is real. It's the real deal now. It was just typical back then. And so there was everything I was done and analogies and types and shadows. But now we got the real deal. But still we've got little.
00:35:18
Beautiful little.
Illustrative.
Sentences, words, paragraphs, books, people, just so many beautiful things to consider and it really shines when you look at it, when you when you Start learning something of the original language. If you don't have to be a scholar, we're living in very privileged times. You can go on places, sites like E Sword or some of those other things on the computer. You know how to punch buttons a lot better than I do. I still turn pages of a book and they're all worn out.
But uh.
The treasure is there. It's like on a silver platter now you you still have to dig, but it's so much easier than it is ever been. Ever.
Even in the days of the apostles, they were, the people were scattered and they had these few manuscripts, you know, now we got tons.
Of scripture and reference works to consider.
If we neglect the Word of God, we're neglecting our salvation, the way Hebrews puts it.
God has a full salvation for us, not just to get in the door, not just to be saved. Yet so has my fire to have nothing to show for our meanwhile here.
You know.
God expects fruit from His Word in US. I'd liken Christians like myself to be like a BlackBerry vine. We bear thorns and we bear tasty fruit at certain seasons. Oh, may we learn that blessedness of washing one another's feet painlessly, taking those thorns off.
So there might be more fruit. Well anyway, 50s in a company. Company here, not the same word.
And interestingly enough, this word again is unique of all the whole Bible only once used. What does it mean, you guessed it, eating parties?
Strong Concordance uses those terms in their in a dictionary. Wow, what's he talking about? Let's go to John now, his story.
Umm.
Chapter 6 Verse.
Uh, verse five. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes and saw a great company coming to him, he saith unto Philip. Now Philip is mentioned here. He was a great evangelist. Oh, I want to bring in one other detail here.
Uh, after these thing, I better go to the first verse. After these things, Jesus went over to the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. There's only two places. Well, actually three places. Uh, see a Tiberius is mentioned twice in chapter 6 and once and 21. And there is some, I believe some intentional linkage between these two chapters. But anyway, uh, through some other notices, but I'm not going to get into that.
Umm, the sea of Tiberias, I looked it up in one dictionary and Tiberius is supposed to mean good vision. Good vision. What prospect do we have in this wilderness? It's looking out through believing God's testimony of the land ahead. You know, we are a heavenly people and umm, we're looking forward to winning some battles in God's promised land.
In heavenly places.
That's not heaven itself, it's heavenly places. It's a step down where there's powers and rulers, Lords of darkness, four different levels. This stratagem, a stratagem of Satan in heavenly places that are much mightier and stronger than we are, smarter than we are. They've been around longer, uh, that we're warring against, but God guarantees the victory.
00:40:22
In fact, the church that tells us in Ephesians.
Three, you all know that these powers from the heavens look down, whether they be the good ones may be on his right and the evil ones on his left, I don't know. God's right and left, I don't know. But they're all ministers of his, a flame of fire. And but anyway, they're watching this scene, they're watching the church. And to them it's made known to all various wisdom of God. How are they going to see the wisdom of God? Well, I think it's in our being.
Christ, the head, we got to get the knowing. It's our privilege in this dispensation to know the Father and the Son. That is defined as eternal life in John 17. How it you know to know the Father and the Son? The word know is Gonosco, the objective knowledge. That's why we've been given the Word of God, the truth more sanctified by that.
And so.
In our meanwhile, we need to pay very close attention to God's Word. It's his love, uh.
Speaking to us.
It's that first love expressing himself.
Uh.
But anyway, we were talking about eating parties, drinking parties.
That's something I believe God has for us. Meanwhile, what does it mean? What does the Spirit mean? You know, in Ephesians it says be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit.
And one thing you need, another thing unique about John is he brings in Jesus taking an opportunity of teaching a lot in reference to this occasion. The whole rest of the chapter after the giving us account is the Lord's teaching about himself being God's gift, the bread, uh, of heaven.
For eternal life.
Umm.
But.
I, I don't know how to avoid taking up too much time. There's so much in this, but I, uh, he mentions here that it, uh.
I'm gonna jump back here to verse 4.
Verse three, He went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples, and the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was nigh. We know Christ, our Passover has been sacrificed for us. That's the ultimate expression of this world.
For our Savior.
That's the kind of world we do live in. But what I'm seeking to dwell upon is the provision for the wilderness, the eating party, the drinking party. And so he's the true bread that comes down to heaven. Apparently the Jews picked up on this wilderness aspect of things, idea of things they, they thought about, you know, when Jesus had put his disciples on the boat and sent the crowd away, he went up in the mountain alone and.
Interceded for him and there was a storm and.
Umm, uh, you know the story about Peter walking on the water? And then they get the other side. My Capernaum. Here comes the crowd again. They they really.
Play detective and and found him and I think it's verse 27 labor not for the meat which perisheth, for the meat which, but for the meat that endureth unto everlasting life with the Son of man shall give unto you, for him hath God the Father sealed.
And they say unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? And Jesus said, answered, and said to them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. And that is the burden of the gospel of John, that we might believe. That's why John the Baptist was sent the last two verses.
00:45:03
The last two times the verb to believe is mentioned in Chapter 2030 and 31.
He's written these things.
That we might believe, and that believing we might know that we have eternal life. And so his assignment here in his wilderness journey was.
His meat was to do His Father's will and to finish His work, and that was that men might believe on His Father. His Father His glory was as of an only begotten with a Father, and how he.
His heart ached and how he labored and how he worked with his Father and with the power of the Holy Spirit that men might believe. But my, what a stubborn world this world we this world is, and we've been extracted out of it by the sovereign goodness of God.
Well, he's bringing many sons to glory in this wilderness project, and he is well able to accomplish that task.
And you know the Lord Jesus in bringing his bride home.
So that he might really readily say right along with the Spirit, Even so come.
He, he, he, he. It's a process involved. He's washing the church, his bride, with the water of His word. Meanwhile, and we read the end of the story, he's gonna present it to himself without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. Well, may we pay attention to that sanctifying word to cleanse us from all these spots and wrinkles that that we yet manifest? Umm, He's able to do it. It's his ability.
It's impossible with men.
It's impossible with men, but all things are possible with God.
Umm, he had so they they have said, well, Moses fed them with the the the man in the wilderness. He says, no, my father gives you the true bread from heaven.
Uh, that you might live forever. I, I, I'm quoting it, but uh, let me, uh.
Oh yeah, Verse 32 Verily, verily, I say to you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from him. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. And they said unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread.
Of life. It's like I'm here, I'm here. My father has given you that bread. He that cometh to me shall never hunger. And he that believeth on me shall never thirst. So there's sufficiency for our nourishment, sufficiency for our thirst. I believe he's suggesting something that eating party, drinking party.
But let's go on a little far. Let's go on a little more detail.
Uh. Inverse, uh.
He speaks. It would raise us up in the last day.
Uh, several times in this account.
Uh.
Verse 53 Jesus saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Wow, that's a pretty exclusive statement, isn't it? Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man Drink his blood.
Ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
Do we thirst for peace?
Uh, in our wilderness journey peace with one another, the wisdom to know how to pur pursue peace with all men and holiness without which none shall see the Lord we must.
Feed.
But this is just too much for the Jews, you know?
00:50:01
What do you mean you're flash drinking blood?
You know, I can't stomach this. I know a man knew a man in our community that just turned away from Christianity. Bloody religion, you know?
What's he talking about here?
Why, they could say, well, even the Bible says not to drink blood, very strongly says so.
Well, why was that? Let's get some understanding. Is there any blood other than the Lord Jesus that can give us life?
And how do we do it? Let's go to.
Umm.
Verse 61 when Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, that this offend you. What an if you shall see the Son of Manus end up where he was before. It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak to you, they are spirit and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. That's the key. Do we believe his words?
About Do we believe the word of God? What it says about the blood of Christ?
And the flesh of the Lord. There's two aspects of this great victory wrought in the death of the cross of our Savior, the Lord Jesus, his blood and his flesh.
We learned something of the value of blood, of the blood.
It brings to us forgiveness of sins. Hebrews teaches us it's our title to enter the holiest. It's our, it's the, it's the basis of a, uh, per perfected conscience to go into the holy of Holies to the throne of grace to find, obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. We better avail ourselves of this help. What do we need help for?
Well, it's when we're tempted, He is able to succor or help those that are tempted. This provision is made for our wilderness journey. Hebrews, the picture is of a people that have been sanctified by the blood of the Passover lamb. They're they've sung the song on the Red Sea. They are now in the wilderness being tested. Will they believe the gospel of the glory, the gospel of the grace of God to bring you through? Will you act on it?
Are you going to produce fruit by it, or are we going to bear thorns?
There's warnings about these things in the book of Hebrews, very solemn, and to neglect the word of God is is the most thorough warnings in Hebrews about that.
It's for our wilderness journey. It's for our meanwhile.
Anyway.
This brings me, I think I've said enough in these, but I I feel like I need to go to first John now.
And, and, uh, you probably know what I'm directing you to to, but I wanna kind of complete the thought of the idea of the eating party, drinking party that John brings us.
John chapter one. First John, I'm sorry, first John, chapter one. That was just from the beginning. That which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, and which we have looked upon our hands, have handled the work concerning the word of life for the lifeless manifested. We have seen it. And bear witness and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us, That was we have seen and heard. Declare we unto you that.
Ye also may have fellowship with us.
That is, these apostles wanted us to have fellowship with them, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We come to know the Father and Son through the way he has expressed himself in his Word, and we have fellowship with, were brought into fellowship with God through this and through what it says my faith in his blood.
And it tells us in Hebrews 10, we've been sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. I'll get to that a little later, but I want to get to this, uh, what he says here.
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And truly our fellowship is with the Father and the Son, with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write unto you, that your joy may be full.
Is a complete answer to the hunger and thirst of the soul, and may we not be so much in denial about our true condition that we think we can get our sustenance from the wilderness just by.
Desiring, loving the world and the things that are in it, we're passing through it. We are not of that, this present evil world. And our sustenance doesn't come from it either.
I don't want to go one more place. Will you forgive me for taking up so much time?
1St Corinthians 10.
I got one brother that nodded and had, so I'm going to take advantage of that secret between you and me, Dean.
Uh, Anyway, uh, First Corinthians 10. My wife is probably going to get after me after this, but, uh.
And she needs to a lot of times.
Uh.
It says moreover, brethren.
I would that ye not be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the crowd and all passed through the sea. Well, that's interesting. All our fathers were on the clock.
He was writing to these Corinthians. They're Gentiles, he says. They're our fathers.
Hmm.
God's people.
Uh, years ago, Many years ago, under the cloud, all pass through the sea.
And we're all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. For remember, right? I think in Hebrews it was Moses faith.
In relation to the Passover lamb and the UMM and the Red Sea, I might be mistaken about that, but the people obey. They fallen. They when I come to the Red Sea, there was nothing more they could do. They were. They were shut up. They were trapped.
They were shut up to God, stand still and see the salvation of God. And they did. It was Moses wrought.
Well.
They were baptized to Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all did eat that same spiritual meat.
And they drank of that spiritual rock.
That followed them.
You know, when you think about what David wrote in Psalm 123, the Lord is my shepherd.
And the way he concluded it, surely I shall.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever. That's where we're going in our journey.
And his confidence was in our great Shepherd of the sheep.
That surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life is that spiritual rock that followed him.
As well as us. He leads and He follows. We're enclosed in that first love, and that rock was Christ. But as many as but, but, but, but, but with many of them. God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.
I'm going to stop here.
They, in Psalm 78, give us a little history.
A concise history of his role in the wilderness. And at one point they'd experienced the water out of the rock. They had murmured about that, but God in grace supplied. And they said in so many words it says, yeah, yeah, he supplied water out of the rock. But can he provide a table in the wilderness? Well, he surely did, but they still complained about it. The table was, can I say, the mercy of the night, bringing the dude down.
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He gave us to his beloved in sleep. It brought the manna down. They picked it up off the wilderness sand every morning. They had to do it. They had to get it done before the sun got hot and melted it away. But there were instructions about gathering that food and it was there it was. It was called the Mighty's meat or Angels food. And that's what Christ, our hidden manna now is. It's the mightiest meat is to make us strong.
He numbered 5000 men as numbering an army. It was the IT was the men 20 years and older and upwards that were numbered in the army of Israel. And there were women and children along too in in the feeding of the 5000 well.
What are you saying with all this provision? You know it says baptized in a cloud in the Moses we are baptized under Christ.
Water baptism.
And I believe we are baptized.
The church was baptized in the day of Pentecost.
To the to Christ by the Spirit.
One head, one body water provision.
Let's get into a little more detail.
Right now I think I'm going to skip over the rest of the warning here. In this chapter there were five things, five areas in which they sinned, in which they displeased the Lord. 5 reasons why they fell in the wilderness and didn't enter into God's complete fullness of salvation.
And they're, they're types of us. It concludes by saying verse 14. Well, let's look at verse 12. Wherefore wherefore he says to these Corinthians and us, Wherefore let him that thinketh thee standeth, take heed lest he fall. I think he's saying that to the lay of the sin church. They thought they stood pretty well. They were pretty well fixed. They had need of nothing.
Take heed.
Uh.
There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above what you're able. But well with the temptation also make a way to escape that he may be able to bear it.
He's able to strengthen us to bear.
But we have to acknowledge our sin. We have to go to the throne of grace, recognize what the Word of God points out. That's what's so important about the Word of God. It brings reality into our lives, into our hearts. He's able to show the thoughts and intents of the heart. There's no other way they can really be shown the true character Or we can get a lot of knowledge from one another and, and that, but it has to come from the Word of God.
You know, otherwise it's kind of something like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Yeah, you get knowledge.
But is it clean? Is it really from the mouth of the Lord? You get the Bible, the Scriptures into you, you get the living Word of God cutting away and cut down all these little.
Facades and Shields and things that we raised up and thinking we're pretty well set with God.
Umm, remember Jesus said that those Jews that believed on him, If you continue in my your word, uh, then your mind disciples, indeed, you should know the truth. The truth should make you free. And that's what he wants. That's the fullness of salvation, to be free from the, the power and dominion of sin in our lives. And so Romans, we find the flesh applied his flesh applied to to ours. We were united with him in his burial.
He was in in order that we might be raised with him to walk in newness of life. I just give you that as a hint of the two sided part of the, the the feast. The Lord has for us an awareness. There's both forgiveness of sins and then there's the deliverance from the power of sin, the sanctification of his body being buried with him in baptism and raised with him and getting in the good of this baptism of the Holy Spirit.
That we might be filled with that spirit. Uh, yes, it was the one, the baptism. It was the one thing, umm, uh, one time thing they were baptized in the Red Sea one time with to Moses. Well, anyway, these there's some real parallels here. Now, verse 15 or 14, Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.
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He wants us to cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit. Chapter six He warns them.
To flee from fornication. Now it's flee from idolatry. There's two evils in the wilderness. There is the other, what pertains to the flesh and the other two? Spiritual wickedness. And so he says.
Verse 15 I speak as to wise men. Judge ye, what I say could be translated. Speak as the prudent man.
Judge what I say. Consider the object lesson I just told you, he says. The cup of blessing which we bless, we all do.
Every Lord's Day it it isn't not the communion of the blood of Christ, the bread which we break.
Is it not the communion of the body of Christ? Or could I say the fellowship? John was talking about our fellowship with the Father and Son over these two.
Portions, precious portions of our Meanwhile Wilderness Journey feast.
Verse 17 he explains what he means, the fellowship of the body of Christ. For we being many are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread.
I'll tell you what it means to me.
We get Christ through every member of the body somehow.
And we want to be speaking Christ one to another. It'll be with grace, season with salt, speak the truth in love, wash one another's feet, and enjoy the blessing of it.
Seeing the body grow.
Enoch conclude.
He mentions verse 32.
Give none offense.
I'm not quite done yet, but anyway, I'm gonna do this. Give none offense. Neither do the Jews, nor the Gentiles, nor to the Church of God.
They were offending the Church of God.
There were divisions.
Among them.
Factions, heresies, they all existed in those days. They may have still come together in one place, but he names them all.
He has to tell him the next chapter. They didn't come together for the better.
They were offending the Church of God one another.
And you have done it to the least of my brother, and you have done it to me, the Lord said.
He told Paul why persecutor. Sell me. No, Saul, I should say. OK, now how about the Gentiles? Yes, they were in offense to the Gentiles. They were doing moral wickedness there. It wasn't even done in that corrupt city of Corinth in the Gentiles. Wow, pretty bad.
God was not well pleased with them.
And yet Paul told him how much he loved them. He was sticking with them. Maybe he couldn't be present with him, but he loved for him, loved him, prayed for him. And he was terribly, can I say, had the care of the churches on his heart continually. It was a burden to him. And so I'm sure they were an offense to the Jews as well. Why? Why? There's two tables mentioned here.
There's two tables mentioned here. One's the large table, one's the table of demons. You can't do both. You cannot do both. I'm not saying a double minded man doesn't do both, but not at one time, and one is counterproductive to the other.
Let's go back to the analogy Israel in the wilderness.
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What did Steven tell him? You remember?
I'm going to turn this X7.
No, I apologize. I'm taking time here.
Thanks.
Stephen Money concludes.
With all the details of their history, of their unbelief.
He said.
Verse 42 Then God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven.
Well, they made a cap it.
Uh, let's go back to verse 40 and they were saying to Aaron, make us gods go before us for As for this Moses, which.
Brought us out of the land of Egypt. He was up on the Mount Sinai, you know, he said. We, we don't know what became of him.
And they made a cap on those days, and offered sacrifice unto the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
Then God turned and gave them up to worship the hosts of heaven.
That is written in the Book of the Prophets.
Oh yeah, House of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of four years in the wilderness. Yeah, ye took up the Tabernacle of Moloch. There was a Tabernacle of the Lord right in their midst. He had had to take 110th out of the there for a while and he might want to seek Lord, go out and and wire the Lord out there outside the camp.
But most of the wilderness journey he had one that they built under the power of grace and God's sovereignty. They built a Tabernacle and he entered that Tabernacle and filled with his glory and, and yes, yes, yes.
Verse 2042 They went on, God turned and gave them up to worship the host of heaven.
As it is written in the book of the Prophets, O ye House of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices by the space of 40 years? No onerous. Yay. He took up the Tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your God Rimpin figures which he made to worship them. And I will carry away beyond Babylon. Beyond Babylon.
Our fathers had the Tabernacle of witness and the wilderness.
And I'll stop there.
Jesus tabernacled among us, it says in John 14. He well, he would go. The Word was made flesh, and he dwelt among us. The perfect expression of God Himself. Eternal Son came in tabernacles among us. And now he, he's in heaven, our high priest, and He's bringing us to glory. He's going to complete our journey. It's a done deal.
But anyway, uh.
I I.
I want to go to, uh, you. I'll just, I won't turn the page. Take the time. You remember this the the Greek woman, the Syrophoenician woman.
When he was in regions of Tyre and Sidon, Jesus was she came to her and she was howling her name.
About her daughter was grievously affected by a demon.
He.
Ignored her and cycle the cycle said get her out of here she's a nuisance come on, get her out of here and.
It seems like the Lord was.
Must have been praying. Father, what do I do about this? What do I do about this? I want, I want to do her good. But you sent me to the child House of Israel.
So he he turns and and he says to. Well, it's just not good to.
They give the children spread to the dogs.
And she says, umm.
Well, well, well, well, well, the the puppies get the, uh, the crumbs from their Lord's table. It's literally Lord's same word as Lord Lords tables.
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And she got the crumbs she needed. Her daughter was delivered from the demon. She, that mother, had had the table of demons long enough in her life. She wanted the Lord's table, and she got it.
And Jesus stepped out of his boundary to do that.
Now, where were those dogs? Where are those puppies?
And we feed on him.
Our wisdom.
God has made him our our wisdom, our righteousness.
Authentication and last and best, He's our redemption.
It's a done deal. He's gonna do it.
Let's look to Him. Let's feed on his faithfulness. He's the Amen to all the promises of God.
I've been asked to give. I think we're out of time, aren't we? I'm sorry. I I Anyway, I had a burden.
Umm, Brother Steve asked me to give thanks for the food, so do that.