Open—J. Ruga, D. Buchanan, R. Thonney
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#208.
And hopefully.
I waiting little morning.
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1.
Three.
Oh, oh, oh.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, 10-4.
No, no, no, no, no.
No, I'm trying to pray.
And now?
Luke, chapter 10.
And verse 38.
And now it came to pass, as they went, he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house, and she had a sister called Mary, and which also sat at Jesus feet and heard his word.
00:10:00
Now let's also turn over to the Gospel of John chapter 10.
John Chapter 11. Excuse me.
John, Chapter 11.
And.
Let's just read, uh, verse 31 The Jews then, which were with her in the house, comforted her when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him.
Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
And let's also.
Go to chapter 12 and that same gospel.
And verse 3.
Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. Just a simple thought, brethren. I was thinking a little bit about this dear sister Mary.
In the word of God, she's at the feet of Jesus.
The first passage we read there in Luke, she was at the feet of Jesus and she heard his word.
Well, brethren, we've been here together and we've had mentioned in our meetings that we had to hear. We were using hearing to hear what God has to say to us. And there we find Mary in comfort there in Martha's house. And Martha is concerned about her sister helping her, but she has the better part sitting at the feet of Jesus.
And you know, I thought when we get over to the Gospel of John in chapter.
UH-10 or Chapter 11? We find there that she goes through a trial.
Her brother Lazarus is dead. He's in the grave. He's been in there four days.
An impossible situation, and yet Mary's limited faith.
Says She turns to the Lord and says, If thou hadst been here, my brother would not have died.
But that trial that she was to go through, she was to see the impossible made possible. She was going to see her brother rise from the dead.
She's at the feet of Jesus.
And then again we have in the Gospel of John Mary once again taking a.
A bottle of ointment and anointing the feet of Jesus and the odor fills the house.
Brethren, as we go back to our homes, is it not at the feet of Jesus that we're gonna hear His word? Is it not at the feet of Jesus that we're gonna get through the trials of life? And is it not at the feet of Jesus?
That our hearts will overflow with praise and adoration to our Savior. What a place to be at the feet of Jesus.
Word is gonna be short too.
Hebrews chapter 12, verses one and two.
Wherefore.
Seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which says so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.
Looking unto Jesus.
The one that Mary was looking to, sitting at his feet, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
00:15:14
I wanna tell a little story.
That illustrates what I want to communicate here this afternoon. It's a very short story.
Number of years ago when my family was young.
I was out in the field working, it was called the Jones farm and we are working on the Jones farm in the springtime and uh, my wife brought our lunch out as she often did so we could keep working longer and faster. And so all the children were brought out. We had a little small family that time.
And uh, we were had our lunch at noon time and it was time to move to a new farm. And so every farmer's boy.
Takes great delight in an opportunity right in a tractor or a truck or whatever convenience, and usually they have a favorite one they like to ride in.
And so I said to one of my children, we're going to such and such a field.
You can either ride in the tractor or you can ride in the truck.
I will never.
Ceased to admire the answer that was given to me.
The answer was this. I want to go with you.
I wanna go with you.
He didn't know whether it was going to be the tractor or the truck.
Brethren, that's what these verses are telling us about.
The journey before us, it's not so much the path, it's who we're going with, looking unto Jesus.
Let's continue this path of faith with our Savior along the way. That's what makes the path wonderful. It isn't just doing the right things and being faithful. Yes, that's all a part of it. We've had this wonderful chapter of the heroes of faith, and we have admired them.
And the apostle who wrote this after he gives them all.
He sums it up all and says now you can set all that aside. Now that's a good example, but now I'm giving you the real example.
Walked past the face with Jesus.
I also want to speak on Hebrews 12 brethren.
Because that seems a fitting climax to.
Our Chapter 11 first verse of chapter 12 is wherefore because of what we have meditated on in Chapter 11, now it is like our brother has said the.
To be encouraged in the race that is set before us.
It's a race, brother, and it's not easy.
It's not meant to be easy.
But there's something at the end that is worthwhile pursuing. And so here we are, compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, all those witnesses of the Old Testament of faith.
It says, and here's the exhortation. Let us lay aside every weight and the sandwich that's so easily beset us, and let us run with patience. The word is endurance, the race that is set before us.
Weights or something that hinder you running? Well, you know weights are not necessarily things that are wrong in themselves, but there are things that keep us from running properly this race that is set before us. What are the weights in your life?
00:20:02
In my life.
Still remember?
My late father-in-law, Norman Berry.
He used to go up to the tent in the summertime to have a gospel outreach up in Nova Scotia and at that time he had a business in Montreal of making signs. It was a sign maker and the business did quite well and he was there to direct it. But when he left it to go up to do the.
Gospel tent and he came back. He always found it in kind of disarray when he came back.
And so he was sharing the burden one time with our dear brother, late brother Eric Smith.
How he found it a problem?
And Brother Smith said to him one day, Is your business, uh, wing, or is it a weight?
That settled it for him. It was a wait and he laid it aside and he used his time from that fourth time forth for traveling around amongst the Lord's people. But there are weights. Nothing wrong with having a business, but you have to evaluate is it a wing or is it a weight? Does it help you or does it hinder you? And the excitation here is to.
Lay aside every weight.
And the sin which so easily sets us has been called the sin of unbelief, especially addressed in this.
Book and unbelief does hinder us. I have to confess, brethren, that's unbelief floods into my soul at times. I have to judge it in the light of Scripture and lay it aside too. And so we are to run with patience or endurance the race that is set before us. It's not easy.
And her brother Doug has said in verse 2 The importance of looking.
Unto Jesus, Yes, we look back at Chapter 11 and we see those witnesses of the faith. Thank God for them. They're an encouragement to us. But our sights should be set on the Lord Jesus. Did he have an easy time down here? No, it was far from easy. He came from the Father's house. And I marvel when I think of the simplicity with which.
Lived his life down here and how he went through that race of life as well. He's the author and finisher of our faith.
He for the joy that was set before him. What was that joy?
Primarily it was to go back into the Father's presence and to say, Father, I have finished the work that thou gave us me to do. That was his primary joy. Oh, I'm sure that the thought of having us there too came into the picture, but all the joy that was set before him.
He endured the cross despising the shame. Are there crosses in your life? Are there difficulties?
You know, everywhere I travel in Latin America, people tell me their troubles and their problems. I have to confess, brother, and I don't have any answer for the majority of it.
Sometimes I say to him, will you please tell me somewhere where I can go that there's no problems so I can go there.
And they always smile and say there's no place like that down here in this world. That's true. We're going to all have difficulties and problems. What are you going to do with it? How are you going to handle it?
That's the case. The Lord Jesus was on this race of life as well down here in this world as a dependent man. And I marvel at how simple he was in his life down here. You never read of the Lord Jesus having any money in his pocket. Maybe he did. I don't say he didn't.
But you don't read about it.
He said.
Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests. The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. He spent many a night out in the open under the stars. I'm sure he knew what it was to be cold. I'm sure he passed through this light. I often say to myself, why didn't the Lord have a house?
00:25:18
Is there anything wrong with having a house? No, we who are parents.
Are responsible to provide for our families and part of it is shelter.
But why didn't the Lord have a house? You know, the only answer I can come up with is that he came from the Father's house and there was nothing he found down here that can compare that. And so he really wasn't interested in anything down here.
The simplicity of his life, the only thing he had, materially speaking, were the clothes on his back and that they took away when they crucified him.
But he was without those weights in life. He could and he always had to share with the needs of others. I think it's so beautiful to see that.
But he despised the shame. And there's things in our lives that are hard we don't like to talk about. Maybe.
But if you compare them with what's set before us, brethren, eternal glory is ahead. Is there something down here in this poor passing world that could compare with that?
He went through it all. He despised the shame. He sat down at the right hand of God. Now verse three. Notice.
Consider him notice Mr. Darby's translation says consider well.
Him that endures such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be worried and faint in your minds.
Ever feel weary?
And faint in the race, the Christian race. I think we all relate to that.
I like to put it in the Spanish, the old version Spanish.
Ray Lucid W Westerpen samiento akil K sufri otal contradiction de pecadores Contra simismo paracinos uh fatigue gados in Westeros Mendes.
It translates this way rather than reduce your thoughts to him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself.
And I think it's so important, brethren in our lives to reduce our thoughts to Him. You know, we tend to sometimes when things go contrary, we tend to think of our hurts and the way we were offended.
Reduce your thoughts to him. Don't go reducing your thoughts to yourself, it's not gonna really help reduce.
Your thoughts to him that endureth such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied faint in your minds. We have mentioned this before. We have weight reduction programs you lose some weight, we need thought reduction programs Reduce your thoughts to him. Our thoughts go helter skeller in all directions. We need to control.
Are thinking don't let it go in any direction.
Direct your thoughts to him.
Just think about what it must have meant to him when Judas came up and betrayed him with a kiss. You know how he spoke to him? He said, friend, why are thou come hit her? What is his supposed friend do he betrayed him?
To death. And then Peter, one who had said, Even though all the rest denied the eye will never deny thee, he denied three times, ever having known the Lord with both and curses.
And the rest all went in different directions. Did he feel that? Yes, he felt it rather. And he was a real man. He felt those things and all that. He went through the cross. His people mentioned last night about the chief priests coming up and spitting right in his face, those things.
00:30:13
Were hard. You and I go through some hard things.
But when we do, try not to be nursing your hurts and thinking over what took place.
Reduce your thoughts to him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin, in other words.
A rate it existed sin.
Unto death.
And there are of our brethren in other parts of the world that are giving up their lives for the Lord's sake.
Heard the other day of a brother. I don't know if it was in Iraq.
Who had a Bible? And in many places where Muslims are, to have a Bible is almost a death sentence.
Anyhow, he had kept it hidden and one day a Muslim that he was acquainted with found him with his Bible and he said, you know what I think of that book and.
He said yes.
But, uh, he said his acquaintance said to him, I'm going to kill you for having that book. He said, Will you, before you kill me, allow me to ask you to take this book after you kill me and read it?
And he handed it to him and he took it, and then the man took his pistol and ended the life of our brother.
We have not resisted against sin to death, brother.
Our brother and our some are, but we need to continue on. We need to keep up the race.
The goal is ahead. It's worth going for. Don't get discouraged and faint in your minds.
And then verse five down through verse 11.
Speaks of the question of chastening or discipline.
That we will all experience, if we are part of the family of God. You have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not the chasing of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of Him. For whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth and scourgeth.
Every son whom he receiveth.
Question of scourging, we all endure it. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is ye whom the Father chasteneth not? But if you be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, and are ye ******** and not sons? So if you are a child of God, you're going to experience.
Chastening, but there are two reactions that are.
Fleshly reactions we read about in verse, uh, five. One is despising the change chasing of the Lord, the other is fading under it, despising it is when we go through a particular problems and well, everybody has to go through this and I guess I'll just tough it out.
Instead of recognizing the Lord's hand, we kind of.
Set our our minds to just simply tough it out, and that's despising the chasing the Lord. The Lord has his hands in every single circumstance in our life. How important it is to recognize it. But the other reaction, which is also a fleshly reaction, is fainting under it. Oh man, it always goes bad for me.
I don't think I'm going to be able to take this any longer. This is just too much.
That's 59. Don't do that either.
Because those that do that despise or they change or they, they, uh, faint under it, they don't get the benefit of what God really means in it. He means it for our prophet.
00:35:13
Notice verse further down.
Speaking about our, uh, earthly fathers, says in verse 10. For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he our heavenly Father, for our prophet, that we might be partakers of His Holiness.
And he says, verse 11 Now no chastening, for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous.
Nevertheless, afterward it yielded us the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. So the proper attitude, when there is chasing in in our lives and we all go through it, is to be exercised. Lord, You've allowed this. I don't understand what you're putting me through.
But please help me to learn what you have in mind.
For me and this, that's the proper attitude. Notice verse 12. Now wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees.
This picture is of discouragement. Hands hanging down, knees can't properly work. They're feeble.
Brethren, we need to encourage one another. When we see someone going through trials, say to them, don't get discouraged, it's the Lord that wants to help you. He's allowing this for a specific purpose.
I haven't think you know of poor Joseph when he in his life down here, how hard it went from 17 years old.
Up to 30 years old, everything went against the grain and I don't think there was anybody there to encourage Joseph. We have Christian brothers and sisters. Let's encourage one another. Let's, uh, lift up the hands which hang down and the feeble knees and make straight paths for your feet less that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it.
Rather be healed. You know, sometimes they talk about people that are lame. Here it talks about those that are lame being healed. I think this is beautiful to think about. And then it says verse 14, follow peace with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. Verse 15 looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God.
Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby.
Many be defiled. How important is this looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God rather than what is the strength of our Christian testimony is to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. That was Paul's word to Timothy and second Timothy 2.
Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
There's a tendency sometimes to fail of the grace of God.
Means that we get back to the principle of law and think that under stringent rules and regulations that we can produce something for God. It doesn't work that way.
No, we are to be strong in the grace and when we see those who because of trials and problems.
They get away from the sense of grace in their souls and that we can only go on.
By the grace of God, we need to be.
Helpless, any root of bitterness springing up trouble you.
Those roots are something that are down deep inside, and if there is any bitterness, how often our older brethren have exhorted about that.
Remember, Mr. Hayhoe, how often he used to say, don't ever go to bed at night with any bitter, hard thought about any person in the sphere of your acquaintance?
00:40:01
Oh, how important that is to let it loose. Don't hold any bitterness toward anybody.
And then it says, lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.
Esau was the twin brother of Jacob, and Esau did not value the things of God. He was a profane person, the birthright which was his because of being the first born. He sold it for a morsel of meat.
And then it says in verse 17, you know that how afterward when he would have inherited the blessing.
He was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
If you look at Mr. Darby's translation is very helpful there.
What he sought carefully with tears is not repentance. He sought the blessing after he lost the blessing. Remember, Jacob deceived his father and got the blessing, and he came back and he realized that he had lost the blessing. He sought the blessing with tears, but he never really repented.
And years later in the book of Malachi.
It says.
Jacob have I loved. Esau have I hated.
It was not written before those men lived and died. It was written many centuries after they lived and died. Why did he hate Esau? Because he was a profane man. He did not hold God-given things.
In a way that he should have valued, he didn't value them.
So then he says, you have not come unto the mount that might be touched. And he goes on to speak of Sinai, and then in verse 22 he contrasts it, where we have come to Mount Zion, Mount of Grace.
You remember what happened at Mount Zion when David numbered the people?
In the times of Israel and.
God sent a destroying Angel and a plague upon.
The children of Israel.
And.
This destroying Angel comes to Jerusalem, and he has.
That sword extended in his hand to kill in Jerusalem.
And David is given to see that destroying Angel and he goes.
And he purchases the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite to be able to offer a sacrifice.
And he offers a sacrifice there and.
At that place, God says to the destroying Angel, Put thy sword into its sheath. A sacrifice had taken the place so that God could show mercy.
That was the place where later the temple was built, the place of God's appointment. Beautiful, but that's Mount Zion. That's where we're come to, brethren, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem to an innumerable company of angels. Do you realize that you are being.
Witnessed by an innumerable company of angels. Still remember Brother Eric Smith.
Saying to us, What do the angels say when they see a disobedient Christian?
You know, angels can never, ever disobey. They disobey once automatic condemnation to the lake of fire forever.
And they see us careless in our Christian testimony.
Innumerable company of angels.
To the General Assembly and Church of the first first born, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. That's the Old Testament Saints. And to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better things than that of Abel.
00:45:00
Verse 25 C.
That ye refuse not him that speaketh had so much said in this meetings about listening to what God says, how important it is.
We who sit and speak the word of God, sometimes we make mistakes. I don't try to defend the fact that I might make a mistake and there might be a brother that has to.
Correct it, but have your ear open to God's voice.
And you can tell it because the Spirit of God which indwells us, gives testimony to the truth of God. How important it is.
See that you refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escape not who refused him who spake on earth, much more shall not they escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven, Whose voice then shook the earth, but now hath promised, saying yet once more I shake not earth only, but also heaven. And this word yet once more signifies the removing.
Of those things that are shaken.
As of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken.
May remain, wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved. Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire. So there are those things which are to be removed, those things that are going to be shaken.
And those things that are made.
We have received a Kingdom which cannot be moved. Brethren, what are we living for? Things that are going to pass away in a few short years? Or are we living for those things which last for all eternity? It's a real challenge to think of those things. Just want to touch on a few things in chapter 13 as well because this is the practical.
Side of the Book of Hebrews.
Verse one let brotherly love continue.
This is the file a love. It goes along with the agape love oftimes in scripture you have the two side by side.
Second Peter chapter one mentions things that are to be added to our faith and it says we are at one of the things is love, brotherly love. And then it says to brotherly love add love. That's the agape love. That's the love that loves in spite of all loves. God loves us because God is love. You can't change that.
You can never change that.
Brotherly love. Sometimes it's there and it should be cultivated, brother.
But sometimes, because of offenses and problems, brotherly love is not very strong, and then we are to love with divine love important.
Verse two. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. I'm not sure if this refers to Abraham when he had the Lord come with two angels.
It does seem that Abraham was aware of who was there. At least he was aware that one of them was the Lord, so I'm not sure if that refers to him or not.
Maybe some of her other has a thought on that, but I find it interesting.
No. There's a brother down in Bolivia that we used to visit in Cochabamba and he also always said I'm always careful how I treat people, strangers that come to my door.
They might be an Angel.
That really impressed me. Sometimes, he says. There's people that dress like beggars and they may not be a real beggar, but they think they can get something off of you by that and you might be tempted to say get going. He says. I'd be careful not to say that because they might be an Angel.
Verse three Remember those that are in bonds as bound with them. Brethren, let's remember our brethren that are in bonds in other countries. It's not easy. It's terribly tough. We have such liberties in this country.
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Verse four. Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled.
But ************ and adulterers, God will judge.
Marriage is an honorable institution of God whereby a man and a woman live together.
And have intimate relations together. It's proper, it's of God. It's wonderful when it's of God. But the two cases here, ************ and adulterers, are those that go outside of the bonds of matrimony to fulfill their lusts.
And God will judge that. The Lord, help us not to get carried away with the thinking of this world. Lord, keep our thoughts. Be careful of the Internet and what's on that machine. If you let your thoughts go in the wrong direction, it's going to have devastating effects.
Marriage is honorable on tremendous to see young people.
Forming homes, bonds of marriage in the Lord. That's right, let it be held honorable in all and abet undefiled in verse five speaks about covetousness. It's what's so common in our country to have more and more and more.
The advertising industry is based on this to give you a desire to have more and more and more.
Let's be careful of that. Let's not let our minds go in that direction.
Be content. Isn't that a beautiful word? I'd love to see persons that are content with such things as you have. You know what? I found a lot more contented people amongst the poor of the earth than I have amongst the rich of the earth. Doesn't have to be that way, but that's the way I found it.
Why should we be content? Because.
He has said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee, so that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I will not hear. What shall man do unto me? 173.
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