Open—J. Hyland, B. Thonney
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We've seen 276.
Guide us all, gracious Satan pilgrims, through this fear and lamb. We are weak with our mighty, foolish with thy powerful hand red of heaven, feed us now and evermore.
Leave us now and everyone.
'S now and seven more.
YAVRO.
May I see the? Oh, I don't know.
There's something I should have mentioned in the prayer meeting this morning, and I'll go ahead and mention it now.
In our assembly, there's a family called the Whit and the wit, umm, first name is Ian. As a matter of fact, he was directed to the assembly for our brother Robert DeWitt. Umm, But anyway, they have a little son, uh, just turned 2 years old, who just had his right eye removed because of a very aggressive.
Uh, blastoma inside the eye.
Umm, they felt that they got everything and that there's no issue with the optic nerve and other related structures.
Albeit they noticed something on the MRI that's in his brain.
And they are still uncertain as to what it is. There is interest in biopsying it, but it might be too risky. If it is serious, it's inoperable. Uh, the oncologist.
Who the last oncologist to take a look at the situation was under the impression that it probably was not cancelled. So that was a good note right there. Uh, but we might pray for them. They've really been through the wringer the last several weeks. The eye was removed about 2 1/2 weeks ago, just at the time of his 2nd birthday, the little kids 2nd birthday. His name is Lyle, but he might pray for them that Ian and Stephanie Witt and their little son Lyle.
Gracious God, our Father.
Redrawing when we hear of a little 2 year old boy having to have his eye out.
Oh Lord, this creation is all groaning.
And it's in view of that coming day.
00:05:03
When the sons of God will be revealed?
And the ******* of corruption will be lifted from this world.
In the meantime, Lord Jesus.
We count on Thy grace for that family.
A special measure of it right now, Lord.
And we do pray and Thy gracious will, that the spot on the brain would not be anything serious.
No difficulty for thee, Lord.
But we would ask now for this meeting.
That there might be a liberty of thy spirit. Help us, Lord.
Give us each one to be exercised and if there's some message that we need to hear.
Help the messenger, we pray and give thanks in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen. Amen.
Turn for a few moments to a very familiar portion of the Word of God, one we perhaps learned in the days of our youth. Psalm 23. Psalm 23 will notice the title of this Psalm, the Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.
Thou anointest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.
And I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever. Well, I realize this is a very familiar Psalm and.
Those of us who had the opportunity and privilege of being together with our European and British brethren recently in France, we took up at some length this Psalm, as well as a portion in John 10, and meditated for on the subject of the shepherd and the sheep. And I have it on my heart this afternoon for a few moments just to go down these verses and glean some practical things from this Psalm that I trust, brethren, will speak very largely to our hearts.
Because I feel more and more in the day in which we live that that's what we need. Yes, we need to have the fundamental doctrines of God's Word before us. We must have the foundation and the basis of our faith, but we must have our hearts engaged as well. And as we go back to the Psalms, they really do engage our hearts, don't they? These psalms we take up in various ways. We know that these Psalms are prophetic and Jewish in their character.
Many of the Psalms bring before us the feelings and expressions of the Lord Jesus as a man passing through the circumstances of life here below and taking up the work that his Father gave him to do.
And I suppose that's why on Lord's Day morning, when we're gathered together at the Lord's table to remember him in the breaking of bread, so often, we read some of those Psalms. We read the 22nd Psalm, we read the 69th Psalm, the 102nd Psalm, and other portions that bring before us the innermost expressions and feelings of the Lord Jesus. It's often been said that in the Gospels we Get the facts concerning the life and work of the Lord Jesus.
But in the AP, in the Psalms, we get the feelings and expressions, things that we don't get in the Gospels. And I say there is nothing, we'll tug at our heartstrings like going back and reading those Psalms in that regard. You know, when they, uh, those two on the way to Emmaus returned to the, uh, to Jerusalem where the others were, and he came and stood in their midst and he expounded there not only from Moses and the prophets, but it adds the Psalms, those things concerning himself.
What a wonderful, heart touching exposition it really must have been. But we find too that many of the Psalms then are the expressions and feelings of the God's earthly people and of the remnant in a coming day.
And I have no doubt that this 23rd Psalm will have its fulfillment in a coming day when God's people finally sit down under the shadow of his wings. They recognize the Lord Jesus amongst them as that shepherd, and he's going to bring them into blessing, satisfy them, put down their enemies. And what a day it's going to be when he makes them to lie down in his green pastures and beside his still waters. But you know, the Psalms have a present application too, as all Scripture does.
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And the psalms, many of them, can be applied in connection with the feelings and expressions of the Saints of God in any age. And don't we often find ourselves, brethren, especially in times of real trial and testing, going back time and time again to the psalms, Psalms that we've gone over many, many times, Psalms that no doubt we could quote by heart, but we go back to them again and again.
Often I have the privilege of going in to visit somebody who's sick, maybe someone who's going through a real circumstance in their life. And I'll often say to that person, what portion of the word of God would you like us to read and share together? And more often than not, they want you to read something from the Psalms, something that really speaks to the heart. And that's the way I'd like to look at this little Psalm for a few minutes this afternoon. And you'll find here that it is a Psalm of David.
Now, the young people have often heard me say this, but I'm going to repeat it because I believe it's important. When we take up the Psalms, you'll notice that many of the psalms have titles, and the titles of these psalms were not added by the translators. They are part of the original word of God, and every word of God is pure. And I've sometimes said, I wish that the song, the titles of these psalms were printed just a little bit bigger in our Bibles.
We often Passover and miss them because they're printed so fine. In fact, in traveling to other countries and languages, I have learned that in some languages, the 1St, the title of the Psalm is the first verse of the Psalm. In other words, in some languages there would be 7 verses in this Psalm. And I like that because when it's included as the first verse of the Psalm, you tend not to pass over it. And I want to encourage you when you take up the psalms, to notice the titles of the Psalms.
They set the Psalm in its proper context and perspective. They often open up what follows in the Psalm or even give the setting or the circumstance in which it was written. And I enjoy these ones that are titled A Psalm of David. Now again, I realize that the Psalms of David are prophetic in their character, but there's another way to look at them too. And that is they were the experiences of David as a man passing through the circumstances of life.
You know when you go back and you read the life of David, David did not have an easy life from the moment he was brought to be anointed in the midst of his brethren as the future king over Israel by Samuel. You find that there was one problem and difficulty after another. You find just a page or two over in your Bible that he goes down at the bidding of his father, with those supplies for his brethren who are at the camp of Israel, facing the Philistines and their champion Goliath. And when he comes to his brethren, why his own brothers question the very motive of his heart.
For coming down, they speak unkindly to them. That must have been hard for David to take. You ever have someone in your own family speak unkind to you and misjudge you? David knew what it was to be misjudged. He could say later on. Reproach hath broken mine heart. We find that he, his best friend Jonathan, didn't follow him in his rejection. David shed tears over that. He fled for his life. He left the comforts of home, slept in The Cave of a dalam.
What is a bird to the mountain? And what about after he got his Kingdom? Oh, it was a Kingdom that was plagued with continual upheaval, wars from his enemies around him, domestic problems, problems in his family. His son turned against him. He had to flee for his life. He knew what it was to lose a young child in in death, all these things. But when you go to the Psalms of David, you find that through it all, David developed a real.
Confidence and trust in his God.
And I covet that, brethren, for my own soul. We're not going to see the removal of all the difficulties.
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David didn't see the removal of the difficulties through the various stages of his life.
But we sometimes sing a hymn through every period of my life. Thy goodness I'll pursue. And I realize that there's brethren here who are at various stages in our natural growth, our spiritual growth, various aspects and stages of our experiences in life. But wherever we are, we can, like David, prove the all sufficiency of our God, prove that he is faithful.
And this is what we have capsulated in this little Psalm. And so he says, the Lord is my shepherd. And brethren, what better person than David? Depend these words. You know. So often God put men in circumstances to give weight to what they penned by divine inspiration. David knew what it was to care for those few sheep in the wilderness. He knew what it was to rise up and protect them from the lion and the bear. He knew what it was to lead them to where the pastures were green.
Where the waters were still, and God used a man like David to pen, The Lord is my shepherd.
And so isn't it wonderful that you and I have one who is our shepherd? I know nothing about the care of sheep. I'm a city boy. But I do understand one thing. I have a shepherd who cares for me. But I want to focus in just for a moment, on another word in this first verse. And I'm going to take it a little bit out of its context and you'll pardon me for doing it. And that's the word Lord. You know, that's a good word for all of us to consider, isn't it? You know, again, we used to sing that hymn when we were young people. Lord of my life, I crown thee now.
Thine shall the glory be, We sing a hymn in our little flock. Reign thou within our hearts alone. The Lord Jesus is not recognized as King of Kings and Lord of Lords in this world, yet we see not yet all things put under Him. But brethren, He wants that place in your heart and mind. Brother Nick and I were Speaking of this after the reading meeting. How so often you hear Christians speak of Jesus and God.
And that's good, those are certain. Those are certainly aspects of his person and work. But what about the Lord Jesus Christ? Or what about the expression Lord, what about thy one who said my Lord and my God, the Lord Jesus said to the disciples, she called me master and Lord. And you say, well, for so I am, but how much is it practically true in your life and mine? And so the Lord is my shepherd. I'll, I shall not want. Now brethren, that doesn't mean that we might not suffer a little privation down here. You know, there are many.
Of our brethren today who don't have enough food to eat, there are many of our brethren today who don't have adequate shelter over their heads. There are many of our brethren today who are in prison and in deplorable situations for their testimony. That's not what this verse means, but I remember a sister in a country I was visiting. As we came down the road to her home, she was sweeping her dirt floor singing I have Christ.
What won't I more And that's really the lesson we learned from this we may suffer and in this.
Society we live in, we may, if the Lord leaves us here, know what it is to have to pinch pennies a little more and maybe, uh, suffer a little bit, uh, the things we've never unknown before. But brethren, if we have Christ, what want we more? Paul had learned in his life the all sufficiency of Christ and whether he was out traveling on the missionary circuit, whether he was visiting some of his wealthy brethren.
Or whether he was a prisoner of the Lord and of Nero, he learned in whatsoever state.
He found himself to be content. He could rejoice even in difficult circumstances. How much does Christ the Shepherd mean to your heart and mind this afternoon? If we are really in the enjoyment of Christ, that's what's going to satisfy the soul. And then he says, he maketh me to lie down in green pastures. So often the pastures of the fields and Scriptures speak of personal communion and enjoyment of the truth of God.
And so he, it says in John 10, I will go in and out and find pasture. How much do we find time to spend in those green pastures to not just read the word of God, but to meditate on the word of God? David said, the psalmist said in another place, oh how I love thy law. It is my meditation all the day. Because you know, brethren, it's not what we eat that does us any good. It's what we digest.
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And to digest the truth of God, we have to meditate. It's has often been pointed out the characteristic of the clean animal. He was one that chewed the cud. He you see some cows and they're lying contentedly in a green pasture and their mouth is going continually. They're chewing the cud. They're getting all the good they can out of that grass that they have taken in to their system. And we need that. We need to and notice it says he makes me. We're going to find in a moment. He leads us in other places.
But He makes us rather than this speaks. I hesitate to mention this because it speaks so much to my own soul. You know, he leads us as the Shepherd, but sometimes he has to make us lie down. You know, this is a life of busyness. This is a life where everything is hectic. And as we've often said, we're on this treadmill of society that's getting pumped up faster and faster and faster. And sometimes I believe the Lord has to put his hand on us and make us if we don't do it ourselves.
If we don't take that time to be still or sit still, he sometimes has to, in one way or another, gently put his hand on us.
And make us to lie down in green pasture. And I know you've experienced it those times when you had to stop and you were taken away from the activity of life as necessary as it was. And through those circumstances, you learned to chew the cud. You learn to just meditate on the person of Christ to just to enjoy himself. What a benefit and a blessing. And then there's the still waters. He delights to lead us by still waters. And you know, I just want to say this too, because this is true personally in our lives, but I want to say something that I believe we brought out at the meetings in France a few weeks ago.
And that is, I suggest that this is a word of admonishment perhaps to those who take responsibility for the oversight, the shepherding of the sheep of God. You know, we need to lead by the still waters. If you take responsibility, brother, for the oversight of the sheep in your local assembly or area, or even on a wider sphere, let's be careful that we lead the sheep by still waters.
So often those of us who are older are in a place of responsibility. We have to hang our heads and admit sometimes we've stirred up the waters, sometimes we've muddied the waters. The sheep can't drink if the waters are stirred up or muddied. And when we come to the assembly and the word is ministered and the sheep are cared for because the assembly is to be a place of quiet and safety, it's to be a place of green pasture and still waters.
For ourselves, for our families, and for the sheep of God. Let's be careful that we don't make it otherwise. And then he says, he restoreth my soul. You know, David could pen these words very effectually, couldn't he? David had experienced the restoration of God in his life. David sinned and he sinned grievously. And there were effects and consequences because of his sin, not only on himself but on his household. Because sin does have its consequences. We do re what we sow.
But David was happily restored to the Lord and used in a mighty way. I say, well again, what better person to write this than David? He knew what the restoring grace of God was. And maybe there's someone here and you say, well, I haven't followed the shepherd. I haven't gone on like perhaps I should have. I've got a way, even allowed some sin in my life. Oh, there's restoration. There may be consequences, but we can never go so far.
In our Christian pathway in waywardness where we can have to say there's no way back, there's always a way back. When the Lord anticipated Peter's failing, he said failure, He said, but when thou art restored, comfort thy brethren. He was going to come in and restoration to Peter. And what better person than Peter to pen later on account the long-suffering of God as salvation. Peter knew the long-suffering of God in his life.
He'd experienced that restoring grace because the restoring grace of God is as limitless as his preserving and saving grace. And if there has been something in your life, get before him, confess it. If we were to go over to the 51St Psalm, we find David's confession. And David said, there, restore unto me the joy of thy salvation. What a restoration there was for David, and you can experience that restoration.
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In your life as well. He restoreth my soul, He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness. When I think of this, I think of what it says in first John where it says, if any man's sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, And it says there if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin. That's restoration. But then it doesn't stop there. It says, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, that is to keep us from going any further.
In that wrong path, and to turn us into a right path, to turn us into the path of righteousness, because who so confesseth and forsaketh His sin shall find mercy. We don't have to go on in that path of waywardness. We don't have to go down that, continue down that wrong Rd. It's a turn around and to be placed in the path of righteousness. And why does He do it? For His namesake. Oh, it's for our blessing too, but it's for His name's sake. And when we realize that, brethren, don't we want to get before Him and confess those things?
Get back on the right track, so to speak. Well, then he speaks of the valley of the shadow of death. Now, I realize that we often read this Psalm at a funeral or this expression, and we often apply the valley of the shadow of death to someone, go passing from this life to the next, someone who has died in faith. And certainly that is a proper application. But I don't think it's limited to that brother.
I suggest that the valley of the shadow of death is this world that you and I are walking through this afternoon. We're walking through the valley of the shadow of death. An older brother once said it's the this world with the shadow of the cross hanging over it. This world is stamped with death. We sometimes sing that hymn. We're pilgrims in a wilderness. Our dwelling is a camp created. Things so pleasant now bear to us death stamp and we see death.
And sorrow and the effects of it on every hand. We're walking through an enemy's land every day. It's the valley of the shadow of death. But David says, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. How often we're exhorted to fear not. And I know we know the verse as well. I enjoy that one, particularly in Isaiah 43, that says, fear not. I have redeemed thee, brethren. Can anything change that?
We belong to the Lord Jesus. He's redeemed us. Do we need to be afraid?
Are you afraid this afternoon? I have to hang my head and admit I'm often afraid in situations. But when I'm afraid, that doesn't come from the Lord. He hasn't given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. And I've never gone through the Scripture, but it'd be interesting to go through and count how many times, both in the New Testament and the Old Testament, we have that expression be not afraid or fear not. As he said to the disciples the night he walked towards them on the water, He said, fear not. It is I be be of be of good cheer. It is I be not a be not afraid. And so we don't need to fear.
He says I will fear no evil because if you and I are walking in the path of righteousness, independence on the Lord, we don't have to fear what the enemy can do to us. You remember the the man in Pilgrim's Progress that was walking on his way to the Celestial City, and he came to a place where there were two lions chained by the road, one on each side, and he was afraid I'd be afraid too. And those lions the writer used as pictures of the enemy, Satan. And our enemy is a roaring lion walking about, seeking whom he may devour.
But you know, as the man stood there and reconnoitred the situation, he realized that there was a way that he could pass down the middle of that road and those lions couldn't touch him. And there is a path of faith for you and me where the enemy cannot touch us and where we do not have to fear. Where the enemy gets an advantage is when we get our eyes off the Lord, our eyes off the path, and we seek to walk in a way that is not for His glory.
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And then he says, For thou art with me, brethren, that's why we don't need to be afraid. We have one that's with us. Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age.
He'll never leave us nor forsake us. Do you really believe that? Do you really believe He's with you? You know, you don't have to get up in the morning and pray so much to and ask the Lord to be with you as we need to get up in the morning and pray that we would walk in the path of righteousness so that we would have a conscious sense of the Lord's presence with us. And how much is it true in your life and mind? Have we walked today in the conscious sense of the Lord's presence with us?
It's easy at meetings like this, isn't it? It's easy when we're with other believers. But what about when we go home? What about last week before we came? Did we get up in the morning with the conscious sense that the Lord was right there? That's really the thrust of the verse that says the Lord is at hand. You notice the context there. I don't believe it's so much the Lord's coming, but it's in being careful for nothing and coming to Him in prayer and supplication and so on. Why? Because He's at hand. He's right there. You like somebody that's handy, someone that you can reach out and feel the squeeze of their hand and they help you over that rough spot. The Lord is always there.
He's a present, He very present, help in time of trouble. Well then he says, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. You know, we love to be comforted, don't we? I suppose there's never been a day when the people of God have desired comfort, like the day in which we live. But there's two things that he gives for comfort, not the staff and the rod, but the rod and the staff. You know, the order is very important here. First of all, the rod would perhaps speak to us of his training with us.
You know, we have a a father, a shepherd who trains us and sometimes he has to use the rod. It may be ever so gently sometimes, sometimes it's a little more severe. You know, we had a rod in our home. We called it the rod of correction. And sometimes we used it gently. Sometimes we had to use it a little more severe. Sometimes it would only took once, sometimes more often. We didn't use it the same on every child either. Every child, each of our children, our two children have had a different tenor as well.
And our Father and our Shepherd, he knows just how much to use. Sometimes as fathers, perhaps we don't use it enough. Sometimes we use it too much. But our Father says he corrects us, chastens us for our profit, not for his own profit, but for our profit, that we might be partakers of His Holiness. And when we learn from it, it says no chastening for the time seemeth to be joyous but grievous, but afterward it work the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them that are exercised thereby. That's where the comfort comes in the rod. But there's the staff too, because if the rod is to train us and correct us.
Then it's to teach us too, to lean on the staff, to teach us dependence, not to drive us from the shepherd, but to drive us to the shepherd, and to teach us our complete dependence on himself. Poor Jacob, it took him his whole life to learn that. He tried to live life by making bargains with God. And God, if you'll hold, if you'll do this, I'll do that. And you hold up your end of the bargain, and I'll hold up mine. But at the end of his life he learned he couldn't do it.
But I love what it says. He worshipped leaning on his staff. He learned dependence.
And brethren, if we can learn that at least in some measure in our short lives, it will bring true comfort. Then there's the table. They'll prepare us, the table before me in the presence of mine enemies. A table would speak of several things. It would speak of authority. And, uh, we need to own the authority of our live again, of the Lord in our lives. We're gonna sit down tomorrow, not at the table of Jesus, but the Lord's table, because it's He that has the authority there. When I'm invited to someone's table for a meal, I have no authority at that table.
No, I come under the authority of the one whose table it is and who has invited me there. A table would speak of provision 2. Can God table that? Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? They questioned. Uh, in the history of the of God's people? Yes, he could. And so one invites you to their table. Why? Everything is provided for your sustenance. Mephibosheth ate meat at the King's table continually. It speaks of fellowship too. You sit down to eat together. Eating and fellowship are synonymous in the Word of God.
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And notices in the presence of mine enemies, he doesn't promise to remove the enemies, but he promises to provide in the midst of them. And then he says, thou anointest my head with oil. Now oil in Scripture invariably is a type of the Spirit of God. And here you notice it's the head that's anointed with oil. David had been anointed by Samuel to be the future king over Israel. But I'd like to just make this little application because I suggest that it corresponds with what it tells us in the New Testament.
Were to bring every thought into captivity under the obedience of Christ. It tells us where to set our minds. Mr. Darby's translation in Colossians set our minds on things above. It's to have our minds to have our thoughts governed complete under the complete control of the Spirit of God in relationship to the Word of God. How much is that true of us? Do we read the word of God? Do we get the mind of the of his mind from Scripture?
And then do we allow the Spirit of God to take that and to use it to control our thought patterns? The world wants to fill our minds with everything that would defile and take us away from Christ, but he wants to have our, our head anointed with oil. And what's the result? My cup runneth over. You know, usually we think of cups running over as a mess. We give our children a sippy cups or cups with lids because we don't want them to spill it and have a mess. You someone's poor child's pouring a glass of milk and he's not paying attention and it runs over. Why we get upset as parents. But uh, here it's in a good connotation, isn't it?
What is our cup to run over with? With the appreciation of the love and joy of Christ the Shepherd. Do our cups really run over? Is there an outflow? Because when there's an outflow, then there will be blessing to others. Well, he says, surely goodness and mercy, you know, we follow the shepherd. I suppose it's one of the reasons that the Christian, the believer in Scripture, is likened to sheep. Sheep are one of the few animals that follow.
And we're to follow the shepherd, but there's something brings up the rear too. I'd like to think of it sometimes I've seen.
In Europe and other places, those vast flocks of sheep going down the road and there's always a shepherd out front and the sheep are following the shepherd, but there's a few stragglers in the back and what's keeping them from going their own way? The sheepdogs. Sometimes you see a couple of sheepdogs that dogs at the back. I like to think of them as goodness and mercy. They're what follow. That's what helps to keep us in check, to preserve us. It's just his goodness and mercy if any of us have been preserved thus far.
As his sheep, it's because his goodness and mercy follows us, and how long? All the days of our life. And then he says, and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever. Brethren, what a hope we have. You and I know it in a much more intimate way than David ever knew it in a much more secure way than David ever had. His hope. We know it as the Father's house and the Lord Jesus promised before he left the disciples to go to the cross and return to heaven.
That He would come again and receive them to himself. That that home was going to be prepared for them through the work of Calvary and His ascension there. And what a wonderful hope it was. What a wonderful comfort for the disciples, and what a comfort for you and for me. I will dwell in the House of the Lord. How long, brethren, it tells us we're going to be ever with the Lord. And So what a comfort this is. But in the meantime, we have a wonderful shepherd. Yes, He died for us as the Good Shepherd. He gave his life for the sheep.
But brethren, as that great shepherd of the sheep, he's there to lead us, to guide us, to preserve us. And isn't it a lot easier to follow someone than just have them give you directions? You know, he's given us directions, infallible guidelines in this book to follow. But then he says he put his own sheep forth and he goes before. I'll use this illustration just before I step down. I've used it before. So I remember one time I was in a strange city, a city I wasn't used to and.
My wife and girls were with me and I finally stopped and asked directions. Your wives know how men are sometimes they don't like to admit they are lost or confused. And so I finally stopped and asked directions and a lady came out and she said to me something like this. She said, well you go down a block and you turn right and then you'll come to AY and take the left fork and then you'll go about a half a mile and you'll see a greenhouse on the right. And when you see that house.
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Do this and so, and by that time she realized by the look on my face, I wasn't getting all that she said, that's OK, I'm going that direction, just follow me. And it was a lot easier to follow her than just have her give me directions. Our Shepherd has done both. He's given us the directions. He's laid out the path of righteousness for us. And then he says, just follow me. Some of the last words he said to Peter before he left this world were follow thou me, brethren, Is that difficult? Let's seek by grace to keep close to the Shepherd, to follow him.
To have our hearts go out to Him, that we might be preserved until that day when we dwell in that wonderful home forever. Like to read a verse in 2nd Corinthians 5?
It's a little verse in our King James Version that's in parentheses, verse 7.
For we walk by faith.
Not by sight. We're living in a materialistic world, brethren.
And I find it a real challenge.
To think about what this verse is saying to us.
It's not the way of the world we're living in.
We're taught to keep our eyes open.
And I don't say that we close our eyes when we walk. That's not the point here. But we are not controlled in our lives by those things which are visible to the human eye. There are other values.
That should guide us.
Where does faith come from?
Verse in Romans chapter 10 tells us very clearly, and I think it's worthwhile reading. Let's read it.
Romans, chapter 10.
And verse 17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
How important to listen.
To what God has to say to us.
I've been impressed with that verse in the Proverbs, the hearing I hearing here and the seeing eye God hath made both of them.
So to have a ear that hears is the way to have faith.
You know, as we pass through this world, you young people, those of us who are older as well.
Are taught to go according to the way things are and you really I'm amazed that sometimes that the.
Perception of people of this world in connection with the finances.
Uh.
And how things are going politically.
Their ability to analyze it and to detect the way things seem to be moving. Very interesting.
That those things are not what are to be the guiding for the children of God. It's the Word of God that should always guide us in our thoughts. We walk by faith and not by sight.
Sometimes use the illustration of Peter.
He was in the boat with the disciples. Remember that time and the Lord His coming on the water toward them.
And at first they're afraid, but then when they recognize the Lord, Peter says, Lord, if it be thou, did me come to thee on the water?
He was a fisherman, he knew.
Boats in the water.
He had never walked on water before.
But he got one word from the Lord.
Come.
Based on that one word, he steps out of the boat. Doesn't seem to be any hesitation on his part. He had gotten a word from the Lord.
And he steps out of the boat, and he walks on the water to go to Jesus.
00:45:01
It's interesting that as he was on his way to go to Jesus.
It says he saw the wind.
Kind of interesting, you know, it doesn't say you saw the waves. I would think you'd say he saw the waves.
And he probably wondered how he's gonna step on this next wave that was coming. I don't know what it was, but it didn't say that. It says he saw the wind. Boisterous.
And he got thinking, I suppose, how he was going to handle.
Walking on the waves in this wind.
And I suppose he started thinking how he was going to do it instead of just simply saying the Lord told me to come. And so he starts to sink.
You ever thought how far down he might have gotten?
I don't know.
But it's scripture says he just, he began to think. So I don't think he got too far, maybe down at the ankles.
And then he cries. Lord, save me.
Short prayer.
You know how to pray short prayers? That's important in our lives.
Sometimes our prayers are so long, I don't know how far down into the water we've gotten.
But he prayed short prayer. That's part of faith, too. You know, brethren, when we get into difficulties is to know how to turn immediately to Him in our troubles.
But that's an illustration of walking by faith and not by sight. Explain it, Peter, how in the world did you ever walk on water?
It wasn't a matter of explaining it, it was a matter that Jesus said come.
And so it is in our lives, brethren. There are different circumstances of life, and it's so important to be in the Scriptures.
Our brother was saying about meditating.
Oh, the profit that there is.
Of meditating the scriptures.
That talks about the man in Psalm One. He meditates in his law day and night.
Wonderful to do that. You take time to just meditate. You know, scripture doesn't use the word study because study is the effort of the human mind to comprehend something. Meditate, I think, is filling the mind with the scriptures and letting the Spirit of God give you light as to what that means.
That's meditation.
And that's important in our lives if we're going to get the profit out of the Scriptures.
I travel quite a bit my younger life with Clem Buchanan.
I must say I learned to appreciate.
That brother.
There's a man who meditates day and night.
Sometimes in the Dominican Republic, we'd be in the same room and.
About 3:00 in the afternoon, 3:00 in the morning, I'd be turning over in my bed and I guess he thought I was awake and he said, Bob, I've been meditating on this scripture. What do you think?
At that time I wasn't doing much thinking.
I appreciate there's a brother that knows what it means to meditate day and night. It was a blessing.
So the Lord help us, brethren, in.
The word because that's where faith comes by. And I think it's so important in these days when, according to our American way of life, we're taught to handle our material affairs in such a way rather than. I have been challenged by our Latin American brethren who in their poverty often know a lot more about the simplicity of faith. We kind of.
Calculate now. Do I have enough money for this?
And we have to be practically.
Uh, reasonable. I don't say that that's wrong.
00:50:02
But do we count on the living God if He tells us to do something, to simply go ahead and count on Him? I've been amazed with the way the Lord comes in and provides when there is that simplicity of faith. That's what it means to walk by faith, not by sight. Sight it says, OK, if you got enough, go ahead. I think you can swing it.
The Walking by faith is taking the living God into the picture. It's not something you see with your physical eyes.
But it's something that.
Is unseen, but is no less real. In fact, it is more real that verse we talked about at the beginning of the meeting this morning.
Those things which are seen are temporal. I mean, they just last for a little time everything you see with your physical eyes. And 100 years from now, I doubt if it's going to be around to tell you the truth.
Who am I to say it won't, but I doubt if it will. But those things which are not seen are eternal.
Been I've been hearing about David and the pathway of his life. Wonderful examples of a man of faith when he was sent by his father.
To go to see how his brethren were doing and there was this giant.
I calculate he was close to 10 feet tall. Pretty big man.
And Saul, the tallest in Israel, I take it, didn't have any courage to go out against that man.
Neither did any of the other men of Israel. Goliath had 40 days come out and shout at his challenge. Give me a man.
And after 40 days?
Down the side of the valley comes a shepherd boy.
Who in the world does he think he is to fight a giant?
You know what, brethren?
For David, the fight was not David versus Goliath. For David, the fight was God versus Goliath. There was no question in his mind how things were going to turn out.
He was counting on God. Where was God? He wasn't in the picture, was he? Oh yes, he was. For one shepherd lad. He was in the picture.
And I love the confidence with which David goes down into that valley.
You know, he had his shepherd's bag, he had his sling, and he ran toward the giant.
I often thought if it was me, I think I'd stay back aways and take my shots, but not David. There was such confidence in him that he ran toward the giant, puts his hand into his shepherd's bag, takes out a stone and puts it into the sling.
And hits the giant in the forehead and keeps right on the running and the giant by that time falling on his face. And David doesn't stop until he's standing on top of the giant, pulling the giant's own sword out of his sheath and cutting off his head.
What confidence?
Because he knew his God, he had. He did that feet in front of the armies of Israel and the Philistines.
But David had proved the Lord before that, when he was out there all by himself.
There came a a lion and a bear.
Somebody told me a while back that we're talking about an old African lion. I said, How do you know that? He says. Because when the lion rose up against him, he grabbed him by his beard.
And no other lion has a beard except an African lion.
Well, I suppose that's true.
00:55:03
But that's pretty impressive.
David was not afraid of the lion either. He had proved his God when he was all by himself and no other human eye was there.
Have you done that? It's easy to perform well when other people are what watching, but when nobody's watching, how do you perform?
You perform realizing the eye of God is on you.
We walk by faith, not by sight. David isn't the only example we have in Scripture of that kind of a walk.
We have another case in the book of Daniel.
His three friends when they were.
Amongst all the other multitudes that had congregated before, the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar raised up in the province of Babylon to bow down.
There were three men that did not bow down, three Hebrew children.
You know.
They were obedient. They were not rebellious. And I think that's important. People call it talk about civil disobedience. We're never called to disobedience. We're always called to obedience. But it was a question of which was the higher authority. Nebuchadnezzar was was a tremendous king. In fact, he's called the king of kings, a king of kings.
And to disobey him was to take your life in your hand, because he killed whom he will to kill, and kept alive those he will to keep alive.
Anyhow.
There was another authority that was higher than King Nebuchadnezzar. It's the God of heaven.
Very clearly in the law it was.
Said they were not to bow down to any image. Absolutely not.
And that bound their consciences that they would not bow.
They were called to Nebuchadnezzar's presence. Nebuchadnezzar probably thought he was being very generous to these three Hebrew children.
Giving them another chance. Is it true you do not bow down, my gods?
And they said we are not careful to answer about this matter.
Our God whom we serve. Remember they brought in the picture of God. And to those 3 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
It was a question who was greater, Nebuchadnezzar or their God? No question at all in their minds where their allegiance was first of all to God.
Brethren, this is walking by faith.
Well, he says, if you will not bow, there is one place for you, Burning Fiery Furnace and.
They said, We will not bow to your God. And he was furious, and he was going to make them a public example of what happened to people who would not obey Him in the heat of the furnace seven times over. And in went those three men found in all their clothes. They fell down bound into the midst of the furnace.
Fiery burnt only one thing.
The cords that bound them.
Didn't even leave the smell of fire on any of the rest of them. They were walking unharmed in the midst of the fire, in the company of the Son of God.
You know, I think that will be probably if we would ask Nebuchadnezzar or if we would ask Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the coming day what was the.
Greatest moment in your life's history in Babylon.
It would say, when we got to me, walk in the company of the Son of God in the midst of the furnace.
Is there a trial in your life where you are challenged to give up something of the precious Word of God?
Just think of it this way, it's God that's allowing that test in your life with a purpose of giving you something very special, if you will. Walk by faith, by His word, and not by sight by the way it appears.
01:00:18
So they were thrown in.
And they walked around in that furnace, they stayed in there until Nebuchadnezzar said Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the Most High God, come forth and come hit her. And since they were not rebellious men, they came right out.
At Nebuchadnezzar's call, because there is nothing contrary to the word of God in that command from Nebuchadnezzar.
Oh, and a testimony resulted.
From those men because they chose to live simply by the word of God.
We're living in a world that is anti God and anti Christian and it is amazing to me to see how this culture in which we live here in the United States of America does war on walking in obedience to God. No, if you're going to purpose to walk according to the light of the word of God.
You're going to have problems.
They're gonna come from all directions.
But I challenge you young people, I encourage you.
We walk by faith.
Not by faith.
Translated.
By.
They come by, so the Lord's crying.
And I know.
Essential.
01:05:14
Our loving God, our Father.
We thank you for thy precious word.
We pray that each one of us may walk by faith and not by sight.
For Lord, our eyes deceive us so often.
We think of uh Elimelech of old and Ruth's time, and how he saw famine.
In that land, without graciously provided.
Yet.
Decided to leave that place because.
Sight sends to famine.
Lord, we thank that Thou has ever provide our able. Thou are willing.
We pray, Lord, that we might indeed walk in Thy company. We just pray for one another, pray our hearts will be freshly stirred by Thy word. We've enjoyed already some very precious things from my word here. We pray that we might walk in it by faith.
We think of that.
That tower.
At least four left.
It went to a strange land.
And I grace, I'll spring 2 back.
Lord.
We pray that we might dwell in the land, we might dwell with Thee, Lord Jesus and thy company. We pray for thy help this afternoon as we but open Thy word together again. We commit us to thee, Pray for the gospel and be told forth. If we're left here, here in this room. Lord, we ask these few things with Thanksgiving in Jesus worthy precious name.
Amen.