Open—D. Mearns, C. Roberts, R. Boulard
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127 I'll bless the home, the Father's house, their love divine. What else could satisfy the hearts of those in Jesus? Bless his homemade ours, his Father's love, our hearts full portion given, the portion of the first born Son, the full delight of heaven. 127.
Everyone completely in college 25, I went around the railroad.
To start.
And go up on the fire above and blow up. We didn't continue it continuously and I'll have to hide it, so I'm going to have.
How to bring the sun to wild hope? It is a lot to do with the path of rising sun.
12.
25 go away.
300 and fifty Wow 6, 75.
Oh great.
Oh.
I'm wrong?
Hold on one second.
00:05:03
For we pray, could we read a scripture? It's a portion of a verse in the book of Haggai.
Minor Prophet Haggai.
Chapter One.
And the first part of verse 13.
Then speak taggy eye.
The Lord's messenger.
In the Lord's message.
Read that first part again, then speak. Haggai, the Lord's messenger and the Lord's message.
Just ask the Lord's help and blessing upon our meeting this afternoon.
Our loving God and our Father, we thank Thee for the time spent together around Thy precious Word.
The time has come for an open meeting. Meeting for edification we think of.
This one who in days of old was spoken of as the Lord's messenger, the Lord's message. And so we pray that this afternoon that the Spirit of God might lead.
Uh, several brethren this afternoon, uh, to give a word of exhortation of comfort or whatever word that might be needed to stir us up to comfort us.
We pray that there might be the leading of the Spirit of God.
In the ministry this afternoon, we thank Thee for Thy goodness and faithfulness to us as a people, a failing people, but we know that Thou art gracious and still. Thou art ready to provide for our needs, that food that is convenient. So we just pray that the Spirit of God might have liberty this afternoon in the ministering.
And that the Lord Jesus might be held up.
And edified and exalted, we just give thee our thanks and our Savior's worthy and precious name. Amen.
My brother has just brought before us.
In the last meeting, some of the compromises.
That.
The king of Babylon.
Brought before the people of God and brings before us.
I would like to, in the next maybe 15 minutes, look at the compromises that the king of Egypt.
Brought before the people of God.
And brings before us, too. There's seven of them, seven compromises that Farrell brought before the people of God. If we could look at them in the first one is in Exodus.
Chapter 5.
So we'll look at, uh, there's much in these chapters in connection with the, umm, the plagues.
That were brought upon Egypt but I would like to just stay focused on this little subject of those seven compromises that Pharaoh brought before the people of God and I'd like to start off with the second verse of the 5th chapter just to look at the character of Pharaoh So we'll start off we'll look at the character of Pharaoh we'll look at 7 compromises and then at the end we'll look at.
What can meet that character of Pharaoh? So we find here in verse two Pharaoh said, who is the Lord?
That I should obey his voice.
To let Israel go. I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. And we find many times first of all.
Pharaoh hardens his heart, and we find that God hardens Pharaoh's heart. His first comment, though, his first brazen comment. Who is the Lord? But you know, that's a good comment, a good question for us to ask too, as to the claims of God in my own life.
That's a good question for me to ask.
Who is the Lord?
So we find here now the first compromise.
In verse seven, he shall no more give the people straw to make brick as heretofore. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. The tale of the bricks which they make heretofore ye shall lay upon them, ye shall not diminish aught thereof, for they be idle. Therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. Let there be no more work. Let there be more work laid upon the men, that they may labor therein, and let them not regard vain words. And the task masters of the people went out and their officers and speak to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh.
00:10:27
Here's compromise number one. I will not give you straw. Now how's that a compromise? What Pharaoh saw with the people of God was they had too much time. Too much time.
You know that's what the enemy of our souls desires is to take away all our available time. So we don't have any time. No time to take up the Word of God as we've had before us in the last meeting. No time to spend time in prayer, no time to visit with our brethren, no time to have a word of encouragement. Take away all the time. You would think in the day that we live in where I carry a cell phone on my belt at all times, when I have a computer at home to write letters, to do paperwork, when I have a microwave that I can quickly put something in and get something quickly to eat. You would think with all these conveniences we would have more time.
We have less time, Less time. Isn't it something Pharaoh says? They've got too much time. Let's take away their time.
We live a busy, busy life. You know, we just came back from Bermuda. I and my family, I was there 25 years ago was our 25th wedding anniversary. We thought, let's go back to Bermuda. I started going there with Cindy. We'd never been back. We thought we'd go back there. You know, we arrived there and it was a zoo. I thought, you know, the islands, uh, as they were 25 years ago, things were slow. It wasn't like that. There was coming and going and just, uh, business.
Remember the disciples? They were coming and going. They had so much, not so much time as to eat. You know, we find exactly the same thing in the day that we live. Is it busy? It's just busy, busy, busy. Pharaoh says they've got a little bit of time. Let's take it away.
So they have no time. Compromise #1 let's go on.
Turn over a chapter, a couple of chapters to chapter 8, chapter 8, Pharaoh called chapter 8, verse 8. Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron said, And treat the Lord, that he may take away the frogs from me, and for my people, and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the Lord. And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me, when shall I treat for them, and for thy servants, and for thy people to destroy the drugs.
The frogs from thee and my houses, that they may remain in the river only compromise #2 and he said tomorrow.
Tomorrow.
How many times has the Lord laid on your heart and on my heart something to do, a note to of encouragement to send to someone, a little word of encouragement to give to someone, a little helping hand to someone. And what does the enemy say? Good work, you need to do it, but do it tomorrow. Do it tomorrow.
So many things in my life do not get done because I say I'm going to do them tomorrow.
Here the people of God, they wanted to go now. So Moses says, and there it says, when shall I treat, when shall the people of God go? When can we go? And Pharaoh says tomorrow, tomorrow, not now, tomorrow. And that's something that his whole home to my own soul, the many times I've had it on my heart to do something that will just take a moment to do, just take a moment and it would be such a blessing. But the enemy says, yeah, do it, do it, but do it.
Tomorrow. Do it tomorrow.
Let's go on.
Same chapter, verse 25.
Moses and Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, Go ye sacrifice to the Lord God.
In the land, in the land. So here's compromise #3 Pharaoh comes to them and says, you know, it's a good idea. Just like you're saying, go and sacrifice to the Lord just like you want, but do it right here. That way you can serve the Lord and you can serve me.
You know the Lord brings before us that principle, and the gospel of you cannot serve God and mammon.
You cannot do it. The enemy would have us to serve the Lord and.
To serve him.
00:15:00
If we were to turn to 2nd Kings one of the time, but look at it yourself. Second Kings chapter 17 we find the Samaritans.
People that were brought into the land and it says about them.
They worship the Lord and they serve their own gods. That's what it says. They worship the Lord and they serve their own gods. And a couple of verses later, you know what it says It says. And so they worship not the Lord. Can't do them both. Can't do them both. The enemy knows that. Pharaoh said, sure, worship the Lord, just like you want to worship the Lord, but do it right here. Do it here.
#4 turn over.
To the end of that chapter.
And verse 28 And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness.
Only shall not go very far away and treat for me compromise #4 What is the enemy of our souls? Say? What does Pharaoh say here? He said, you know, you can go, you can go and worship, just like you say, don't do it in the land. You can go worship, but just don't go very far away. Just don't go very far away.
I was impressed when I was in Bermuda the first time, speaking to a brother there. He asked me a question. He said to me, umm.
In the list of the clean and unclean animals, one of them that's listed as an unclean animal is the camel. It's a camel. And he said to me, he said, you know what, camel's interesting. It chews the cud and it has a clothing. Huh.
Now why is it unclean?
Why is it unclean? Well, I have no answer for him. And he said for this reason, if you take a camel's hoof and you turn it over, you find that the pad on the bottom of the hoof, that shows that there's not a complete separation.
Now that was very searching to me.
Very searching to me because association with evil defiles, it defiles. And Pharaoh says here, yeah, you can go and worship. You can worship just like you say, but just don't go very far away.
You know, I was thinking when I think of this compromise that Farrell has and the thought of association with evil defiling, it happens in our lives. We we flippantly allow things that cause us.
To lose our spiritual discernment, we do that.
And it happened so easy.
We tap a few trees on our property.
And uh.
In Maple syrup, thyme, when the children were small, we used to boil ASAP, the easy way. We used to take it to the Millers. Millers are here somewhere. I don't know where they are, but we used to take it to Don Miller. We'd run over to their, over to their, umm, their farm and we dumped the SAP off there and they would, uh, they would boil it down for us and they would give us the syrup back on our way over there. The kids would all like to get off at the barn before we went to the sugar shack.
And they'd always ask, you know, can we go on the bar? Can we go see the cows? Very interesting.
The children, they can go in the barn.
They don't have to look at a cow, they don't have to touch a cow, but they come out smelling just like a cow. You know, association with evil defile it does. And that's why Pharaoh here, he says, yes, go, go and worship just like you want to, but don't go very far away. Just that association to piles. Oh, how that slays me in so many areas of my life.
#5 Let's turn over to.
The 10th chapter.
Verse 9 Let's read from verse 7. And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this men be a snare unto us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Nor thou not that Egypt is destroyed. And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh. And he said unto them, Go, serve the Lord your God. But who are they that shall go? And Moses said, We will go with our young, with our old, with our sons, with our daughters, with our flocks, with our herds, will we go, For we must hold a feast unto the Lord.
And he said unto them, Let the Lord be with you as I will let you go, and your little ones look ye to it, for evil is before you not so go now ye that are men, ye that are men, the 5th compromise sure go. They're just the men go. It's interesting that.
00:20:00
What preceded?
The downfall.
Every civilization.
In history, whether it was the Grecian Empire or whether it was the Roman Empire, you see the British Empire, uh, you see it in this land.
Civilization after civilization was.
Their downfall was preceded by three things. One was moral evil.
One was violence and the third was the breakdown of the family. The breakdown of the family.
I would say a word now to those who are young men here, particularly those that are newly married, those that are young fathers.
My brother once said to me when the children started to come along.
That he said beware that when your wife is real busy with the children.
That in your time in the Word, you don't get into a position where you grow spiritually away from your wife.
Don't get into that snare.
It won't be helpful to your family.
Here, Farrell said. Go and serve the Lord, but just the men. Go. Just the men, not the rest of the rest of you can stay here, just you that are men.
The enemy's way. Let's carry on.
The end of the UMM.
Of the 10th chapter.
Pharaoh changes his tactic now in verse 24. And Pharaoh called unto Moses and said, go ye serve the Lord only. Let your flocks and your herds be stayed. Let your little ones also go with you here. Now he's not saying the men to go now, he's suggesting just the flocks and the herds. Now that's been searching to my own heart, very searching to my own heart from this standpoint that the flocks and hers would perhaps speak to me of my business.
And those of us who are in the workforce, and for those of you who are younger in school, are you different at school? Am I different at work than I am at home or that I am in the assembly? You know, the enemy would have it that way. He would have it that way. He would have our lives to be different. We had the force. The thought of the Lord brought the forces, the fine flower, that perfect evenness that we have in the Lord Jesus, we have in the coat that was without seeing from top to bottom.
Lord would have that in our own lives too, that I would be the same in the assembly as I am at work. I am with my family here. Pharaoh, he wanted there to be a difference. He says let the flocks and herds be stayed. Now the last one, which is so solemn to me, let's go to the 12Th chapter, the 12Th chapter of Exodus, because we go through this chapter and we find what a marvelous chapter, the Passover, the Lord's Passover.
When it's all over, we read in verse 30, Moses as Pharaoh rose up in the 19 all his servants and all the Egyptians.
There was a great cry in Egypt where there was not a house, where there was not one dead.
And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and let you go forth from the.
From my people, both ye and the children of Israel, and go serve the Lord, as ye have said. Also take your flocks and your herds as ye have said, and be gone.
And here's the last compromise. And bless me also.
So if Pharaoh comes to the and the point in his life where he says OK, go and serve the Lord.
Take everything, go as far as you want, take your flocks, take your herds, take the men, take the woman, take the children, take it all. Go and do everything just like you wanted. However, bless me also, keep a little spot in your heart for me too. You know, doesn't the enemy of our souls do the same thing? He says, live the life of a believer. Do it just like you want to, in every way. Serve the Lord in every way, but keep a little spot in your heart for me. What a solemn thing.
That the enemy presents.
That to our hearts, just like Pharaoh did it to the people of God at the end when he had his first born slain.
He wanted the people of God to keep a little place in their hearts for Him.
So here's Farrell with his hardened heart.
And now what's the word to us? Let's turn to the book of Job.
The book of Job, because we can get so hardened to these things, these things that the enemy presents to our own souls, that are compromises that we take and we bring them into our lives. And there's such a detriment, those seven things here in Job the 7th, the 23rd chapter, and we'll just end with this Job chapter 23 and verse 16 for God.
00:25:15
Make us my heart.
Soft.
And I'd like to bring a few scriptures before our mind.
I'm I purpose not to take very long because they say that.
Grief is the soul of wit. So I'll try to be very brief in what I have to say, but I do have a few things I'd like to bring before us. Our minds might be exercised with and I wanna read a verse in Philippians, the 2nd chapter.
And the verse that comes to my mind.
Is uh, verse 5.
Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus. Can we just look to the Lord for His help in this little time to come? Again, our gracious God and our Father, we thank Thee that we have Thy precious word. We thank Thee for the great work of redemption that has done in our souls. We thank Thee, our Father, that we belong to Thee, and we thank Thee that Thou art there to help us. And so we look to thee and pray that.
As these few scriptures are brought before our minds that they might challenge our hearts, Lord, and they might stimulate us that we might be more dedicated to Thee and we might be able to honor and glorify Thee more in each day of our lives. We ask you, thank the Lord through our Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. I want to leave this text with you in verse five. Let this mind be in you.
Which was in Christ Jesus.
Isn't that a good challenge for each of our hearts? Let me ask you, let me ask myself, is this mine and me that was in Christ Jesus? It should be. What mind was that? I think we we read further here and I'll just read these. Just bring our attention to them. It says who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation.
And took upon him the form of a servant, and was made.
And the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man.
He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Now verse that's really on my mind I believe is the next verse, verse 12.
Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in My presence only, but now much more in My absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
Verse 14 Do all things without murmuring and disputing, that you may be blameless, the harmless, the sons of God, without rebuking the middle, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation.
In context, what the Apostle Paul, I believe, is doing here, he's giving us the perfect example of the one who was none other than the eternal creator of this vast universe.
Deity, the God who made the wonders of heaven above the galaxies. They tell us that there's millions of galaxies with millions and billions of stars in them.
And this God is a great God, but I would have you to remember and to know tonight.
That he came down to earth, He became a man, and the Scripture tells us now as his example. Let this mind dwell in you, which was in Christ Jesus. Let us take this with us from this conference. God wants us.
00:30:14
To have that mind of Christ and that mind of Christ, I believe was a mind of humility, humbleness of mind. There's a text in the and and and and access I'd like to read in verse 29 of Exodus. God saves us that he might dwell in US.
And Exodus 29 if you notice.
I think it's.
I'm sorry, verse verse 45.
Well, let's read verse 44 and I will sanctify the Tabernacle of the congregation and the altar. I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons to minister to me in the priest office. Now this is to the end to which the Lord is going is doing this, and verse 45 and I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God, and they shall know that I am the Lord their God that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell.
Among them God wants to dwell amongst his people now with us, He dwells within us. And it tells us there in this verse that I read, he says, for it is God which worketh in you.
God is in you, He's working. He wants to work and be before that. Of course, it, it, it tells us here and uh, in verse 12, it says now much more absence. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. I understand this is an imperative, uh, mood. It's a command. It's something not just up for options that you may or you may not do this here tells us that it's a command on the part of God. Work out your own salvation.
With fear and trembling. Then in verse 13 it says it is God.
Which worketh in you both to will and to do.
Of his good pleasure. God redeems his people, you and me, that he might dwell in US. God dwells in US. It tells us in First Corinthians. I think it's the 6th chapter and I'll just read that briefly.
It tells us in First Corinthians 6 and verse 19 what know ye not, that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost?
God dwells in you. Are you born again? Have you been washed in the blood of Christ? I'm not asking if you have made a profession of Christianity. And you know, when God sends his great salvation to us, it's not just say an escape mechanism that you can put your say a few magic words like the preacher said. Sometimes they say, are you a Sinner? Yes, I'm a center. You believe Christ died for you? Yeah, I believe Christ died for you. Well, you're a Christian. No.
The great work of transaction begins when a person comes as a lost Sinner, completely undone and comes to God and he gets a new nature.
As many as received him to them gave he the power to become the children of God.
You there's something, a great transaction happens. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. All things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.
Has that ever happened to you? Have you been a new creature? Have have you passed from death to life? And it tells us here in this versatile. I chose to just bring before us briefly, and I do wanna be very brief, but I wanna leave with you the fact that this verse here where it tells us in verse 12 That it, it is a command. It it says wherefore, beloved, as you have always obeyed now in my present, not in my presence only, but now much more in my absence.
Work out your own.
Salvation with fear and trembling and we have been talking to this afternoon, uh today's at times about the fact that that we should take time. God should be first he's not going to be second. It's a sad thing and I met someone here recently. They make a profession of Christianity. But God isn't first in our life is God first in your life? He wants to be first. Are you a new creature in Christ Jesus Have you passed from death unto life now now what in the next verse here says.
00:35:09
Is, is a, a a verse 14, do all things without murmuring. I mean, sorry, verse 13 work out. Uh, if it is God which worketh in you, who works in you is the present indicative? It's a continuous sense God is working in you. Hopefully if you're a Christian and he's working in you to do what to do his good pleasure and God's good pleasure is that we might be conformed.
To the image of his son, that's the ultimate end and I just want to read that.
From from uh, the pistol to Romans briefly. I think it's in the 8th chapter.
Is it beautiful? Verse 29.
For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate, to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brothers. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called them He also justified. And whom He justified, then He also glorified. So what God is wants to do to you and me wants to conform us.
To the image of his beloved son. Now I read that scripture and you heard it read, you probably read it many times yourself. Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus. That mind was a mind of loneliness and humility. Now he speaks here about obeying. He says not only in my in when I was absent, but in my present, but when I was absent. And that's the key. I believe in the reason why.
The apostle here brings in you say, well, this seems like a strange thing to bring in as soon as he, he outlines this wonderful thing about the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory who came down here, became a man, went to the cross and laid down his life, suffered under the judgment of Almighty God, rose from the dead. And now he's given us an example of this one who condescended such a low place. And then he tells us in this thing that we should.
Work out our own salvation. And he says God is working in you now.
What's God gonna do with us? It's gonna change us. That's what sanctification is. Sanctification is God wants to change you into something that you were not. And that's what we have in Romans, that little text and Romans, the I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that that you bend your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed. You know that word occurs four times in Scriptures.
Two times it occurs when Jesus was transformed into another form. That word is like metamorphosis is is something you like a butterfly. A butterfly goes into a worm goes into a cocoon that comes out of beautiful butterfly. Well, that's the word that what we have here and we have the same word occurring in second Corinthians the third chapter where it tells us we open with open face beholding as in the glass the glory of the Lord are changed. That word changed is the same word is transformed.
That's the same word that Jesus was transformed on the mount of Figuration.
That's what God wants to do. He wants to make you into something that you were not.
And that's why he saved us. He wants to dwell in US. And as a detection and another text I want to bring our attention to. Well before we do that, I want to, I want to mention this. He goes right in to do things without murmuring and disputing.
Well, people don't do that, do they?
I was talking to my stepson and he's Deacon in a Baptist Church.
He says, I have all kinds of problems was telling me about it. You know, I said, well, listen, that's characteristic of any people who come together. I said, when you get people together, you have all different levels of understanding, levels of intelligence, levels, different levels of, of, of spirituality. And, uh, and they do have murmurs and disputings. This is what the apostle Paul is trying to tell us here, that we, if we follow out what the Lord has laid out here.
And have the Lord Jesus Christ as our object before our souls. And if we are allowing, if we are doing what it says here, work out our own salvation, submitting to the word of God, reading the word of God, looking to the Lord for help and grace. And then it's God will work in us. He will change us without disputing. I talked to another brother that was having trouble in his churches and, and I said, listen, I said, no matter what who you people you get, you might be the Lions Club, you might be the the Rotary Club, you might be the Baptist Church, you might be the Methodist Church, you might be the Presbyterian Church.
00:40:29
I said when you bring people together, it's people, he said. Oh, you shouldn't compare.
The the Lord's people with these clubs and and so forth. I said, listen, human nature is human nature. All of us have the seeds of the flesh. There's envy, there's jealousy, there's pride in every one of us. And we have to be able to let this mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus. We have to submit to the Lord. We have to work out our own salvation and we do that by the Spirit of God in Romans. I won't turn to her because I want to wrap this up real quickly.
But in Romans chapter 8. Now listen to this verse, if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you.
He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit which dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live out to the flesh. If you live after the flesh, you shall die, but if you through the Spirit to mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. So what's the apostle saying? That verse may have reference to the fact that.
Uh, our mortal bodies will be quickened at the last day at the resurrection, but I believe there's another application to it. If you look at that text, and I think it's a Romans 8, uh, eight, uh, anyhow, when it says there.
And and that chapter.
OK, verse 12, if you live after the flesh, you shall die. What does that mean? You're going to die physically or does it mean you're going to die eternally? Does it mean that you're not really saved and and you're going to die? How are you going to die? Then it goes on to say, but if you through the Spirit to mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. Now what does that mean? We already have life. I believe he's telling us that's the victory that we can have through the Holy Spirit.
If ye through the flesh do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Then he goes on to say, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
And then he goes on to say, for you have not received the spirit of ******* again to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption wherewith we cry ABBA father, that word is only used a few times in Scripture. The Lord Jesus uses it once and I think Paul uses it twice in Galatians in here. ABBA father, it means of of a relationship that we have with him. And so I'd just like to conclude by reading what our brothers sort of there and and and exodus. And I just want to re because we're talking about what God will do for us. We're talking about.
The mind of Christ Jesus dwelling in US. We're talking about working out our own salvation. We're talking about God who works in US and God is working with us. Now in the 6th chapter of Exodus, our brother read that and I was thinking that when the judge just like to call your attention to this in conclusion, he says verse 5, verse four, I have established my covenant with them. Verse five, I have also heard the groanings of my children.
Of Israel and verse end of the verse I have remembered my covenant and verse six, I will bring you out from the burden of Egypt. I will rid you of the *******. I will redeem you with the outstretched arm. Verse seven, I will take you to me for a people and I will be to you a God. And verse eight, I will bring you into the land and verse into that verse 8 the middle of it, I will give you it to you for inheritance. So you see what God wants to do. He wants to bless his people.
He not only wants to dwell in them as I mentioned and, and, and that the 29th chapter of Exodus. He wanted to dwell among them. He dwells within us by the grace of God. If we've been born again by the Spirit of God, if we've opened up our hearts and let ask the Lord Jesus Christ to come in. And I want to just say the last word that I want to say is this is that God must be first in your life. He will not take the 2nd place, believe me.
00:45:04
I said this to her, a friend of mine, I don't, I don't remember getting old little Sea now, but I don't remember who it was recently, but a couple days. I, I, I, I, I encourage him, I said to him.
God will not take the 2nd place He wants.
The first place.
Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus, and walked in and fellowship with him, and let him bless you and work out your own salvation. But remember, it's God that worketh in you both the will and to do of his good pleasure.
When I read that verse in Job chapter 23, just before I begin with the subject, that's on my heart this afternoon.
Job 23 and verse 16.
That, her brother read, For God maketh my heart soft.
Men in John's Gospel, chapter 6.
And verse 30.
I can do a kind of my own self, do nothing, as I hear I judge, and my judgment is just because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me there was a heart.
The heart of our Savior was so soft.
That he would rather obey and die rather than disobey. But the first Adam, he would rather disobey and die. Here we have in John's Gospel chapter 6, just a little picture of how the Lord Jesus was so sensitive to his Father's will. It says I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which sent me. Well, I'd just like to look at a few scriptures in connection with the fear of the Lord. The first one is already being quoted in these meetings in Proverbs chapter one.
I think it's verse seven and just look at a few scriptures in in connection with the fear of the Lord. Now the fear of the Lord, I believe.
A nice succinct little description of it is our definition is being afraid to displease the Lord. And it says in verse 7, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise wisdom and instruction. And so there's a beginning. There's a principle part of wisdom and instruction and and knowledge, divine knowledge.
And it's the softness of the heart. It's a desire in the heart never to displease the one that we love. Never, never to walk or to break that communion between the Creator and between the one that He purchased with His own blood on the cross of Calvary. There's a desire in my heart, perhaps in yours, God-given, that produces that softness of heart. And we desire to walk closely with the Lord and never, never.
To displease them in anything. Well, that's the beginning of knowledge. It's the beginning of a work in the soul. When we accept Christ as Savior and then as the Son, as the Son, as a as a child of God, we begin to try to find out what it is that pleases the Lord and what displeases him. And that's chapter 2 and verse. For the sake of time, I don't have time to read a lot of these verses, but in verse.
Chapter 2 and verse 3 let's read yeah, if thou cryest after knowledge and lift us up thy voice for understanding, if thou seekest for her as silver and searchest for her As for hid treasures, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. You know God has desired to hide in his word little Nuggets, little treasures in his word, their hid treasures, their hid for the.
Heart that desires to please Him, the tender heart, the soft heart, the heart that will respond to Himself when the Word is read and when the word of obedience is given, the word from the Lord as to what would please Him. Why the heart is prepared of God. I believe if we just desire to search the Word, Mrs. Really how we find fear of the Lord is searching the Word, reading the Word of God, reading it and reading it, reading it, and not only that, but making it our own, meditating upon it, and having a value for those spoken words of the Lord He's given us.
His revelation given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. I want to ask a question.
This afternoon.
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Are you afraid to displease the Lord?
You desire to walk so closely with the Lord, so closely that you get up in the morning. You know that I have an older brother once tell me he's over 100 years old now, still alive. He said, you know, I get up in the morning, I wake up and I say good morning, Lord. And he starts this morning in the presence of God. He desires to know what it is to have that communion with his Savior as soon as he wakes up. Are you afraid to displease the Lord?
We live in a society. We live in a world that is not afraid to displease God.
It says in Romans chapter 3 that there is No Fear of God before their eyes. There is No Fear of God. So this world doesn't fear God doesn't isn't afraid of displeasing the Lord in any way. It wants what's pleasures and it's entertainments and all the sports and so on, but it wants it without Christ. Now let's just turn to the 119th Psalm. This one has been this verse of Scripture was quoted a little earlier.
And it's foundational.
In verse 63119, Psalm the verse 63, I am a companion of all them that fear thee and of them that keep thy precepts. Oh, you and I make choices. We sometimes, I know this was taken up in connection with young people, but we, we as older ones make choices of what our friends are as well, who our companions are, those who will keep company with those with whom will enjoy fellowship and the things of God together, and so on.
And here the psalmist says with a soft and a tender heart, he says, I'm the companion of all them that fear thee. I want to be a companion of those that are tender hearted towards the Lord, those that want to walk in communion with him, and those that are afraid to displease the Lord, those that want to maintain that communion with the Lord. Well, it says of them that keep thy precepts as well. And so the communion is maintained with the Lord Jesus.
As we have a desire to walk in obedience to His precious Word and not to stray from it.
Well, let's turn back to Proverbs chapter 23, a verse of Scripture that I often think of in verse 17.
The Spirit of God says there, Let not thine heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. It's Mr. Darby's translation renders it, Let not thine heart envy sinners, but let it covet. Let thine heart covet the fear of the Lord, Let it covet. The fear of the Lord covet. The fear of the Lord covet. A tender heart covet.
A sensitivity to the feelings of the Lord Jesus. There was a man who went to the cross of Calvary.
Bore the judgment for my sins and for yours, if you know him.
In the greatest tenderness of heart expressed his love. He expressed the love of the father. He said, you're going to be in the father's house. I'm not going to spare any blessing for you. There's only one thing I'd like. He says, my son, give me thine heart. In verse 26, my son, give me thine heart. And he says, you know, Egypt's going to have all of those compromises. Pharaoh's going to have all kinds of things spread out, going to look very good.
He says you don't envy those sinners. Don't envy sinners because they're going on the way of self will and they're going in in a lost eternity. They're going in on to judgment and don't envy the way of sinners and the path of sinners. But covet a tender heart cover, covet a soft heart, covet a heart that doesn't want to displease the Lord in anything not nice. He tells us what to covet. He tells us what's important.
In this scene while we wait for him to come.
Well, if we turn over to Nehemiah Chapter 7, we'll find another little passage there that speaks of the fear of the Lord.
And this one has to do, I believe, particularly with oversight. Nehemiah Chapter 7 and verse two. I gave my brother henna, and I and Hananiah, the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem. For he was a faithful man and feared God above many. Well, it was faithfulness to Christ, faithfulness to the Word of God that really motivated this man, and he feared God above many.
That is, that there were the degrees, perhaps degrees, of sensitivity to the feelings of the Lord, and this man was extremely sensitive to the feelings of the Lord.
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Some of us have children and some children love to please their parents.
They are sensitive to the feelings of the parents and it's a pleasure to a parent to see that in a child. Just sensitive to desire to please the parent. But there are others in the family that have a similar feeling, but it's not very intense and they don't mind displeasing the parents to get their own way sometimes.
But this man feared God above many.
And he was of a character that it was noticeable that in every aspect of his life he desired to please the Lord. He had a soft heart, a tender heart, and he wanted to please the Lord in connection with the.
The work that was going on in Nehemiah's days and the doors of Jerusalem were set up, the gates there. Well, if we turn over to the 25th Psalm, we'll just get a couple more.
The 25th Psalm and verse 12. What man is he that feareth the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way that he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease, and his seed shall inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them his covenant. Well, what man is he that feareth the Lord? The Divine Pen? The writer writes, Who is it? And it says here that He Him shall he teach or instruct in the way that he shall choose. There is a path of Divine.
A divine safety, divine blessing, a path that God has planned for you and for me.
And we need to be taught of the way of God. And there has to be a soft heart, a tender heart towards the Lord Jesus if we're going to be teachable. And the Lord Jesus desires us to be taught in the ways of righteousness that taught the ways of.
Obedience taught the safety through the scene, and there's a choice that the Lord says that He's going to make.
It's the way that He shall choose. You and I have choices to make every day and oftentimes we desire to choose our own way. But God in his grace says if your tender hearted, I'll tell you what way to go.
I'll tell you the right way. You may not know which way to go, and it's difficult to know because the flesh and sense deceive. But if you have a tender heart, I'll teach you by the Word, and you stay close and I'll tell you. Then his soul shall dwell at ease. There's going to be rest in the presence of God. His seed shall inherit the earth. We know that this is really in connection with the children of Israel, these Psalms. But we have comfort that the Scriptures are written in a broad sense, that we might make application even to ourselves.
And so while we don't get an inheritance in the earth, we do get a reward from the Lord. We do get a a conscious sense of his presence and the reward of a clear conscience. Isn't that nice? You and I, if we have tender hearts towards that blessed Savior, we can have that kind of reward. Well, it says the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. So there's an intimacy and a private communication between the Lord and a soul. And it's in connection with the word of God. It's never separated from the word of God.
We know that, you know, sometimes we say that we're searching for the truth, and I'm thankful for those that say in this room that they're searching for the truth of God and want to walk in the truth of God. Well, it's written in the word of God, but God desires to tell us.
If we want to do, if we're willing to do his will, we shall know the doctrine. And so the heart needs to be tender and the secret, the very hidden things, the purposes of God. Daniel was brought before us this afternoon.
And there were some secrets revealed to Daniel that no one else in the Kingdom knew, because Daniel was tender hearted. Daniel wanted to know what it was to walk with the Lord in communion. And so he will show him his covenant. There's promises that the Lord has made to us. Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age. And He gives us little bits and pieces, little promises to encourage our hearts and to cheer us in this scene. I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
And we have that sense of his presence if we walk with a tender heart, a conscience that's tender towards him. Well, let's just turn to Malachi Chapter 3, just for one more here.
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Verse 16 Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it in a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts. And that day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare him them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God, and him that serveth him not.
Well, this was written in a day of ruin, a day of weakness, a little remnant that desired to please the Lord, and right there in that little testimony.
About 500 years before, perhaps 400 years before, the Lord came and appeared in the temple. He writes this, that there were those that feared the Lord, those that were afraid to displease him, and they spake 1 to another, not nice. They encourage one another. They were speaking to one another and.
It's a very difficult thing perhaps to go through this world that doesn't have any compunctions about disobeying the word of God. And they want to have the world but without Christ. And then, you know, the world has its operation. It's it's, it has its effect upon our hearts. And the Lord observed that there was a desire in the hearts of those that were tender hearted towards him, those that had soft hearts. They wanted to speak to one another. They wanted to encourage one another. They wanted to strengthen one another.
And that book of remembrance was written for him before, for them before him. But he says that they feared him and that thought upon his name. And so they acknowledged his authority. They had in a sense of what his authority was. And they were Speaking of the name of the Lord and how it was treated in the day that they lived in. Well, you know, there's the Lord says here in verse 18 that they would return and they would discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not if you have a tender heart towards the Lord, if you desire to walk in tender heartedness.
Afraid to displease the Lord, maintaining communion with Him. You're going to be able to discern what's right and what's wrong. You're going to be able to discern by the Word of God, by the truth that's given, who it is that serves God and him that serveth him not. And you'll be able to walk in a clean path. You know, that's the last verse that really I wanted to refer to this afternoon. In the 19th Psalm, it says the fear of the Lord is clean. It's a clean path.
And it's a filthy, filthy world that we live in. Filthy.
And we ought to be afraid to displease the Lord as to what we see with our eyes, what we where we go with our feet, and what we touch, what we handle with our hands. We ought to be afraid to displease the Lord, and if we'll be tender hearted with that softness of heart.
The fear of the Lord is clean is going to end in a clean path. Wouldn't it be nice for us each one here at this this this this conference to refuse all of Pharaoh's compromises refuse the intrusions of this world into even divine things. And if there is a searching that there might be a tender heart in each one of our hearts to what the Lord is saying in his word. And if there is something that's inconsistent in your life and mine that we would have the grace of God to judge it and to.
Exercise self judgment that there might be a restored tenderness of heart before him.
Uh-huh.
No, I don't like it.
01:05:27
Uh.
Our God and Father has heard this little prayer that we have just sung together. We trust. It's the earnest and sincere prayer and desire of each of our hearts. And now we ask blessing on Thy word to our souls as it's been before us. We ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and for His glory. Amen.