Open—B. Prost, B. Imbeau, R. Boulard
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Perhaps following up on what we have had before us.
Could we turn back to the Old Testament again, this time to the book of Second Samuel? Second Samuel?
Right at the beginning of Second Samuel in the first chapter.
We find that very touching lament of David concerning his beloved friend Jonathan.
Notice what he says here.
It's not merely Jonathan.
We want to notice that.
First Samuel chapter one and verse 17.
And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and over Jonathan his son.
And then going down a little further.
Verse 21.
Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew, neither let there be rain upon you, nor fields of offerings.
For there the shield of the mighty is vilely castaway, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil from the blood of the slain, from the fat of the Mighty. The bow of Jonathan turned not back.
And the sword of Saul returned, not empty.
Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives.
And in their death they were not divided.
They were swifter than Eagles.
They were stronger than lions.
I'd like to speak just for a few minutes this afternoon, most of all to my own heart, but I trust it has an application to all of us.
To speak a little about Saul and Jonathan and David.
Here we find David speaking about both Saul and Jonathan.
And it is very noticeable here.
The David speaks only of that which is positive.
You and I in reviewing the history of Saul.
No doubt would say what a lot there was that was negative and even in dear Jonathan, as we have often been reminded, and I don't need to tell you this, you know it as well as I.
The dear Jonathan, although he had a heart of love for David.
And although there was a bond between them, perhaps that was not exceeded by any other on this earth.
Yeah, we have often been reminded that there was a failure of dear Jonathan to share rejection with David.
And although we are, I believe, reasonably.
Confident in saying that Saul was not a born again soul.
Sad to say, every evidence points to the contrary. On the other hand, I believe we can see in Jonathan one who truly was the Lords and who had a heart for Christ.
That is in the sense of the Old Testament. He had a heart for the Lord.
But for the moment, we want to talk about both of them because there was that which characterized both of them, which I believe eventually was their downfall.
Saul was a man for whom natural things.
Held a grip on his soul.
The energy of nature was what animators saw right from the beginning. Why was that? So all the people had to bear some responsibility for that because they said to.
Samuel, give us a king. We want one like the nations around us.
And the Lord said, as it were, I'll give you that kind of a man, if that's what you want.
I will give you that kind of a man. Physically he was head and shoulders above everyone else.
He had a lot going for him.
But it was largely the energy of nature.
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Were there good things in Saul's life? You can find things if you record them, if you look in Scripture rather and find them recorded that Saul had done for the Lord.
And you can see here in the account that David gives.
And I don't believe, for my own soul anyway, that David is deliberately, shall we say?
Resorting to the kind of flattery and the kind of talk that sometimes goes on at funerals where all kinds of glowing words are said concerning the departed one. And when most of those in the audience know very well that it is just a lot of hype, just a lot of talk.
No, I don't believe David is a man of God did that. I believe that David was honest and meant everything he said here.
Yes, the sword of Saul had not returned empty. Yes, the beauty of Israel had been slain upon its high places. Saul and Jonathan were indeed pleasant in their lives.
And there was more than that.
Turn for a verse that's a little obscure, but it's remarkable in First Chronicles.
First Chronicles chapter 26 I believe it is.
Now here we find the record of David when he dedicated many things that he had amassed for the building of Solomon's Temple.
And notice what it says here.
Verse 27.
Well, to get the connection, let's read verse 26.
Which Sheila met.
And his brethren were all Excuse me?
Which Sheila Meth and his brethren, which were over all the treasures of the dedicated things.
Now here with David the King.
And of the chief fathers, the captains over thousands and hundreds, and the captains of the host had dedicated out of the spoils won in battle.
Did they dedicate to maintain the House of the Lord? But notice this.
And all that Samuel the seer and saw, the son of Kish, and Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Zerowaya, had dedicated. And whosoever had dedicated anything, it was under the hand of Shiloma and of his brethren.
Imagine.
Saul had dedicated things for the House of the Lord. So had his captain Abner. So had Joab, another man in whom the energy of nature and the appeal of natural things took precedence. The Spirit of God records that they had put things aside, dedicated them for the House of the Lord.
What about Jonathan?
Dear Jonathan, oh what a love he had for David.
What a heart there was between them.
I stand corrected on this, but there seems to be, if you read scripture carefully, a disparity in their ages.
We tend to think of them both as being young men, but it seems that Jonathan probably was quite a bit older than David and yet there was a bond that existed there.
But notice what the Spirit of God says. Turn back, please, to First Samuel again.
Chapter 20.
The last verse.
42.
And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, for as much as we have sworn, both of us in the name of the Lord, saying, The Lord be between me and thee.
And between my seed and thy seed forever.
And he arose and departed, and Jonathan went into the city.
And then over a couple of chapters to the 23rd chapter.
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And we find there again in verse 18.
And they too, that is, David and Jonathan, made a covenant before the Lord, and David abode in the wood.
And Jonathan went to his house.
Why do I read all this?
Always say to your heart and mine, we have been reminded that we are living in the last days.
And there are difficulties in the pathway of faith, but it has always been so.
And here was a situation where there was a Saul and there was a Jonathan.
And there were good things in their lives that the Spirit of God records.
Toward God. Now again I say, I believe Saul unhappily was a lost soul, and Jonathan was one who had true life. But for the moment, I believe the Spirit of God recognizes what was there for the Lord, even though perhaps it was, at least in Saul's case, hidden behind so much that was of nature and of the flesh. But the Spirit of God records it.
And Saul had an effect on dear Jonathan.
So that in one occasion it's recorded that Jonathan went to the city and on another occasion he went to his house.
I suggest in principle those are the two things.
That the spirit of or that the devil uses.
The spirit of this world.
To draw aside true believers, the city would speak of that which man has made a congregation, as it were, of mankind where there.
Is activity where there is something that I can look to? I'm part of something.
I have a place in it.
And the house would speak of those family connections.
Which are so near and dear.
Did David feel it when he had to go out into the wilderness? Indeed he did. Did he feel the separation from his family? Indeed he did.
We're still perhaps, in some ways, did he feel the fact.
That dear Jonathan went to the city, went to his house.
What kind of men were there in the wood with David? What kind of men were there in The Cave of a Dullum? Were they beautiful characters all the time? Read the history.
Oh my, what happened when Ziklag was burned? What did those men do? Oh, it said they spake of stoning David. Imagine stoning him.
They speak of stoning, David.
What kind of man was Joab? What kind of man was that?
Oh, on one occasion David has to say concerning them, he says.
These men the sons of be too strong for me. The Lord shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness.
Those were the kind of men with David.
And I say to my own heart, as I say to each one, here in the pathway of faithfulness to Christ.
You and I will have to take our eyes off the kind of men that go with David.
You'll have to take your eyes, let's put it very personal. Off the likes of me, off the likes of others. Who perhaps.
On occasion the Lord has to deal with them because they have done that which is displeasing to Him. Or perhaps on occasion there is activity, there are attitudes, there are things said and done that so grieve the soul that it's very tempting.
To go back into the city or to go back home, I can't take that anymore.
The energy of nature.
Can take you a certain distance in the things of God. And I don't want to be misunderstood by that comment. I don't mean that anything of nature or of the flesh can in that sense have any value in the sight of God. But what I mean to say is that the energy of nature can to some extent allow me to walk, at least outwardly in a path that seems pleasing to the Lord. But it'll never last, because sooner or later I'll end up.
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Either going into the city because the offense of the cross is too much.
Few days ago I was reading an old letter that was written over 150 years ago.
And the dear brother said something like this. He said what brought me out?
Simply to gather to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He said. Was it a big group of people?
Was it brethren? He said no, there weren't any.
There weren't any to join. Was it the fact that there would be many nice things there? No, he said.
What brought me out?
It was Christ and he said if it is Christ that has brought me out, I trust it is Christ that will keep me there.
I say to my own heart, as I say to each one.
The reference point must be David. What did David do when his men threatened to stone him?
He encouraged himself in the Lord his God.
What did he do when his men behaved in such a way that it was too much for him to undertake to deal with it?
He said the Lord will have to reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness.
What did he do when there were difficulties and problems? Oh, there was a character there. No, I don't mean that David didn't fail. We know that every type falls short. But the reference point has to be David. And I say to your heart and mine, in these last days, I believe that Blessed One, the Lord Jesus Christ, morally and spiritually, still in The Cave of Adela. He's still out there in the wood. He's still there and he will not be given his rightful place until he comes.
With you and me. And there were those men, despicable in some cases though they were.
And in some cases, acting in the flesh, running ahead of dear David, and so on. Whereas as far as Jonathan is concerned, we don't realize, we don't read that he ever really displeased David in any way except in this one point.
He went back into the city. He went back to his home.
I sometimes wonder, I don't know, scripture doesn't say and I don't want to read into it what isn't there.
But if you read the account of David's mighty men.
In Second Samuel 23 you'll find very clearly there it says 30 and seven in all.
But if you count the names, there are only 36.
There is a second group of three is 1.
Is another, but the third one is not named. And obviously that third one is part of the group because the Spirit of God records that there are 37 when only 36 are named.
Is there a place there for Jonathan?
I don't know. I leave it to you to think about it.
Again, the Spirit of God doesn't record it, but I believe that God recognizes faithfulness.
And there are many today who are doing that which is for the Lord, and we bless God for it.
I say to your heart and mine.
Let's do all that. Let's have the the love of a Jonathan.
But at the same time, don't shy away from going into that rejection with Christ, from taking that place out in The Cave of a dolomite in the wood where perhaps it's very uncomfortable.
What is out there?
One thing.
David, David being a type of Christ and those men who share that rejection with David.
Had the privilege of sharing a Kingdom with him later. Now again every type falls short because Jonathan didn't share the Kingdom with David. And thank God, in a coming day no believer will be missing from that heavenly scene. And when those four and 20 elders are around the throne, not one place will be left unfilled.
But as we've been reminded in these meetings, Christ is hidden for now, as David was hidden in that day, and the world will not see him in power and glory until it sees you and me associated with Him.
It's a privilege to share his rejection.
Nsnoise.
Well, I think, umm, the weather is a bit. It's a lot of healthy drinks. Is it? There's a fire on the air flow miracle one day and the girlfriend who loves irritated me and the children and the mountains and $1000 and thousand and $1000 and 382.
Uh-huh.
Open up, please, to, uh, First Corinthians Chapter 11.
Has been referred to.
Yesterday and.
The, uh, Lord's Supper has been talked about quite a bit this weekend.
First Corinthians, Chapter 11.
And verse 17.
Now in this that I declare to you, I praise you not that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you, and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. When you come together therefore, into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's Supper. For eating everyone taketh before other his own supper, and one is hungry and another is drunken.
What have you not houses to eat, and to drink in, or despise you the Church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise you not, for I've received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks and break it, and said, Take heed, this is my body which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also He took the cup.
When he had stopped saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood. This do ye as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of Jesus of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
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For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged, but when we are judged or chased into the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. Wherefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, tarry one for another.
And if any man hunger, let him eat at home, that ye come not together unto condemnation, and the rest will I set in order when I come.
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. You know that ye were Gentiles carried away unto these dumb idols, even as you were led. Wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus a curse, and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of gifts at the same Spirit, and there are differences of administration with the same Lord, and there are diversities of operations, but it's the same God which worketh All in all.
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
And then it lists some things and I wanted to just, uh, we're familiar with these passages, of course, but I wanna drop down towards the end of this particular SE, uh, section.
Uh, verse 22. Nay, much more of those members of the body which seem to be more feeble or necessary, and those members of the body which we think to be less honorable. Upon these we bestow more abundant honour, and our uncommon parts have more abundant comeliness, for our commonly parts have no need. But God has tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked that there should be no schism in the body.
But that the members should have the same care one for another, and whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
Portion that I read is bounded by a word.
Which is kind of interesting. In chapter 12 verse 25 it says that there should be no schism in the body.
And in Chapter 11.
Verse 18 This first of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you.
And that is the same word.
And it basically means to tear. And as related, I understand, to the, uh, to the same word that, uh, the veil of the temple was rent and twain. So it's actually a, a tearing.
The context, this is something we've been going over together in Cago Falls and our what we commonly call our adult Sunday school class.
And it's been quite interesting and I and I basically relating what we have noticed there.
And it's been very helpful to to many of us.
The the section starts with kind of this ominous tone, you know?
And not only does it mention the word tear in verse 18, the word division there, but then a word that was mentioned yesterday in verse 19. There must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you now.
The word heresy we.
It's it's a bad word in our language. OK, it was not necessarily a bad word in the Greek.
Umm, as a matter of fact in in uh.
Peter, I believe it is to to make it a bad word. It's called a damnable heresy.
But.
If I understand right, it's it's, it's the word to choose, which was mentioned by our brother, uh, yesterday and.
It's it's really a sect. OK, we go. Well, that's not a cool word either.
Uh.
It's a school of opinion and we say, well, that's not so good either, But really it comes from the philosophies that the Greeks held, and there were different types of philosophies.
And you're familiar with some of the philosophers of the times past, like Plato and Aristotle. And, uh, as people got into this, they would, they would kind of associate with a certain philosopher such as the Epicureans and the, uh, there's a bunch of anyone who knows Greek history will rattle them off, but there was a lot of that. And, and that was, that was kind of the thought was that you just kind of have.
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You're kind of attracted to this philosophy and it's and you kind of adapt, adapt to it and you kind of live by this philosophy. And that's kind of this word here. You made a choice to kind of pick up this way of life and it wasn't necessarily bad. It didn't mean they were evil.
Uh, the word comes into our language now in English as being a very bad word. You know, you don't. You don't call somebody a heretic or say they have a heresy unless you're pretty serious about it.
So.
It's it's it's not as strong a word really as that word division or to tear.
Well, let's keep going. Because what? What's really Paul getting at?
When you come together in verse 20 into one place and by the way, my comments will basically just be Chapter 11 with just a few comments in chapter 12, but.
When you come together in one place, this is not to eat the Lord's Supper for an eating everyone taketh before other his own supper, and one is hungry, another is drunken. What have you not houses to eat, and to drink in, or despise you the Church of God, and shame them which have not? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise you not. Now here is the thing, here is believers.
Save exact same way that we're saved. Live a life that probably wasn't all that different from the lives that that we live.
Uh, they had the amenities of, of the city of Corinth, which was an extremely wealthy city, you know, so they probably had a good building. They probably had nice chairs to sit on for their day and it was fairly comfortable.
And they would get together and they would have a dinner.
But instead of having like what we call potluck dinner.
They would bring their own bag lunch.
Except it was more like a thermos lunch instead of a bag lunch, and some people had maybe two thermoses full of all kinds of good stuff. But there were some among them that were poor, and when they came, well, they had a bag lunch.
And this is not working very well.
So it's not working very well at all.
Because the poor felt bad.
And the ones that had a little bit more kind of flaunted it, apparently, and tucked into the thermos was also a wine bottle. And they seemed to have gotten a little tipsy as well. And on top of that.
They came together on Lord's Day where there would have been morning or evening, I don't know, but they also kind of associated with the Lord's Supper.
And they took these two things and they kind of combined them.
Now, it could be that earlier in church history, maybe they did have dinner and Lord's Supper at the same time.
But Paul is now saying, look, there's a difficulty happening here. We're going to make a separation between these two things can't go on like this. But what? What is the real problem here?
The real problem is a social issue.
The social issue being those that have more versus those that have less.
If we start at verse 22 and basically work backward up the verses, we get.
I believe the thought of Paul's concern and that was that there was a social issue in verse 22 That comes out in how they ate.
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There's verse 21, of course, what they did, but.
In verse 20, when you come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's Supper. You may be calling it something, but it really isn't that.
You've you've messed it up.
And it's become a real issue, something of such an issue. It came to his attention and he thought he had to say something about it.
And then in verse 19 there must also be heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.
Two things very important in that verse.
That are startling.
And that is, there is a social issue which has no ground, no basis, and especially is not valid in Christianity, not valid at all.
We don't walk up to somebody and say, well, I got a college education. You don't.
Or we say I live on this side of the tracks and you live on the other. That's that's not appropriate Christianity.
And they their conscience is apparently told them that that was not right.
And so something else had come in.
And that was the schools of opinion.
How am I going to justify?
Discriminating against you.
How am I going to do that? You pretend you're living in Corinth. OK, so you know that there's issue going on and and you're getting rumblings that that it's it's not appreciated. And so now you're going to justify it and you go, I've got it or you. We usually we're not usually that rational about it, but.
I have a different thought on scripture than you do.
And I'm right and you're wrong.
And so they started developing schools of opinion, probably on spiritual matters that justified the social discrimination.
And then we back up again to verse.
18 When you come together in the church, I hear that there be tears among you. And so has it gotten even more serious, probably beyond what they had anticipated.
In verse 19.
I'm gonna say something that may sound a little funny, but I trust you'll see the.
Not the significance, but the the reality of it.
You know when women talk together.
They talk together until they come to common ground.
When men talk together, they talk together until they disagree.
You just keep your ears open.
And that's the way it is.
Now there's a flip side to both of those. OK?
Gotta justify us guys somehow. There's a flip side to both of those #1 if you just kind of always seeking common ground, you know, things can things can go wrong by just doing that. On the other end though, it's interesting that there has been a habit since back a long ways, but probably at least since 1800s have come together in like reading meetings where people speak and sometimes there's points and counterpoint.
And you say, well, sometimes that's not so good, but think of how often when there is point and counterpoint, we go home and we check it out in the Bible.
There there can be value to that.
So get us off the hook somehow, OK, but I think the Lord there's there's wisdom in some of these things and and the Lord has given the way we are to sometimes give a little little building and we can appreciate that we can appreciate how the Lord's made it.
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The Lord has a solution to all of this. It's not a human solution.
Our social problems are real problem. Yes they are. We know they are.
I know they are.
It's it, yeah.
We can't fool ourselves.
They should not be a problem among believers. We know that also.
We should not start forming schools of opinions to somehow justify ourselves. We know that.
Well, what are you gonna do? Just tell people. Don't do this.
The Spirit of God has a different way.
Verse 23.
I have received the Lord.
Has been pointed out. Most of these points have already been made. It's not from the apostles that were there on the night that the Lord institute the supper. This is straight from the Lord. The Lord gave Paul this.
I received of the Lord that which I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread.
And when he had given thanks.
He break it and said, take heed, this is my body. And again, as was pointed out in the meetings here, the next the word about broken is really not there. This is my body which is for you. This do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup when he had sucked, saying this cup is the New Testament in my blood. This do ye as often as ye drink it in remembrance of me.
For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he comes.
When we sit down at the Lord's table.
To break breath, we are remembering that the Lord Jesus died.
What?
What item? What significant piece of information in this whole universe?
Could reduce us to thinking nothing of ourselves more than.
Considering that the Lord of glory came into this world as a person.
And died.
Because the issue here was to think nothing of self.
Social issues disappear when you don't think of yourself.
Schools of opinion disappear when you don't think of yourself.
And the death of Christ.
Will bring us to absolutely not think of ourselves.
Simply repeat some of the thoughts that we've had today.
At noon time.
On that Friday when the Lord was crucified.
The sun went out.
Went out for three hours.
We had that verse from Exodus.
About a darkness.
That could be felt.
What happened?
The Lord Jesus Christ was taking our sins.
And bearing them, taking them upon himself.
He's the one who scripture at least six times say that he gave himself.
He gave himself, and in those three hours of darkness he gave himself to be under the wrath of God, the rod of God, the man who saw that.
My eternal salvation depends on that.
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I am saved because.
Of those three hours of darkness.
Which Lord Jesus Christ bore my sins?
What do I have left to stand for in myself?
Nothing.
What an elegant solution to the difficulty that there was at Corinth.
What a way that the Spirit of God prompted or used spoke through the apostle Paul to put it in this way.
So is there an issue?
There's the solution. You sit down to remember that Jesus died for you. Now have you thought about the death?
And what it meant to him and where it really puts us.
You see, there apparently was a third group in Corinth.
Only just briefly alluded to, there seemed to be maybe because society seem to be much more stratified back then than our middle class society now. But there seem to be the wealthy and there's who were flaunting and the poor that were feeling bad, but there seemed to be other believers that actually had put their finger on the problem.
And we're trying to bring a solution and we have to go back, my apologies, but we have to go back to verse 19 again. But it's a very key little thing. There must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be manifest among you. And that last half of the verse is that other group. There were those apparently, that were waving the flag.
And going There's got to be a better way, brethren.
And God is saying.
Those folks that were getting it from both sides, they were right. They're gonna be approved.
The ones who in this issue.
Had the right point of view and it wasn't on side A and it wasn't on side B.
It was someone who just saw through the whole thing.
And said, let's turn to Christ, brethren, let's turn to Christ.
They're the ones that are proved.
The last part of the chapter here says if we judge ourselves.
And this is a little bit different word. This is more the word that comes at the end of verse 29 about discerning.
For if we.
How do we say it in English? If we figured out, you know, if you can work through it, if you can discern the situation.
Then you will not be judged.
When were judged for chastens of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world? Where for my brethren, when ye come together to eat. Now here's some practical things. Tarry one for another.
Don't let this social stuff get in the way. If you're going to have a dinner together, enjoy it together. Believers. Christians.
For no other reason than that you are Christians.
And it's what you want to do. You want to be together.
Verse 34 if Amen, hunger, there's a real issue on that side. Let him eat at his own house at home. They come not together unto judgment and the rest will I set an order when I come.
The Lord is a gracious Lord.
He wants us to have full appreciation of the death of Christ.
You know.
How many of us, and I will speak just really for myself, really appreciate what the death of Christ has done.
The breadth of it, the different avenues of it, the emotional impact of it.
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What it does to us, what it does for us.
What it will all mean to us that that moment when we enter the glory to see that resurrected one who has gone into death.
The one who bears those marks in his body and will apparently for all eternity.
Chapter 12 is not a social issue, it's actually things that God-given to us through His Spirit directly.
For the ministry and the building up of his people.
Can we? Sometimes?
View those things that are given to us. And by the way, the things that are given to us in this chapter, they may be, they may characterize our lives, our ministry, or it may be something that's short lived just for the moment, but whatever it is, it's from the Spirit.
And that's what's important.
It's from the Spirit.
But could we even take those things?
And turn them back and make them like the social things.
Could we find ourselves distinguishing ourselves based not on social? Oh, we're past that. We, we, we really get along, but.
Well, the Lord's given me this.
On that what the Lord's given me this.
Well, through the Spirit I have this.
Now these things we found at the end are designed so there would not be any terrors among the brethren.
Could it be that sometimes those things are?
Used to make a tear.
The exact opposite of what was given by the Spirit of God.
What's the solution to that?
We go right back to the breaking of breath.
The death of Christ.
In the Old Testament, and there's many ways of looking at this, but in the Old Testament, some of the sacrifices, there were things that were dropped into the blood.
The cedar.
And the hyssop and the scarlet.
Whether it's a social issue, whether it's a family issue, which is with.
Even if it's a spiritual issue or things we get spiritually.
Whatever they are.
It must all be dipped in the blood.
That is always the solution.
What a remarkable thing that we could sit down this morning. Remember the Lord in his death.
I was impressed by some of the thoughts of darkness this morning.
And I'm sure others were too.
A God who is light.
God, who is light.
Would of his own will.
Go into that darkness.
Just so against his nature.
Jesus Christ would go into that darkness.
Resolve the issue of.
Like to just turn to Exodus chapter 21?
Just read verse 5 that was read this morning.
Exodus chapter 21 and verse five. And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children.
I will not go out free. Then his master shall bring him unto the judges. He shall also bring him to the door, or unto the door post, And his master shall bore his ear through with it all, and he shall serve him forever. Well, those of us that were here in.
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Remember the Lord Jesus and His death this morning? Our hearts were touched at the end of the breaking of bread as this portion of Scripture was read and we recognized that there was, uh, the free will, uh, offering as it were, the Lord Jesus himself.
Desire to remain a servant forever, desire to remain a man forever. And uh, you know, we read in umm, Exodus or Isaiah chapter 6. I'm going to read it so that I don't misquote it. Isaiah chapter 6, prophetically of the Lord in the past, eternal age and the eternal councils of God.
He says in chapter 6 of Isaiah and verse eight also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us? Then said, I here am, I send me. And so isn't that lovely? The Lord Jesus came because He saw you and I in our need, but there was a desire in his heart to fulfill all of the counsels of God that the purposes of God might be made manifest.
And that God would be glorified as to the question of sin, that you and I might be forever in his presence as his companions. But in Isaiah there is that desire of heart, and we have it in Genesis chapter 222, don't we? They went, both of them together.
Then should I hear my send me? And so we read those verses of Scripture in Exodus chapter 21 and, uh.
You know, it demands a response of heart from the bride in chapter 24 of Genesis. I'd just like to read the question, Another question there in Genesis chapter 24.
It says there in verse 58.
And they called Rebecca, and said unto her, Wilt thou go with this man?
And she said I will go.
You know, my heart was struck, my heart was touched as those verses in Exodus chapter 21.
Were red this morning and I thought of this question that would go out perhaps from the heart of the Savior Himself to each one of them.
Perhaps from the heart of God Himself, the one who sent the Lord Jesus to accomplish His purposes of blessing.
Love to call you out of this world and to save your precious soul and mine, to make us a member of the body of Christ, a part of that bride that he's going to have in the eternal scene above. And he asked this question.
You and I.
With I'll go with this man.
A lovely response. 3 words I will go.
I will go.
Well, this is introductory to what I had on my heart here to read this afternoon. Just three verses really, in the Psalms, the 86th Psalm.
Verse 11. We'll read 3 verses here, and perhaps reverse refer to a couple of other verses of Scripture.
But in the 86 Psalm, we have this Psalm, it's a prayer of David. And, uh, the background is that the 10 tribes of Israel have come through the testing time and umm, they've been restored to the Lord. They're in the land. And uh, perhaps the Assyrian is not yet dealt with. It says in verse 14 that God, oh God, the proud are risen against me in the assemblies of violent men have sought after my soul and have not set thee before them. And so they're a little bit perhaps illities.
As they are in the land. But you know, these 10 tribes at one time in their history went out in idolatry and uh, their hearts were divided from the Lord himself and they went out in idolatry. They were taken and in the government of God, they were brought captive by the taken captive by the Assyrians. Now they've come back into the land.
And this is, uh, what they say in verse 11.
Teach me thy way, O Lord.
I will walk in thy truth.
Unite my heart to fear thy name.
I will praise Thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart.
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And I will glorify thy name forevermore, for great is thy mercy toward me, and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
There was a desire when they came into the presence of the Lord and when they evidenced His love for them. They experienced His deliverance. They experienced what it was to go through the wilderness and to be tested.
We're not going to read those portions in Ezekiel and so on.
But they've come into the land, and now they really, truly wanted to know the Lord.
They really, truly wanted to know that Blessed One who had gone to the effort to rescue them from the Assyrian and to take them out of the circumstances that they were in of adversity, and he brought them into his very presence, into the land and the blessing, and they wanted to know him.
They wanted to know his ways. So there's three things in the first verse here that we have. It's thy way, thy truth and thy name.
Three things that they desired to have.
But they said, teach me by way. Well, you know, they wanted instruction, divine instruction and instruction from the God that had created them. I want to ask you a question this afternoon. We've been here for this is the third day that we're together. Many things have been read from the Word of God, things that have touched our hearts, touched our consciences, and it's the desire of the Lord that we go back some other way.
Do we have a desire to know the way of the Lord?
To be taught of God, taught by the Spirit, what is the way of the Lord? You know, the disciples said, Thomas, I believe said to the Lord, how can we know the way? And the Lord Jesus responded to him in John's Gospel chapter 14. He said, I am the way, the truth and the life. And so here's an honest question. He says dishonest, teach me thy way, oh Lord.
And in the this is Jehovah that's being spoken of, addressed. Teach me thy way, O Jehovah.
And in the French translation it's.
The Eternal 1.
There is a course for the eternal glory of God.
That you and I can walk in this scene while we wait for him to come, while we wait for the Lord Jesus to come. We can walk in the path that has an eternal view because everything that we do here has eternal consequences. The Lord is going to be for the glory of the Lord or it's going to be lost in this scene. And so he desires here to be taught, not nice. Do you have a desire? Do I have a desire to be taught of God, to learn something from that God?
Who sent his only begotten Son into the world?
That I might not perish, but that I might have everlasting life. Well, it says here there's a promise, as it were. I will walk in thy truth.
Well, there's a divine course of life. There's a walk, there's a path, and there's a step, one step at a time. And perhaps like the, uh, ones that are speaking here prophetically, you have come to these meetings and perhaps there's been a laxative, lackadaisical course. Perhaps you haven't walked with the Lord with fervency of heart the way you really should. And you've heard some things here in these meetings and your heart is being stirred.
As mine has.
And so you desire perhaps to be taught of the Lord. Would you desire as well if He would reveal Himself to you through His Word in the person of the Lord Jesus? Would you walk in the truth?
Would you walk in the truth?
I will walk in thy truth. And so the truth of God is connected with the Person of Christ and obedience to His precious word as He's revealed it to us here.
I know I'm reading from the Old Testament, but I want to make this statement. We didn't make it during the reading meetings and that is.
That none of us would really understand the true ground of gathering and what it is to be gathered to the Lord's name unless we read the Old Testament.
We need to read the Old Testament and I'm reading from some Old Testament scriptures here.
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But we see the heart of God in these Old Testament scriptures and it says.
I think it's in Romans chapter 15. Trying to read it.
In verse 4, Romans 15 and verse four, for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope.
These things were written for our learning, and so we have this this.
Uttering this prayer, Teach me Thy way, O Lord, I will walk in Thy truth. Unite my heart to fear Thy name.
Isn't that something, a strange word to use in connection with our hearts, to unite our hearts to fear the name of the Lord? While I believe that the thought is that our hearts are very easily divided, you know and I know how easy it is to have a divided heart.
To have Christ and something else that's attracted the heart. And so these dear ones wanted to have singleness of heart, to have an appreciation for the person of Christ and for the way for the path of faith, a singleness of heart.
To be united to fear or to honor the name of the Lord Jesus.
They wanted to live the name of Christ with reverence.
Let him that name is the name of Christ, or really proper translation, Let him that name is the name of the Lord. Depart from evil.
And so they wanted to walk in a clean path, and they wanted to have their hearts united to take up His name, to bear His name, and to bear the reproach of what it was to be associated with His name.
And I want to tell you, dear friends, dear, beloved young people this afternoon, that if you name the name of the Lord Jesus to your friends, those that even that are in the church systems and so on, and you tell and you just speak the name of Christ and say that you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. Or they ask you what church you go to and you say, well, I'm gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Have you ever said that? Not nice.
I'm gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's going to bring some reproach because the name of Christ is reproached in this world. But these ones had gone in their own way in the past, and they wanted to have their hearts united to fear the name of the Lord. Not nice. So we have the way of the Lord, the way, thy truth and thy name. It really presents to us a right attitude and a right desire at the beginning of our lives and in the course of life.
That we might be continuing His presence, Well, there's fruit for God in verse 12.
It says, I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Thy name forevermore. And so you know, beloved brethren, if there is a desire in our hearts to be taught of God.
We want to know the way of the Lord in truth in these last days. And there's a desire to walk in the truth that He reveals to us according to His word. And the heart is undivided. The heart wants Christ. The heart wants to please the Lord. Then there's going to be fruit, there's going to be praise, there's going to be Thanksgiving. Oh Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Thy name forever more. Well, we know that it's possible for us to glorify the name of the Lord.
And to glorify him in this scene where his name is not honored.
We will glorify the name of the Lord eternally, this is true. But it's possible to glorify the name of the Lord here in the place, in the scene of His rejection, to adorn His name, to take His name upon us.
Well, I'll go with this man.
I will go Whose name are you going to take?
What name is going to be attached to your testimony in this scene? Is it going to be the name of Christ? Oh what a blessed name, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ Jesus who loved us and gave himself for us.
And who is going to be a servant forever? Why, that's the name that we desire to glorify forever. Well then, then, verse 13, there's a sense of the grace of God says, for great is thy mercy toward me, and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
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Well, Miss Lovely brethren, we've been delivered from the lowest hell and we need to continually remember, and it's nice to come into the presence of the Lord and to remember him in the circumstances of his death.
What he did for us, the great cost of our redemption, that we might have a sense.
Of the pit that we've been delivered from.
The pit of sin, the pit of hell, we've been taken.
As the worst possible material that could ever be found in this world. Dead in trespasses and sins.
And the God himself looked down upon us in this scene and desire to have a bride for his son.
And it was a divine act of grace, intervention in this world filled with sin, that he might pick up by grace those that were yet lost, and receive them unto them, receive them unto himself.
Save their precious souls, deliver the soul from the lowest hell. And so I just suggest to you.
This thought that I have enjoyed in connection with this mercy, Thy great, great is thy mercy toward me. There is a daily enjoyment of Christ that you and I ought to have, a daily enjoyment of the sense of the grace of God and the pit of sin that we've been delivered from.
We've been delivered from the lowest hell to live in the presence of the greatest savior.
And as a result, we take His name. We glorify His name.
And we have desired in some small measure, I believe, as I speak to you here this afternoon, I believe that perhaps all most are the Lords. And you have a desire in your heart, no doubt, to learn more about the Lord Jesus. And this is a nice prayer to pray. Teach me thy way, O Lord, I will walk in thy truth.
But daily we're going to need to have a sense of the grace of God and where we came from and where we're going.
And we're almost home.
Ramos home.
The tendency of our hearts is to.
Let up a little bit and just to relax a little bit, We're almost home. Things look pretty good and we're almost home. We almost got there.
But we need to be taught of God daily.
We need to not only be taught, but we need to desire to walk one step at a time in the path of faith. And so I just present this to you again, Thy way, thy truth, thy name, and the 4th one thy mercy, a sense of the grace of God. So these 3 verses would present to us a proper response to the heart of that blessed One who said I will not go out free, I love my Master.
I love my Master.
I love my wife, I love my children.
Wilt thou go with this man? Will you be taught of God when he reveals the truth, thy truth, His truth, Will you abide in it? Will you desire to associate yourself with His name? Oh what a wonderful name we have to associate ourselves with in this scene. Well may the Lord help us each one, to remember these 3 verses of Scripture as this conference is almost over.
And to have a renewed sense of desire, of heart, every one of us to want to be taught of God, to want to know that truth, and not only to know it, but to walk in it.
Yes.