Open—S. Stewart, B. Imbeau
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You know, I don't know why.
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Everything.
Our loving God and our Father, we thank Thee for thy goodness to us these couple of days. We thank Thee.
For this little hymn that that reminds us of the glory of that name that is Thine, Blessed Savior, we thank Thee.
That it is possible for us in this scene to be associated with that holy name, that name which is above every name, and that name which will be on our lips in the glorious scene above very shortly. Blessed Savior. And so we thank Thee for this meeting together, and we just ask you that there might be liberty of the Spirit of God to take of the precious things of Christ. Make them sweet and known to us.
And we know that.
It's a meeting to for prophecy.
For edification.
For comfort, for exhortation. And uh, we just pray our God that there might be that which would be from thy heart of love for thy people this afternoon, what we have need of. And so we count upon me for a blessing, and we look to Thee for it, giving thanks in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Amen.
Just want to read a couple verses from the chapter that we have in.
First Timothy.
Verse 15 and 16 of chapter 4 again.
Meditate upon these things. Give thyself wholly to them.
As a profiting may appear to all, take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine continue in them. For in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee. Then apportion in Jeremiah.
Chapter 15.
Jeremiah 15, verse 16.
Thy words were found.
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And I did eat them, and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart, for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.
Just keep our finger there and then like to read.
Couple of verses from Deuteronomy.
Levitz, Chapter 20.
Deuteronomy 20 and verse 6.
And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it? Let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it.
And then a little over.
Chapter 23.
And verse 24.
When thou comest into thy neighbor's vineyard.
Thou mayest eat grapes.
Thy fill at thine own pleasure, but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel.
A vineyard in Scripture had that those vines that were planted that produced grapes. I think we've heard many times reference to that verse at UH wine sheareth the heart of God and man, and that that product from that vineyard is a picture to us of joy. The vineyard also had hedges round about it and those hedges protected that vineyard.
And they also marked its boundary lines. And so the vineyard speaks to us, I believe, of our possession and inheritance that we have. For the Israelite. It was part of his inheritance if he had a vineyard. And that inheritance, when it was worked over, it produced that which was for the joy of his heart.
But it also, I believe, pictures to us.
Again, stability and protection, and perhaps a little picture of the truth of God, the words of God, that doctrine which Timothy was exhorted to meditate in, that which he was to take heed to, 1St for himself, and then for the blessing of others.
The truth of God is meant to produce and will produce in our lives, Stability in the path make us stable believers. It also marks out to us the boundaries, and he that break at the hedge, a serpent shall bite him. It marks boundaries for us to keep us safe in that path from crossing over into ways that might lead us into sin.
And destruction and perhaps hurt for others. And so the Israelite had a vineyard and if he were to plant it and it was going to produce grapes and the call to battle came, if he hadn't yet partaken of that vineyard, he wasn't to go out to battle. He had to wait until he could eat of it. And you know, in that sense, I was just mentioned briefly in the in the reading meeting for you and I.
The truth of God must be applied first to me. It has to be first for my own soul and in that way.
Once it's made good to my own soul, then it can go out for a blessing to others. And so Timothy had a warfare that he was enjoined to by the apostle Paul. He was going to be facing all kinds of opposition to those who cared not for the doctrine that Paul had taught him, that truth that he had received from an ascended Christ. He was going to be opposed and his pathway and seeking to maintain that doctrine.
He had to take it in for himself, Take heed to himself first.
And he had to eat of that, as it were, that Vineyard himself, before he could go out to battle, before he could be a help to others. And it's the same with us. We need in the verse before that, it speaks of a man building a house. And if he hadn't built a house and dedicated it, he wasn't to go out to battle either. You know, you and I are, are building a House of doctrine, as it were. And as a young man, as a young brother and sister in Christ, you're building a House of doctrine.
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And getting a framework and then filling it out from the word of God and.
That needs to be in place that framework and and.
Again, applying that, taking heed to ourselves before we can go out and be used in the battle for the Lord and for the deliverance of others. And so Timothy was going to save himself if he took heed to that, and he was going to save others. And when a man went out to battle, you know, you're out there. And I suppose your first thought is the enemy's coming is how are you going to fend it off?
And keep yourself from being.
Cut with that sword or whatever weapon is coming.
But you're also there in that warfare for the defense of another, for the deliverance of another. And you know, in Scripture there's different warfares. In Galatians there is a warfare.
That is more internal. We have an old nature, the flesh, and the apostle speaks of how the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. And the Spirit of God indwells the believer to keep that flesh in the place of death, to help us to judge that old nature. And there's a warfare there. There's a battle that takes place. And then there's a warfare in the book of Ephesians where we get the armor of God, and that is a warfare of taking hold of our inheritance, what God has given us.
And Satan is going to oppose our enjoyment of what God has given us.
And in the book of Joshua, we see they had a warfare to go into the land of Canaan and take their inheritance to lay hold of it. And, uh, it's a wonderful book to read. Conquest after conquest. Yes, lessons learned. There were some failures, beautiful conquests, Joshua leading them, the captain of their salvation, as it were, like a picture of Christ. And then we come to the book of Judges. And you know, there's warfare there too, but it takes a little different character. And I think of it more in the warfare that Timothy had before him.
They were already in the land under Joshua. You know, they had come and taken possession of their inheritance, but different enemies came in and they became enslaved and subject to those enemies. And a warfare of a little different nature came up. And that was a warfare of deliverance of the people of God, deliverance of the people of God, and dear ones, the truth that was recovered to us. And we have on our bookshelves those dear men of God who wrote those things for us.
In a certain sense, I think of it like Joshua's day, I suppose, if I can make an application that way. And much was recovered. And but you know, now it's a, it's a little different kind of a warfare. It's a warfare of deliverance of those who in a certain sense once had possession of those things. And it's slipping away through the enemy's tactics and pressure from every sign. And that was the warfare Timothy had. Now. It was not a warfare of going out and getting the truth.
But of maintaining it, of encouraging the Saints to walk in it, of standing against every opposition to that warfare and.
The Israelite also, we read that other verse in Deuteronomy, uh, 23 he could glean in the vineyard of another. And you know, we have vineyards to glean in dear men of God who recovered that truth and wrote down as they, I believe LED of the Spirit of God and, and their apprehension of those things. And we can go glean in those vineyards. But an Israelite was, he could eat as much as he want, but he couldn't put any in his vessel, couldn't put any in his vessel.
You know.
Only what we have assimilated for ourselves.
And enjoyed for ourselves first. Can be given out in reality for the blessing of others.
It take heed to thyself.
1St.
And then there can be blessing for others. If he just put it in his vessel, he might hand it out to someone else and they might really get nourished by it even, I suppose. But he would not have anything for himself. And as an old brother said, what comes from the heart goes to the heart, not from the head. It's got to be in the heart. You know, our minds, our ears, they're like the highways, the byways, the outposts, I think, Mr. Bellit said.
Of the truth of the channel, but the heart. The heart is the dwelling place of the truth of God, the dwelling place of evil.
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But it's the dwelling place of the truth.
But there's a gate.
The gate is the conscience. If the truth does not have an effect upon me, if it doesn't enter by the conscience, it'll never take its dwelling place up in my heart.
And I won't have from the heart to give out for the blessing of others. So as we take these things in, it needs to be that application first to self and then can be given out for the blessing. Well, there's not as out of a vessel, but as from the heart. And so Jeremiah, he found those words, the words of God. I think of the recovery that Jeremiah saw and King Josiah and the Word of God was found and recovered, that dusty old book.
And that closed up House of God was brought out.
And it was the word of God, and it was read in, and it brought blessing. I think of Jeremiah and his youth rejoicing. The word of God had been found rejoicing. And here he says, thy words were found. I did eat them. I didn't put them in a vessel. I ate them, took them in for himself. And the word was unto me as the joy and rejoicing of mine heart. For I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts, how it identified himself.
With the author of the book brought him close to him. You know man, it says in Genesis, begin to call themselves by the name of the Lord.
Came a time when wickedness and corruption rose up in this earth, that they made a special point of calling themselves by the name of the Lord, identifying themselves as separate from that scene, rushing on to destruction in the flood. He is called by His name. I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced. I sat alone because of Thy hand, for Thou hast filled me of indignation. All ye know is that assimilated word entered into His heart.
It set him apart. It set him apart from everything that would dishonor the Lord. And he says I sat alone. He felt that he felt alone in Israel.
He felt separated from those around. Oh, that's the first thing.
I believe that assimilated Word of God does to us, it will separate us from what dishonours the Lord. Is that easy? It's not always easy. You know, Jeremiah, in a certain sense, he he just feels.
The difficulty of having to walk in a path of separation. Indignation fills him. He says, Oh, he could, he was. He was offended, as it were.
For the Lord's sake, as he saw the dishonor done to God, as the word of God was open to him, and he saw Israel was not walking.
According to God's word, but it separated him, and he complaints. Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed? Wilt out Be altogether unto me as a liar, as waters that fail. Oh, you know I found thy word. It seems like it should be a.
It, it started out with joy and rejoicing. How come now it's I'm isolated, I'm separated and, and there's family I can't go on with and there's friends that I can't go on with anymore. And it just seems like it's never going to end. It's perpetual and the grief of it never goes away. Is this really a, you know, it's almost as if he's questioning whether he really wants this path.
Wasn't easy, was it?
But that word had entered into his heart. It had found its dwelling place there. And the Lord answers him in verse 19. Therefore thus saith the Lord, if thou return, then I will bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me. And if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou.
Shall be as my mouth. Let them return unto thee, but return not thou.
Unto them, O Jeremiah, he says, I've brought you into this separated place for a purpose. I've separated you, that you might be a help and blessing to others, that you might be used of me to separate the precious from the vile. You remember that similitude of the Kingdom with that gospel net that went out, and it draws in all manner fishes. What a happy work it was to take the precious.
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I put it in vessels. They just left the bed on the shore. They didn't worry about that. They took the precious and put it into vessels. You know, Jehu was a man that God used to deliver Kingdom from Jezebel, wicked Jezebel. And he finds a man, John Adab, and he says, come see my zeal for the Lord. You know he's Jehu is a proud man.
He was occupied with himself, he says to Jonathan. Come see my zeal for the Lord. He went up in the chariot with him.
And they came to this house where Bale was worshipped, and Jehu was going to execute the judgment of God on that house.
And slay all the worshippers of Baal.
And John and Deb, he gets sent in and he says, you find the real worshippers of Jehovah and you get them out of there. Oh, you have the happy, happy task of laying hold of those who were really the Lords. And he says, you come out of this place that's going to burn to the ground, come out of here. Oh, that's how God wants to use you and I to separate the precious from the wild. John And I've never picked up a sword that I've read of.
How He was used to God to separate that which God had set his heart on. Oh, He wants us in that place, and that's the only place He can use us for the deliverance of God's people. If we've been separated by His word, entering into our souls from all that would dishonor Him.
And I will make the unto this people.
Offenced Brazen Wall. And they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee, for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the Lord. And so he says to him, I'm going to make you look like a tower, Jeremiah, like a fortress, a citadel, that that those who want to be separate from what dishonors me can run to.
And find their help. Don't leave that separated place, Jeremiah.
You let them come to you, but don't you go back. I have sanctified you. I've made you clean. I've set you aside for my purpose. Don't go back. Don't go back. I can't use you back there.
And so I believe he says to each one of us in that way that he would separate us with his word from all that dishonours him. And in that way and that way alone, we can be used in that warfare for him.
Of the deliverance of God's people.
Have something rather short? Trust and.
Perhaps a bit, uh, simple minded, but that's fine.
You know, we another thing I was mentioned yesterday is that there's a way of taking things in and then a way of putting them out.
And.
Uh, there is certainly Umm.
In the culture that we presently live in, there is a very strong effort.
To squelch what comes out from a Christian.
And so I want to just address that briefly. And I'm going to use 2 words, and you may have other words that are better for this. That's fine. But I'm going to use 2 words that are going to sound pretty much the same, but one is personal and the other is private.
OK, you may find better words but just kind of catch what I what I want to get across.
Let's read a verse in, uh, first, Peter.
First Peter, chapter 3.
And verse 15.
First Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.
And be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you, a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.
And then?
Some verses in uh, Psalm 119.
Which maybe aren't quite as.
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Clear as that in first Peter, but.
Might help us out.
Psalm 19. Excuse me 119.
And verse 41.
Let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord, even thy salvation according to thy word.
OK, so notice that it's not thy mercies come unto me.
And that mentioned salvation. The Old Testament, they didn't know salvation exactly as we do.
But then verse 42 So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me. For I trust in thy word, and take not the word of thy truth utterly out of my mouth, for I have hoped in thy judgments.
So you have a little something to say to somebody about the Lord Jesus.
And it sometimes is not surprising, or at least it's not unusual that they say, oh, you know, those are just, those are just private matters, you know?
That's not really appropriate for you to mention that in the break time here at work. Those are private things.
Sometimes this happens even in in families where maybe some are saved and some are not. So the one person that has accepted the Lord Jesus Christ.
Personally.
But then they are told to keep it private.
Your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is personal. You come to the Lord Jesus Christ as an individual. There's only one way and the door is small. It's a straight gate and there's only room for you.
And the Lord Jesus, of course.
But you see, you're saved now. You have that treasure in your hearts. You have the Lord Jesus in your heart because you have accepted Him as Lord and Savior.
And now?
There's something that comes out.
Let's not be bullied, and I think that's a very good word in this situation. Let's not be bullied into someone coming up to you and saying keep it private, buddy.
Perhaps I can relate a little something that.
Should sound familiar. OK, make it generic enough.
The world is very interested in you describing other people's points of view very accurately.
Because if you don't, they'll call you a bigot.
Now, what I mean by accurately is how that group wants themselves defined.
OK, so you and I probably wouldn't say that's accurate, but that's the world's definition. And if you don't, if you don't speak the party line, you're a bigot.
But if you relate Christianity as you know it in your heart and how you have defined it from the word of God, you are called intolerant.
It's a lose, lose situation.
You say things the way we want you to say them, except for what you believe.
And if you say that the way that you believe them, you're an intolerant person.
No wonder we shut our mouths every time we turn around. We get it coming and we get it going.
From the front side to the backside. And pretty soon we shut our mouths. Which is exactly.
What they want?
Oh, they want you.
They want your diligent work. They want your honesty. It helps the economy, you know, things like that.
But they don't want your savior.
But does that mean that you close your mouth?
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So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproaches me, For I trust in thy word.
Yes, what you believe in the presence of God is personal.
But Christianity is not private.
The testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ is just that. It's a testimony. It's something that goes out.
The word of God is spread abroad.
A sower went out to sow seed. Now that's the Lord Jesus. But we can certainly spread the word of God also.
Personal We trust that every single person in this room has personally accepted the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we also at the same time trust that every single person here has publicly confessed Jesus Christ.
That part of your life is not private.
And don't buy the world's definitions.
That they're trying to push on you.
Take God's point of view. We have a short life.
Speak up for your Savior.