Open—R. Thonney, R. Boulard
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You brother, select speakers.
So I'm going to answer that question publicly to some degree, but I'll tell you, the brothers got together in a care meeting. We started with prayer, asking for the Lord's help. We selected speakers.
It wasn't a simple process, but.
We did it. We selected a couple backups, a couple alternates, because you never know. You need to be prepared for contingencies. And we ended the meeting in Word of prayer, asking that the Lord.
Would help those brothers that we selected.
I believe he's answered our prayers.
Let's talk a little bit about the reading meeting. You know that's I need to say. First of all, the plan now is to have an open meeting this afternoon as the Lord may lead. It's similar to the.
Reading meaning, does it not? When we gather together on the Monday morning many of you are here, but it just it it, it just had an impression upon me. So I'd like to replay it, if you will, from my perspective. But we sat down in the reading meeting and sent a hymn with some brother prayed.
And there is a silence.
I believe it was the time of waiting on the Lord and I don't know if it was 2 minutes or.
Six or eight seemed like a fairly.
Lengthy and appropriate point of time.
One brother said, well, he'd like to recommend the.
1St chapter of Second Peter.
I thought, well, that's a good chapter. You know, a lot of good principles, grace, peace, virtue, temperance, et cetera. Not laws, but principles. And I was waiting for Bill Brockmeier to jump up and read the chapter. Well, before Bill had a chance to read the chapter, there was another brother, he said. That's exactly the portion I had on my heart.
It didn't end there. There was a third brother.
I had the same thought.
My thinking is the Lord ordered that.
And our prayer is that he'll.
Be over the next meeting as well. Having said that, please turn to some familiar verses with me. These are from the Word of God.
First Peter, chapter 4, verse 11.
If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praised and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Another familiar portion in First Corinthians chapter 14.
One Corinthians chapter 14, verse 29. Let the prophet speak two or three, and let the other judge if anything be revealed to another that sitteth by. Let the first hold his peace.
We may all prophecy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted, and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.
Let's pray.
Our God and our Father.
We just commit this meeting into thy hands.
And thy name we pray. Amen.
Like to go back to first John, one that our brother Jim read a few verses from this last meeting.
I have.
Truly enjoyed this first chapter of John's epistle. Like we mentioned the other day, John.
Deals with the family of God.
And a word occurs four times in this chapter, that is.
Characteristic of family life.
It's the word fellowship.
And I have found it very helpful. Jim mentioned it in his meeting. Salvation is something that cannot be lost.
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But fellowship is something that can be lost very easily.
And so to go over these verses in brief, I don't want to take a whole lot of time. I'd like to leave time for others as well, but I'm going to read this chapter.
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard.
Which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon in our hands of handled.
Of the word of life, for the life was manifested, and we have seen it.
And their witness and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us.
That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us.
And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
And these things right we unto you, that your joy may be full.
This then is the message that we have heard of him and declaring to you that God.
Is light, and in Him is no darkness at all, if we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness.
We lie and do not the truth, but if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sins.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in US, we confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in US.
So this chapter begins.
With a beginning.
We have a beginning that in Genesis one that was read this morning. We have a beginning in John One.
But this is different than the beginning in Genesis One and the beginning in John one.
This is the beginning of the manifestation of eternal life in the person of the Lord Jesus. When He came into this world for the first time you could see displayed what eternal life was.
And so this is the beginning of the manifestation of eternal life.
In the person of the Lord Jesus. And it's interesting.
To connect this, I like to connect it with a verse in John chapter 8.
If you want to go back there and verse 25.
The Lord Jesus is speaking here.
To the Pharisees.
Of his time and he says.
Oh, they ask him, verse 25. They said unto him.
Who art thou?
And Jesus said unto them.
Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning, there's the very same expression that you have in verse one of our chapter, that which was from the beginning. And the apostle John, of course, is the one who is writing this here.
But he includes the other witnesses as as well, because he says that which we have seen with our eyes, which we have, which we have heard first of all, which we have seen with our eyes, we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the Word of life. To me it is so amazingly wonderful, brethren, that we can know God.
In the person of the Lord Jesus. Amazingly wonderful, this puny little creature on planet earth.
Can know the eternal God of the universe.
Is that possible? Yes, that is possible. How in the world is that possible? Because he came into the world as a man. And man to man we speak and we make each other understand, and so he came as a man.
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We heard him.
We saw him with our eyes.
We looked upon him and he came so close.
That the apostle John could say our hands have handled. We know we're not talking.
Cleverly devised fables. When we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, we were eyewitnesses of His Majesty. That's what we are going to have in the chapter tomorrow.
Oh, brethren, these things are historical realities. He came into this world so that we could know him. And I love these little phrases in verse one. What's the difference between seeing and looking on?
Seeing as perhaps just a glance, I saw that person on the street this morning. OK, but it may have been just a glance. Looking on is more detained.
Somebody has said it this way. One look to Jesus saves the soul.
Every after look is the power of Christian living, and the more you look at him, the more you're going to see complete, absolute perfection. Oh, how wonderful it is to go through the Gospels and not only see him.
But look on him.
Sometimes say to my brethren in Latin America, don't look at me too close because you're going to see quite a bit of imperfection, but you can look at the Lord Jesus all you want. You can magnify Him. You know, in the printing industry, I noticed that those that run printing presses have a magnifying glass and they look at what they printed and when you magnify it, you see the defects in it.
Put the magnifying glass to the Lord Jesus. All you're going to see is complete perfection every single time. So that's what it means to look upon him. Don't only just see him, look upon him and then he says our hands have handled of the word of life for the life was manifested and we have seen it.
And bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life.
Which was with the Father, and was manifested unto him, unto us. So the Lord Jesus is that eternal life that was with the Father in His manifested unto us.
And then verse three, that which we have seen and heard declare we.
Unto you.
You know, in Acts chapter 2 we have a verse that we often quote. They continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in the breaking of bread and in prayers.
Beautiful outline of Christian practice for us today.
They continued steadfastly in the apostles, Doctrine and fellowship. Apostles modifies both doctrine and fellowship. It's the doctrine of the apostles. It's the fellowship of the apostles. And so that's what you have here in this verse, that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you. There's the apostles.
Doctrine, and upon that doctrine is based our fellowship.
We can't just get together and say now what can we be in agreement on here? We're going to establish a new group of believers and what can we be in agreement with it? No, it's already established. It's for us to read it and to learn. And that's what we do in reading meetings when the Spirit of God is given liberty to open the Scriptures. So it's the apostles fellowship. But it doesn't end there. He goes on.
Say and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
Brethren, it has been such a privilege and a joy to my own soul to realize that God is a personal God. He's a God that wants fellowship with His creature, and it seems evident when he made Adam and Eve. In the beginning he came down in the cool of the day and evidently was his practice to walk.
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Alongside his creature Adam.
Adam, the creature God the Creator, walks side by side.
In fellowship, That's the way God wants fellowship with his creature.
But we know the story, how that sin came into the world and that fellowship was broken.
And God, when he restores something, never restores it exactly the way it was before.
No, now we can have fellowship with God, but not as Creator creature merely, but now as Father and children in His family. And so that's what we have. Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
Brethren, that's where real enjoyment lies. You young people get a hold of it. It's not having a bunch of stuff in this world.
That's going to satisfy your soul. It's walking in fellowship with the Lord Jesus with God as Father. That's what's going to be that satisfies your soul. So he says in verse four, these things right we unto you that your joy may be.
Half full? Does it say no full?
What Father here wants his children just to be half happy or joyful?
No, we want our children to enjoy things in life and our father is no different. Here is the recipe.
Walk in fellowship with your God and Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the way of true happiness and joy in life.
And what we have mentioned in the reading meetings, I want to mention again.
Fellowship is.
He talks with us.
And we talk with him that way there's an interchange.
And you cannot neglect the reading of the precious Word of God and enjoy fellowship.
Oh, how important it is to enjoy fellowship.
If you come back to Lawrenceville and stay in our house with us.
I think you'd find it strange if you'd see that my wife talks to me every once in a while, but I never pay any attention, nor do I answer her. You say something's wrong here.
And that would be right. Thankfully, it's not that way. It's an interchange and every once in a while we're talking together. That's normal in family life and so much so more so in the family life and God's family. Do you take time to read the scriptures? You know, it's been a joy to me to see some.
Who of young people who have really gotten into the reading of the scriptures?
And it's just not reading maybe 5 minutes a day because like we mentioned the other day, you can read a chapter.
Easily, quite easily in 5 minutes.
But I've seen some they're they're half an hour, sometimes even more an hour.
Reading the scriptures, meditating, maybe reading some ministry on it. That's part of it. Listening to His voice speak to us. And then prayer. Do you take prayer seriously?
I think Jay mentioned it that long prayers.
Or for the closet, when you say that, brother, and I agree with that. I remember Clem Buchanan, who was a spiritual father to me. He said short prayers for the prayer meeting, long prayers for the closet. I think that's a pretty good principle to think about. Not that we want to make rules, but.
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Do you take time to pray? I mean really pray. Take time to speak to the Lord, to pour out your heart. You know, when we pray, we're not trying to convince God of doing something that we know He already wants to do. But what I find is that in prayer we get into fellowship. We get into the line of His.
Thinking, and that's important.
How much time do you take to pray?
You know, Martin Luther, I understand, made this statement and it was impressive to me, he said.
I have so much to do every day.
I can't take any less than three hours to pray.
No wonder that man was used of God the way he was in his time frame.
Brethren, it's important, the reading of the Word and prayer. That's the way we cultivate fellowship. I find prayer not easy. I find it's labor.
And.
It's valuable labor exercise. You know, when you exercise, you grow important things to keep in mind.
But now verse 5.
This then is the message we have heard of him, and declare unto you that.
God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.
I love how John is so simple in his statements. God is light and in him is no darkness at all.
What is light? We have the definition of what light is in Ephesians chapter 5. I'm not going to turn to it now, but light is that which manifests everything.
In the light, you can't hide anything. If you try to hide in the light, you're going to make yourself that much more evident. Hey, you're trying to hide something. What is it?
You can't do it.
Besides that.
In Him is no darkness at all. You know, in the very first chapter of the Bible, God divided the light from the darkness, and you can't mix those two things. They don't mix. They're mutually exclusive. Don't try to mix them up.
That's the way the enemy of our souls constantly tries to do. Yeah, I know you're a Christian, but come on, don't be so rigid.
You can't mix them, it doesn't work.
And so that's an important thing to realize. Those two things don't mix light and darkness.
Then verse six. Notice.
If we say.
Notice the first words of verse eight if we say.
Notice the first words of verse 10. If we say.
It's easy to talk.
But God puts the task to us, if we savor 6 that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. You know John speaks in black and white.
He doesn't have any shades of Gray.
And if we say that we have fellowship with him and.
There's some darkness in there.
You're lying. He puts it right out there.
In the open.
Doesn't work. You can't do that.
Verse 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light.
We have fellowship one with another.
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This is beautiful, brother.
You're walking in the light.
And I'm walking in the light.
We meet up together and what do we find?
There's fellowship between US, and that's normal Christianity.
Yes, sometimes children in a family may fight, but that's not normal.
Normal is to have fellowship and so we have fellowship namesa that we're walking in the light with one another. Just want to point out to the fact that in verse three we have fellowship of the apostles mentioned 1St and then it says that that fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. That's first.
Brethren, fellowship with our brethren isn't first.
I want to encourage you to cultivate fellowship with the Lord, first of all on the ground of what we have in Scripture, the apostles doctrine.
And then what is the result is fellowship one with another. And it's a beautiful thing wherever you go in this world to meet up with believers who have that same eternal life because they have accepted the Lord Jesus as their Savior. They're born into God's family. They have the very life and nature of God.
Eternal life and you enjoy fellowship.
Sometimes I see brethren that can't even.
Converse together because they don't know each other's languages, but they sit down together and maybe they use their Bibles to point out certain verses. Man, it's so amazing to see the fellowship that there is there. It's a reality. It's in the measure that we have fellowship with the Father and with his Son, that there's fellowship with one another.
Notice the end of verse 7 is a verse we use in the gospel a lot of times. The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanses us from all sin.
It's the blood that can cleanse from sin, and sin is what impedes fellowship.
Just want to make this statement that the cleansing of the blood of Christ is once for all when we accept the Lord Jesus as our Savior. Do we need cleansing after that? Yes we do. But it's not the cleansing of the blood then, it's the cleansing of the washing of water by the word. And that's why.
In the Tabernacle, as the priest went in to do the service, there was the labor.
To wash their hands and feet.
So that's important too. But when it says the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin is simply making a statement of what the blood of Christ does, it is powerful to take away that question that impedes fellowship. The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Jim mentioned those last three verses and I just want to briefly.
Mention them again because I see in those last three verses.
The way of restoration when fellowship is lost. And I notice that OFT times young people, maybe older ones too, who get out of fellowship with the Lord. Maybe it's not anything that serious, maybe a little lie. Here I am walking with my Lord.
During the day and I tell a lie.
Is there fellowship now?
It wasn't that bad of a lie. Maybe I could say there was a little white lie.
Is there fellowship?
Sorry, no fellowship.
Yes, I still have that life, but fellowship has been broken.
How am I going to deal with it? And I find so many times people don't understand how to deal with sin in their lives as believers. And if you read verse 8 and verse 10, I want to draw attention to it. You'll notice there are two verses are somewhat similar.
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But there's a difference, and I think it's important to notice the difference. Verse eight, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in US. Verse 10, if we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in US.
If you notice, verse eight is talking about sin, that root principle that's in every one of us that's in nature. Verse 10 speaks of the act of sin. We say that we have not sinned, it's the act. So you have the root in verse eight and the ACT in verse 10. And it's important when we sin not only to recognize and judge the act that we've done.
But to recognize the root of it, you know, sometimes people recognize I know what I did was wrong, but really I'm not guilty. That other guy, he provoked me and he's guilty.
You'll never get restored if you talk that way. That accusing finger has to come back to your own breast. Just what happened in the Garden of Eden? When the Lord asked? Adam said the woman, and the woman wasn't any better. She says the serpent.
Let's learn if we have sinned, to put that finger right here and recognize I sinned because I let my old nature act and that's why fellowship was broken. So it's important not only to recognize and confess the act that we did, but the reason why we did that.
Was because of our sin nature here and if we'll do that, then there can be restoration. And Jim was mentioning it in verse nine and I think that is so important and I just want to reinforce what he said. Confession is not asking for forgiveness.
Confession is telling him exactly what you did. Don't beat around the Bush. He already knows what you did. Tell him that's important. That's confession. I sometimes say Jim and I were walking together and we were having good fellowship, but maybe I get annoyed at him.
And.
I tell him off.
Well, that's sin.
Fellowships broken.
If I say forgive me, Jim, I'm not thinking about what I did that was wrong. I'm thinking about he's probably kind of put off at me and I'd rather he wouldn't be that way. So I'm going to say forgive me. That's not what we need to do. Just like Jim said, we don't need to ask for forgiveness. We have forgiveness, says in Chapter 2. We have it. It's a present possession.
But what we need to do is confess.
And when I confess, I have to recognize the bad thing I did and say, so that's confession. And that's so important to do when we get out of sorts, when we lose fellowship with the Lord, confess. And so it says, if we confess our sins in verse nine, he is faithful and just.
To forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
I just wanted to mention that the forgiveness that it mentions there is not judicial forgiveness, it's governmental forgiveness. It's the forgiveness that God has as a father in his family. And if there's not that we don't get restored like God wants us to walk in fellowship with him rather than these are simple principles and especially for you, dear young people.
I just want to encourage you to walk in fellowship with the Lord.
These are principles to think about, to put into practice. We need to judge ourselves constantly and to walk with a tender conscience. Don't ignore the voice of conscience, Paul said. Herein do I exercise myself to have always?
A conscience void of offence toward God.
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And toward men.
Let's be exercised, dear young people, to walk in fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ, and as a result, in fellowship with one another.
Turn with me if you would, to 2nd Kings Chapter 4.
We've been Speaking of fellowship, and I had this little passage on my heart.
And just meditating upon a few statements of it.
During the last few days, so perhaps the Lord has.
Leading this way. So chapter 4, verse one.
Now their cry to certain women of the wives of the sons of the prophets unto Elijah, saying, Thy servant, my husband is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the Lord, and the creditor has come to take him unto him, my two sons, to be bondsman. And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? Tell me, what hast thou in the house?
And she said, Thine handmaid hath not anything in the house save a pot of oil.
Then he said, Go borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out unto into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. So she went in, and went from him, and shut the door upon her.
And upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her.
And she poured out, and came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her, Son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.
Then she came and told the man of God, and he then and he said, Go sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest. And it fell on a day that Elisha passed to shoot him, where was a great woman.
And she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as OFT as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread. And she said unto her husband, Behold now I perceive that this is a holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall, and let us set for him there a bed and a table.
And a stool.
And a Candlestick, and it shall be when he cometh to us that he shall turn in thither. And it fell on a day that he came in thither, and turned into the chamber, and lay there. Well, that's all we'll read. But you know our brother was Speaking of fellowship.
And how the Saints and the old at the beginning of the Church period they were characterized by continuing steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and breaking of bread and in prayers.
And fellowship, you know, doesn't happen, just happen, does it?
There needs to be preparation in our hearts for fellowship to occur. God has made every provision that you and I could be in fellowship with him, in communion with our thoughts, with his thoughts. You know that word, fellowship or communion is translated that way. It's the same word, root word in the Greek and it's translated, I think it's used 16 times in the New Testament, fellowship or communion. And so that's why.
You know God has done a work.
To bring us into communion with himself. What did it cost him to bring us into communion with himself?
It says in connection with Paul's doctrine in chapter 10 in First Corinthians, he says that this cup, we give thanks for that cup. It's the, I'm not going to quote it correctly, I'm going to turn to it, but it's a cup of blessing, a cup of fellowship.
First Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 16. The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion or the fellowship of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion or the fellowship of the body of Christ? For we, being one that many, are one bread or one loaf and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread.
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Well, you know, Christianity brings us into fellowship with divine persons, but the price that was paid to bring us into fellowship?
Was the blood of Christ?
We were as far from God as we could ever be, and yet He wanted us in fellowship. Shall we have this little picture given to us in the Old Testament of preparation of one who made preparation that there might be fellowship with that man of God? And Elijah, we know, is a little type of Christ. And so there was a day of ruin and weakness in Israel, a day that's similar to ours. And so that was a woman in weakness and one of the wives of the sons of the prophets.
And here is one that was in poverty in the land of Israel, the land that was flowing with milk and honey.
The best land in all of the earth. God had allowed famine and He had allowed things to come into ruin because of sin. And we know, as has been just pointed out, there has been a restoration of the truth of God during the 1800s. We know that the truth was recovered. All of it was recovered and were brought into the blessing of it, and we know that.
And it's not in the full power of what was at the beginning in Acts chapter 2 in the power of the Spirit. But you know this woman, she was asked this question in verse 2. Tell me what thou hast in the house. In the house she says a pot of oil. So we live in a day of weakness. Let's not despise the day of weakness, a day of small things.
It's the pot of oil speaks of being indwelled with the Spirit of God.
She was indwelled with the Spirit of God and maybe a small assembly that you come from, maybe a day of weakness. Perhaps we have a little relief from it in a sense, when we come to a conference this size. But we know that there's weakness among us, spiritual weakness, because there hasn't been made preparation for fellowship with the man of God. And we have a little example here, as I say, in this woman. She was given this instruction to take these pots.
Empty vessels.
Empty vessels. What does emptiness speak of? An empty vessel speaks of a humble vessel.
Let's read in first Peter chapter 5, that little verse, a couple of verses of Scripture that are sometimes partially quoted, and we might do better to quote the whole passage when we're thinking of it. First Peter chapter 5.
And.
Let's read just part way through verse five. First Peter 5, verse 5. For God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you. I believe the Lord is refreshed in his soul, refreshed in his heart, when He hears us call unto Him and express our needs and our weakness, and to tell him how weak we are, tell him how.
Needy we are.
But in humility we know that as Iah went into the temple and he went in in a prideful fashion and he came out a leper. But no, we can come into the presence of the Lord. We come into humility. We're nothing. You know, Brother Albert Hale used to say, had a little expression, perhaps Jim and others remember it. He used to say the brethren are all just a bunch of zeros.
Every one of us is just a zero, and except for the number one out in front, we'd all be zeros forever. So we have the Lord before us.
But she brought these vessels, empty vessels, and the oil was poured in. But you'll notice in verse four it says, when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee, and upon the sons, thy sons, and thou shalt pour out into all those vessels. Thou shalt set aside that which is full. Well, you know the shut door speaks of us.
Walking in separation and shutting the world out. Shutting the things of this world out.
That we might have fellowship and that we might go on in the power of the Spirit of God in our lives.
In some measure. And the reason perhaps for some of the weakness that we have and the lack of a sense of fellowship with the divine persons and the lack of fellowship with one another perhaps is because the door to the world is not shut and the fellowship doesn't flow forth as it ought to flow. And there's something that hinders that fellowship. And so those things that hinder, we need to keep the door shut from this world.
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Of separation, you know. She went in from him. There was obedience. Verse five, she shut the door.
Upon her and her sons.
And who brought the vessels to her and she poured out? You know God isn't going to.
Command that you come into his presence and humility as an empty vessel he's not going to demand it he's.
This woman took these empty vessels that were brought, and she filled them with oil.
There's not going to be a full oil. There's not going to be that full power of the Spirit and the manifestation of what the Lord is doing in blessing among His people, except we do follow this principle to shut the door and then to have that oil poured out. We know that the oil stayed. She was able to pay her debts and then live on the rest and so God.
Gives and he gives, and he gives an abundance. It's the Lord's desire that you and I would be filled.
With a joy and fellowship with divine persons, and in our lives characterized by the energy of the Spirit of God. Well, it says in verse seven that she came and she told the man of God.
Not nice to be able to tell the Lord those things that we do.
That in humility and our desire for communion with himself, that there might be that fruit for himself and enjoyment in our own souls of His presence.
So she he said, go sell the oil, pay thy debt, live thou and thy children of the rest. And so there's a separation. If there is a desire to keep the world out and to walk in fellowship with the Lord, there's going to be.
Results in the family, there's going to be results. And it says in the book of Romans, no man liveth unto himself, no man dies unto himself. You're going to have an effect upon others. So this woman had an effect upon her children, the generation, the next generation coming up. It says then in verse eight that it fell on a day that Elisha passed to shoot him.
Where was a great woman? She constrained him to eat bread. So here's another woman, a great woman, wealthy. She had means in connection with this world. And perhaps she was great in spiritual things. She was a woman that had a desire for spiritual things. You know, sometimes it's a shame perhaps to say it this way, but sometimes the sisters.
Are more spiritually minded than the brothers.
Sometimes a husband is not as spiritually minded as his wife.
And I've been very thankful to see and from one place to another, different sisters that read a little bit of ministry that come to the meetings faithfully and seek to raise their families for the Lord and so on. But they're spiritually minded.
They're actively engaged in spiritual things and there's blessing as a result. Her husband doesn't seem to have been of the same character. Perhaps he was a believer, but it says really that this man of God, Elijah, passed by and she constrained him to eat bread.
You know the Lord delights to have fellowship with his Saints.
And he delights to just have this desire that you might express or my might express from time to time to get a little to come in and to have fellowship with us. You ever when you're reading the scriptures, sometimes just ask the Lord for a little treasure, a little portion for yourself, just a little portion that it might be refreshing for yourself.
That's a wonderful thing to get, a little refreshment from the Lord, a little treasure, a little something.
A special treasure, but you know the Lord Jesus desires that you come and sit into his presence, that he might be refreshed himself.
That he might enjoy your company, that he might enjoy something and be refreshed. It says that he passed by and turned in thither to eat bread. And she said unto her husband, Behold, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passes by us continually. Let us make.
A little chamber. She didn't step out of place in connection with her position as a woman. And she worked alongside her husband. I believe she deferred to him in this matter. She says let us, she encouraged him, make a chamber for thee upon the wall. And so I think it's Mr. Darby's translation. It says that it's a little chamber. I pray the width walls.
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And then again, it speaks of separation.
From this world, a little chamber with walls, you know, it's the little chamber perhaps might speak of the heart. A little chamber, a heart, the heart, a little place in the heart reserve for the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us.
He says in Proverbs chapter 23 verse 23, it says my son give me thine heart. My son, give me thine heart. Well, this woman she prepared along with her husband, I believe a little chamber and then it was their preparation made that the man of God would have fellowship there in that home. And she says it was on the wall or with walls.
Let us set for him there a bed, a place of rest and refreshment.
You know, she knew what was characteristic, what would be the Lord would appreciate that He might have fellowship in that place. And you know, and I know as we read the New Testament, even the Old Testament, we know what's suitable for what the Lord would desire to have fellowship with us in our homes and in our lives.
She knew a little bed, a bed, a table. The table speaks of fellowship.
She wanted fellowship with the Son of God. She wanted with this man of God a picture of the Lord Jesus. She provided a table and a stool to sit at His feet. We have mentioned in these meetings the need for reading of the Scriptures.
I know it says in Acts chapter 17 that they searched the scriptures daily to see whether these things were so searching the scriptures is necessary. Reading the scriptures is necessary as well. You notice in Luke's Luke's Gospel chapter 10 that Mary of Bethany, she sat at the Lord's feet.
There was intelligence in connection with her course afterwards. There were all kinds of people came to the sepulchre after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, but Mary and Bethany wasn't there. She believed what He had told her. She had sat in His presence and she had heard His words, and she believed there was something of communion with Mary and her Savior.
And so this little table, this table was provided a stool to sit.
In his presence. And then a Candlestick really might speak of his word to shed light on different aspects of things. And so she had those things.
Prepared it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither.
Well, have you made preparation that the Lord might have fellowship with you? The man of God desires that he would have fellowship with you.
The characteristic that we have the of eternal life, the fact is that we're sons. Our brother Bob just brought before us, we're sons.
Does God have fellowship with the angels?
The angels are servants. They're servants forever. You wouldn't want to be an Angel. Angels are ministering servant spirits sent forth in service to those that shall be heirs of eternal life.
The Old Testament Saints. Abraham was sitting in the tent at the cool of the day, in the heat of the day. There he was.
The Lord came, had fellowship with Abraham. There was a place, a man that was in communion with God, and he spent time there, the Lord Jesus there with Abraham. But you and I were sons.
Let's read Ephesians chapter one, just a couple of verses.
Verse 4.
Ephesians one and verse four. According as He hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children, or should say sonship by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will.
So in the past eternity, God looked down as he planned the whole of the creation.
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And he desired that there would be fellowship with his creature man, and there was fellowship in the Old Testament days with his people of Israel. And there were happy times during those years in Judaism when they walked in obedience to the Word of God.
But now in connection with the Christian testimony, you and I are sons, and God had predestinated us to be sons and to be in fellowship with Him during this age just before he he comes for us. He desired that we would enjoy His fellowship as those that are part of the family of God. But there's going to be preparation. I believe that's necessary. And this is what it speaks of in Second Kings chapter 4.
That preparation making let us make a little chamber. It wasn't mandated, was voluntary. I pray the upon the wall with walls separated from this world, a place of isolate, not isolation, but a place of.
Separation from all of the defilements of this world. A place suitable to enjoy fellowship with divine persons. A bed of refreshment. A table of fellowship. A stool habitual sitting at the feet of the Lord.
And a Candlestick having his word before us. But what a privilege to be able to enjoy fellowship with the Lord Jesus as a son, with the Father. Abraham could never call God as his father, but you call God as your father.
And you can pray to God the Lord. The apostle Paul says in Ephesians 5 verse 20, he says, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. How do you thank the Lord for the privilege of being able to enjoy fellowship?
With him the Son of God, the Creator. Imagine the Son in the dignity of the position of a son, the favor of a son or a daughter.
Having fellowship with God himself.
Well, May God give us the desire to make preparation and keep ourselves in a prepared state to have fellowship with the Lord Jesus and to give Him refreshment to His own heart.
Can we sing #2 In the appendix, oh Lord, thy loves and founded, so sweet, so full, so free. My soul is all transported whenever I think. On the number two in the appendix, oh Lord, thy loves unbounded, so sweet.
My soul.
With.
No.
It is my laundry, laundry, laundry.
And I lost. I'd like to change training every time.
Yes.
My soul still considered.
My life was for God.
Of your illness, right?
And.
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Much better.
So.
I will.
Towards me.
Jesus.
While I.
Celebrate.
And feeling I want to see.
Sooner than two.
Please.
All my grace.
To my soul.
And I can burns in this eyes. You love this.
My.
Surrender cells.
Our blessed Father, our God, it's been a privilege to be into the sound of this meeting, the open meeting where we've been edified and to take in these things, Our Father and our God, our blessed Lord Jesus, and the pathway that we have that we should continue to walk here.
And these blessed truths as they unfold, may they be put down into our shoe leather as we move forward. We're thankful for this time over Thy word these couple days thus far. And so as we wrap up the day, going into the meal, then going into the gospel meeting, we just do pray for continued blessing for the remaining part of this day. We love the Lord Jesus and we wait for Thy coming. In thy name we pray, Amen.