Open—R. Thonney, J. Hyland, E. Staggs
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Maybe we can sing all of 150.
And maybe we can stand to do it, brother.
150.
It's our desire that this next meeting be an open meeting.
Having said that, I'd like to read several scriptures.
You might say, well, I know exactly where he's going, First Corinthians 14 and you're right, but I would like you to follow along because this is God's Word. It's not behind First Corinthians 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, for he may also prophecy one by one, that all may learn, and that 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, as in all churches of the Saints.
Another reference in First Peter.
Chapter 4.
And verse 11.
If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister, let him do it as 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.
Our God and our Father, we thank Thee.
Firstly, for answered prayer.
With respect to the last day and a half, secondarily we would ask thee now for help.
For the next hour or so ahead of us.
We just pray, Lord, that if there would be a brother.
Or two, or perhaps 3.
It has a portion indeed from thyself.
That he would have courage to stand up and share.
Thy name we pray. Amen.
I'd like to go back to the scripture our brother read in John chapter 4.
Wonderful the subject that he.
Addressed worship. Just want to go back to that verse 20.
3 and 24.
Our cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in the spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth, And they just like to.
Focus a little more on those two things in spirit and.
In truth, because I find that is so helpful to understand.
It's in spirit because God is a spirit.
You know we are made-up of body, soul, and spirit. Scripture presents its spirit, soul and body. Because the most elevated part of our humanness is the spirit. We are made in God's image. And since God is 3:00 and 1:00, we also are three in one. God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We are.
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Spirit, soul and body. The body. The body is this physical.
Part that treads on this earth, this spirit or the soul, is that part that has.
We might say our personality and the spirit is the God conscious part. To make it understandable sometimes to the Latin brethren. I use this illustration because in creation there are different parts. There's the animal creation that has a body but has no soul nor spirit.
So if I kick a tree, the tree is not going to feel any hurt, it might damage the tree.
But it doesn't feel anything because it has no soul nor spirit. But there's the animal creation, and the animals are made with a body and a soul, and so they have their likes and their dislikes. A dog likes a certain kind of food and doesn't like other kind of food. That's the soul of that particular animal.
But ask a dog.
If there's anything they are conscious of about God, they have no consciousness of God. They do not have a spirit. I should mention that in animals soul is not a living soul like human being. We have a soul that will be existent for all eternity.
But the animal, when he dies, that's the end of that animal.
According to Scripture, but the spirit part is that which is the most elevated. That's the part that we can have fellowship with God because God is a spirit. It's a most wonderful thing that we can know God because of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has revealed Himself in the person of His Son.
So it is a wonderful thing. And going back to what our brother said about the question of music, music is a natural sweetness that God has allowed. And I must say, like our brother said too, I enjoy it.
But it is on the soul level. It's not on the spirit level. You know what I've noticed? My wife loves to play the piano and sometimes I'm sitting in some corner of the house meditating the scripture and she sits down and starts playing the piano. It totally distracts.
My meditation I cannot. I have to wait till she's done and then I can continue to meditate.
It distracts, and so the music is a part of that worship that God ordained in the Old Testament for his earthly people in the flesh. And so it's something that excites the soul, but it is not spiritual. And I must say it is a beautiful thing to worship God in spirit.
God is a spirit and like he said, and I want to emphasize it, we don't come together.
To please ourselves, worship is directed toward our God.
I'd just like to say this too, that it's not only in spirit, but it is in truth. And our brother brought that out and I thought, well, and that it's according to the revelation of the true God that we have in the New Testament. Especially I'd like to go to John chapter one. We've been in John chapter one quite a few times.
During these meetings, but to just see how the Lord Jesus.
Is presented in this chapter so many different titles that bring out who he is in his glorious person and I tell you the measure we get to understand the glories of his person worship will flow out.
I think it was your brother Jim one time mentioned that worship is sometimes expressed.
With words, sometimes without words. That's an interesting comment. I think that is a very helpful comment. In Matthew chapter 2, you find the wise men that came from the East and they came into the house where the Lord Jesus was. I suppose he was a little less than two years old at that time, and it says they fell down and worshiped him.
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There are no words that are recorded that they said it's not necessary to worship. Worship is like it was said as the outflow of the heart towards God in appreciation of who He is. We worship God because of who He is.
We praise him for what he has done, so our breaking of bread meetings, it's often a.
Measure of both things Worship.
And praise that hymn 150 I would say is majorly worship. It's the appreciation of his glory. But here in John chapter one going over there for a few minutes is I want to leave time for others as well. Notice.
How the Lord Jesus is presented. You know we have 4 gospels.
Two of the gospels has his genealogy.
In John's Gospel there is no genealogy. Why? Because he always was. He never began to be. In the beginning was the word in that majestic, simple words. But oh, the depth there. What is there?
And the Word was with God. In other words, he is a distinct person within the Godhead, and the Word was God.
His deity in fullness. And so the first statement in the beginning was the Word as he's his eternity. The second statement, the Word was with God, His distinct personality within the Godhead, and the Word was God, his deity. The same was in the beginning with God. There are people that think that he became the Son of God when he was born into this world.
That is false doctrine. He always was the Son of God. He's eternal. You know, we like to understand things. I met, I noticed especially as Americans, we analyze things.
You are not going to be able to analyze this. It's truth that God presents. And when I think of a person that never had a beginning, that always was in the fullness of his glory.
Let me tell you, it's beyond my head here to take that in. I want to give a little word that Brother Clem Buchanan gave to me a number of years ago that was a help to me, he said.
We are only correct in the measure that we keep to the very language of Scripture and sometimes when we try to explain things.
We get off course.
So let's keep as close to Scripture as we can. Verse three, we find something else about this glorious person. All things were made by him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. Now take that statement necessarily He was not made. He is eternal.
Because everything.
That has been made. He made it.
He is the creator.
Of all things, not a tremendous fact to when you think of the complexity of the creation that we are part of if you go out into the universe.
It's just incredible. I have a book at home, I think I've mentioned this before that says that.
They estimate that there are approximately 250 billion galaxies, more than the Milky Way Galaxy that we form a part of.
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250 Did I say million? I said it should be billion. 250 billion galaxies more than the Galaxy we are part of.
The other day I happened to notice in a Time magazine that it said scientists now recognize that there are probably 10 times more galaxies than previously thought, so the numbers just keep going up.
Is there any way of putting a measuring stick on God? Absolutely impossible. This is the God that is our Savior God. Wonderful to think about it. In him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shineth in darkness. In the darkness comprehended it not.
Verse eight. He was that light.
I'm sorry, it's talking about John the Baptist in verse eight. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. Then verse nine is talking about the Lord Jesus. That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. If you do not see in His light, you see nothing, right?
And you know, when I look around in the United States of America and see.
The way people have gone astray in One Direction and another, it's evident that they have never opened their eyes to the true light. Not only is He the light, but He is the one who makes everything else makes sense. And until you see Him, you cannot see anything. Rightly, He is.
That true light He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
He came unto his own, and his own received him not, but as many as received him to them gave he the power to become the sons of God to them that believe on his name. Verse 14. Here's the only statement in John's Gospel that relates to his birth, his coming into this world, the Word, that eternal word.
Was made flesh or became flesh?
And dwelt among us, what a statement, and we beheld His glory.
What's the glory? The glory as of the only?
Begotten of the Father. Not a beautiful statement. The only begotten of the Father.
He is that from all eternity. He is the one that occupies that special place in the heart of God.
A brother some time ago pointed out a verse. I think it's in Psalm 22.
In explaining this.
Term The only begotten, and the word there in Psalm 22 is.
My darling, it's the one that was in the heart of God.
From all eternity.
Full of grace and truth.
Now some of the brethren have read different parts of this chapter, but let's go down to verse 29 where we have another title of the Lord Jesus. Next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and Seth, behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Here we have another title of the Lord Jesus, the Lamb of God, and we had that quite a few times in our meeting this morning.
And that hymn we sang? It speaks of the Lord Jesus.
As the Lamb of God. It's interesting in the Book of Revelation how often that title.
Occurs as well.
It talks about the wrath of the wrought lamb, you know.
It does speak about the Lord Jesus as the lion of the tribe of Judah and you would think that it might say the wrath of the lion of the tribe of Judah, but it doesn't say that it's the wrath of the Lamb. Interesting to think about that, but it's been, it was brought out this morning. I thought well that the Lord Jesus.
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Came down into this world to fulfill God's purposes to redeem.
A people out of this world and there had to be a sacrifice, and it had to be a sacrifice without spot and without blemish. The Lord Jesus is the Lamb of God.
Later down in verse further in this.
Portion of verse 33. John the Baptist evidently speaking, he says I knew.
Him not that is interesting because.
Naturally speaking, the Lord Jesus.
Was a relative of John the Baptist, at least his.
Mother and Elizabeth, John the Baptist's mother and the Lord's mother were.
Kinsman, it says, Cousins, I take it, but it says I knew him not. And I suppose it didn't really dawn on the John the Baptist who this person really was. I knew him not, but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him.
The same is he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bear record that this is the Son of God. There you have his title of Son of God. You have it later on in the chapter when Nathaniel sees him. And the Lord Jesus said I saw you when you're under the fig tree. And so Nathaniel says.
Thou art the.
Son of God, thou art the King of Israel.
So that's another title, and we have other titles here in this chapter, Rabbi, we have the title the Messiah or the Christ, the Anointed one. You know, in the Old Testament, when there was to be a new king, a prophet would be sent, as in the case of David, St. Samuel, the prophet with a horn of oil.
And when David came into his presence, he took that horn of oil.
And poured the oil on David's head. He was anointed to be the king of Israel.
And where was the Lord Jesus anointed? You remember he came to John the Baptist in the wilderness, where he was baptizing with the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
And he presents himself to John the Baptist, And John the Baptist says, No, I have need to be baptized of thee, and cometh thou to me.
The Lord Jesus didn't need to repent.
Why would he need to be baptized?
When he was baptized, he identified himself with those people who had repented.
And been baptized. He did not identify with those people that were religious but did not need any repentance. And it was just as if God couldn't hold the heaven closed any longer when he came up out of the water, the heaven opened and.
A dove. The Holy Spirit came down in the form of a dove and sat upon him.
And said this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. That was his anointing. And from there he goes out in the power of the spirit to in his earthly ministry. That was his anointing. I'd like to go over because I find it so wholesome brother, and so enriching to just.
Talk about him.
And his glory. And there are three chapters in the New Testament that deal with the glory of the person of the Lord Jesus, John. One is 1, Hebrews one is another one, Colossians one is another. I'm not going to go to Colossians, but I'd like to go to Hebrews chapter one.
And to just read the 1St 3 verses. So I want to leave time for others as well.
Hebrews is the only book in the Bible that starts with the word God.
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We think that it is very probable that it was the Apostle Paul who wrote this book.
But his name is never found, perhaps because the Jewish people were so prejudice against him going to the gentile world.
Anyhow, it begins with God.
At sundry times, and in diverse manner spake in time fast into the Prophet's hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, or in Son, because he is God as well.
Whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world's.
Who, being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.
7 little phrases I'd like to comment on because they tell of this person.
And most of them.
Talk about the glory of his person. Yes, when it speaks about him purging sins, that is his work that is involved and that was necessary as well. But mostly it talks about the glory of his person.
What is the first phrase he has appointed heir of all things?
Even before he talks about creating the worlds, he talks about him being heir of all things.
Why is that?
Because in those eternal counsels of God.
Before there was any creation in existence, God knew what He was going to do.
And his son was the one that was appointed to be.
The air of all things wonderful, wonderful statement. And then the second phrase is by whom also he made the world's or the universe.
He created it by the word of His power He commanded in it.
Happened.
What tremendous power involved.
We don't understand very much. Scientists study the creation and they start thinking they are so smart.
But really, the more we truly understand.
The more we realize how little we really know. Yet in a truly knowledgeable person is not a proud person. He is a humble person because he realizes how little he really knows.
But verse three now the next phrase, who being the brightness of his glory, the full out shining of the glory of God.
The Lord Jesus is that full out shining of the glory of God. Oh what a wonderful person. You know, you go outside and you see the sun.
Or do you see the sun? Or do you just see the shining that comes from the sun?
The point is that the Lord Jesus is the full out shining.
Of the glory of God.
And the next phrase.
It says.
The.
Express or exact image of his person.
And that's why God in the law prohibited.
Making any images to be worshipped.
Because God alone is to be worshipped, He has no equal.
In this creation he is the express image.
You know, it says in Colossians, I think he is the image of the invisible God. God necessarily is invisible.
How can we know God then?
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Because the Lord Jesus is the exact image.
Of his person, Do you want to get to know God? Do you want to know the Father? Look at the Lord Jesus, he said to Philip, He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. So we can know the Father by looking at the Lord Jesus.
And the next phrase is upholding all things by the word of his power. So not only is he the creator of all things.
But he is the one that holds it in order.
It's wonderful to think about it. Man makes things.
My wife's watch went on the blink this morning. We figured it was bad battery. Yep, that happens every once in a while.
What about the universe? How many thousands of years is it whirling around in perfect order?
Thousands and thousands of years. God knows how long it's been there.
1,000,000 Billions of years perhaps, but the point is, is that He holds it all. He not only made it, He upholds it by the word of His power. And then comes the statement that deals with his work when He had by himself purged our sins. To me this is so.
Extremely touching.
By himself when it came to the question of purging.
Sin from God's creation because He's going to put it completely out. We have been reading and the reading meetings about that eternal day where there will mean no mark of sin left at all. The Lord Jesus in his death paid the price so that could be completely taken care of. God's holy character had been.
Called in question by man's sin.
And so if God was going to forgive us our sins, somebody had.
To pay the price. And the Lord Jesus paid that price on the cross alone. Completely alone.
They all forsook him and fled.
Very hung on that cross in those hours of darkness.
And the wrath of God, in all its fury fell on him for those three hours. No complaint. Do you hear from that center cross as he suffers there those three hours? It's only at the end of those three hours that he cries out. My God, my God, why is thou forsaken me?
By himself, he purged our sins. And then the last statement is he sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. I understand it's reflexive. You could read it. He sat himself down at the right hand of the majesty of an high. Can you imagine?
The glory of that moment when the Lord Jesus.
As man went into the glory of God and because of the value of his work.
Because of the worthiness of his person, he himself sat down at the right hand of the majesty.
What a person.
O brethren.
Appreciation of who he is.
This fills the soul. May the Lord give us to truly know what it is to worship Him.
Turn to an expression in the 45th Psalm connection with what has been before our souls in these last couple of meetings.
Psalm 45.
And just the last three words of verse 11.
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Worship thou Him and then turn back to the 40th Psalm. And I want to read just part of the third verse, Psalm 40, verse 3.
He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God. And one more portion in the 116th Psalm, Psalm 116 and verse 12. What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? Verse 17. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of Thanksgiving.
And will call upon the name.
Of the Lord, Well, we've had much before us in connection with worship and praise.
And we find that so often in the Scripture, there are three things brought before us in connection with the response, the note of response that God the Father and the Lord Jesus desire from each of our redeemed hearts. And these three things we have brought out in these three portions that we have read together. And I believe they are distinct, each in their character, worship, praise, and.
And I would just say to, as Brother Bob has alluded, that worship in Scripture is reserved for deity. It is only God the Father and the Lord Jesus the Son that we worship. I realize that under the British system of things, there are those who are still respectively, respectively, respectively referred to as your worship, but really it is only deity.
That we worship. We learn this over and over again in the Word of God. Twice John tried to worship the Angel, once in the 19th of Revelation and again in the 22nd chapter of Revelation. He fell down at the feet of the Angel and tried to worship him. But on both occasions he was rebuked by the Angel himself, and he was told, See that thou do it, not worship God.
God. And so it is deity that we worship. And I just want to echo what has already been said, because worship is the result of a heart overflowing with an appreciation of who He is. It's an appreciation of the Person of the Father and the Son. And I was glad that Brother Bob mentioned that worship is not always audible.
Sometimes it is.
But it's not always audible. And when Mary poured out her ointment at the feet of the Lord Jesus, you can read the 12Th chapter of John there very carefully, and you'll find she never uttered one word aloud. Ointment is a picture so often of worship in the Word of God. And why did Mary come at the end of the pathway of the Lord Jesus, she with a heart overflowing with an appreciation of himself.
She came because she had been occupied with the person of Christ in his pathway.
She had been at his feet as a learner in Luke's Gospel chapter 10 in the 11 of John. She had been at his feet in her sorrow in connection with the death of her brother, and now at the end of his pathway, with a heart overflowing with an appreciation of who he was, she comes and never counts the cost and pours out that costly ointment in worship at his feet. And I believe that this is tremendous encouragement for the sisters.
Because, you know, the sisters might sit here in these meetings and we talk about worship, and the brothers take part in the audible worship in the assembly. And the sisters might say, well, what's in it for me? How can I express worship? Well, as I say, Mary poured out an ointment and she never said a word, but the whole house was filled with the odor of the ointment. And I believe that a sister who comes on Wednesday morning.
With a heart overflowing with an appreciation of the person of Christ, with a heart full of worship. She might not say one word aloud, but she affects all those that are there. Mary's ointment and what she did affected all those that were in the house. So often I've looked across.
On occasions like that and seen a sister with her hymn book open to a certain hymn.
And some brother who has given out that hymn and she never had to turn the page.
Because that was the hymn that the Spirit of God had laid on her heart and another gave it out. You see how effective a sister who comes on boards day with a heart full of worship is to the assembly. And oh sisters, you little realize.
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Come on Lord's Day with your basket full of Christ, with your heart full of Christ, you're going to affect the tenor, the tone of the worship, the level of the worship on that occasion. And I want to encourage each of our hearts in this regard. And can I say something very practical?
It is too late to sit down at 10 minutes before the meeting and try to generate a response of worship in our hearts. It's too late, brethren, and I'll give you just a little practical application from John's Gospel chapter 2. Now I want to make it clear this is an application of what took place at the marriage of Canaan of Galilee.
Because I realize there's a prophetic and a millennial character to what is there.
But you'll remember that there were six water pots at that feast, that marriage feast. And water pots and vessels are sometimes used in Scripture as a figure of the human form of our bodies. And they wanted wine on as the marriage feast progressed. And they came to the Lord Jesus and he gave them some instructions. He told them to fill the water pots to the to with water it's.
That they even went beyond the instructions. They filled them to the brim. He didn't tell them to fill them to the brim, but they filled them to the brim with water. And water speaks to us so often in the Bible of the Word of God.
And how do we fill our hearts with Christ? How do we fill our lives with Christ? It's reading the Word of God. Wherever you read in the Scripture, you're going to find out very quickly that the subject is always Christ. And so they filled those six water pots. And I like to think of those six water pots as six days of the week. And if we fill the water pot with Christ 6 days of the week, then we're going to come on Lord's Day and have something to pour out to the true governor.
Feast because when they filled the water pots of the brim and you fill something to the brim, there isn't any room for anything else.
And when they filled them to the brim, he changed the water into wine. Oh, I believe it speaks in a beautiful way of our being able to pour out that which we've enjoyed of Christ in worship to himself. And so we need to fill our lives with Christ every day of the week that we might have something to give to him in worship when we come together on Lord's Day. And I say this applies not just to the brothers, but this applies to the sisters as well.
And so that's worship, and that is the highest note of response that we can give Him. And the Father seeks such to worship Him. What He desires, perhaps more than anything else, is not service, not activity in our lives. Those things are right and proper in their place.
But as He indicated to the woman at the well, He, the Father, sought worshippers. He wanted worshippers, those who would have hearts full of himself, full of Christ, that they might come and give Him that which would delight His heart.
But then we have something else. He's put a new song in my mouth. Even praise to our God.
Now as we've said, worship isn't always audible, but praise always is. You'll notice whenever you read of praise and scripture, it always has to do with the audible. Now it ought to come from our hearts, because the Lord Jesus said of those in his day, this generation draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and praise with me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. He doesn't want, as we sometimes say.
Mere lip service.
He wants that which comes from the heart. But I say praise is audible. He's put a new song in my mouth. We read that verse earlier in Hebrews, the sacrifice of praise to God continually. And notice this, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name.
Wants to hear our voices. You know, I often think of the bride and the bridegroom in the Song of Solomon. In speaking to the bride, he said, let me see thy presence. Let me hear thy voice. Not beautiful. You know, on Lord's Day morning when we come, it delights his heart to look down and see us gathered around himself at his table. But he wants more than that. He doesn't want to just see us there. He wants.
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Hear our voice, because as he said to the bride, thy voice is sweet. I know it's been expressed that sometimes we perhaps aren't by the world standards on key or it doesn't sound very beautiful in connection with a Welsh choir or something like that. But no heart but of the spirit taught makes melody to thee. He wants to hear our voice and brother, and I'm burdened sometimes.
When I look around the meeting room on Lord's Day morning and some of these good Christ exalting hymns are given out of worship and praise and Thanksgiving, and I look around the meeting room and I see a lot of silent voices. I see a lot of people in their lips aren't moving. How can we hold it in when we think?
Of all He's worthy of, how can we sit there in silence and not give Him the praise of our hearts? But I want to make a little distinction between these three things. As I said, worship, praise, and Thanksgiving.
So we worship Him for who He is. We praise Him for what He has done. But I would say more often, it's what he has done for God. It's what He has done to the glory of God. I say that because sometimes we praise another person, not because they've done something for us, but for somebody else.
If I see a brother or a sister, show some kindness to another brother or sister.
Or do something of note worth worth. I might go to them and praise them for what they have done. It wasn't that they did it for me, but I praised them because I saw them. Some do something that perhaps exhibited some Christian grace and was a health and blessing to another. And I believe we need to be careful not to forget to praise the Lord Jesus for what He has done for the glory of God. Again, it's so difficult to get beyond ourselves.
To think of what it all means to us. And that's all part of it. We'll speak of that in a moment. But I believe that again, first of all, the highest note of response we give Him is worship for who He is. Secondly, we praise Him for what He has done to the glory of God.
To realize that the Lord Jesus, he glorified God on the earth, He finished the work that was given him to do here and to give him that praise that he is worthy of because of what he has done to the glory of God. And I really believe, brethren, that the first motivation of the Lord Jesus in coming into this world and going to Calvary's cross was to glorify God as to the question of.
And so we praise him. But again, remember it has to do with that which is audible and you know it's fruit and not just for one hour on Lords Day, wonderful as we had that privilege this morning. But again, that verse we quoted in Hebrews says the sacrifice of praise to God continually. I enjoy being in a brother or a sister's home and I hear the sister getting the meal.
Out in the kitchen and there's a little note of praise on her lips. A brother is working around his yard or his shop and I hear that little song on his lips. You know, every time you and I open our mouth in true praise to the Lord Jesus or God the Father, he writes it down in his book of remembrance as fruit for his glory. I believe every note of praise from our lips is going to be rewarded in.
Coming day and it says I create the fruit of the lips. You know to me when it says the sacrifice of praise, I think that's a tremendous statement because if there is any response of praise in your heart and mind, He implanted it there. All things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. I create the fruit of the lips. He puts a new song in our mouth, even praise to our God.
And then?
So much does he value that response from your heart and mind that he counts it as a sacrifice, the sacrifice of praise. That's how much he values the response of our hearts. And I say again, we need to cultivate the habit of praise in our lives. You know, it's so easy to get under the circumstances of life. And I realized that there are brethren here whose hearts are burdened.
00:50:05
Perhaps personal difficulties, problems at work, family situations, maybe things in the local assembly from which you come, you're burdened, But oh, I want to encourage you. Cultivate the habit of praise in your life. It's easy to become critical and grumbling, but all when we think of what He has done to the glory of God, we have everything to praise Him for, and I believe.
When we have that spirit of praise on our, on our, in our hearts and on our lips, it's a testimony to others. You know, Paul and Silas, they prayed and it says saying praises at midnight. It didn't happen right away. I don't know what time they were thrown in prison, but I suggest it was probably sometime before midnight. You know, they probably wondered why the Lord had allowed it. And their backs were bleeding, they were cold, their feet.
In the stocks. But at midnight they prayed and sang praises. And what was the result? Why the prisoners heard them. The jail keeper got saved. Because our prayer, praise and rejoicing is often a testimony to others when they see that we have something that they don't. The other prisoners, they were probably grumbling and complaining, perhaps cursing, perhaps.
Saying they were innocent or whatever, we don't know.
But there were two there and have often thought perhaps they remembered all of a sudden that verse in the 119th Psalm that says at midnight I will arise and sing praises unto thee because of thy righteous judgments. I wonder if they really if they thought of that verse because midnight in Scripture is the darkest hour and they realized that the darkest hour that what God was doing was right.
There he they remembered that he, what he had allowed was right and proper.
And as hard as it was, they prayed, they sang praises, and I say, what a blessing, what a testimony. Perhaps the beginning of that little assembly. And when Paul wrote to them later in Philippi and told them to rejoice in the Lord, that had moral weight because they could remember a day.
When at the darkest hour in a difficult circumstance, Paul was Silas had rejoiced and sung praises. But then there is something else. The psalmist in the 116th Psalm raises a question as to what he would render to the Lord for all his benefits toward me. Because you know, as a result of the work of Calvary, we have tremendous blessings and benefits for time, for this life and for.
And he answers his own question later on in the Psalm. He would offer the sacrifice of Thanksgiving. So let me just go over this again. We worship for who he is. We praise the Lord Jesus more particularly for what He has done to the glory of God. And we thank Him for the blessings and benefits that we have received as a result.
If someone has done a great deal for you.
You'd be an ingrate indeed if you didn't return to give them thanks. There were 10 lepers cleansed when the Lord Jesus was here and only one returned to give thanks. And I can just hear the sadness in the voice of the Lord Jesus as he said to that man. Were there not ten cleansed? And where are the 9? Have you thanked the Lord Jesus today for dying for you on the cross? Have you thanked God the Father for?
His son into this world. We have, I say, wonderful blessings. Oh, and we think of what he's done for us when we think of what He is doing for us on a daily basis, daily loading us with benefits, mercies to get us through this life.
And then to think what is ahead in that future day of glory. Oh, brethren, we don't just have a lot to be thankful for. We have everything to be thankful for. And again, we want to be careful that we cultivate the the habit of Thanksgiving in our lives. You know, it's so easy to be affected by the spirit of the age. And what is one of the characteristics of the last days.
Well, Paul reminded Timothy.
That one of the characteristics of the last days is unthankfulness.
That's you see people today and you give them something, you do something for them and they're not very thankful. And that we need to be careful, brethren, that we don't get caught up in the spirit of the age. How many people do you see in a restaurant or a public place, bow their head for a moment and thank God for the benefits, the daily food and benefits that they have. You know, Solomon said that a man eat and drink and enjoy the fruit of all.
00:55:23
It's the gift of God. Someone gives you a gift. I say you're an ingrate indeed if you don't thank them. We tried to teach our children that from a very young age. Someone gives you something, Be grateful and say thank you. Thank you very much. And so God has given us many gifts. The Lord Jesus has given us many things. And we need, I say, to give the sacrifice of Thanksgiving. You know, people are.
At Thanksgiving, once a year, we have Thanksgiving in Canada at a different time than you hear, But you know, it's more than that. It's to be thankful every day to get up in the morning, thank the Lord for another day, for the health we enjoy, the strength we have, the job we have, the home we have, the family. And even if some of those things are taken away from us, in God's wisdom.
To still thank him even amidst.
Adverse circumstances to remember that whatever He does in our lives, whatever He gives us or whatever He denies us, He does it for a purpose of blessing and a purpose of love. And so I just thought of these three things in connection with what has been before our souls so vital, so important, three notes of response that He desires. And in this order we worship Him for who He is. We praise Him for what?
Done to the glory of God, we thank Him for the many blessings and benefits that we have, and for all that is before us in that coming day of glory. May these things be more and more characteristic of us, brethren, that they might delight His heart and bring joy to our hearts as well.
I know we have just a few moments, but.
Want to give some thought to something that our brother Nick said in his address?
And that was the thought connected with filling the basket. Throughout the week, we've talked a lot about praise and worship and.
Praise and worship gets its, you might say its power or its devotedness by having a near walk.
In close relationship with the Lord Jesus.
Having a prayerful life. Having a life that is.
Reading the scripture in His presence, having him as an object every day in our life, we can talk a lot about worship, We can talk a lot about praise. We can talk a lot about where we are in our own soul, our own place, or where somebody else is in theirs. But I believe that that if we don't.
Have an exercise life in connection with affection towards Christ.
It's sometimes part of the reason that our worship is not what it should be. I'd like to go back to John chapter one, and I know I don't have very much time. I'll be brief.
I want to start with verse 34.
It says I saw and Bear record that this is the Son of God.
You know, sometimes.
We read scripture and then we think we got a little bit of a grasp of something. We have some understanding about it.
And, and sometimes we can even minister and speak on it, but, you know, we don't always fully have a grasp of what it really, really means in our own soul.
And, you know, we can see that Jesus is the Son of God, but do we really weigh what depth that really means, what it means?
We could see that He was the one to answer the question of sin for the glory of God once and for all. And sometimes these things can be almost formal in our minds.
But because we haven't really embraced what it is to really know the Father's love, to really know Christ love. And we'll learn the Father's love through Christ.
01:00:04
Then it's almost formality of the mind.
And you know, the thing that's that's very beautiful in my mind is not only what John the Baptist said before, but what he says the next day in verse 35.
It says again the next day after John stood, and two of his disciples, and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God. And two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. Then Jesus turned and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye, They say unto him, Rabbi, Which is to say, being interpreted, Master.
Where dwelleth thou, he saith unto them.
Come and see.
But you know, I think the beauty of this is that.
John the Baptist began to meditate upon the thing that he learned, and Christ became so valuable that who he was became so real in his own soul that he looked out and just by the power of beholding the Lord Jesus, and again saying, Behold the Lamb of God, it had an effect on those around him.
You know, there's power in ministry.
Not just so many words, but there's power in ministry. What does Christ mean to you and how does it convey to others and does it touch other people's lives? I think that's the power. That's the responsibility of ministry, is to encourage and to bless and to encourage others to go on and to what? Be a follower of Christ.
Be a follower of God's Son.
Well, you know, I'm going to just because I don't have much time, I'm just going to say very briefly, what if they stayed with John the Baptist? What if John the Baptist was so important to them that they weren't followers of Jesus? What happened to John the Baptist? We go to Matthew Chapter 11. Here's this one that proclaimed the Son of God, the Lamb of God, the one where he saw the Spirit of God come down and.
Upon God's Son saying, This is my beloved Son, and whom is my delight? What happened to him?
What did he say in Chapter 11 of Matthew?
Well, he said, art thou the one about the Lord Jesus, or do we look for another?
O the Lord graciously reprimanded him a little bit, but gave him an answer that would encourage him on. But what would have happened? What kind of discouragement would have come? My point is, is that there are so many in here, some that you might be encouraged by, some that you might find have been a blessing to you, and so many ways.
But there never to be an object for the heart.
And there never to be such a such so attached to them in your life that when they fail, when perhaps they go another direction, it compromises your exercise of life, it discourages you. Keep your eyes on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know he says they followed him, and then he turned.
I think that's so beautiful because he desires your heart. He desires to know that you're following. But he they ask a question, they said where dwelleth thou? You know, there's been a lot of conversation about where the Lord dwells. Where is his presence? I don't want to just say this.
That this morning I believe, and I would not be here if I did not believe it, but I believe that we were gathered to the Lord's name.
We remembered the Lord Jesus in His death for us and that I believe the Lord Jesus was in our midst. He may challenge me on that, but I believe it to be true. But I believe that individually, each and every one of us need to follow the Lord Jesus for ourselves. We need to learn the Scripture in His presence. Learn it to please Him. Don't learn it to please.
Anybody else learn it that you might know more of his love, no more of what he's done through his work, the blessings that are ours through the finished work of of the cross, the the relationship with the Father and our hope outside this world.
01:05:11
Well, I had more to say, but I don't want to offend anybody by continuing. So let's pray. Our God and our Father, we are thankful for this time and thy word. We are thankful for the Spirit of God that is able to take the ministry that's been before us and.
To encourage us and to help us to just set our feet on a right path. Help us to be followers of the Lord Jesus. Help us to allow thee sitting at Thy feet to minister to our souls. Help us to have an intimate relationship with thyself, that it might encourage us to go on faithfully to be able to be obedient to the Word of God for the glory of our Father and for Thy glory. Lord Jesus, we ask these things.
Alone less precious and worthy name. Amen.
Welcome to the Gospel meeting. Maybe we could start by singing #19 on our hymn sheet #19 Oh Christ and thee, my soul hath found and found.