Open—T. Roach, C. Little, E. Tonn
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Dear brethren, could we turn to the 8th Psalm?
Something I've been enjoying recently.
I just have a little meditation on it.
Some ate the heading of it is to the chief musician.
Upon Gitteth.
A Psalm of David. They tell us that word get to means of that. Or oppressed, perhaps like a drum.
It may sound strange, but we're going to be looking at the majesty and Excellency.
Of the name of the Lord.
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Perhaps it was introduced in that way. We'll just read it. Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name and all the earth.
Who has set thy glory above the heavens?
Out of the mouth of babes and suckling hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
When I consider thy heavens the work of thy fingers.
The moon and the stars which thou hast ordained, what is man?
That thou art mindful of him.
And the Son of man, that thou visitest him.
For thou hast made him a little lower than the Angel.
And has crowned him with glory and honor.
Thou made us him to have dominion over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all things under his feet.
All sheep and oxen, Yeah, and the beasts of the field.
The fowl of the air and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the Seas.
Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name?
And all the earth.
What a majestic song, the very name of the Lord Jesus.
I say Lord Jesus because.
O Lord and the capital letters capital L capital O capital R, capital D stands for Jehovah.
And we cannot help in reading scripture and the more we get familiar with it, the more we realize.
That Jesus and the New Testament is that Jehovah of the Old Testament.
Known by a different name, Jehovah the Savior.
And his name is excellent.
And it's to be honored and respected.
He set His glory above the heavens, His Majesty.
And then it says out of the mouth of babes and sucklings has the ordained strength or praise. You know the New Testament, the Lord Jesus used that when he entered into Jerusalem.
And the children were saying, Hosanna, they were honoring him.
Save now, Save now and.
The Pharisees objected to that.
And the Lord Jesus used the Scripture out of the mouth of babes and sucklings. Hearst ordained praise. The children would praise Him.
In fact, the common people often thought of it that way. They said, don't our leaders know that this is a very Christ?
But then it comes down to creation.
And speaks of considering his heavens and the work of thy fingers.
The moon and the stars were silent, ordained. We read in Revelation 4 that he created it for his own pleasure. God created it for his own pleasure, but he's given it to us to see it too.
Maybe you've noticed this?
The Earth, of course, was created, formed to be inhabited, fell into some kind of a.
State of chaos and then God in six days remade it suitable for man, and when he finished.
He looked and he saw that it was very good. He saw that it was very good.
And who often had this thought? And we see a beautiful sight, a sunset or a scenery?
And after 6000 years of man messing around with it, destroying its environment is still beautiful. There's still beauty there.
And we think of the grandness of this creation and then.
In verse four it says What is man? Thou art mindful of him.
To get a lot of help from the footnotes in the Darby Bible because it's two different words used for man here. This first one is Enosh, like Enos the son of Seth. In Genesis it means it refers to the weak mortal man.
Not a man of strength, but the weakness of man. What is man? What is puny man?
When you think of the greatness of creation and yet.
Man has made been made a little lower than the angels, but crowned with glory and honor in that he's put over the rest of creation, and it names the creatures sheep and oxen, beasts of the field, fowls of the air, fish of the sea.
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Man has been put over that.
And as we look around, we see the mess that man has made of it.
Puny man that God has elevated to the head of his creation.
And.
The highest being.
On Earth.
Accepting Angels.
But man has spoiled what God has done.
And have not has not given him the Excellency of His name and the glory that belongs to him.
The Psalm beautifully ends with the same words that it begins with, typical of many psalms.
Comes back to the original theme.
But suppose we look at it again.
And when we come to that fourth verse, we remember that in the book of Hebrews.
This is sighted in regard to the Lord Jesus, in regard to.
Another man.
Without the atom nature.
Another man is introduced, the man Christ Jesus.
What is man that thou art mindful of him, the Son of Man that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the Angel, and has crowned him with glory and honor.
A man has spoiled the creation that God has put here for us.
So badly that man says we have to take care of our earth.
As if it belonged to us.
Lent to us.
But you know this man has come, the Lord Jesus.
The first chapter of John's Gospel.
John the Baptist looked on him as he walked, and he said, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Doesn't mean the sins of every individual in the world, but he's going to cleanse the world of sin.
His work is going to is effective. It's effective for the thinner now individually.
But it's effective to cleanse the world.
So there's going to be a time when this man will reign in righteousness over this earth.
Men have tried various forms of government and nothing really works because of sin, both in the leaders and in the followers.
Nothing works as it should, but when the Lord Jesus comes and reigns in righteousness.
And this true government?
Faithful government.
And no one can hide from him.
The center in that day of millennial blessings will be stricken down.
And taken away.
And God will have.
His Honor.
There are several times in one of the chapters of Ezekiel and in other places too.
That it says that God will be known. Jehovah will be known by his judgment.
That's a solemn thought.
It's too bad folks haven't learned to know God through His Majesty of creation.
Yeah, I just read something the other day.
Can't remember just where I saw this, but they have discovered, they say, some place down near Antarctica where this gigantic asteroid landed in the ocean 2.15 million years ago. Don't forget the .15. You know, they're very accurate and it caused waves 65 feet high. I don't know how they know that.
But they say this may explain how it is we find fossils of sea creatures on the top of the mountain.
You see, they want to disregard God. They want to get rid of the flood, the judgment of God that once fell on this earth. And they'll invent some story like this and make it sound scientific and you can laugh at the story they tell. It's so accurate and pinpointed and it happened 2.15 million years ago.
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They know all about it, but you know, when the Lord Jesus reigns and he's going to put things in order, it's going to be marvelous.
On this earth and God will be glorified in His Son.
So that when we come to the end of the Psalm, thinking of it in the person of the Lord Jesus.
Certainly, O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name?
And all the earth.
Well, I just thought that would be.
Encouraging Phyllis to think that when we look at the world.
Whether it's politically, economically or ecologically, whatever way you want to look at it, it's messed up and man tries his best.
And as best isn't good enough, it fails. Certainly spiritually, man has failed.
And some of you may be aware that the head of the largest Protestant denomination in Canada has boldly and publicly stated that he does not believe that Jesus is God.
And he says, I'm no theologian, but I don't think there's a heaven or hell either. A contradictory statement.
Well, the apostasy is right there.
The man who is supposed to be leading a Christian denomination.
Well, we don't want to get discouraged by those things because the Lord Jesus is going to come back and rule. He's going to judge this world in righteousness. But you know what we're all waiting for is that shout and He's going to call us up. He's going to take us away from this corrupt world. We're not here to make it better. We never could do that. But we're here to enjoy Him. And may we as we go on from day-to-day.
Faithfully in a small assembly, perhaps.
And feeling very much weakness.
And inability in ourselves, but just to honor that name.
O Lord, our Lord, our Excellent is thy name, and all the earth.
I'll set thy glory above the heavens, the majesty of the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, if we can get a hold of that, and if we can keep before us the thought of Himself a glorious one. What a cheer it is as we pass through this troubled world and find it, as the Scripture says, getting worse and worse. And it will get worse and worse until he comes. Who's right it is.
And He will, in the end, have that glory. But it's our privilege to give Him the glory now, isn't it?
Just.
Enjoy that thought along with me. The Lord is excellent. His name is excellent.
And although mankind hath failed, there's that one man comes to mind, a statement of our brother, late brother Ernie Wakefield, he said.
If it were not that the Lord Jesus became a man, I'd be ashamed to be known as a man.
Because of what man has done, the atrocities. But when you get away from that.
And end with the thought of the glory and majesty of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Would be turned pleased to.
First, Peter.
Just for a few verses there.
First Peter chapter one.
Verse 3.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Which according to his abundant mercy.
Hath begotten us again.
Unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
To an inheritance.
Incorruptible.
And undefiled.
That feedeth not away reserved in heaven for you who are kept by the power of God.
Through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed. In the last time I was thinking our brother Tom mentioning the glory.
Well, that person.
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You know if you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior.
He's going to bring you into His glory.
His acquired glory.
And Peter tells us here that we have an inheritance.
But we want to look at something else. We want to see that the inheritance is a marvelous and precious truth that God has given us. Each child of God, every child of God, is going to enter into enter into an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and separate from sinners.
So here we see Peter bringing this out because Peter's ministry.
Takes us through the world as it were and says points up to heaven and says this is where our real blessings are going to be. Some of us were speaking about that at the table today. We have many mercies. Everything we possess here is the mercy of God and I believe it's interesting to see that He says His re mercies are renewed day by day. We know His grace is with us, but His mercies are renewed day by day. Every day we need fresh mercies.
From the Lord and we get them. But my thought here is to speak a little bit about this inheritance.
And see the contrast.
Between what we possess and the one who gives us this inheritance.
Oh, how precious it is. There are many people in this world that have great inheritances.
But they are not always occupied with the one who gives them the inheritance or allows them to have it or.
Passes it on to them. We would like to look just in a few verses.
To see if we can't recognize what God has done for us even at this very moment.
You have something, and I have something that we should review. Look at First Corinthians.
Just going to read a few verses here in One Corinthians.
Chapter 3.
Verse 20.
Therefore let no man glory the 21St verse. I'm sorry. Therefore let no man glory in men, for all things are yours.
What is God saying to us?
What is the Lord saying to us? All things are yours.
And you know how we know that we have those all things? Because we belong to Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ bore all the judgment for us that we might be brought into a marvelous, glorious relationship. Has He given us something now? Yes. He's given us joy, peace, long-suffering, all these things that are ours now. The mercies of God, every day of our lives. Are we thanking Him for it?
Or are we just frittering away or talking idlessly about it? God wants to see a response from our hearts. But I'm just, I just want to point out here that I want to look at this in this sense that we're looking at.
An inventory, if you will. Some of those in business here know what inventories are required. I know I was required to take inventories every month in the place where we worked. So we go over what we have to see whether we're able to produce the product. So here.
Therefore, verse 21, Let no man glory in men, for all things are yours.
Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world, or life or death, or things present or things to come, all are yours. Ye are Christs, and Christ is gods all. Beloved, this is the most precious thing to consider this marvelous.
Inheritance that we have.
And it's an inventory of it, isn't it?
We don't always enter into the completeness of it, but God has it completely for us.
So it's nice I thought of it in this way to look at this verse as to thinking that we have an inventory.
Of wealth that will never, never be taken away from us.
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It's reserved in heaven for you. You, you. Each one of us can read these precious verses and see.
That God has reserved something for you.
And that's the fullness of God's love and great grace and glory. So as we read this.
This is an inventory of the Christians wealth before God.
Some of us were speaking earlier than this, just speaking about praying about a man who had great wealth in this world.
And, you know, his comment was in interviewed him and he said, you know, I may have a great wealth in this world.
But I'm not the happiest man in this world.
Dear ones, all the wealth of the world will never make us happy. So when we take the inventory as we go over the word of God, we see, hear a marvelous.
Wealth that is preserved, reserved for us, Peter tells us. Reserved in heaven for you. No one can take your inheritance.
Well, now I don't want to stress the inheritance, the marvelous thing. But we've got to see that there's more to it than just an inheritance.
I was just thinking if you go back to chapter one here in First Corinthians chapter one.
And we see here something else.
Where is the origin of this great inheritance?
Where does it come from?
Notice verses verse 30.
Well, verse 29 For all flesh, no flesh shall glory in his presence, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us, wisdom and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption.
Where does this inheritance come from? From what source? It comes from the very highest source there is. It comes from God himself.
Down to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. So I always enjoyed this. I've enjoyed this for a long time.
The wonderful inventory we have and we see the source of that inventory.
And nothing can ever remove it because what God says, God begins. We had that verse before us. God is going to complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
So how precious it is to know that there is an inventory, we can take that inventory now we can.
Read these verses and see that God has it for us.
And his desire is to give it to us. Oh, we have the salvation of our souls.
But we're waiting for the redemption, the salvation of our bodies, and then we're going to enter into.
The fullness of that marvelous inheritance that we have. But that isn't all either. Again, Speaking of the inheritance.
It comes from God. Its origination is from God.
And.
Justice, go over to Let's See.
Look at Romans chapter 8.
I know these are these are not new things. I'm not trying to present something that.
That no one knows. I'm not able to do that, but I just want to give you what is enjoyable, something that we can enjoy even now. So Romans 8.
In Romans 8 we have.
Verse.
Oh, there's so many verses could be read, but we're just going to read verse 14.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
That is your position and now mine. That is our position. Even now. Are we being led by the Spirit of God? We should be.
It was the Spirit of God who wrought in our hearts to bring us into the focus of our need of salvation. It's the Spirit of God that works in us now to assure us of the place and position we're in. It's a it's in, we're in a position.
That will never be taken away.
Oh, you say, well, I fail. Failure, yes, but God has made provision for that too. We have an advocate with the Father.
Jesus Christ the righteous to keep us, to bring us back when failure comes in. So the Spirit of God is working in our hearts now to assure us of this marvelous inheritance that we have.
Let's go over to.
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Revelation chapter one.
Revelation chapter one.
And we're going to see here what our dignity is.
You know, every child of God, we can walk through this world even now in the dignity. I'm not talking about pride. I'm speaking about the dignity.
That I am a child of God.
And I have an inheritance that you can never take. No one can take it away from me. I have an inheritance there, the assurances that we have in the word of God. So here it says here.
I'll just begin at verse 5 from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, all beloved Saints of God, He is faithful.
God is faithful by whom you were called unto the fellowship of His Son. Remember that we're very unfaithful. We get very we waver, we're unfaithful. But God is faithful and He's going to bring us into this inheritance regardless of what we may think.
Do or say because it's his, he's given it to us, but he wants us to enjoy it. So here he's gone even deeper than that by saying.
The faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, the Prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loves us. Read that in the present he loves us.
It says loved here, but does he stop loving you or me? Never, never loves us.
And washed.
From our sins in the blood of His own. What a precious truth this is. We're cleansed. We're ready for that inheritance.
All made ready. So this is the dignity by which we can walk through this world. No, Speaking of it a little bit this morning. It's good to confess his name no matter where we are. If someone wants to know what church we go to, where we go, tell them I'm gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Is there any greater name than that? Is there anyone greater than that? Never, never was, never will be.
So how precious it is to be able to say this, And once you do, young people, if you do?
You're going to walk away with a joy in your heart that no one can take away.
No one.
The joy of the Lord is our strength. Remember that the only way we can go on through this world and face the difficulties is the joy of the Lord. And so He's brought us into this marvelous inheritance that is ours.
It's present in spirit. We haven't entered into it yet.
Because of the Ephesians. The sevenfold blessing in Ephesians is all up there in heaven. It's all reserved for you.
For me, for you.
But one of these days, when the Lord comes, perhaps even today, we're going to enter into that. But I'd like to go back again to Peter.
We're just thinking about this marvelous thing here. It's a dignity that God has given as he's given us. This marvelous inheritance. It's reserved for us. We can't lose it.
And also he shows us the source of this, where it came from the hand of God himself.
I'll just go back to Peter again. First, Peter.
A few little closing thoughts in this connection.
First Peter chapter one again.
And verse 4, I'm going to read that again. It's an inheritance that's incorruptible and undefiled, and the fate is not a way reserved in heaven for you.
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.
Wherein ye greatly rejoice.
I have marvel at this verse wherein what is he saying here? He is saying that you can greatly rejoice in this inheritance that is yours. Greatly rejoice, yes, because it comes from the hand and from the heart and hand of God.
But there's something more. It's greater than that.
Just drop down a little bit while we just read these verses wherein he greatly rejoiced though. Now for a season if need be. You're in heaviness.
Through manifold temptations, God has given us this marvelous inheritance. But while we wait, his return.
We may be happy, we may have to pass through some, some heaviness, some sorrow, some difficulty. Does that remove God's love? No, it only increases it. To find yourself face by a doctor that says not much hope for you.
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What rejoicing it is to know that if we leave this world, we're going to go into the presence of God.
For eternity.
Well, just drop down, the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it might be found unto praise and glory and honor at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Now notice verse eight. We're seeing here a contrast between the inheritance and the one who gives us that inheritance.
Having not seen ye love, in whom though now ye see him not?
Yet believing you rejoice.
Not just greatly, but you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.
Joy unspeakable. I'm going to rejoice in this marvelous and glorious inheritance given of God. But the greater rejoicing is when I look into the face of my blessed Savior who gave me this.
Who did it all for me and is doing it now. Oh, what a precious truth.
The inheritance, yes, that's secondary. We rejoice greatly. But when we see the Lord Jesus, we rejoice.
With rejoice unspeakable and full of glory. What a marvelous and precious truth. May we enter into the good of these things and enjoy them. Again I repeat that verse. The joy of the Lord is your strength.
We'll turn back to the second Psalm, I mean the 8th Psalm. Excuse me, where our brother?
Began this meeting.
And read one verse.
Verse 6.
Thou hast.
Excuse me, verse 5.
Made him a little lower than the angels.
And crowned him with glory and honor.
Made him a little lower than the angels. Found him with glory and honor.
My brother reminded us that.
This is said of the Lord Jesus Christ, so we'll turn to Hebrews 2.
Hebrews 2.
Verse 6.
But one in a certain place testified saying.
For this man that thou art mindful of him, and the Son of Man that I'll visit as him.
I amazed him a little lower than the angels. Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor, and did set over him the works of thy hands, and hath put all things under his feet.
Put all things under his feet.
I've often said and enjoyed the thought.
That God always couches his words in terms that have relevance.
That have meaning to those to whom it is written.
In telling the Hebrew Christians that God has put all things under the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ should hearken their thoughts back.
To the time when they actually brought those kings and each man's.
Put his foot upon the neck.
Of those who had been conquered.
And so this brings the Lord Jesus Christ before us.
As the one who has.
Conquered.
All of the enemies.
So that in him can be secured.
This inheritance that has been brought before us, the majesty and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ of that eight psalms set before us, gives character to the work that he did.
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When we realize who it was that did what He did, it draws out our hearts.
In worship and praise and adoration because it gives magnitude to the work.
At the Lord Jesus Christ is done.
All things put under his feet.
And then we get in chapter. We don't see that now it goes into verse eight there. We do not yet see all things put under Him. And that brings us up to the point that was brought before us in the first part of this meeting.
When the Lord Jesus Christ will come and remove all of the traces of sin from this scene, modify this earth, and bring the groaning creation into the liberty of the sons of God.
But we don't see that now.
But verse 9 tells us that we see Jesus.
Who was made a little lower than the angels, reflecting back to that verse we read in the eighth song.
For the suffering of death.
That by the grace of God.
He should taste death for everything.
Is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Given.
Of God.
To have everything put under him.
Who is the only one who could claim such a place as a faithful and true witness as has been brought before us?
So that the apostle can say.
And the 1St and the 2nd chapter of Colossians, when he speaks to us of the mystery of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the Father, in which are hid.
All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Everything.
Is found in Him. It is of God, as we have been reminded, that He has been made unto us wisdom.
And righteousness. And sanctification. And redemption.
So it's a marvelous thing to have our blessed Lord Jesus Christ before our souls.
An epistle that we have taken up in the reading. It's been called to our attention.
And we have him as our object.
The precious Hebrew Christians near the end of that last word that God gave them and that epistle.
Were admonished to look often away unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of faith, and that brings the Lord Jesus Christ before us.
As he was while he was here in this world.
There is the source of our.
Ability.
To rise above the difficulties and to be occupied with that which has been secured.
For our inheritance for which we wait and long.
So all of this I say to bring the Lord Jesus Christ before us.
And then to turn to 2nd Corinthians and consider.
Something as to the present position of the Lord Jesus Christ in relationship.
To the position that he took while he was here.
In Two Corinthians chapter 5.
We read in verse.
I won't find it in the first so I'll have to turn to the second. Sorry about that.
Verse 15 Two Corinthians 5/15.
And that he died for all.
That they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him.
Which died for them and rose again.
Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh?
Yeah, though we have known Christ after the flesh.
Yet now, henceforth, that is from this point forward.
Know with him no more.
It is a wonderful occupation for your soul and mind to look at the life of our Lord Jesus Christ as He passed through this scene in order to have Him as a pattern for our life as a believer on our way to glory. It feeds our soul.
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It's the manner that God has given come down from heaven in order to be sustained in the wilderness in which we have been left.
While we have the precious privilege of worshipping and serving the Lord Jesus Christ until He comes to take us to be with Himself.
I do not desire to occupy our hearts with the negative things that man has brought into the Assembly of God.
But it's a fact with which you and I live and have to contend as we seek to help souls.
To understand what it means simply to be gathered to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is a fact that most preaching that they hear.
Is to occupy them with the Lord Jesus Christ as He was in this world.
It does not take much reading in the epistles particularly to realize.
That the Lord Jesus Christ is no longer here.
When we think of those Gadarenes.
Who owned the swine?
Who had to deal with this man who was so violent that they could not bind him with change, and whose existence was among the tombs?
And see him clothed and in his right mind at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ, who had dispelled the power of those demons.
With his word.
To see them expel the Lord Jesus Christ from their presence.
Desiring that he should depart out of their coast, we see exactly what is the attitude.
Of this world toward the Lord Jesus Christ when he was here.
Depart out of our coast. They judged that he was not worthy to live in the world he created.
As one brother has said, they were more.
Comfortable with the power of demons, and they were with the power of God and their midst.
When the Lord Jesus Christ.
Was about to raise a little girl from the dead. They laughed him to scorn the heart of man.
Had no place for the Lord Jesus Christ as He was down here and yet.
There are those that would occupy the hearts and minds of souls.
With the Lord Jesus Christ, and I certainly do not demean the value of your occupation with Him as a life to be patterned after to feed your soul as you seek to go on with the Lord Jesus Christ. In no way our desire is to occupy your hearts and minds with the Lord Jesus Christ where He has gone on high.
The apostle Paul say to the Corinthians, he determined to know nothing among them except Christ and him crucified.
A crucified Christ puts an end to man outside of paradise.
It is the end of the first man. It is the end of man's test.
When God had for 4500 years our soul tested man under law to see if there was one flicker of response in his heart to God.
And we read what the law could not do.
In that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.
Condemned sin and the flesh.
So that the righteous requirement that the law demanded of man might be produced in US who walk not after the flesh.
But after the Spirit, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ was God's condemnation.
Upon our entire being.
Could not produce righteousness. The apostle reasons with the Galatians, that if the law had been given, by which life could have been received, and Christ is dead in vain.
So it's a wonderful thing for believers to be occupied with the Lord Jesus Christ.
As a pattern for our life. But it is a wrong emphasis.
To preach him as he was, and a man in this world to bring us to God.
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If we knew Christ after the flesh, because he has been rejected and crucified.
And is no longer in the flesh, He is in the glory, a glorified man.
It's a wrong emphasis to preach salvation for the man down here. This is what troubled the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They only saw him as Joseph's son.
As the Carpenter.
And so we say that if we had known Christ after the flesh, and these disciples had walked with him, John says we saw him, we contemplated him, our hands handle the word of life.
He says henceforth no, we no man after the flesh. That's a good word for us as believers too.
How do I view my fellow believers?
We are speaking along this line at home one time in a little home Bible study, and one of the sisters present made the comment. Well, we're just so accustomed to thinking about one another as natural people that this sounds rather strange that we know nobody after the flash.
Do I see you, my brethren, as in Christ?
Someone who said since we've been to this meeting that I look for Christ and my brethren and I found him.
A wonderful thing for our occupation is not to be occupied with one another as natural men, but as those who have been begotten of God and sealed by the Spirit and joined to ourselves as fellow members of the body of Christ, joined to Christ by the Spirit of God, to function in this world as the body of Christ and joined to one another.
To bear witness.
To the unity that God created when the Holy Spirit formed the assembly on the day of Pentecost. But if.
We do not view one another.
In respect to our natural.
Situations.
Are we to any less view Christ?
As he was down here.
I made a statement to a young brother not long ago that we do not. There is a danger is what I said. There is a danger of presenting Christ as he was down here. And he said, how can there be anything or any danger in Speaking of Christ into any way according to the Scripture?
And I told him the key to his remark was according to the scripture.
We quoted that verse last evening that he.
Rose again the third day, according to the scripture.
And God.
Raised him from the dead, and it set him at his own right hand, and therefore we do not know him.
Anymore as he was a man in this scene, he is now a man.
But he's a man in the glory. Turn with me to the 10th chapter of Hebrews.
It says in John chapter 12.
Except the corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, yet abideth alone.
But dying it brings forth much fruit.
As long as the Lord Jesus Christ was alive in this world.
His life and this world was a barrier to man's entering into glory because unless he died, there was number way sinners could be brought to God.
Chapter 10 of Hebrews.
Verse 19.
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest.
By the blood of Jesus.
By new and living way which he hath consecrated or made.
Through the veil, that is to say, his flesh.
And having a high priest over the House of God, let us draw near.
The way into the holiest for you and me.
Has been inaugurated by the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, when He shed His blood.
What did he say?
Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it again.
Beloved, that temple of which he spake was his body.
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And what did men do?
We read of the Centurion.
Hurling the spear.
Piercing the side of the Lord Jesus Christ.
They crucified him.
They literally rent the body of our Lord Jesus Christ that in the veil.
That is his flesh, his being a living man in this world, was destroyed.
By those cruel hands of wicked men.
And this is the inauguration for you and me.
To be brought into the very holiest of all this is the holiest precincts of God's house.
And so now we have boldness to enter.
A new and a living way.
Through the veil that is his flesh, his death, his having died and dying, it says.
Brings forth much fruit.
There were those in the end of Matthew's Gospel.
Who held on to the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And properly so, setting before us, I believe, a figure of those in the coming day, who will really worship Him at His feet when that nation is restored, as we had brought before us. And the 8th Psalm, when He orders everything according to this, according according to God in the world.
But when he rose from the dead, what did he say to Mary?
Touch me not, I have not yet ascended unto my Father and your father.
And my God and your God.
He is telling us, beloved.
That we may not any longer have him as he was here.
He has. Excuse me, let me go back. He came into our circumstances.
In order that he might die for us, he was made a little lower than the angels. He became manhood. He took your nature and my nature upon himself apart from sin.
He came into man's circumstances. God with us. Emmanuel. Matthew 123.
But he passed through the scene.
And rose from the dead. And now we cannot have him.
As he was down here, Go to my brethren, and say that I ascend. I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and my God, and your God, and the same. The one who ascended is the same everyone who descended into the lower parts of the earth.
And set us free, set men free, and gave gifts unto men. It says there in Hebrew and Ephesians chapter 4 and so the Lord Jesus Christ.
As a living man in this world.
In a very real sense.
Was a hindrance to man's entrance into glory. He had to die. I recall the incident where they put the man in the Was it Elijah's grave? And when he touched his bones he stood up. It is in death that the Lord Jesus Christ met you and me in our need.
And this is what is so valuable to us. Maybe a bit of a digression, but when we remember the Lord Jesus Christ in his death.
He says that as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we shall announce the Lord's death until he comes. We declare publicly to angels and all around that we have a portion in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And though as has been pointed out in this meetings.
All are not present when we make this declaration. We do it.
In communion with everyone who has a part in that death, everyone for whom that death.
Appeals to bring life.
Are they with whom we are in communion when we eat the bread, when each partakes of that loaf? It's a public declaration.
Of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ in communion with all who are have a part have a part in it.
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From the time the Lord Jesus Christ went on high.
We no longer.
Have.
Him before us, as he was a man in this scene, he said I go to prepare a place for you.
He prepared that place when he entered heaven as a man.
The place is ready.
And we are ready. The inheritance is laid up. It is undefiled.
It cannot be taken away.
So we just wait.
So as we contemplate the Lord Jesus Christ as He is.
We can go back to the third chapter of the First Epistle of the Corinthians.
And reap the benefits.
Of being occupied with him where he is.
2nd Corinthians 3. Thank you brother. I I knew it was lost. I appreciate that it's Second Corinthians 3.
We'll read from verse 12.
Seeing, then, that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech.
Not as Moses, when he put a veil over his face, that the children of Israel could not steadfastly look on the end of that which was abolished, but their minds were blinded until this day remained at the same veil on taken away in the reading of the Old Testament, which veil is done away in Christ.
But even to this day, when Moses is read, the veil is upon their hearts.
Nevertheless it shall turn, when it shall turn to the Lord. The veil shall be taken away. Now here is the occupation for us as believers in the present time.
Now the Lord is a spirit.
And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
But we all with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
What is now our occupation?
We referred to that expression in the Hebrews chapter 12 to look off and away.
On to Jesus. Why often away? The entire impetus of the Book of the Hebrews is to turn the heart of the Hebrew Christians from earth to heaven.
That's where Christ is.
So now we look to Him there He is, the occupation for our hearts that enables us to be conformed to His image while we're here. And it's really a simple process of mathematics, beloved.
The more we are occupied with him, the more we are changed into his image.
When the Hebrews.
Read of him. The veil remains.
But when we now who know the Lord Jesus Christ?
Who now are brought into relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ? It is not the relationship that He had when he was down here, it's the relationship with Him in resurrection.
The resurrection life of the Lord Jesus Christ is the basis of that inheritance of which we have been reminded.
It is the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ on which hinges all of our blessing now and all of Israel blessing in a coming day. So now we have with open face, beholding the Lord, nothing to hinder.
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Except my will and lack of desire to looking fully into the face.
Of the Lord Jesus Christ, and beholding as in a glass and the mirror.
The glory of the Lord, the God who?
Spoke Light out of darkness has shined in our hearts.
To reveal the glory of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ.
There's a hymn that says nothing between my soul and my Savior.
May God enable us to see the beauty of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ down here to enable us to go on.
In the pathway of faith, patterning our life after him who went about doing good.
And healing all those that were oppressed of demons, who always did that which pleased his father.
He occupied with him as a pattern for our life down here, but know that our relationship.
Our connection with Him is with Him in glory.
Oh Jesus, Lord and joy.
Oh my God.
So the beginnings of the beginning of.
All.