Open—W. Gill, C. Hendricks, R. Klassen
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
To God, our strength.
He has brought us to, He will bring us.
Home at length.
This the Lord our God will do, doubt not, for His word is stable.
Fear not, for his arm is able. And we sing the whole hymn #242 Someone started please.
A short, brief text.
First one is in First Corinthians 14.
1St Corinthians 14.
Verse 9.
So likewise you.
Except ye utter by the tongue, words easy to be understood.
How shall it be known what is spoken?
For ye shall speak into the air.
Then verse 30.
If anything, be revealed to another that satisfy.
Let the 1St.
Hold his peace.
Then.
The little blue cards that have circulated around containing the schedule of the meetings for these several days has a couple of texts at the bottom.
It might bear repetition reading just now by way of introduction to this meeting.
I beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called with.
All loneliness and meekness with long-suffering.
Forbearing one another in love.
That's Ephesians 4 verses one and two and then the last line wait on the Lord.
Wait, I say on the Lord.
Psalm 2714.
But we could pray before us. The meeting begins.
Now our God.
Grace, I think we've already asked the Lord's blessing. Perhaps we can do it again though. Blessed God and the Father is reopened. My word, we pray thou blessed to him. It's thy word with thy children. Count upon me for blessing and guidance and help and give me our thanks in the Lord Jesus name, Amen. Let's turn to.
President James.
Predictive Report.
Interesting word in the.
The last chapter of James and the eighth verse.
And the latter part of the verse, you might say, we saw James, We might say, how come you said that?
The last part of James 5/8. The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Now there's written 1900 years ago.
00:05:07
Coming, the Lord draws an iron.
But what does bring it home to me, and I trust, to all of us?
I can mark a day back in 1934.
I was in Denver with my dad.
We were walking out to the meeting room on the Lord's Day morning. I don't remember any part of the conversation.
Except he said to me, the coming of the Lord is very near.
That's 64 years ago.
I was just a young fellow then.
64 years.
Now it's interesting to me to think about how we look forward to being here. Here we are, December 26th.
The backstage to Labor Day.
The summer was over thinking about.
What's coming?
And we think October, November, December, December.
The Burbank meeting.
And so we go through October and think about, yeah, now it's just two months, you go through November.
Not just one month and we got through.
Three weeks.
Two weeks, one week, then we start taking off the days. The day is coming nearer and nearer.
Now if you liken that to the coming of the Lord.
It sure is near, isn't it?
You think about the calendar and you think surely the Lord is going to come before the year 2000.
Perhaps all of us know that the calendar haywire were already past 2000.
If your Bible has.
A chronology at the top of the column in Matthew 1. Mark. Well Luke One it says BC4.
BC is the birth of Christ.
The Lord Jesus in that reckoning was born four years before the beginning of the present cycle of years. This is actually 2002 already. You can't rest on the year 2000.
But one thing we can rest on, the coming of the Lord is near, perhaps today.
Turn to the 12Th chapter of Luke.
But my thought is, what preparation can we make? How can we be ready for this coming?
Often we say that in Vermont you're best to the young people, but.
Need it myself. The 12Th chapter of Luke tells us something of the preparation we can make, or what? That is our being ready. Verse 36. Well, verse 35 of Luke 12.
Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning, and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding, that when he cometh in office, they may open unto him immediately, just waiting on the Lord. So this is the story I read not long ago of the fishermen coming in.
Perhaps up in the state of Maine or up in Canada and the men on those fishing ships.
We're looking with telescope and one of them saw on the shore his wife was there waiting for him and he rejoiced and one of his associates looked. He didn't find his wife.
They got closer and closer to sewer and he still didn't see them.
Finally they got under the shore and he makes his way home. There's his wife.
It's a great shirt and she said I was waiting for you. Yes, but he could say Joe's wife was down there watching for him. Oh well, I was busy here.
Still, this is commended here.
Ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord. Are you and I doing that?
But there's more than that.
Turn to 40, verse 43.
Blessed is that servant whom is Lord, when he cometh shall find doing.
Shall find that's a busy thing. Nice, nice if that man came home and found his wife keeping the house and making baking bread and getting all set.
00:10:09
But dropped down in between here verse 37.
Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find a watching.
Now I covered that.
I want to be watching at the instant when the Lord comes.
To find it rather interesting, if I may have a personal observation.
I often awaken in the night.
And sometimes I think, why did the Lord do that? Why did he wake me up? The Lord is coming. I'm ready. I can see him come.
I would share that with you. I hope you have that same thought.
If you want to be watching, sure, you want to be waiting and you want to be working. But just think what it says here, verse 37 again.
Blessed are those servants, those Christians, to whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching. Verily I say to you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down and meet, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second, watch.
Or come in the third watch and find them. So blessed are those servants.
Doesn't doesn't affect your appetite. Don't you want the Lord to come and you'll be found watching? Watching in your heart. I know you've got to do your job. You've got to keep help. You've got to do this and you've got to do that. But the attitude can be one of watching. That's why I covered this matter of waking in the night and having that little flashing thought. The Lord is coming.
Here.
So here are three things that you can you can do. You can wait, you can work, you can watch, you can do all three. You can wait already, you can work on it. You can wait and work.
You can wait and work and watch.
And the Lord, this is beyond my understanding. We think of that vast strong which we're going to be a part. They have the courts of glory.
And according to what we have here.
The Lord is going to say about you, and you and you and you come over here. What does it say?
He forgot himself and make them to sit down to meet. It will come forth and serve.
And it's interesting to see this is in the first watch of the night.
That those who come who are doing this in the second watch or even the third watch, we're going to get the same blessing. So it isn't too late to start watch for him now. Very familiar portion, but we need to look at it in First Thessalonians.
Because it's part of the thought before when First Thessalonians 4.
You might say we don't need to read it, we know it so well. That's all. I'm going to read the 1St Thessalonians 4 verse 16.
Where the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
With the little amusing things when our.
Sister Mrs. Helen McMillan passed away a few years ago.
Subsequently, Dan Anderson and I took Brother McMillan out to the cemetery to the grave.
And I was standing by the date with the grave and Dan Anderson said, well.
Said the Lord might come. Well, what a thrill it's going to be. The graves will be opened, those dear loved ones that we know are in the glory are going up first, and then we're going to be caught away to meet the Lord in the air.
Again, what James said that coming is near. It's way past due I think.
And I just remind myself be ready for when the Lord comes. But when more scriptures First Corinthians 15 again.
00:15:00
Familiar to us, but just a little reminder.
1St Corinthians 15 and verse 51.
Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trunk where the trumpets will sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
So in this corruptible shall it put on incorruption, this mortal shall it put on immortality.
Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory.
Where is thy sting, O grave? Where is thy victory? The sting of death, the sin, the strength of sin, is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.
For as much as he know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
The coming of the Lord is near. It must be very near. Perhaps today, if not today, then tomorrow. Every indication.
That we've considered here that the Lord's coming must be very, very near.
And those who are watching when he comes.
Going to have a special blessing. I want to be a part of it. I urge you to join.
That doubtless bastron of those who are watching for the Lord, not just waiting, not just working, but watching for the Lord to come.
#208 has been given out.
It's chapter 2.
And verse 13.
Looking for that blessed hope.
And the glorious appearing.
Of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.
We've had before us a little about the blessed hope.
Gazing in his, on his buttered face, being in his presence, we call that the Rapture.
But he's been cast out of this world.
He's been rejected here. He's been spit upon, crowned with a crown of thorns and struck on the face with the fists of the Roman soldiers and.
Maltreated.
Biden's creatures.
We're also looking for the.
Glorious appearing or the appearing of the glory?
Of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, when he will be crowned.
Down here in the scene where he has been so maligned and abused and mistreated, when he will have his rightful place and we'll be with him then.
It's turned to 2nd Thessalonians.
2 Thessalonians.
Chapter 2.
Now we beseech you, brethren.
By the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together.
To him let ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter.
As from us as that the day of Christ is at hand, the day of the Lord is at hand.
Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come.
Except there come a falling away. 1St And that man of sin be revealed, The son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped so that he is God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
00:25:00
Remember ye not that when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
And now you know what withholdeth, that He might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work. Only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, even him whose coming is after the working of Satan.
With all power and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness and of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that the all might be damned, who believe not the truth.
But had pleasure in unrighteousness.
The greatest judgment.
Far greater than that which fell upon Jerusalem, apostate Judaism will fall upon apostate Christendom.
The place on earth that has been so favored and so blessed for 2000 years now with Christian light and testimony. The greatest privileges and blessings that God has ever bestowed upon man.
The company I'm addressing this afternoon is probably the most favored of all.
With all the light that God has given to us.
Is there anyone here in this great company? It's still lost because they receive not the love of the truth that they might be saved. God will send them strong delusion. They should believe a lie.
That all might be damned who had, who did not receive the truth, had pleasure and unrighteousness.
It's It's hard to believe that there's anyone here that has been under the sound of the precious word that we've had before us these days, that.
Still outside of Christ, still in his or her sins, still lost. But it's possible. And so this first appeal that I would make is to your soul.
If you reject and continue to reject the love of the truth that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life, God loves you. Be shown that in the gift of His beloved Son. He could not give more. He would not give less to despise that.
Will issue in the greatest judgment this world has ever seen.
As the judgment of God will fall upon apostate Kusundo. As we look around this, we don't have to have great discernment to see that Christendom is about to be judged. As our brother was bringing before us the coming of the Lord for us. The blessed hope to take us out of this scene is soon to come. It might be today.
Brother asked me the other day, when do you think the Lord is going to come? I said today. That's the only answer we can give that would be scriptural.
Don't put it off beyond that.
And then he's going to come back with us and this world which has despised us as well as him, because it despises those that are his. If they have rejected me, they will reject you, he said.
And so when we feel the rejection of this world, the Muslims can pray five times a day towards the East. They don't feel any reproach, any rejection for that. None of the false religions feel a bit of reproach because Satan doesn't oppose them.
But it takes something to stand for Christ in an evil day, and we're living in an evil day. At the end of every dispensation is darkest of all, because the light has been rejected and it issues in judgment.
The greatest delusion, the greatest deception is about to fall, and it is falling, and it's going to continue to fall upon Christendom.
We need discernment today more than ever to know what we are about and why we're here and what he's left us here for.
As a leftist here to make a name for ourselves to get ahead in this world, he's left us here to be a light, to be a witness for him. He's left us here to witness.
00:30:05
For the Lord Jesus.
As my Father hath sent me into the world, Even so have I sent you.
Father sent Him. He was here for the Father, as the living Father had sent me, and I live on account of the Father, so he that eateth Me shall live on account of me, as He was here for the Father's glory, as He could say, The Father hath not left me alone, but I do always those things that please Him.
Why has he left us here to live for self? No, he's left us here to live for him, to be a witness for him.
So this chapter begins with, I beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto Him, tomorrow morning we'll be gathered unto His name.
That's the name of one who's been rejected here. Not accepted, not a popular Jesus.
But a very unpopular one. We're gathered to his name. Great privilege. Tremendous privilege. It supposes he's not here. He's gone on high. They sent a message after him. We will not have this man to reign over us.
And so we have the privilege during the time of his rejection to be gathered to His name. But this is looking on to what our brother was bringing before us, the rapture, I beseech you, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto Him now, when we're gathered to His name tomorrow, it'll just be a few of us when we think of the whole church the world over. But when we're gathered unto hell, not to His name now, but to Him personally.
All the Saints will go. No missing then.
All the divisions.
All the ruin that the enemy is brought in will be done away with.
And together with all the redeemed, will rise to meet him in the air.
Don't miss that.
The moment for which all other moments was made will be when he calls his bride home to glory.
You're going to be there, aren't you?
I hope there won't be one here, that we'd be left behind.
Are gathering together to him. He beseeches them. He says this must take place before, and then he names a certain number of things. Notice what he says.
That he be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us. There was a letter that had come to them purportedly from the apostle Paul, and Paul says, it didn't come from me, that the day of the Lord is at hand. The day of Christ is when we go up to be with Him, but the day of the Lord is when He will come back and establish His rights in this world.
They were going through tremendous persecution.
And there was the mistaken idea. You know, when you're when you're going through persecution and trial and the enemy is has the upper hand and he's subjecting you to torture and even to death, they thought that was the day of the Lord.
No, He says when the day of the Lord comes, you will be at rest in glory. That's what he says in the first chapter and he says in verse six of chapter one, seeing it as a righteous thing with God to reconcile tribulation to them that trouble you. They were being troubled now by the enemies of the gospel.
And when that situation occurs, the day of the Lord hasn't come yet.
Because when the day of the Lord comes, the enemies of the gospel will be in trouble and will be home and addressed.
It will be just the opposite to what was happening here. They misinterpreted the tribulations through which they were going as being the Day of the Lord.
And he says, no, the first thing that has to happen before the day of the Lord can come is that we have to be gathered together unto him all the same, raptured to himself in glory. And then.
Verse three it says, except there come a falling away first the apostasy. That's what the the word apostasy means is the falling away.
Now there can't be the apostasy until we're gone.
00:35:03
As long as Christians are left here in this world, there will be faith.
The apostasy can't come as long as you're here. That's what Paul is saying.
As long as Christians are here, the apostasy is the complete overthrow of Christianity.
That can't be as long as they're Christians here.
So you're the living proof that the day of the Lord has not come, because the apostasy has to come first. First our gathering together to Him, and then the Spirit will go with us, and then there will come the apostasy.
And then that man of sin be revealed.
The son of Perdition. That's the Antichrist, and he will not be revealed.
He has not been revealed. Don't let anyone tell you that he's been revealed. As long as we're here, he has not been revealed. He may be very much alive in this world, but he hasn't been revealed yet because we're still here.
And when he calls his home, he gathers us to himself, and then will come the apostasy. There won't be any Christians here to stem the tide of evil. You might say, well, it certainly looks to me like the apostles here now. Well, this is nothing compared with what's going to follow. The rapture of the Church are gathering together to him.
Will be infinitely worse for this scene after we're gone. There is a restraining power.
In the presence of the Saints of God, our presence here, what good are they? The world says their only troublemakers. And I believe that when we're gone, they'll, after they realize what has happened, first of all, they'll look for us. As it says with Enoch, he was not found. That means they look for him.
And they'll look for us, Where did all these people go? Where did they go when they realize we're not any longer there? They'll say, now we can do what we want to do without any hindrance, no more restraint. And then the full tide of evil will break upon this scene. Terrible. We've seen some awful things, upheavals of nature. We've seen some awful things while we're still here.
But they're nothing compared with what awaits this world. Apostate Kusundo is just ripe for the judgment of God to fall in its unmitigated fury.
Awful day awaits it. Glorious day for us. Terrible day for this scene.
Then shall that man of sin be revealed? The son of perdition? There's only two men in scripture called the son of perdition. John 17. The Lords prayer he mentions Judas Iscariot is the son of perdition.
And hear the Antichrist has got that title, The son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped so that he is God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
When this power arises, Christianity will not be tolerated any longer. I mean the outward form of it, because after the rapture, I suppose that for a short time nominal Christians will still go to church on Sunday.
But the life of it, the vibrancy of it, the life of it, the reality of Christianity will be gone. The Spirit will go with us. He who forms the assembly as the House of God in the body of Christ, He's the restraining power now, and your presence and mine is there. They say good riddance. They'll find out what that means.
When we're gone.
They'll find out the awful judgment that will fall upon this Christ rejecting world when you and I are gone. It will be terrible beyond words to describe so bad. They will call upon the rocks to fall on them and hide them from the face of the Lamb. The wrath of the Lamb, the wrath of the one they nailed to a cross and set away with Him we will not have.
This man to reign over us.
So there's this man of sin. He's going to sit in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
God is going to bring about the greatest delusion that Christendom has ever seen.
Remember you not that when I was yet with you, I told you these things, and now you know what withhold it that he might be revealed in his time. That could be the presence of the assembly here, though what that's withholding the full outbreak of evil. And then he goes on to say it could be also ordered government.
00:40:11
That is withholding it and then he goes on to say.
Verse six and now you know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time for the mystery of iniquity that already work only he.
Who now letteth or hindereth, or restrains, will restrain until he be taken out of the way?
Clearly an illusion here to the Spirit of God.
So there's a what withholding, and then there's he who withholds.
The assembly's presence here is a restraining power.
It might seem that the influence of Christians here is null and void. Not so. Not so.
For the mystery of iniquity hath already worked way back there in that 1St century.
Started working only he who now letteth will let hinder till he be taken out of the way, and then shall that wicked one be revealed. That's the Antichrist, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs, and lying wonders. If you look at Acts 2, we won't turn to it, but those are the very same words that are used to describe the true.
Messiah.
The works that he did, power and signs and wonders.
The Antichrist is going to imitate. There's going to be the greatest imitation and delusion that's going to settle over Christendom. The most favored spot on the face of the earth is going to be deceived with the greatest deception ever.
And these power and signs and lying wonders, wonders of falsehood.
And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish because they receive not the love of the truth, not just the truth, but the love of the truth that God loves man and then he's provided in his love a Savior. They wouldn't receive it. If you have, if you're one of those, you're headed for the absolutely the worst, the worst judgment that's ever fallen.
Flee from the wrath to come. I trust there's not one here, but still lost, unsaved, undecided.
Time is short. You don't have much time.
With all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved, and for this 'cause God shall send them.
Strong delusion.
That they might believe a lie.
And that they all might be damned.
Who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Or what a judgment awaits this favored scene.
This sphere on the earth, not communism, not Muhammadanism, not Hinduism, but christened out.
Christendom Bag, which has professed the name of Christ.
If you're one of those and you're not real, you're going to be one of those who's going to be damned.
And deceived.
After we're gone.
May the Lord stir us up, realize where we are and how near we are to His coming, when He'll gather to Himself all the redeemed, none missing them, all of our brethren scattered, gathered, no matter where, He's going to gather them to Himself.
But a day that would be.
These meetings, we've had an awful lot to listen to and to take heed to.
I would just like to.
Continue the theme that's been before us this afternoon, and that is the coming of the Lord.
And I'd like to take up Revelation 2:00 and 3:00. Not that we read everything, but there's some definite statement in those chapters that I would like to call attention to.
00:45:09
And we know that Revelation Two and Three are addressed to the seven churches that were in Asia. I believe it can be taken up in various ways. You and I have probably been in meetings where they've taken up the book as to the history of the church.
From the.
Apostolic days to the coming of the Lord.
And we know that they were seven distinct churches in Asia.
But this afternoon, I'd like to call attention to the fact that these things were written for you and me.
For December.
26/19/98.
The two statements that I have in mind that were written.
Is there are seven of them and we know that seven is divine perfection.
And.
There's seven in each case. The first one is I know thy works.
Matching 7 times in these two chapters.
And it has been brought before us in this.
These meetings that thou hast searched me, the Lord, thou hast searched me, and knowing me, thou knowest my down. Sitting to my uprisings, Thou understandeth my thoughts afar out. Thou compass this my path. Am I lying down? Thou art acquainted with all my ways.
There is not a word in my tongue, but lo, oh Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
Thou hast beset me behind and before.
And are acquainted with all my ways.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain on to it.
This afternoon.
Where you're sitting, you are an individual before the Lord. You are special to Him. We don't get lost in the crowds.
He knows all about you and where you stand before him, and we've heard some very solemn ministry in regards to that.
I would just like to turn to.
First grantions, Chapter 2 for Justice. A brief thought before we return.
First Corinthians.
Chapter 2.
And incidentally, I should have mentioned it before, but the other statement is he that hath ears to hear, Let him hear mentioned seven times. You have ears. Do I have ears?
Appeal to us is to listen.
Now I realize that this afternoon that there may be four different kinds of tears in this world, in this room.
And.
I'm just going to read from verse 14 of chapter two of First Corinthians.
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judge of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you.
His arm to spiritual, but his arm to carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
00:50:00
Now, the natural man we've heard quite a bit about it is one.
Who does not perceive the things which are the Spirit of God, however?
He is a great pretender.
And we know, as Brother Chuck has brought me forth, that.
When the Lord Jesus comes, he's going to redeem his own out of this world. He's going to not one is going to be missing.
But there are going to be those that are left that were simply pretenders. The natural man is a great pretender.
You have probably then maybe some of you have not heard, but there was a man by the name of.
Frank Abernal.
He was a great pretender. He wasn't real at all.
At the age of 16.
He left home, he ran away from home. He looked older than he was, but.
He posed as an airline pilot.
And nobody suspected that he wasn't a real airline pilot, but he did not know how to fly an airplane. But that didn't matter to him because he was just pretending.
He posed as a medical doctor.
He knew nothing about medicine.
And yet nobody knew that he was a pretender.
He posed as a lawyer passed the bar exam in Louisiana.
Nobody knew and he was just a pretender.
He posed as a professor of the university and was.
Chosen from three applicants.
I won't go into any details of this, but in all his career in this way, nobody knew that he wasn't what he was.
He was simply.
A teenager who was posing in this way.
Well, I just wonder this afternoon if there's any pretenders out here.
You know it says he that hath ears to hear.
Let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Church is.
The next one is we have the spiritual man.
Now, just what is the spiritual?
Does that mean I look at myself and say, yeah, I think I've arrived?
No, not at all.
The spiritual man never looks for anything in himself.
But he is in this world for the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And God works through that spiritual man. We know that the Lord Jesus was that spiritual man, and He's the only one that fulfilled God's mind perfectly.
He walked in this world.
As that perfect subject, Lowly 1.
And God could say of him.
This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.
You and I are called to follow in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus.
Why? It's because that is the man that God delighted in you and I know that we can't do that.
And we're so imperfect, but God has only one standard that's following in the footsteps of the Lord Jesus. How wonderful for you and me to have the Word of God open to us today, to learn of Him and to learn of His pathway in this world.
The next is the carnal man, you.
Are they believer in the Lord Jesus?
00:55:00
But you can live.
In this world to please yourself, I can too.
And I think it's such a sad thing and I, I need to judge myself in this because.
Oftentimes and more often than not.
And carnal. What does that mean?
Means I satisfying myself, doing my own thing, not recognizing God and maybe what I do.
Now you'll notice that we mentioned that there were four. I believe that this carnal man can be divided into two parts.
I might just suggest this way that there can be legality.
That is the right hand.
And there can be looseness and licentiousness on the other side at the left hand. We know that these.
Things have been in the world for a long time.
Moses was told, See that ye turn not to the right hand, nor to the left hand, and he told that to the children of Israel.
In the Lord, the time of the Lord Jesus, we see that there were the Pharisees and there were the Sadducees.
The Pharisees were on the right hand, the Sadducees on the left hand.
That they pose as being spiritual, but they weren't.
Let me qualify.
Legality.
Illegalists.
Makes it pretty hard to live because he has one standard and that's what he thinks to be right.
Unless you agree with him, you are out.
Who doesn't have time for you?
And he determines that if you don't agree with him.
That you're worldly.
You're loose.
But on the other hand, we see that.
There are those.
Who want to live this life of looseness, worldliness?
And they look at those that would want to follow the Lord. They determine everything is legality.
This is a serious thing, and dear young people and older ones as well.
May I beseech you?
That you follow the Lord Jesus.
And not worry about whether or not what others say about you.
I can remember when I was young.
Just a teenager, I came down to Southern California for a conference.
And.
I look around and see the young people and I see some of the qualities that were in me.
I thought I was pretty cool and I wanted to do my own thing. I didn't want to be tied down to.
Certain things as I thought I was being tied down to at home.
But I was let loose.
And I'm very ashamed of it now.
But you know, there was.
Another young person about my own age.
That rebuked me. He didn't know that he was rebuking me, but it just.
Tore up my conscience.
He's ready.
This afternoon.
01:00:02
This person is sitting in this audience.
The Lord knows who he is. He doesn't know.
But I'm going to wait when the Lord to the time when we're with the Lord and he comes up to get that reward for that review that he gave me. Young people, may I just encourage you?
But if you want to follow the Lord, that you can be a tremendous help to somebody.
Don't think you're going to lose anything by not being in the crowd with your peers.
That seek the things of this life in this world. There's many attractions out there. We have to admit those has been brought out before us in this these meetings.
They're all going to pass away.
There is nothing that lasts but if you follow the Lord Jesus.
You're going to.
Have that eternal portion that shall not pass away.
Back to Revelation 2:00 and 3:00.
We mentioned that the Lord.
Knows all about it.
And we see that the first departure was.
They left their first love.
You love the Lord Jesus like you did when you first were saved. Do I? I need to speak to my heart and conscience. The Lord knows He looks right down in your heart. And can he say you don't love me like you used to?
He's the only one that notices what's in the heart.
You may fool me, you may fool your brethren, but no, you will never fool the Lord Jesus.
If I speak with the tongues of men and angels and have not loved, I become a sounding brat and a tingling symbol.
If I have the gift of prophecy.
And if I.
Can solve all mysteries.
And though.
I have all faith so that I could move mountains and have not love. I am nothing.
If I bestow all my goods to feed the poor.
And though I give my body to be burned and have not love, it profiteth me nothing.
The Lord can look into your heart, into my heart. Is there that love for the Lord Jesus? Does he mean something to you? Does he mean something to me? Oh beloved, he is everything.
Without him, we have nothing, with him we have everything.
I would like just to call attention to the Book of Revelation.
You know you and I have been taken to the Gospel of John.
And in the Gospels we see the Lord Jesus.
As that lowly subject person.
Who walked in this world making himself of no reputation?
Being rejected of men.
Cast out unappreciated.
And finally ends on a cross.
In the Book of Revelation.
That's not the way we see the Lord Jesus.
Though as we've heard this morning that he is the same.
01:05:03
The very same man that walked here in this world as a man amongst men.
Is the same person that we read about in the Book of Revelation, and it begins this way.
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass.
And so on.
In this book.
The Lord Jesus Christ is revealed to us for who He is.
He is the creator God.
He's the highest of the high and his brother Bob brought before us yesterday afternoon all those attributes.
Of who he is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent.
Light love.
Created.
And there's no end to what he is.
That now I messed up. He appears as the judge.
There's an appeal to you and me to hear he that hath ears to hear. Let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
We're to listen to what the Lord Jesus said to the churches and he appears in various ways. We don't have time to to go into it, but we've noticed how that he felt it when there was a declension.
It was not noticed by the natural man, or even by man in general, but the Lord felt it.
But he seeks to bring back the hearts of his people through persecution. You know, you and I live in a very affluent land. We know little of persecution. But beloved, there are many in this world who are going through terrible persecution.
Do you think the Lord Jesus means something to them?
I have no doubt in my mind that He is very precious to them because they're soon going to leave this world of persecution to be with Him and like Him for all eternity. What a hope they have. You and I have things pretty good in this world, and sometimes we may just forget about the Lord's coming.
Oh, how wonderful it is to have meetings like this, to be reminded of these things, and we don't know.
Whether we will be called to pass through persecution and I'm sure that this would bring out the reality in every one of us.
I, I fear persecution, I don't look forward to it and I don't know whether I could handle it or not. But if we're real, the Lord will give us grace to handle it. And that's what we have in the, the, the second church. But we see how that in this church, how that the devil tried to stamp out the testimony of the Lord Jesus.
Through persecution. But in the next church, the church, it's different.
He spoils the testimony through corruption.
We say that the church joins up with the world. Are you joining up with the world? Am I in some way or another, am I mixing up my Christianity with the world to make something that's compatible with with the way things are in this world?
Is something to ask ourselves this question because it says in first John, love not the world, neither the things which are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, is not of the Father, it is of the world, and the world passeth away in the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever.
Isn't that wonderful to see that? But the devil is so clever. Deacon says, yes, you can have the world and you can have Christ, but that's not so. The Lord said ye cannot serve 2 masters, for either you'll love the one and hate the other, or cling to the one and despose the other. And that's the way it is. If you have two masters, I can say with assurance of the word of God, your master is this world.
01:10:08
And appeal to in James the adulteress and Adulteresses.
No, you're not that friendship with this world's enmity against God.
God's purpose for you and me is to separate from this world.
This world cast out the Prince of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ. You and I are disciples of Christ if we put our trust in him and.
He cannot tolerate this world.
But he's looking for those that would be faithful to him.
And then we come to the next one that where we find that the world has gotten such a hold on them that they start ruling the world.
You and I involved in that sort of thing.
In ruling the world.
I I heard what a while ago that that we are the government, so we got to obey the government. Now that's not very good thinking, but anyway, that was their reason for involving in politics.
But then why would we have the next one? And our time is going rapidly. But we see that in the next one there is the name to live. But they were dead. You have a name to live.
And our dad, this is serious, you know.
We need to be stirred up. I need to be stirred up within me to recognize and realize that God wants me to be fresh and to be for him in this world, not to be dead.
Hit the next one is most precious.
And it's not perception.
When we see what we have here in the Church of Philadelphia, and I don't think we need to make any apologies for this because I'll tell you why.
That when we read this portion that everything is on God's side.
It says I will, I will I also.
I come and so on. Everything is from God's standpoint, and He is going to have a testimony to his the name of his beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, when he comes.
Does this mean anything to you? This mean anything to me? He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith on the churches. It's not me that that may attend these work, but I certainly hope with all my heart.
That I want to search that place where the Lord Jesus has chosen to set his name.
When he comes back to this world to take his beloved one home to be with himself, I want to be be there.
Because this is what honors God, we know the testimony might just come down to two or three.
But don't you want to be where the Lord Jesus is in the midst?
And again, I say it's not presumption to say that. It would be presumption for me to say I am there and this is the place where I go. This is the place. But what I'm saying is the Lord Jesus has replaced where he has chosen to set his name and.
Yeah, in the all these churches, there is also a word to the overcomer. We haven't time to look at those, but.
In our own time, we can read those. And he says, behold, I come quickly. I just heard about the Lord's coming from dear brother, and she's coming quickly.
And but we know that the testimony of the Lord Jesus is.
Under attack. Satan hates that more than anything else, and he wants to destroy it or corrupt it. But thank God.
The Lord Jesus said upon this rock will I build at my church, and the gates of hell shall not.
Prevail against it. We know that God is doing the building, and he's going to preserve and keep a testimony for his name until he comes. And so we see that the IT says, Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy ground. No.
01:15:17
There's a contest out there to take your crown away. Don't give up 11 Don't give up.
Within the last.
Church that we have here.
It's all sad in a way, and I'm afraid that this is the condition that we find the church in today.
We don't have to point the finger at anybody, but can we look in our hearts to see how lukewarm we are? God hates lukewarmness.
But there is an appeal to anyone.
Who will open the door to the Lord Jesus?
And.
He has promised to come in and suffer him that he.
I'll read it. I will come in to him and will Sup with him and he with me. What a wonderful thing it is to know that in this last day the Lord Jesus wants to have communion with you and me.
So again, I just say that he that happened here to here.
Let him hear that, the Spirit say, up under the church.
324 Lord Jesus come.
Nor let us longer roam. How far from thee, in that bright place where we shall see thee face to face. Lord Jesus, come 3/24.
Lord.
01:20:18
Call.