Open—Robert Boulard
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He didn't even know himself ringside, standing in the beginning, and glory and joy and joy, Lord and Spirit.
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The first one in Ezekiel chapter 13 and verse 3.
Thus saith the Lord God. Woe unto the foolish prophets that follow their own spirit and have seen nothing.
First Corinthians.
Chapter 14.
First Corinthians chapter 14 and verse 29.
Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge if anything be revealed to another listed by Let the first hold his peace.
For ye may all prophecy one by one, that all may learn.
Might just turn to Amos chapter 3 verse 3.
Just the last part of verse 3.
I have it on my heart a burden on my heart just to speak of the our walk individually with the Lord just to walk with him and it says there in Amos chapter 3 verse three, can two walk together except they be agreed.
That's one thing, you know, to take the Lord Jesus as our Savior and acknowledge that we were sinners and to receive him as our Savior.
And to have a sense that our sins are forgiven.
That were purged worshippers, we can come freely into the presence of the Lord.
But it's another, you know, just to walk day by day with the Lord.
My brother was just speaking this morning.
And Speaking of how he got up one morning and he didn't read the word of God.
Didn't have time or things got in the way.
And it didn't happen, didn't happen in the morning, it didn't seem to happen at night. And a day went by.
Didn't happen.
You know the Lord desires communion with his people above it all. He doesn't desire service from his people. He will accept service and He will give us work to do a little service for himself. But what he desires most is communion with himself. And here he says.
Can two walk together?
Except they be agreed.
And I have to ask myself, and perhaps we each need to ask ourselves, are we agreed to walk with the Lord Jesus?
In the way that he walked.
And to walk in communion with him in the wilderness scene that we live in, we sang that him just at the beginning of this meeting in connection with the wilderness way. And the Lord knows that the path that the Saints are treading. So with that, let's just look at a couple of examples. I'd like to just turn to Genesis chapter 5 and read a couple of verses in connection with Enoch.
Then we'll look at some passages in the New Testament.
Chapter 5 of Genesis, verse 21. Enoch lives sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah.
And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah 300 years.
And begat sons and daughters all the days of Enoch, worth 360 and five years. And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
Well, we know that he was the 7th from Adam.
And he was a righteous man, we know that.
At 65 years old, he begot a son. He was a father. He begat a son.
And it says that at that time he begat, he began to walk.
With the Lord.
He walked with God after he begat Methuselah. And so there's a sense of responsibility, those of us that are fathers, those of us that are parents, and we recognize that there is going to be an example set before our young. They're going to see whether we're walking with God one step at at a time, one day at a time. And it's going to be very evident if we're spending time in the presence of the Lord, so.
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Our brother said he didn't. He got up one morning.
And I confess the same thing. Maybe you've done it as well. Got up, was busy, there were things to do. The phone rang. Whatever it might be.
And we didn't spend that time in the presence of the Lord.
Enoch walked with God and he walked with God. 300 years, you don't know and I don't know how many days we have left in this scene. You know, we're given 3 score in 10 years, 70 years, natural, normal lifetime. You might say it's.
25,550 days.
One day at a time.
And you know, I thought I'm not a very good example, but I thought in the mornings when I open up the word of God and just read a little passage of Scripture.
Sitting down in the presence of the Lord, just reading something of the word of God before the day gets busy and before.
Different circumstances come in and interrupt the thoughts interrupt.
I'm sitting there reading and the Lord is speaking with me.
And by his spirit just bringing different things to me and we're enjoying different things together, we might say.
And then, you know, comes a time when I have to set the Bible aside and have to get on with life, have to get on with the the day before me, have a little word of prayer.
And ask the Lord for help to have a sense of his presence, to have a sense of his presence. He says, I am lo, I am with you always, even under the end of the age. He is with us. We don't need to pray that he would be with us. He is with us, but we do need to pray that we will have a sense of his presence.
As we walk through the day, but I just say this, I have to consciously remind myself.
To desire to walk with the Lord that particular day, that very day to.
Have spent a little bit of time in the Word of God before the day begins, and then to begin to rise up, and then to take one step at a time.
In the presence of the Lord, to walk with God one day at a time. Well, how did he walk? How did the Lord Jesus walk when he was here? What characterized his walk?
Why is it important to walk with the Lord?
Well, if we turn to Matthew's Gospel chapter four, we might just look at some of the things that characterize the Lord and ask ourselves, would we be agreed to walk in the same way?
Would we be agreed to walk in the same character as he walked?
Let's read the first few verses and then make a few comments.
Matthew chapter 4, verse one. Then was Jesus LED up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights, he was afterward and hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command, let these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, and sayeth unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down. For it is written, he shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against the stone. Jesus said unto him.
It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain showed showeth him all the kingdoms of the world.
And the glory of them. And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get the Hence Satan. For it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. And the devil. Then the devil leaveth him, and behold, angels came.
And ministered unto him.
So the Lord Jesus was tempted of the devil. We know that he was tested in these three different ways, the less of the flesh, the less of the eyes, the pride of life. He was tested in every way, sin apart, and it proved His deity, it proved His Holiness, it proved the fact that He was he had a nature without sin didn't prove it to God.
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Proved it to man. Proved that this was a man, the head of a new creation race.
And now you and I are a part of that new creation race and we can walk in the same path. We're indwelled with the Spirit of God and we have the power to live a new life.
But the Lord Jesus, you know.
Fasted for 40 days, there was a testing.
He wouldn't eat unless his father provided food. He walked with his father, he walked in fellowship with his father. So was a day he was in the wilderness and there wasn't any food provided that one day.
Night fell morning.
No food that day either.
No food night came.
No food. Third day.
There was number food. His father didn't provide that food and he wouldn't reach out and take it. He fasted in the wilderness.
He fasted 40 days, 40 nights. You know, there was a brother in our assembly.
When he was a young man he hitchhiked across Canada and he said he was a young man. His father had died when he was young.
And he said, you know, he, he was in Banff, Albert, Alberta, he didn't have any food. And the third day, that's all he could think of was food. The 4th day, that's all he could think of is food where he could get some food. How he he was thinking about how hungry he was.
And it wasn't, I think, until the 5th day that he got some food.
But the Lord Jesus would not reach out and take anything that God didn't give him. I wonder if we would follow the Lord if we would walk with him in this character. Would we walk with the Lord Jesus and not take something that he wouldn't give us?
You know, we live in a day, a Society of instant gratification, and I want it now. And it's drive up banking and drive up the food and everything else. But you know, I don't want to take Scripture out of context. But if we turn to I think it's First Corinthians chapter four, we have a little statement there made by the apostle Paul.
Says in verse seven, chapter four, First Corinthians, verse seven, Who maketh thee to differ from another? What hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now without his receive it, Why does thou glory as if thou hast not received it? So that just this little expression, what hast thou that thou didst not receive?
To be able to walk with the Lord Jesus in companionship with the Lord Jesus.
We're going to have to exercise self-discipline, self judgment, and not to reach out and take those things that he doesn't give us from his heart of love and to in the sense ask permission for those things that we need that we would desire.
I'm not a good example in any of these things, I'm not saying that, but.
You know, I have a little habit in the morning when I get up in the morning. Maybe you have the same habit.
I just asked the Lord, what should I wear today?
What? What should I wear? I've got a closet full of clothes, what should I wear?
And justice, seeking the presence of the Lord just to take something that would be suitable for the day, for the activities of the day, and so on.
And so it's normal for us to ask the Lord for those things that we need and to await independence upon him, and not to reach out and take those things that he does not provide us. And so in one of these, in this character of things, we can walk with the Lord, We can walk with him step in step.
And we can wait for Him to provide what we need. The blessed Savior wouldn't take anything, not even bread. And He wouldn't take those stones and turn them into bread.
As a perfect holy dependent man.
He wouldn't do it.
And so it's an example for us to walk with the Lord and not take those things that He doesn't provide for us, even though we're tempted. And perhaps we have the resources to go and buy them or whatever it is. But to have a true sense in our souls that we can receive something from His heart of love. Isn't it wonderful to think of how the Lord loves us? He delights in us. He delights to provide for us, provide for our needs.
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But the Lord Jesus said, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
Well, it's a wonderful thing to be able to take up the word of God in the morning. Particularly is perhaps some of us enjoy our morning reading more than anything during the day, but to get a little refreshment for our souls in the morning in the presence of the Lord. And life is not about things. Life, the Lord Jesus says, consisteth not in the abundance of the things which a man hath.
Life is to what is really life. To lay hold of life, eternal life is to lay hold of Christ and the things that have to do with him and his rights and his interests in this world. That's what life is really about. And so to have the word of God before us as necessary, Well, the devil, taking them up into a holy city, sat at the Mount of Pinnacle of the Temple.
Save them in himmoths I'll be the Son of God. Cast thyself down.
For it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning the You know, the devil left off a little part of that verse. It says, to keep thee in all thy ways.
That's missing in the quotation.
In their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at anytime thou dash thy foot. Jesus said unto him, and is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Well, in this character we walk with the Lord, we get up in the morning, we read the word of God, We spend a little time in the presence of the Lord, desire him to speak with us.
And we speak with him, we rise, and we leave that place, and we begin to walk through the day and have a sense of the presence of the Lord as we walk.
But do we tempt the Lord in a sense to go and put ourselves in a situation that we would we shouldn't be in?
Into a place that is contrary to His word, to the instruction in his word. If I could just give one example.
As a young person.
Do I Is there a young man that's showing an interest in a young lady but he's not a believer? Is there a young man who has an interest in a young lady and she's not a believer?
Is tempting the Lord, Is putting yourself in a place of danger and expecting the Lord to deliver you in that place of danger to begin that kind of a relationship, because it's contrary to the instruction of the Word of God and it's contrary to the heart of God that you would have a companion for life.
That would not be pulling in the same direction as you, that you would be in an unequal yoke, and so.
In this way we can.
Be presumptuous in what we do and the course of action that we take. And so we were not to put ourselves in the course, in a course of disobedience to the Word of God, and contrary to what the Word of God teaches, and then expect to be delivered.
I think we all know, perhaps those of us that are younger or older.
Some that have dated.
An unsaved person and eventually felt obligated or or the heart was allowed to.
Become engaged and then they were married, and then there wasn't that fruit for God.
In their lives and they were not delivered from that situation and then had to suffer for it during their lives. Well, the Lord Jesus, are we going to walk with him? Are we going to choose to walk in companionship with him? Can two walk together except they be agreed? And they're wonderful to have a sense of the presence of the Lord as you walk through the scene and then make those kinds of decisions.
And then walk with a partner in life.
Has faith in God. You know, I think of how when I was a young man, used to read the word of God alone in the morning and at night.
And.
Used to pray alone and then I got married May the 2nd 1981 and then I had one who I could read with. I could read the scriptures with my wife. I could pray with my wife.
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I could walk in the path of faith with my wife.
I could walk, we could walk together in fellowship with the Lord. And now there was a new team, there was a new responsibility, but there was a new.
A new fellowship, a new relationship that I could share, but share with the Lord. You know, there's life is filled with those relationships, our brother read in Romans chapter 16 of Aquila and Priscilla. This young couple, I take it that they perhaps were a little bit younger or perhaps they were never told that they had any family, they had any children.
But they labored together and served the Lord, and walked with God together.
They had the assembly in their hosts together, They labored together. What a team. The Spirit of God records them in the Scripture six times. Aquila is mentioned three times first, Priscilla three times first. But that was a team and they walked with God one step at a time. And so there are different things that we could do that might tempt the Lord and might walk, might not be able to walk in communion with Him, not walk.
With his word and with his person, then he speaks of the other thing that the devil did, took him into an exceeding high mountain, showing all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them.
Set unto him, All these things will I give thee, and if thou will fall down and worship me, then saith the Lord unto him, and then say Jesus unto him, Get the hence Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Well, you might say I never would think of being involved in any satanic worship, never involved in idolatry or anything like that. I have no idea. No, no intention.
But we live in a world that is Satan's world. He's the God of it religiously, and he's the Prince of it.
Politically and in every other way, he's raised up a system of things politically.
In the business world, entertainment wise, it's all independent of God. And then you and I are called to walk through this scene in fellowship with the Lord and he never touched a bit of it. He said I know what is in the heart of man. He didn't need anyone to tell him what was in man, for he knew what was in man and he wouldn't walk in fellowship with that system and the things.
Time and time again in the gospel, he withdrew.
Went into Galilee among the working class of those that were in his day, and he walked with them. He walked in fellowship with those that were of humble nature, humble in their.
Outlook humble in their circumstances.
And so here there may be a temptation for us to reach out and to.
Seek better circumstances for could put it that way in our work circumstances seek better circumstances in connection with our standing and.
Wealth in this world, all those things, this world had no attraction to the Lord Jesus. He was the head of a new creation race, and all of those things had no attraction to him. But if you and I walked with the Lord Jesus one step at a time in fellowship with that man of Calvary.
Who always did those things that please his father if we desire to walk in fellowship with him.
Agreed with Him to walk in this world and seek His glory and the blessing of His people, and to desire and to value communion with Him.
Then we won't be reaching out and seeking some of those things for ourselves that having that aspiration for power and position and.
Wealth in this world, something that would be in independence of himself, that world system that.
Crucified him that rejected him, said we will not have this man to reign over us. And so you and I can be agreed to walk with the Lord Jesus in this character as well.
This world did not appropriate him in any way and so he walked day by day. If I just would point another couple of passages of scripture I just want to read in the 102nd Psalm.
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Verse 6.
I'm like a Pelican of the wilderness, and like an owl of the desert, I watch, and then as a Sparrow alone upon the housetop. Mine enemies reproach me all the day. They that are mad against me are sworn against me.
Well, you know, the Lord Jesus came into this world. He left those courts of glory where he had enjoyed communion with his Father.
In a past eternity, and when he was about to leave, he said in John's Gospel, chapter 17, he says, Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory. For thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. So we have that relationship before the foundation of the world. But he desired that you and I would be with him.
And we will be with him.
For all eternity. But His desire is for you and I to walk in fellowship with him and to be agreed with him.
In our doctrine, in our path, in how we conduct ourselves, to be agreed with Him and to walk with Him one step at a time, one day at a time. In this world. He was alone. A Sparrow I watch, and a mess of Sparrow alone. And so he bore the cross in his.
Alone upon the Cross, another little passage in Mark's Gospel chapter one.
But he desires your company and mine.
Verse 35 Mark chapter one in the morning, rising up a great while before a day, he went out and departed into a solitary place and there prayed the Lord Jesus alone. And before the day began he spent time in the presence of his Father, and he got the instructions for the day. And then he was able to rise up and begin his day and to walk in fellowship with his Father. He always had.
Of the presence of His Father. He always did those things that pleased him, but you and I can have that same relationship with Him. We can rise up after we spent a few minutes perhaps in the presence of the Lord in the Word of God, and we can have a sense of rising up and having some.
Instructions from him and to go and walk that one day in fellowship with himself.
Maybe just another little passage.
I was thinking of Revelation chapter 3, those that were despised of the Roman Church.
Had come out of Really.
The Roman Church and Protestantism now in Sardis, and he says this in verse four, chapter 3, Revelation verse 4. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments. They shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy.
Is there any better person to walk with than to walk with the Lord Jesus?
Is there any better person? Would you give up a walk in communion with the Lord Jesus, fellowship with him, to be able to have companionship with any other individual? He is the one whom we should desire to have a sense of fellowship with and a desire to walk with and in a future day. You know those folks, those dear brethren during the.
Reformation and just passed just after the Reformation.
So ridiculed and maligned. Persecuted by the Roman Church.
Were alone, they felt alone and the Lord said that they would walk with Him, Walk with me in white, for they are worthy and the Lord will recognize it. So maybe you feel alone. Maybe you feel you come from a small assembly. You feel the loneliness of what it is to be maybe only the only young person in your assembly. Whatever it might be, you feel alone. Wasn't wonderful to have a sense of the presence of the Lord and to know that He values your company, He.
That when you have a desire to walk with Him just that one day, one day at a time, and to walk in obedience to His Word. And so just with these few thoughts, particularly in connection with Matthew's Gospel chapter 4, to exercise our hearts in connection with being agreed to walk with the Lord.
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In separation unto himself, not desiring to have fellowship with that.
Which was opposed to him and to walk Independence Day by day.