Pella Conference: 1988
Table of Contents
The Passover
Gospel—G. Hayhoe
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Hail Sovereign Love, which first began that scheme to rescue fallen man. Hail matchless, free Eternal Grace, which gave my soul a hiding place. Hymn #88.
Like to turn tonight to the 12Th chapter of Exodus?
Exodus chapter 12. We'll start from the first verse.
And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year. To you Speak to you unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the 10th day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb according to the House of their fathers, a lamb or a house. And if the household were too little for the land, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls.
Every man, according to his eating, shall make your account for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish a male of the first year. He shall take it out from the sheep or from the gulls, and ye shall keep it up until the 14th day of the same month. And the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
And they shall eat the flesh, And that night roast with fire and unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs they shall eat it eat not of it raw, nor Sodom at all with water, but roast with fire his head with his legs, and with the pertinence thereof. And he shall let nothing of it remain until the morning, And that which remaineth of it until the morning he shall burn with fire, And thus shall he eat it with your lines girded, your shoes on your feet.
And your staff in your hand, and he shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And against all the gods of Egypt. I will execute judgment. I am the Lord, And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will Passover you.
And the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
And this day shall be unto you for a memorial, and ye shall keep it a feast to the Lord throat your generations. He shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread. Even the first day you shall put away leaven out of your houses For whosoever eateth leavened bread, from the first day until the 7th day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation.
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And in the 7th day there shall be in holy convocation to you no matter of work shall be done in them. And save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you you shall observe the feast of unleavened Bread. For in this self same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt. Therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance forever in the first months, on the 14th day of the month, that even he shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and 20th day of the month, at even seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses.
For whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger or born in the land, he shall eat nothing. Rather in all your habitations he shall eat unleavened bread. And Melissa's called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw it, and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the Passover. You shall take a bunch of visits, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin.
And strike Belinda on the two side pulse with the blood that is in the basin, and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.
So the Lord will pass through despite the Egyptians, and when he sears the blood upon the lentil, and on the two side force the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in under your houses to smite you. And he shall observe this setting for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons forever.
It shall come to pass when you become to the lamb, which the Lord will give you according as he hath promised, that she shall keep this service, and shall come to pass when your children shall say, And you what meet me by this service, that you shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smoked the Egyptians and delivered our houses.
And the people bowed ahead and worshiped, And the children of Israel went away, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. So did they.
I think many of us are well acquainted with this beautiful chapter in the word of God, and we know that it's a picture to us of the Lord Jesus. Because we read in First Corinthians 10, Christ, our Passover is sacrificed for us. And so as we read this account that God has given about the Passover in Egypt, we know it's just to bring before us the one who is the true Passover lamb, the Lord Jesus, and the only way of escaping your friends from judgment that it will surely coming upon this world.
And everyone who didn't have the blood sprinkled on the lentil and the side post every home was there was death in that home. And so we see here that God made groceries provision so that there could be an escape from the judgment. You know, that's a principle with the ways of God. He announces judgment and he provides a way of escape. Some received the provision he has made, some rejected. The Bible says he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life. But the wrath of God abideth on him.
He knows. And reading through the Bible and God was going to bring judgment on Nineveh. He sent Jonah there. And when they repented, then they escaped the judgment. And over and over again, again in the Bible, you find that God gave warning and He's given warning to this world. It tells us in.
Act 17 God was appointed today in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereas he hath given assurance, and to all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. I don't know the day of judgment, friends, but I know it's sad.
But I do know there's a way of escaping, and I know that God himself has provided it a great cost to himself, a free to us. And so here we find the provision that God made for his people. Now, God had given many warnings previous to this because there have been a great many plagues that had already fallen upon the land of Egypt. And I think any thoughtful person today would say there's been some very, very remarkable things that have happened in this world in the last few years.
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And even businessmen and politicians and many people say things just can't belong the way they are. They know God stepped in, and he allowed different plagues to come upon the land of Egypt. But Pharaoh pardoned his heart. And I beseech you, dear friend, if you're in this room tonight, don't harden your heart. It says in the Bible today. If he will hear his voice, harden not your heart.
Just to say I don't care. I'm going to go on the way I like and I don't pay attention to those things that the Bible says. That's hardening your heart against God. There are many people doing it, people, intelligent people in Des Moines, people in Canada. Everywhere. We find people who are totally indifferent to the fact the judgment is coming. But nevertheless, God is very patient. He's waited a long time over this world and he's waiting still.
The only reason the door of grace hasn't been shut is because the Bible says that God is long-suffering, not willing, that any should perish, but that all should found repentance. Or how exceedingly gracious and patient he is. And many of us in this room will say, oh, I'm so glad he waited for me. He was patient with me until I yielded, and he's waiting, perhaps, for someone in this room.
Because when the last one is gathered in, it tells us that in a moment in the twinkling of an eye, can you think of anything quicker than twinkling your eye? That quickly, dear friends, will the master of the house rise up and shut to the door and call those who are ready home to the Father's house? So how important that you should remember that other word. Now, Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation.
Will not change their calendar all around. Perhaps they were using the calendar of the people in Egypt, But God changed it and said This month shall be unto you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. And there's a new beginning. When we realize our need of the Lord Jesus and accept him, I say there's a new beginning.
Now it is rather interesting here that God changed the calendar, but he said that it was in the 10th day of this month they would take a lamb. Perhaps you have wondered why it was on the 10th day. But you know, all through the Old Testament they were looking forward. They were waiting for the time that the Lord Jesus would come. He was announced in the Old Testament, the 53rd of Isaiah, written hundreds of years before the Lord was born.
Told about his coming into the world and the work that he would do on Calvary's cross, the Prophet told where he would be born. But at last the day came, just like the 10th day of the month. Perhaps the reason it's the 10th day is because there were 10 commandments and man was tested as to whether he could live up to God's requirements. But no one did. The Bible says by the needs of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. And so we read in Galatians and when the fullness of the times come.
God sent forth his son made of a woman He made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law. And so on the 10th day came. Then they picked out the lamb without blemish. It had to be without blemish because I couldn't die for you and you couldn't die for me. You're a Sinner and I'm a Sinner. And the Bible says none can by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him. I couldn't give a ransom for you, or you couldn't give a ransom for me.
Your blood would be not available to put away my sins.
Be mine to put away yours. It must be the provision that God has made. And that's beautifully answered in First Peter chapter one that says you're not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold after the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without God has a land, and that lamb is the Lord Jesus. And John the Baptist saw him. He recognized him at once.
And he said that behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Have you seen him? Have you received him? Have you recognized that he and he only can put away your sins? The lamb must be with his blemish. Is the Lord Jesus is not gone. He couldn't be our Savior, because the whole human race are sinful. All of sin can come short of the glory of God. But there was one person in this world who was God and man.
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In one person that was the Lord Jesus. He's God's lamb. Then it tells us they kept that lamb from the 10th day to the 14th day, and perhaps that would remind us of the life of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem. He walked through this world. Anyone who looked at him and recognized that he was without fault, They said, nevermind, spake like this man.
Pilate said, Pilate said. I find no fault in this man. The Lord Jesus was without blemish, whether it was the soldiers or whether it was the common people, or whether it was pilot. Whoever it was, they all had to say there was no damage on that person. I find no fault in him. He doeth all things well, they said, so there was the land without blending, but he kept it from the 10th day to the 14th day.
And the Lord Jesus walked before man.
Healing the sick and cleansing the lepers, but he was on his way to Calgary.
And friends, it was what was done upon that cross of Calvary that meets your need and mind and nothing else.
The life of the Lord Jesus, beautiful and perfect as it was, is not sufficient to put away sin. It only shows how far short we've come. It says we are reconciled to God by the death of his Son. So on the 14th day, that lamb that was without blemish was slain and the blood was caught in a basin and God said that the blood was to be sprinkled.
On the level and the two side pulse of the home, that was the only way of shelter from the coming judgment.
Another thing that's interesting here to see is that it says a lamb for a house. You know God delights that work in families. I think of the jail keeper there and the 16th chapter of Acts. And when he cried out, Lord, what must I do to be saved? The answer was to call him. He said Sir is what must I do to be safe. They said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house.
And notice it over and over again. When one person in the household gets saved, then you so often find God begins to work in the family and he saves a brother, her and sister and others. He delights to do that friends and we think of Rayad the harlot.
When God made provision for her to put the scarlet line in her window, she said that, oh, can my father and my mother and my household find children here? And they told him, Whosoever they said, whosoever is in that house will be safe, and all dear friends, it's wonderful whosoever still goes on, whosoever well may come, and anyone who takes his place under the shelter of the blood is perfectly safe. Oh, how wonderful to know that God has made a provision that he has provided that there is a way, a place of shelter from the coming judgment. And I say again that he.
Delights to work in households and less. I don't mean that each one individually doesn't have to receive the Lord. You must individually receive the Lord. We just see that principle. You find it with Noah. Come now all thy house into the ark. And let me say to parents the earth. It's necessary to provide clothing and education and all kinds of necessary things for your children. But always remember, the most important thing that you can do for your children is to seek to bring them.
To know the Lord Jesus, to tell them about him, to present the gospel in all its simplicity, to pray with them and pour them, That's the most important thing in the household. And so it was a land foreign house. And how beautiful it is to see here that God made that provision. Then who they could share it with a neighbor And many times.
Some of us have had opportunities to speak to our neighbors. We sought to bring the word before our children.
And then we had opportunities to talk to our neighbors, and so they could go and share this land with their neighbor and maybe somebody here. Perhaps you've been invited by a neighbor because they wanted you to share in the blessedness of knowing the Lord Jesus as your savior and being brought to trust in him.
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Well, the lamb was to be slayed, and it says in the seventh verse, And they shall take up the blood and strike it on the two side pulse, and on the upper door pulse of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
Then I'd like also to read the 21St verse. Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the Passover. And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike a lentil in the two side poles with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out at the door of his house.
Until the morning, see how very simple it was. The blood was to be caught in a basin and then they were to take the hyssop. Now for us, we might think, well, hyssop is something very rare and hard to get. But we find in another place in the Bible that hyssop was just a weed that grew there. It's called the hyssop that springeth out of the wall. It was just a weed. So it was something that was very easy to get. And God hasn't made the way of salvation difficult.
That he had said it had to be something.
Some kind of thing that was hard to get, they might have said, but we had the broad but we couldn't find the hesitant. But it was something that was very easy and God has made the way of salvation so simple. It says a wayfaring man, though approval need not earlier. We have a little song that says a little child of seven or even 3 or 4 May enter into heaven through Christ. The open door don't have to be a grown up person. You don't have to a college degree or something.
To understand God's way of salvation and to receive the Lord Jesus.
A little boy, a little girl, an older one. And in simplicity just say, Lord Jesus, I am a Sinner and I'll put my trust in my precious blood that cleanses from all sin. So it was made very, very simple that they might not have any difficulty in making their homes safe. Dear friend, I plead with you tonight that if you're not under the shelter of the blood, now is the time.
Because we don't know when the master of the house will rise up and shut to the door. And I plead with you not to put it off. There's a boy or girl here that's not saved. Why not tonight? Why not right now receive the Lord Jesus and trust in Him while it's still a day of His grace? Now it's a few little things that I'd like to point out here in connection with this Passover. Perhaps I could just mention them briefly and that He is.
What it was that made their home safe, and then what gave them peace and assurance in their hearts? And then the feast that they could partake of in their homes, and then the remembrance of it. There were four things that were mentioned in connection with this, and I believe those four things are very blessed and very important.
The first thing, of course, was how their homes would be safe and I want to say that that had absolutely nothing to do with their feelings.
It wasn't a question of their feelings at all. There was a question of the value of the blood, because when God gave these instructions about the blood, he said. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. He didn't say, but I see that you don't have any doubts. When I see that you're good people. He just said one thing and he made it very, very clear when I see the blood.
I will Passover you and any Israelites who have the faith to just do what God said and put the blood upon the lentil and the side post of his home. That home was safe. That home was safe regardless of how he had feelings. Maybe doubts might come into his mind, but God didn't look at their feelings. You know, many Christians get occupied with feelings, they say. I don't feel safe. I don't feel any different.
An Israelite inside have to have different kind of feelings. It doesn't say so. What made their home secure with just one thing? When I see the blood, I will pass over you. It was the blood that was sprinkled. What did God want them to have those? Does he want you to have devils? Does he want one who has trusted in the blood of Christ to have doubts? Sometimes Christians do. And you know, the devil is very, very busy that way. He tries his very best to get uncertainty into our minds.
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You know how many people there are that are occupied with their feelings?
Some of them think they have to keep saved and all kinds of things that they feel they have to do. But I want to say again that what made their homes safe was the blood, that God also wanted them to have the assurance of it in their own hearts. He didn't really want them to have doubts and so he gave them his unchangeable word to rest. And what is going to give you peace? Looking in for feelings and saying I love her if I have enough faith.
For if I'm as good as somebody else now it's just taking God at his word. And does anyone here that's perplexed adults what I say to you tonight, just take your stand upon the precious word of God and that will give you peace, that will give you assurance, that will give you the peace that God alone can give. And so we read in first John chapter five, he said.
These things that I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that she may know that she have eternal life, says in John chapter 5 and verse 22, that the Father has committed all judgment to the Son. And then he turns to the one who believes and says, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that set me.
Half Everlasting Life.
Shall not come into condemnation that is passed from death on delay. Yes, you can take God at his word. You can rest upon what God has said, dear friends, and that will give you peace. You know so many people are occupied with their feelings.
Well, how good it is to just rest upon the word of God. Let me illustrate it something like this. Supposing that you were walking down the street in Egypt and you saw a home where the blood is sprinkled, and you walked to the door of that home and you said, I see you have blood sprinkled on the lentil and side post of your homes. Why is that? Well, I answer you. The Lord has said that this night he's going to slay all the first born in the land of Egypt.
Only those homes were the bloody sprinkled would escape and that's why we have sprinkled the blood. You see what I want to ask you A personal question. Do you have any doubts? Well, behind his head a little bit. And he says, well, I will be glad when the midnight hour has passed because I I don't feel any better than anybody else. And I'll feel a little better when the hours passed. Well, you go into the next home and there you see the blood again sprinkled.
And you say to the person, why did you sprinkle the blood on the front of your home? So all they said, because the Lord is going to pass through the land of Egypt this night and every home where the blood is not sprinkled by, there's going to be death in that home. And he has said that when you see the blood, I will pass over you. And you say, well, do you have any doubts? And his face breaks up and smile. And he said absolutely not.
If we can certainly believe what God says, we can trust Him, can't we? He can. He can't lie. No, we have perfect peace in this hall. Now I will ask you, which home was the more safe? They were both the same. One was just as safe as the other because God didn't say anything about feelings. He said. When I see the blood and I ask you which home would you rather live in, I would say the second friend. You can live in the 2nd. And if you're living in Golden corner, why? Why not just rest upon the word of God?
The only difference was the second home they just simply took out of his word and didn't allow the temperature to put doubts into their minds. Oh my friend, that if you've been perplexed with doubts, I just turned to the Lord tonight and say Lord, I believe He wants to remove those doubts. He wants to give you that peace that he alone can give, that doesn't depend on feelings, doesn't depend upon the amount of your faith.
About news illustration like this, supposing you had a check for $50 and you're sure that the check is good, you don't have any doubts at all and you go and present it to the bank for payment and girl checks the account and says I'm sorry I can't pay it today, well.
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You say I was so sure the check was good. Your feelings, your your confidence had nothing to do with it. The question was whether the person was worthy of your confidence.
That person was worthy of your confidence by it was yours. But if they weren't, why? You're not going to get it no matter how sure you were. I know people that are think they're going to get to heaven by their good works. They're trying to get there by their church going, and friends are trusting in the wrong thing. And it doesn't matter how much faith they have. It's not faith in what man can do.
They're trying to get there by their church going and friends are trusting in the wrong thing. And it doesn't matter how much faith they have. It's not faith in what man can do. It's faith in the Lord Jesus and in the work that he has accomplished. And you have another check and you even have doubts about it and you presented it. It's not a question of your feelings if the man is worth the money that the check says, or you get the money without any question.
Look into your feelings. Is the Lord Jesus worthy of your full confidence? And remember a man was talking to another man and he was trying to present the gospel and its simplicity to him. And a man said, oh, I just can't believe it. He said you can't believe who, And he said I just can't believe it, he said, But you can't believe who.
He that believeth not John hath made him a liar.
Because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
Safety was through the blood. Assurance was just simply resting upon the word of God. But now there was more than this. There was a feast to be held within these homes. God not only wanted that the home to be saved, He not only wanted them to have assurance, but He also wanted them to have a feast inside of their homes and their friends. And a God wants you to be a happy person. He wants you not only have appearance, but He wants you to be rejoicing.
Says rejoice in the Lord all the way. And again I say rejoice. And then there was some provision made as to how they could have an enjoyment of this feast inside it, says the eighth verse. And they shall eat the flesh, and that might rose with fire and unleavened bread, and with bitter herbs they shall eat it, eat not of it raw, and are sodden at all with water, but roast with fire His head with his legs. And his assertions fell off. Now this was a feast inside.
Let me say again, it wasn't what made their homes secure, but it was for their enjoyment inside those homes. And so, you know, as believers, we need to be feeding upon Christ. There are some Christians, real Christians, I believe, that put their trust in the Lord Jesus. But they don't enjoy him, They don't make a habit of reading their Bibles, they don't turn to him and pray daily, and they don't seek to be a testimony for him.
And tell others about his love. All these things won't make us Christians, but they do give us the joy and a consolation in our pathway of life. And so there was this provision made that they would have a feast inside, says in Acts Chapter 23, The Flock of God, which is among you. And I'm sure that you've come to the meeting sometimes and you've learned more about the Lord Jesus and His love and what He's done for you.
And you had a rage and said, I'm really gonna bless him for my soul that was feeding upon Christ, and that's what God wanted for the Israelites.
About how they were to be, I believe is instructive too. It says here they would eat the flesh in that light glossed with fire and unleavened bread. Now when it says roast with fire and not to be satin with water, no, when you boil something, it doesn't get the full heat of the fire. It doesn't matter how hot your element is. If you're boiling it, it doesn't grow about boiling point, does it? But if you set your oven at 400 and you put something in, it gets the full heat of the fire. It feels the 400°.
And you know, there are some people that thank the Lord Jesus for a part of the judgment. I've met people and they say, well, Lord saved me and wash my sins away. But if I fall, I have to save me. I'll lose it all. I'm lost forever. And you know, they're not happy. They're not in the enjoyment of it. I believe that many of those people are going to be in heaven because in reality, they have sprinkled the blood. They know that it's only the blood that puts away sin.
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But they're not enjoying what God has for them. They don't enjoy eternal security. And God wants you to know. Reminds me of a story of a lady who came to the Gospel meeting and she accepted the Lord as her savior, and she was very happy.
But a few weeks later she came back and the same brother was preaching. And she said I was so happy when I received the Lord as my Savior.
But to say I'm afraid that I've slept since and I haven't been perfect, I've failed since. And what about those sins? I knew all my past sins were put away when I received the Lord, but what about those sins since I have accepted him and the brothers said to her, I just want to ask you, I just want to ask you two questions said first how many sin of your sins are future when the Lord Jesus died?
She said I guess they were all future because I wasn't born. So that's the 2nd place. Do you think the Lord Jesus is going to die again you know? She said I don't suppose he isn't friends the Bible says and that he died he died under sin once he had perpetuated forever then that are sanctifying And he said, well his brother said to this lady who was having doubt said if the Lord Jesus didn't settle the question of your sins of the pearls it will never be settled.
But if he did settle, he settled once for all. Paul Bradley, how wonderful to have this assurance. This is part of the feast with him. I hope everyone in this room not only has taken shelter under the blood, but understands this wonderful fact that that one sacrifice has perfected you as to your standing before God forever. You're already you're already seen as accepted in the beloved. You're already seen as fit before that holy presence above.
Through but the Lord Jesus has done.
And then it says also it says an unleavened bread. Now you know, the Bible tells us that 11 is a figure of says in Second First Corinthians 5. Therefore let us keep the feast not with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth, That is, the Lord tells us then 11 is a figure of two things.
Malice and wickedness. You know, I I know Christians that are not happy, and I believe that those two things often lie at the roof, that they're unhappiness. We've spoken about. If you have doubts, the Lord wants to take away those doubts and He wants you to enjoy eternal security. But even knowing those things, I found some people and they're allowing some little secret sins in their lives, and they're not happy Christians.
They're not happy Christians. There's malice in their hearts, their facts holding bitter feelings toward somebody else, and they're not happy Christians. And you know, if we allow those things in our lives, we will not be happy. And the Lord has made a provision that when we fail, it says we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous, and it says that we confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
And the unrighteousness, and I want to say to any believer here, if you're saying very near the Lord is your savior, is there something you're going on with in your life that you know is displeasing to the Savior who died for you? It's robbing you of happiness? And if you're holy, bitter feelings toward someone else, I I know you're not a happy Christian because the Lord forgave you so much and he wants you to forgive that other person too. And so.
I want you to see that this had nothing to do with the safety of the home. The safety of the home is one thing when I see the blood of a castle view that made himself what gave them peace in their souls, they just simply resting on what God said. But what gave them happiness in their home was feeding on the Roseland and being careful that they didn't make sense. 11 really. And when you try to enjoy the Lord and you're allowing those other things in your life.
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It spoils your joy as a Christian, and God wants you to be a happy Christian. Rejoice in the Lord. Always and again I say rejoice.
Then it says in the 10th verse and he shall let nothing of it remain until the mornings. I believe the reason that it says this is God wants us to have a fresh enjoyment of the Lord in our souls. No. When you meet a person who is just saved, you often see what the Bible calls first love and you say, oh, it's so fresh. They're just so happy. They're just been saved, you know?
God doesn't want that to, shall I say he doesn't want that to change. It always gives me a kind of a swirl when I need an older Christian who is still fresh and happy in the Lord. When you talk to him, you can see it's just as if he was saved yesterday. He's just as happy because he has a fresh enjoyment of the Lord. And so he said that I don't want you to just have something like over things. Warm Rover food isn't quite as nice as when it's fresh, so I want you to be fresh.
And so they were to have a fresh enjoyment of this Passover. Then there's another thing too. And this 11Th verse. And thou shalt eat it with your loin inserted, your shoes and your feet, and your staff and your hand, and you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lords Passover. Notice this provision in this verse. The loins girded, it tells us in Peter's epistle. Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind.
Be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Another verse says, your loins do it about this truth. If you're anything like me, you find that your mind wanders everywhere. You think about a lot of things that you don't want to think about. I find sometimes even when I sit on Lord's day, I have figured out the loins of my mind, because if I just let my mind go, I'd lose the enjoyment of being gathered there to remember the Lord Jesus.
And so when it says your loins girded, you just won't let your mind go everywhere. Because you know what your mind go everywhere. That gets off on the things, things that you wish you had never heard. Over and over again, you find how your mind wanders off into things so they would have their lines girded. May I say it's a good practical habit in our lives as Christians to watch and when you find your mind wandering.
Sometimes I'll just repeat a verse.
Perhaps a versatile hymn. Something will help to bring your mind back, because it's so easy you have to watch that you don't let it wander away. Then your shoes and your feet. Well, I think of it like this, that if there was some mud and I have their feet and I walk through that mud, I'm certainly going to get my feet dirty. Friday. If I I'm going to have to walk through some mud. So I I'd like to put on a pair of boats or something and then I could walk through that mud. The boots might get dirty, but my feet wouldn't. It wouldn't it?
And you know, this is a muddy world.
I know that many of you have have to go to employment and boys and girls have to go to school and you have to walk through the mud of this world, but we don't need to bring them at home. I've seen people and defenders a lot of good and hot outside. Then they they leave their shoes outside and they don't bring them into the house and they come in without those muddy shoes on. No need to be careful when you grow up and meet all these things in the world.
Where you have to leave that there.
And they'll bring the mud and everything of this world along with you back into your home and into your life. So they would have their shoes on their feet. And then, what's the stack? Well, we know the staff is for you. Lean up. You're not a little unsteady on your feet wide. You're glad to have something to lean on. And brethren, as Christians, we need to be always dependents. The eternal God is Thy refuge and underneath of the everlasting armies.
When you feel a little bit shaky about some situation and you feel temptation pretty strong, there's an arm to lean on, a mighty arm once they're always able to support you and I limit. That's the thought and the staff in their hand. It was the thought of dependence, something outside of themselves. Selena.
And then it says they were to eat it in haste, for I would eat it in haste. Well, they were expecting to get the marching orders at any moment to leave Egypt and to leave it for good. Did you ever think of what it must have been? There was about a million of those people. And can you think of a million people marching out one night, All the empty homes and all the things left behind? That's what's going to happen someday. It's going to be a lot of empty homes. I think in color in other places, empty homes. The Lord is coming.
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And when we remembered the Lord this morning, it says, until you come, until the time that we were just reminded again of fresh this morning, that we're going to get marching orders, we're going to leave our homes, let the people propel or Des Moines or wherever, Let them have it all. They're gone. They're gone for something far better. And so this was what we were to have before them. Let me now say it again. Your homes were safe.
Through the blood they had an assurance. By this rest of them, the word of God. They had an enjoyment when they fed upon that feast. And when you and I are really enjoying our portion and trade. Just think, brethren, the unsearchable riches of crooks, a counselor, a friend who cares, that means more to me as I get older, but that there's someone that you can turn, who cares about everything, the smallest detail of your life and you can bring to him.
And tell him.
Your friends may not understand. One of my favorite verses is in the Psalms. It says trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart before you. Not many people who can pour out your heart to who say they would never understand if I told him how I really felt. But you can pour out your heart to the Lord, or we have to be so happy. We have such a wonderful savior, such a wonderful friend. And then there was a remember that set up and it tells us that they were to remember this.
All through their generations, I'm glad to be able to look back and think of brethren that I knew when I was younger and they were remembering the Lord, and now they taught me, My parents taught me about this wonderful privilege. And so it tells us in the end of this chapter that if your children ask what may be by this service that they were to say to them, it's the Lord, the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, and we we can tell others about this.
You can tell our children about it so that they understand that it isn't just, shall I say, a church custom to us. It's a reality to us. And as they look back on that night and thought of that wonderful deliverance out of Egypt, how precious it must have been to them when they roasted the land the next year and again kept the Passover. Oh brother, it ought to be a precious privilege to us that we can gather not just once a year like the Israelites, because they just kept the Passover once a year.
The first day of the week we have this presence of gathering to remember the Lord Jesus. So he set up the remembrance. He said it was to be precious to them and that they were not to forget it all through their generations. And that's what seems so wonderful to me. 1500 years later when the Lord Jesus was here on earth, he wanted to impress on his disciples the real meaning of the Passover because he was the true Passover. And he said.
With desire I have desire to keep this Passover with you before I suffer.
1500 years later, was it still precious? Yes, it's almost 2000 since I failure died. Is it precious to him that we should remember him all Adidas? May we value it? Maybe tell our children about it so that they too might learn to know the preciousness of it? And then it says here where we come to the 27th verse.
And they explained it to them in the 27th verse, that you shall say, is the sacrifice of the Lorde Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel and Egypt when he smoked the Egyptians and delivered our houses, and the people bound ahead and worshiped, and the children of Israel went away, and did as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so did they.
What we talked about this year tonight, but meeting now comes to an end. We're going to go away. We're going to go way to our homes. But when the children of Israel listen to this, did they say, oh, that sounded very nice, Moses, what you said that was very interesting. It says they went away and did as the Lord commanded. Moses and Aaron, so did they. They went away and acted upon it. And I just want to say the close of this meeting was there anybody here?
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Who's not under the shelter of the blood? Is there anybody or. I want to warn you, It's a terrible thing to die of your sins. Just think of eternity forever under the judgment of God, away from Him forever. Why should you put it on? I often say, what do you have to lose by receiving the Lord Jesus? Nothing but your sins, that's all. What do you have to gain everything that's worthwhile in this life and for all eternal? Why wouldn't? Why would you have him in the center here? Who hasn't received him? Why not tonight?
The people went away and did as the Lord commanded Moses. And is there any of those who have received the Lord Jesus first, allowing doubts and perhaps allowing things in our lives that are spoiling our enjoyment of Christ? Is it worth it?
The One Body
Address—G. Hayhoe
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The Lord, the living Lord, who died with all His fullness, can afford. We are supplied. He richly feeds our souls with blessings from above, and leads us where the river rolls of endless love 238.
Our shepherd.
Are thy.
Education.
Our songs.
Are gone.
Awkward The Lord, The Lord Rodriguez run away to the end of the day.
Where we?
Shall.
I.
Last night we looked at part of the life of Abraham and I just looked like to look at a little more of what is brought before us in Genesis. Genesis 15.
It's a rather should say.
Genesis 13, Genesis 13.
I read the latter part from the fifth verse on of this chapter.
And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents, and the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together, For their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. And there was a strike between the herdmen of Abrams cattle, and the herdsmen of Lot's cattle, and the Canaanite, and the Perazite dwell then in the land. And Abram said on the lot that there be no strife.
Pray thee between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdmen, for we be brethren, is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee from me. If thou will take the left hand, then I will go to the right arithmetic part, to the right hand, Then I will go to the left. And Locke lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.
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Even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou Thomas unto Zoar.
Chose him all The plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east, and they separated themselves the one from the other. And Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and locked all in the cities of the plains, and pitched his tent towards Sodom. The amount of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward and southward, and eastward, and westward.
Through all the land which thou see us to thee will I give it to thy seed forever, and I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it, and in the breadth of it, for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent, and came, and dwelt in the plain of Mamra, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar under the Lord.
Well, we might mention again that we were considering last night the call of Abraham, and how he was heathen dwelling in her of the Chaldees. And he heard the call of God to get out from his country, and from his kindred, and from his father's house, and come into the land.
We know there were hindrances and saw that he stopped with his father in Heron for some time until his father had died. And then after his father had died, the call of God came back to him. He remembered how God had said that he was to leave his country and his kindred.
And he was to come into the land to which God had called him. How often were like Abraham?
Partially obedient Allow hindrances to keep us from wholly following the Lord. There's one man in the Bible named Caleb and it says about him he fully followed the Lord. That is, his heart was devoted to go on for the Lord. Where we find in Abraham that after his father had died, then he set out for Canaan and he came into Canaan and we see how Lot went along with him.
I might mention how we were calling attention to the different characters that we find in this story that God has given it given to us. We find Abraham characterized by a man who was a man of faith, not perfect but nevertheless with a desire to walk by faith, and Sarah, his wife who was a real support and help to him, showing how a wife or a partner can be a tremendous help and support.
In going on for the Lord, but we we find in Lot that he was a person who apparently went along a true believer because God tells us that he was a righteous man, a true believer, but not really having convictions of his own. That's very possible for us, you know, go along with our parents and with our brethren, and yet not to be before the Lord for our pathway easily influenced when circumstances come up.
That might turn us the other way. And so we find here that Abram had gone down into Egypt and his wife and a lot went along with them. And at last God had spoken to Abram, and he had left the land of Egypt. And he comes back into Canaan, comes back to the very place where his tent and his older were at the first. There we have a lovely picture of restoration.
And I say again, if there's anyone here, and perhaps you, like many of us, wander away from the path of devotedness and following the Lord. How wonderful those words he restoreth my soul. But it's important, brethren, that we get back to the place of departure. It doesn't do just to come halfway. And so Abrams brought right back to that very place where he had his tent and his altar at the 1St.
As we have in the meetings in Des Moines, there is the grace of God and the government of God. The grace of God is ever toward those who believe we're saved by grace. We stand in grace, and it's grace that will be brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ. We never deserved anything of ourselves. If God gave us what we deserved, it would be judgment, but totally undeserved. He saved us, and in His love and his patience, He bears with us in the pathway. It's grace.
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But there is that other side. There is a government of God. That is, God deals with us, as in his family, in the house, and we are responsible and we don't. We might think we get away with things, but in reality we don't. God loves us too much to let us go our own way, Mr. Darby once said. The worst of all chastisement is that God should leave us to our own ways, and so in the family too.
The worst you can do for your child is just to leave him totally unchecked and uncorrected, and not only bring sorrow into your life, but he'll bring sorrow into his own life too. And so God is faithful whom the Lord loveth. He chased not well. God had restored Abraham, but he did have to do some briefing for what he had done. There were things that had happened down there in Egypt. He had become very rich at the expense.
Walking by faith he also had, he also had not that Pearl Hagar to work in his home, and she became a snare in the home too. And now we see that he also had given a lot of taste of the land of Egypt, and we were mentioning last night. Perhaps it bears repeating that the scripture says none of us liveth to himself and no man dies to himself. Your life and mine is either a help or a hindrance.
As I look back in my life, I thank God for many young people and ones who are older too, who are real help to me and support they. They didn't just live to themselves, their lives were for the Lord and they affected others. There were also others who turned aside and they usually find 2 That they affect others when they go the wrong way. And so we find here that Abram taking down lot down in Egypt had given him a taste of that land.
And although we're told that Abram was recovered and brought back, it's very questionable whether Lot, although he followed Abram back out of Egypt, well, it's very questionable whether he really got restored in his soul. And so we find here that he had a hankering for what he had seen down in Egypt and now there's something comes up. Abram had become very rich now in Egypt.
And sometimes we turn aside into the world. The Lord may allow us to prosper.
But prosperity that is in natural things isn't always for the good of our souls. There's a verse in Jeremiah that says I spake unto thee in thy prosperity and thou said I will not hear. And sometimes we get prosperous and material things. We tend to get taken up with them and they rob us and they can do something else. As we find in this chapter. They can make strike between bread. Isn't it often? So you'll find a person becomes very prosperous and then there becomes a strike.
Ones who actually went along happily with one another. And then feelings of jealousy arise. And that's exactly what happened here. We're a lot who had a taste of prosperity down there in Egypt. Now he becomes jealous and he and there's a strife between Abrams herdsmen and his herdsmen. Abram didn't want it to be sold, but as I said now Abram was going to have to read, but he sowed. He was going to lose the friendship and the companionship.
The only other person in the world that he knew who had faith, it's really had his wife. But your lot had been at least some support because he was a real believer. But now he's going to lose him over this strike. And brethren, isn't it true that we can lose a very happy fellowship with our brethren, Sometimes over strike that comes in. Well, how do we have to watch that our poor hearts are prone to that if we're not very watchful? It tells us how good.
And how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. But it's nice to see that as far as Abram was concerned, he was quite willing to give in. The Bible says, yielding pacifier, great offenses. Another verse says, let your moderation or yielding us, be known unto all men. And it's a good thing, brethren, When strife comes in, unless it's yielding the truth of God, we should never yield. When it's the truth of God, we're to earnestly contend.
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For the faith once delivered to the Saints, when it's over personal matters, You'll never be sorry you gave in. You'll never be sorry. You'd be sorry very often if you stood up for what you thought were your rights and lost a brother or a sister over it. It isn't worthwhile. And we find exactly that here. That poor lot, he he was one who wanted his own way. And as I say, I think it's very beautiful to see this spirit that Abraham showed in this matter.
When this stripe arose over the wealth that they had gathered down in the land of Egypt, now we find that Abram is willing to give in, and he said, lot. You can have first choice, you can have first choice. He could have said, well, I'm the older person. I'm the one that brought you out from her of the Chaldeans. You ought to recognize that I'm sort of a little bit older than you and I'm the leaders. But isn't it nice to see that who is willing to take the whole place?
You think of the beloved apostle Paul, and he said he was me and gentle among those believers where he ministered. And about the Lord Jesus it says he was me and lowly in heart. Oh, how lovely to see as he went through this world, how he was willing to take the littlest place, it says. As he walked through this world it says I wouldn't hear his voice thriving in the streets.
He was despised and rejected of man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Well, this was the attitude that Abram took here. And so he left lot half first choice, where we might think sometimes we have first choice, that we're really going to get the best. But you know, let me say this, the best choice is the Lord's choice. And everything in our lives is to think that getting first choice is always the best thing. It's not always so. It's good for us.
As a little song says, he gives the very best to those who leave the choice with him as well. For us to leave things with the Lord and look up and say, Lord, what will thou have me to do? And this we find brought out so nicely in Abraham's attitude here there's a whole land is before you lot. You can take the first choice. Whichever way you go, I'll go the other way.
And I will interfere. And so he let him have that choice. But now a lot is put to the test. Where was his heart? Was he concerned with the promises of God? Because God had given wonderful promises to Abraham in that land of Canaan, But he chose to go elsewhere. He chose another place in the land of Canaan. He left it, and, sad to say, he chose the well watered plains of Jordan.
And pitched his tent towards. He didn't get down to Sodom at once. Usually when we started in the wrong direction, we wouldn't think of going all the way along with the world. But we perhaps take a few steps in the wrong direction, and this is long, that we get caught in a kind of a trap, and the path of departure leads downward and we get farther and farther away.
Lot pitched his tap towards Sodom, but later on in the book we found that he had actually settled down and was living inside him. Took quite a high position in the political politics of Sodom because he sat in the gate. When it says he sat in the gate, that means he was going to political office in Sodom and such was the course that he had followed. I don't expect he intended to go that far when he started. Often when we start on a wrong course, we don't intend.
So far. But you know, the enemy knows our weak points and how he can draw us down. So when we find him pitching his tent towards Sodom, and then we find that little word but in the 13th verse. But the man of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.
That was a very wicked, immoral place indeed. We learned from the book of Jude that it had become so corrupt.
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Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner that God wiped out the whole population there with fire and brimstone, saving only Lot and his wife and his two daughters. And sometimes I wonder if the whole place was full of AIDS and God just wiped out the whole population. What a sad thing, because it tells us in Jude that it was set forth for an example to those who would afterwards live ungodly.
And the world is getting filled with very sin that permeated Sodom. What is that? And good luck to think that that's where he was heading for. Well, you know, our hearts are treacherous, President. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
Well, after he had separated from the 14th verse, then and the Lord said unto Abram, after that lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward and southward, and eastward, and westward, through all the land which thou see us, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever, You know, whenever we take a step to please the Lord.
Or perhaps relinquish some right that we could have insisted on just to please our Lord and Savior. Isn't it wonderful how the Lord stands by us and strengthens us? He's a tremendous support.
When the children of Israel were about to cross the Jordan, the Lord stood by Joshua and comforted him and told him to be a good cheer. And so this might have been a little difficult decision, as I say for Abraham.
To let Lot have first choice, and not to insist upon his rights. And then to see poor Lot make that choice of pitching his camp down towards Sodom. I'm sure all this was a deep grief to Abram. But now the Lord comes in to comfort and sustain him. And you'll find this breadth. And I'm sure many of us have found this already. He took some step. It was fear and trembling. You took it. You were just afraid of the consequences. But the Lord stood by you, just like He stood by Paul.
And said, be of good cheer, Paul. And so the Lord stood by him, and said, lift up thine eyes with the lot he had looked down at the Dead Sea, and the Jordan flowed into the Dead Sea. The the path was all downward.
But for Abram it was lift up thine eyes, and we need to lift our eyes above this present scene. For us, brethren, our hopes are not here. We have an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away reserved in heaven for us.
And then the Lord says in the 15th verse, for all the land which shall see us to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever, Yes, it was all going to be given to him. Now of course, we know that this has to do with the nation of Israel, and that their inheritance is an earthly inheritance, and God is going to give it to them in a coming day. It's wonderful, the blessing that's ahead for that nation.
When they have acknowledged their guilt and crucifying their Messiah, then the Lord will bring them in and bless them in that lamb and make them the center of the whole earth. And this was the encouragement that was given. But you and I know that we have something above says we're blessed with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus, we're ears of God and joined heirs with Christ and when the Lord Jesus takes His rightful place.
As he will another day of King of Kings and Lord of Lords, as the heir of all things, they're going to be associated with him in the nearest possible place. And brethren, when we when we're in difficulties like this, and they do come in our lives and we get discouraged, isn't it good just to lift up our eyes and know that all what we have in Christ is secure, eternally secure? We can't lose it and.
Then he told him to that he would make his.
Seed as the dust of the earth. Of course that's because their blessing was earthly. But now in the 17th verse, he says, Arise, walk through the Lamb in the length of it and in the breadth of it, for I will give it unto thee. And so we need to walk through the land, so to speak, when God was about to bring the children of Israel under Joshua into the land of Canaan.
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God outlined to them the limits of the land that He had given to them, told them exactly where the limits of their land were. And then he also said every every part that the soul of your foot shall tread upon. That have I given you. Every believer in this room is equally blessed. I don't have any more than you, and you don't have any more than me. But we only enjoy as much as we walk in. We only enjoy You might have a piece of property down in Florida.
And maybe it's the most beautiful property in the whole state of Florida, but if you've never seen it, you can enjoy it. But if you went down there and walked through it and said, I I never knew that I was possessed of such a lovely piece of property as this. I don't know why I'm worrying when I have all this and it belongs to me. And that's what God wants us to do as believers. He wants us to know that we have the unsearchable riches of Christ. Paul said it was given to him to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
We sing that song. My father is rich in houses and lands. He holds the wealth of the world in his hands, and the silver and the gold is his. But better still rehab that inheritance above brother. May we walk in it. May we enjoy it. Do we read our Bibles and seek to learn more of what we have in Christ when we say the Bible is not a very long book, I read it through already. But I'll tell you this, that no matter how long you live.
Will never fully enter into how richly you're blessed. It's beautiful to know that when you get older, you'll find you're learning more and more the wonderful treasures that are in this book that God has given to us, telling us how our portion in Christ. So he was given it to given to him, and then he was told to walk through it the length and the breadth of breadth of it.
And it was all his northward, southward, Easter westward, all directions, and then this 18th verse. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord. Well, as we were saying last night, there are different meanings to these places when he pitched his tent and build his altar.
Having Bethel on the West and here on the east and the eighth verse of the 12Th chapter, that was really where he stood in that land with the glory at the end and leaving behind only that which was worthless because this world and all the glory of it's all going to pass away. But the the Hebron means fellowship or communion, and we need to dwell there. We we need to know where we are in passing through this world.
And have the glory shining before us, but we need brethren to walk in communion and fellowship with God, it tells us in Jude. It says, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. We're just talking a little bit this morning about that book of Jude. And at the end of that book it tells us in the book about the apostasy that is the departure from God that we see everywhere.
But in the end we have 4 definite things that will preserve us as the world gets worse and worse. It says, building up yourselves on your most holy faith. That's learning more of what God has for us in the scriptures. And then it says, praying in the Holy Ghost. That is dependence. And then it says, keep yourselves in the love of God, that's communion, and looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. That is the Lord's coming.
The reason that's worded in that way, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life, is that you and I possess already the life that will find its eternal satisfaction and joy in heaven. You will not have a different new life when you get to heaven. You already possess it, and God wants you to enter into this now. But when you and I get to glory, there will be no hindrance. Perhaps I could illustrate it like this.
If I had a fair share on the table.
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That fish would be out of its element even if it was alive and kicking. It's not in its element. It has a life that's suited to water and I'm sure if it could talk it and say please, please put me in my element. This is not my element now rather than that's why it says, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. You and I live out of our element in this world. Our new life is suited to heaven and what are we looking for? What are we looking for? The time when they'll be in a place where we can enjoy everything that God has for us without any hindrance.
And that fish gets into the water, doesn't get a new life. It already had a fish life, but now it relaxes. It enjoys itself in its element. That's what happened will be for us. We possess the light, and God wants us to be looking for that time and in the meanwhile, enjoying his precious promises, walking in the sunshine of his love while we wait for that. So I believe this is brought before us in him, dwelling in Hebron, dwelling in the place of communion.
Dwelling in the place of communion.
Sometimes, because of the way communion is used in Christendom, people misunderstand it and they think of communion as taking the Lord suffered. Now we certainly should be in communion when we take the Lords Supper, but you can't take communion because communion means common thoughts. And you can't take common thoughts, but you can have common thoughts.
And so if you have the thoughts of God when you break the bread and drink the cup, it's very precious to you, But you don't take communion. You might take of the bread and the wine. And beyond community, you wouldn't be enjoying God's thoughts at all. Might be just a ritual to you. So we don't take communion, but we can have it. And we can have God's thoughts about things here, about the remembrance of the Lord, about how he would have us to gather.
Have all our portion in Christ. We have communion, we have fellowship with Him. We enter into His thoughts, and as we walk in obedience to His word, we walk in that path of common thoughts with God. What a privilege this is.
Well now God is going to speak to Lot in this next chapter for a lot. He has pitched his tent towards Sodom and now he has got down right into one of these cities, perhaps already in in Sodom itself. And I won't read all this chapter, but I'll start at the first verse and it came to pass in the days that I am grateful. King of Shinar Ariach, King of Eliassar.
Peter Leomar, King of Elam, entitled King of Nations.
That these made war with Vera, King of Sodom, and with versa, King of Gomorrah. And then if you were down in the chapter.
In the 11Th verse.
And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their vittles, and went their way. And they took Lot, Abrams, brothers, son, who dwelt in Sodom and his goods, and departed. And there came one that had escaped and told Abram the Hebrew, For he dwelled the plain of Mamra, the Amorite, brother of Ashkal, the brother of Anna. And these were confederate with Abram. And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, 318 and pursued them unto Dan.
And he divided himself against them, he and his servants by night, and smoked them, and pursued them on to Hoba, which is on the left side of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.
The king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Peter La Omer, and of the kings that were with him in the valley of Shiva, which is the Kingsdale. And Melchizedek king of Salem, went brought forth bread and wine, and he was the priest of the Most High God, And he blessed him and said, Blessed be Abram of the most High God possessor of heaven and earth, And blessed blessed be the Most High, which hath delivered thine enemies into thine hand.
And he gave him ties of all. And the Kingdom of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. And Abraham said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand under the Lord, the most High God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a threat even to a shoe latch, And that I will not take anything that is thine lest thou should have say, I have made Abram rich, save only that which the young men have eaten.
00:35:19
And the portion of the man which went with me in her eshkol and mammary let them take their portion.
Well, I have chosen the well watered plains and I see here he was actually living in Sodom. And now God stirs up the nest. Isn't that the way God is too? You know, we take a step and go in the wrong direction. He never lets us go along without speaking to us. This was long before the time that Sodom and Gomorrah were consumed with fire, but God allowed this to stir up.
Lots nest. He might have began to begun to feel rather comfortable there, and now God allows this battle to come.
And the city is taken, and he loses everything he's carried away captive and all his goods and everything. Well, now we think of Abraham. And I think it's so sweet as I think of Abraham. He could have said, well, he's just brought it on himself.
It's his own fault. He should have known better than to go down to that city. Sometimes when our brethren get in trouble, why we can take a wrong attitude and not try to help them. The Lord wants to restore them. But you know, it's nice for us as it tells us if a brother be overtaken in the fall, she which are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, lest thou also be tempted. And I think it's very commendable here about Abram.
That what he heard, what had happened. We don't read of him saying anything in the way of condemning Lot, but he goes at the risk of his own life, takes 318 men from his own home and all the men that work for him and he goes out and say again at the risk of his life, he goes to rescue life. And that's so nice and you know, it speaks to my own heart too often when we see somebody.
Who is turned aside? There isn't that love and desire for their restoration and blessing.
We're not willing to put ourselves out to help them, but Abram, dear Abram brought back to the Lord and restored in his soul.
He has a love for life, even though a lot had been there really I think the main cause of the coral and had made a bad choice in his life. Well, he goes out and gets him back and brings him back. And another sad thing it seems to me is that two things perhaps I should say. There's no record that he ever said thank you to Abram for what he did.
He ought to be very, very grateful for what Abram had done.
But he didn't say anything in the way of thanks. But it's nice when we learn to be thankful. The Bible says be thankful and be ye thankful. And it's good when a kindness has been done to turn and thank the Lord, or perhaps thank some person who has done it for us. And the second thing is that as far as we know, a four lot didn't profit by it at all. It's hard to imagine that after all this had happened, that he didn't want to leave Sodom.
But you know, it's sad how we often don't hear the Lord's voice when he speaks. We don't hear him in the trials. We can often become bitter through trials. We can often come resentful. But God always has a purpose of love in every trial. And I believe he wanted to get lot out of song by all this. And if he had only hearkened, he would have saved himself the awful problem that came later when the whole place was destroyed and he lost his wife.
He lost part of his family and the ones that remained dishonored the Lord and brought grief into his life. Oh, how sad it was that he didn't profit by this. But now we see that after this the King of Sodom comes out to meet Abram on his return.
And tells us here that he came to meet him, but before he got to talk to him, the 18th verse tells us that Melchizedek, king of Salem brought forth bread and wine and he was the priest of the Most High God.
It's nice to see how the Lord was the first one to meet Abram after this and brings before him. Perhaps I could say that which speaks to us of the remembrance of a great victory that has been won for us. There's been a great victory won for us, brethren. That victory was Calvary, where the Lord Jesus, the mighty victor, overcame all the power of sin and Satan and won the victory that set us free because we were slaves and we needed to be set free.
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But by his wonderful death upon the cross of Calvary, we have been made free. And isn't this lovely here, this He brought forth bread and wine. And that makes you think, doesn't it, of the Lord Jesus, just before he went to the cross to win that victory, He was the one who provided the bread and wine that was instituting that feast of remembrance, That it's our privilege that we have as the Lord said as often as eat this bread and drink this cup.
The Lord's death till he comes. So Abraham had this wonderful privilege, the reason God is called here.
The Most High God. That is his millennial title. I don't want to go into detail, but the Lord hasn't yet taken that place. We see not yet all things put under him. But there's a day coming when everything is going to be brought under his authority and a king will reign in righteousness.
And he comes forth in this character and blessed him in the 19th verse. Blessed be Abraham of the Most High God.
Possessor of heaven and earth. Now I say the Lord hasn't yet taken.
His place of headship. He's there at the right hand of God, crowned with glory and honor.
But he's waiting the time when the Father will say, Ask of me, and I will give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. But you and I have been blessed by that very one. We're going to be with him when he takes his place of authority.
When the Lord Jesus comes out of heaven in the 19th of Revelation, we're going to come with him. The Lord my God shall come, and all the Saints with thee tells us in Second Thessalonians one he shall come to be glorified in His Saints and to be admired in all in the believe. Isn't it a wonderful thing to look forward to the time when the Lord will come out of heaven and display us to this world and say, is it where you despise these people? But this is my bride. These are the ones who are going to share.
My glory. And so this is what took place here. Even was blessed with the Most High God, and it moved Abraham's heart so much that it says he gave him tithes of all. He wasn't asked to, but he did it. Under the law, people were required to give ties, but this was a voluntary thing. That's Christianity. God loves a cheerful giver. There's no rules. Maybe imprison them. There are those who impose rules about how much.
You have to give and say you should give a 10, but God doesn't. He says. He says, I've won your heart, you belong to me, and says in Romans 12 present your body a living sacrifice wholly acceptable to God. But we're not under any rules in Christianity. It's a blessed liberty. This is the way Abraham acted too. He just gave that portion to the Lord, but he no sooner done this than the King of Sodom.
Comes along and says.
In the 21St verse, and the king of Sodom said on neighbor Give me the person saying, take the goods to thyself, Abram said to the king of Sodom. I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a threat even to a shoe latchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine lest thou should have say I have made Abram rich.
He wouldn't receive anything from the King of Sodom. And you know, whenever the world gives, they always want something from you for what they give. I'm sure you found that over and over again. Whatever they give you something, they want something back. But God is a giver. He gives freely. And Abraham had been blessed by the possessor of heaven and earth. What did he need from the king of Sodom? What did he need of all those things that belong to that wicked city?
All, he said. I have everything that I need in Christ and that's your portion of mine. I don't mean that God doesn't care for our material needs. He cared for Abrams material needs, but he wasn't going to receive it from the world. And the world holds out his hand to you, says have you just yield to my desires, I'll promote you. Satan offered to the Lord all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them if he would only fall down and worship him and the world falls out his hands. Even to Christians says give your life to me, give your time to me.
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Keep your energies to me and I'll promote you and I'll give you something worthwhile. But you and I belong to the Lord. We're His and his by right. Well, it's nice to see this purpose, you might say. Well, such a small thing as a thread or a shoe latchet, that didn't seem like very much. I see a little thread on your coat or something. That's not very much, but you know, a thread has a very important place, doesn't it?
All your clothes are held together by threads, and you know, they're often little things at Memphis, so they want them. Haven't you often found itself? Always? That's just a little thing. But it linked you with the world and wouldn't be very easy to tear some of the scenes on your clothes, even though they're just held by threads. And it starts just with a few stitches and more and more until it's a strong tie that you can't pull away. That's the way the world does. It tries to get us in. Other things just read, oh, what's that they say? That's nothing.
But Abram wouldn't take a thread or a shoe latch of anything. That was a walk with the world. He wasn't going to walk with the world. Says come out from among them and be separate and saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you. And so he made this happy decision. Abram has been restored. There's joy in his soul. He's not the loser, he's the gainer. I'm sure he'd run the respective lot. He's pleased his Lord.
Oh, how happy it is to walk in communion with him. Let's seek grace to dwell in Hebron, brethren, walk in communion with the Lord. There's no happier path. But there's an interesting thing in the last part of this chapter. He didn't decide for others. And I'm not here to decide for you. I know people who place rules and say must do this, and you must do that. There are even groups that have certain rules, but you know.
Abram made this decision in communion with the Lord. But he said, these others that came with me, they've seen everything that's happened. They don't have to make their own choice, and you have to make your choice. Have you and I seeking to make an individual choice in the presence of the Lord? I can't tell you what to do in your life. I can tell you if something's positive disobedience. But in many little choices in our lives, they're just little things, and they're a question of whether we're putting the Lord first.
Our own wishes first. Well, I think this is all very lovely and Abram, but we come now to the 15th chapter and I'd just like to look briefly at what we have here.
After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram, I am thy shield, and my exceeding great reward. And Abraham said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless? And the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus.
And Abram said, Behold to me, thou hast given no seed. And lo unborn in mine house, in my house is mine heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, But he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels, shall be thine air. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said unto him, So shall I see thee. And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness.
And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of earth, the Chaldees, to give thee this land, to inherit it. And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, Take me in hamper of three years old, and the she gold of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another. But the birds divided he not.
And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and low in horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety, that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them 400 years. And also that nation whom they shall serve will I judge, and afterwards shall they come out with great substance.
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And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the 4th generation they shall come hit her, For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. And it came to pass when the sun went down.
And it was dark. Behold, a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed, Have I given this lamb from the river of Egypt, under the great river, the river Euphrates, the Kenites, and the Kenazites, and the Cadmonites, and the hip Tights, and the Perizzites, and the Refugees, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Derbyshites, and the Jebusites.
Well, there's just a few little things I'd like to notice. In this chapter we see Abraham have been very, very faithful and made a wonderful decision, been a kind helper to his brother who had got into trouble. But it's often after a time that there has been some spiritual victory in our lives that we get discouraged. Haven't you often found it? So maybe you've taken a stand for the Lord. Maybe you've done something really to please him.
And then everything seems to overwhelm you and make you feel kind of cast down and discouraged. And that's what seems to take place. First of all, the Lord appears to him and says, fear not, fear not. We can thank the Lord for what's passed, but sometimes we fear the future. We see things ahead that we we feel we just tremble as we see them. Little hymn says we'll praise him for all of his past and trust him for all that's to come.
But we don't always do that. We see these things ahead. And Abram, at this point, even though the Lord had said, fear not, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward was a tremendous encouragement. After refusing all that the king of Sodom offered. But now notice this question.
And Abram said unto the Lord God, what wilt thou give me? There was something that he desired, something that he didn't have as often. So with us too, we think of how richly we have been blessed in Christ. We think of all the wonderful things he has done for us. But perhaps you say, but there's one request, and the Lord doesn't seem to have granted me that request, and it just gets me down. Sometimes it overwhelms me.
And this is the way that Abram felt right now. He had been very faithful, but he didn't have any child. And God had made promises that he was going to be blessed and his seat after him, and he couldn't understand it. And we have situations like that in our lives. We just can't understand why the Lord has helped us over many obstacles. But there's something that seems to loom up that's almost insurmountable. And we say, what will thou give me?
He said, The one who is going to get all my inheritance says, just my servant that's been born in my house. Well, the Lord gives him a little word of encouragement here, he said, And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, But he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said unto him.
So shall I seed be?
And he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness. He didn't get it once, the fulfillment of this promise. Indeed, I might say it was at least 14 years afterwards before Isaac was born, and so he had to wait for a long time. And sometimes the Lord tests our patience too, in the path of faith, and we don't see him coming in and answering the request right away. But he told him to.
Look now toward heaven, just as he told him in previous occasion.
And I lift up thine eyes when Lot looked at those well watered plains. The Lord said, Abram, look up. Now he's discouraged and says again, look up, that's what we need to do. Isn't that President looking under Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith? So he believed the Lord and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. But then in the eighth verse he asked another question, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
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It's interesting, those two questions. What wilt thou give me? And whereby shall I know? Those two questions, I suppose, often come in our minds.
Now we have some requests and we say, what will wilt thou give me other words? Why doesn't the Lord grant that request? And then when we are kept waiting and waiting, and there seems a long delay, we say, how shall I know? How shall I know? Well, we know because God has said it. That's all. It's His word. And then there's What follows is very interesting that the Lord shows us that the ground of all blessing is a sacrifice.
All these various animals we know brings before us many sacrifices that were offered in the Old Testament, all a figure of the one perfect sacrifice offered by the Lord. Jesus wasn't possible with the blood of bulls and goats would take away sin, but.
The Lord Jesus by his one sacrifice, by 1 Sacrifice by yeah, by one offering me a perfect it forever them that are sanctified. All blessing is secured to us, not because we deserve it, not because we've been faithful, but all because of Calvary, all because of what the Lord Jesus has done for us and now it tells us here.
In the 11Th verse and when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. The enemy would try to rob us of the blessings follows came down. In the scripture, we find that they're sometimes used as a figure of Satan. Remember how the fellows of the air plucked away the good seed in the 13th of Matthew, and they were going to try and rob Abram of the enjoyment of God's promises? And the devil's always busy that way.
Tries to get us discouraged. Tries to get doubts into our minds. How shall I know this is all from the enemy of our souls? Because we can rely upon God.
But now Abram falls into a deep sleep, and in horror a great darkness fell upon him. And in what follows here, I believe the Lord was showing to Abram that he could just speak of the history of that nation for years and years ahead, tells him what was going to happen to the nation 400 years ahead. And you know, that's a consolation to us, brethren.
We may go through trials. Does God know the future? It's all in his hands. He knows so he said. Abram, I can tell you what's going to happen to your nation. It's all an open book to me. And so it is. Isn't a good thing to be able to commit our way to the one who knows the future. We don't. We don't know even what's going to happen tomorrow. But the Lord knows what's going to happen all our life through how wonderful. Commit thy way onto the Lord.
Prost also in him, and he shall bring it to pass. But then we find that tells us here in the 17th verse.
And it came to pass that when the sun went down and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. But I believe that brings before us the whole history of the nation of Israel. That is, the smoking furnace is all that they've had to go through as a nation. Just read through the Old Testament and you see what they went through as a nation. Just look at what has happened in their history.
Had so many troubles, they lost their land when Titus came up and destroyed Jerusalem. They're scattered to the four winds. They've been persecuted in almost every nation that they've been in. Now they've they're back in their land and they've been there 40 years, and it's just been 40 years of conflict. They haven't found any peace, have they? But it tells us here there was a smoking furnace and a boon blend.
What is the burning lamp? Oh, it's those promises that always sustain the hearts of those who have faith. Do you feel like sometimes you're going through a smoking furnace? Do you feel that? Everything seems dark and it just seems that there's no relief. Well, there's a burning limb now that is the lamp of God's precious word and the lamp of prophecy. It's spoken of as a light that shines in a dark place.
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Until the day done and the morning star arise in our hearts. And so when we feel discouraged, it's good for us to realize no matter what we go through, God has it on His hands. He knows all about us, and He knows all about his the nation of Israel. And finally he's going to bring them into a time of wonderful blessing, a time when the desert will blossom as a rose. They will sit down under their own and vine and fig tree.
A wonderful time, a blessing is ahead for them. And brethren, when you and I get to the end of the journey and we look back, we're going to say, just like Israel, he led them forth by the right way that he might bring them to a city of habitation. So he noticed. In the end of the chapter, God says it's all going to be yours, Abraham, all this land where you see these enemies right now, it says.
Under the Thy seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt unto the great river, to the river Euphrates, pensions, all those nations which were their enemies positive, wonderful to know that everything is secure in Christ. Rather, when we go through trials, may the Lord help us to see that the Lord is over all, and that He knows every situation enters into it fully and.
No matter how difficult the pathway may be, there's always that burning line. There's the encouragement of his word.
Think of change, of Michigan, of admigal and the fiery furnace. But the Lord brought with them in the fire. And we think of how Paul was persecuted. But he said, I know whom I have believed, that I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
He was going through quite a burning fiery furnace, so to speak. I often think as I travel about and go to different towns and cities, the Brethren are so kind to me and chosen.
Matthew 16, 17, 18
Address—C. Buchanan
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Let us sing #134.
Lord of Lords tonight, where we're going to begin in Matthew 17, we'll see that.
Lord of glory.
We adore thee, grace of Lord Ascendant high heart and soul. We bow before thee, glorious, now beyond the sky.
The worship.
Thee we pray.
Excellent in all right ways.
Anointed King with glory, grounded rightfully and Lord of all once rejected scorn His own seen by those that ain't to call the We are Theodore glorious now and evermore. Somebody starts with #134 please.
Thank you, Lord of the Floor.
Again tonight and Matthew 17.
Last night we reached as far as speaking about the Church and the pronouncement of the Lord.
I've only statement of Peter north of Christ, the Son of the living God.
He just had on this run. I will build my.
Shirt and they get some Hell shall not prevail against it. In our review from Matthew 13 to this point, we have learned of the Kingdom of heaven.
Announced while the king was here, beginning when the king went up.
And continuing till the king comes back. It's this fear of profession in which we have seen that two kinds of seeds are sown and the products are let grow together until the time of the harvest, and that Jesus also announced the church as a coming thing.
And now, as we read these early verses, we will find.
The third thing we call it the Kingdom in glory.
Gets the Millennial Kingdom.
It's not follows the Kingdom of heaven.
After the judgments that purify the earth in preparation for the King to return in his manifestation.
We did notice in the 13th chapter it speaks of the King, Kingdom of the Father and also the Kingdom of the Son of Man. They are the two sides of the Millennial Kingdom, which we call now the Kingdom in glory. It is the Millennial Kingdom.
And it's wonderful, I think that Jesus had led his disciples along in his instruction to this point. And as of where he stopped, he said, I'm going to tell you what's ahead. Hello brother. How wonderful it is to know what's happened. Yeah, these early verses we're going to read are so charmed. But we will read 13 verses and come back and come at home there. Matthew 17 one and after.
Six days.
Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother.
And bringing them up into an high mountain of Florida sandwich transfigured before that.
And his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. And behold, there appeared unto him then Moses and Elias talking with him.
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Then answered Peter and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here.
If thou will, let us make here 3 Tabernacles, one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.
While he yet spake, behold a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and was sore up there.
And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man say Jesus own.
And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying No man, television to no man, and killed the son of Mandy, risen again from the dead, and his disciples asked him, saying, why then say the stripes, that Elias must first come?
And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias.
Two leads channel first time and restore all things. But I say unto you that Elias is come already. And they have they knew him not, but have done under him whatsoever they listed. Whatever they like likewise shall also the Son of Man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that He's taken to them of John the Baptist.
And I want to go back to the 11Th chapter and read just a few verses to help us to understand about John the Baptist a little better.
He was the forerunner and preached the Gospel of the Kingdom.
And we have already read the.
How he suffered at the hands of Harris.
Jesus speaking about John in verse nine of Chapter 11.
Asked this question, what went he out for the seat? A prophet, Yeah, I send you, and more than a crowd, for this is the village written. Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before he. Verily I say unto you among them that are born of women.
There have not arisen a greater than John the Baptist knows what says, notwithstanding he got his leash in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he greater than John the back and from the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violence take it by force, for all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.
And if you will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.
Well, John preached. He was the forerunner. He was the messenger sent before the face of the Lord to announce the coming of the Messiah.
And.
That was a greater thing than any of the old asthma problems. But clearly Jesus says in this passage, notwithstanding, he that is least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he telling us of our position during this dispensation of the Kingdom of heaven here, since Christ has gone up as King to the glory and sowing the good seed down here.
Our position is more favorable than John the Baptist one.
But it says.
In verse 12.
Now the Kingdom of heaven suffereth violence.
An example of that is the beheading of John. A further example of it is Jesus on the cross. But then it makes a strange statement and the violent take it by force.
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This means that it takes.
Spiritual energy to enter into the Kingdom of heaven today on the earth and follow a rejected Christ. That's divorce. It's a spiritual energy to get into that Kingdom and pursue the course of the followers of the king in a rejected and world that rejects Christ yet.
But it is a most blessed position to be in and we have reviewed a little.
Of the savior himself in chapter 15 going with his own experimentally and.
Being disowned and misunderstood and.
Rejected by the leaders of the people.
The highest religious order speaking against God's people. And that's what happens yet to those who are the children of the King following a rejected Messiah.
That the religious world around us does not like this humble, lowly people that take no part in worldly affairs and worldly government because we belong to heaven. This is not our home, this is not our country. And so we feel these things. But now the blessed Savior takes three to be a witness of that coming Lord.
And then as much as we are getting close to that, we expect.
The home call to have our part in the Father's house at any moment and then we know after the cleansing of the earth there will be manifestation. The earthly side of the glory will appear. We have that picture to us beautifully in this first part of the 17th chapter and.
Jesus takes these three into a high mountain apart and was pressed figured before that the first thing that appears to be here James and John is the Lord and his glory. Now, beloved, I think that's going to be our first view of heaven. It'll be that person hold this point and turn to Acts Chapter 7 and notice the beautiful way.
That Steven.
The first murder of this dispensation got his sight of heaven in a very special way. What the scripture says about it and then what he talks about it for what Steven says is a little different from what the scripture writes ahead of time. This is in the end of the 7th of Acts and.
Verse 54. When they heard these things, those persecutors.
He was suffering violence wasn't.
Being stoned they were cut to the heart and they gnashed on him with their teeth, but he now this is what scripture records that he looking up to heaven soul he Steven being full of the Holy Ghost looked up to step back into heaven and saw the glory of God. That kind of story and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. The next verse he begins to talk and said he said behold, I see the heavens open and the Son of man He doesn't say anything about the story to talk. He sees that son of man.
Standing on the right hand of God.
What's going to fill our gaze through all eternity to see that blessed man? So he was transfigured before Peter, James and John and his face to China, as the Sodom like it recounts in Acts 9 when Saul was stricken down. And that was bright light. When he talks about it the second time, he says above the brightness of the sun, that's Jesus.
That's Jesus, that life. What is the light?
And then it says the old there appeared unto them, but Peter, James and John, Moses and the Elias talking with him. Now this is the picture. There were two men there who were most of them in their lives, and they were conversing with Jesus.
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This is the heavenly side of the Kingdom.
We're going to be on the heavenly side of the Kingdom.
It's a full picture in miniature of the Kingdom and glory that we're getting. The heavenly side represents the two represent those who have died and God buried. That was most he got a special buried burial. No man knows her, Moses 2 minutes till this day. And that's every St. of God from Abel on them that's ever been buried. God knows where they are and they're going to rise up and appear there in glory just as sure as we're reading about Moses.
But there's going to be some of us who don't pass through that, like Eli. He went out to heaven and his cherry, a world many of us, dear brother, will never die. I thoroughly believe perhaps none of us. It took me as that coming. So they're going to be the two groups there, those that need a full resurrection and those who need to change the body. And we're all going to be there and we're going to be conversing with Jesus.
Complete the picture.
He goes on and says.
Then it answered here and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. We stopped there because Peter makes a mistake next. But that was the truth up to that point. Very blessed, but true. And so there's going to be the earthly side of the Kingdom represented here by the three Peter, James and John where they were men walking around in bodies that had a blood pump. And you know the earth beside of the Kingdom will still be people with the atom light being tested for 1000 years. True that they're going to have.
A body that will live through the 1000 years if they're.
Obedient and some of them will go that thousand years and children will be born. And that's the last Test of man in the flesh. And it's most marvelous thing to think that God will go ahead and test man in the pleasure for another 1000 years to see if man in the place without Satan will be found without Satan. Tempting and with a perfect government, they go on.
Well, some do and some don't, so there's a separation at the end of the Kingdom and then you go into the eternal day when all will be absolutely perfect. But this is the Kingdom of glory. Now we get something to learn from Peters words he says.
Lord, it's good for us to be here. It's not what let us make here 3 tabernacles, one for Thee, and one for Moses and one for Elias. And God closes up the scene. Well, we understand why I believe that God closed up the scene and he removed those men in the glory so that those three only saw Jesus because Peter had put.
On an equal level, Jesus.
With the lawgiver and the great comfort, Oh God won't stand for that. He is vulnerable and let us ever have respect and reverence when we talked about the Lord Jesus.
That's why I believe God has blessed the King James Flagler so much, because it teaches souls reverence to put Jesus in that place where he is respectful. He is God and he is man and certainly want to. And it's not spelled out exactly like that, but it's in here to ever have reverence and respect and never speak in a familiar way.
About our faith to bring them down to the level of men on the street or men like these great this great lawgiver and this great conference. So God closes the scene up and they saw no man say Jesus owner.
And then we have this amount of John the Baptist.
And.
There's already more or less open up. He was the announcer of the king and he fulfilled his mission and he suffered violence.
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But now today, those who are least in the Kingdom of heaven are in a greater position than John the Baptist block. So the good seed is sewn down here and it's a children of Kingdom in the Kingdom period going on.
As set here by God himself to represent the King while he is up there.
We must go on down to the 18th chapter, because I wanted to get into at least one part of that chapter, but I think we have to take the whole in our review. We have spoken of six similitudes of the Kingdom as six parables in chapter 13, which are likenesses of the Kingdom of heaven, and we have said that there are four more, being 10 and all, and in the last part of chapter 18.
We get this.
Last, the first one of the last four, which is the second. Then there are three more. The best we can hope to do tonight is to get as far as that first block. But we must go through the chapter to reach it properly because primarily the chapter takes up the church, and we're in the church as soon as we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ baptized in that body, and there's only one church in God's sight.
And here we have a provision in this chapter by the Lord for the.
Search to go on in its function.
Even though man is weak in the flesh.
And it's humbling to read how it turns out, but it's very helpful.
That is the second time.
That the church is mentioned in the Bible.
Jesus has to say in as much to go on, you're going to have to have authority and there is a sorry, but there is a divine center and that's the 20th verse, the 20th verse.
Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst.
Which Christ in the center, more or less of the chapter in the center of our thoughts, and the company gathered around him.
So what we are going to find is that there are 7 characteristics.
7 Characteristics of those who are gathered through the Lord's name in this channel.
And we read 5 verses and they teach us humiliation.
That is, that is one of the characteristics of this company that's gathered in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is so, brethren, whether we have noticed it or not. And it is beautifully so and ought to be increasingly, increasingly more so. And here is where we pick people can learn from the little for the Lord set the little child in the midst.
As an example of humiliation, 5 verses we'll read in this 18th chapter. At the same time, king, the disciples under Jesus saying, who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven? See, they're talking about the Kingdom of heaven.
And it's sad, isn't it, to think that already amongst those disciples, they want to know who's the greatest in this Kingdom.
It's sad. It's the natural heart already coming out.
Sometimes we state this. We heard from no brother.
People wanting a place to cause much trouble, people put in their place are a great blessing and God will put us in our place and it's going to be down to take the low place.
Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst. This is lovely. Here's the little child in the midst of the disciples, and said, very, I send you, except you be converted and become as little children, he shall not enter into the Kingdom of heaven. How humbly. Wherefore Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name.
Receive with me.
Well, we read one more verse. One of these little ones that believe in me. It were better for him that a millstone were hanging about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.
00:30:06
Well, blessedly our our lesson here is home.
Humiliation. These dear little shots we can learn from. They may get in their quarrels, but they settle them out quickly.
But big people want to know how can I get bigger and be achieved.
And it's been so in the Kingdom of heaven, particularly as we noticed in hottest picture, by the grain of mustard seed, which is a small thorough seed, but in Europe becomes the greatest of all trees, so that the birds that they are lodging the branches of it is this great and upward secular or worldly Christian which has become a great relief Christian.
Which has become a great thing in the earth, recognized by the nations and in effect ruling over the nations.
Especially in the greatest segment of Christmas, you have become great, and God never intended the Church the great thing in the earth. She is to represent the rejected Christ and will be great in heaven, but not on the earth until the King is great and gets his Kingdom.
So the lesson is to take the low place, and we have dear brethren, and I have to admire them so much. They're not trying to aggrandize themselves, to get big and puffed up and and all these things, and that's the way to get them to take the Roadhouse. He that humble himself shall be exalted. The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, to serve, and to give his life a ranks and for many.
Self likes to be served and takes himself. Great love serves unto history.
What lessons we can learn in humiliation we must press on. But this is the first characteristic of those dear Saints who are gathered the Lords name. It's humbleness.
The next one is S 2nd.
We're getting right next beginning verse 7.
Warned in the world because of offenses for it must need to be that offenses come.
But who does that man by whom the offense cometh?
Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, cast them far from thee. It is therefore thee to enter into life hope or maid, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, plucking out, cast it from thee. It is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into Hellfire.
Take thee that you despise not one of these little ones, where I say in you that in heaven their angels will only behold the face of my Father, which is in heaven.
For the Son of Man has come to say that which is lost.
This seems extreme.
Until we think of what it really is. It is self judgment that is taught here and there is to be no mercy by me in judging yourself. No mercy. That old flesh when it rears its head cutting off. I don't mean you were going to literally cut off your hands, but that's not what this time. It's everything that is exposed to that. If you get rid of it, it serves for nothing before your.
And it is one of the characteristics of those that are gathered through the Lord's name.
And it would be wonderful if we were more blessed of himself. Our brethren, troubles arise.
And they rise because we're not humble. That's the Umrah. And the first thing is pride coming out. If no one was proud, there would be any troublesome.
But it is, so the next thing that would stop it is if self judgment were practiced relentlessly without mercy. Just self. When it's exposed, if you send credit, get rid of it, repent, judge it, be done with it, confess it to God. That's the way of it. That's the reason to put this way. **** your eye out. Well, we understand how cruel that sounds.
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Flesh is not to have any place before God won't let have any place. He's a glorious letting glory in the Lord that can boast in the Lord.
But those self wants to get out there. We've got to learn to tell each other.
Then we have another, but I'll speak a little before we go to it about children where we haven't put before us here as an example in humbleness and it's a valuable.
Group amongst us that should never be offended.
Attending here means turning little ones into the work in the Saints OR.
They are to be kept and cared for and sheltered from the world.
And then there is a very comforting thing for parents who have children.
I believe this verse literally.
Their Angel.
That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father, which is in heaven.
I'll tell you a story about it.
You may have had that experience.
Our son Douglas and family were down there Lima, Peru for five years.
And.
Their home was on the second floor.
A park like place across from them are now about a block was a store where they sold bananas and various things and Rebecca was something like.
Five or 6-7 years of age, maybe even 8, I don't know, but.
Her mother sent her down with a few coins proving money to get some bananas and watch her out of the window. She went and could see her, entered the store, and she watched a long time. She never did see her come out of the store. So she got frightened, went down, ran down the store herself, and there was no Rebecca there.
And Elima is a horrible city full of foods.
And Rebecca, I mean Barbara, gathered the brethren together, and the children of the brethren started looking for Rebecca.
We looked for 45 minutes or an hour and finally.
Rebecca appeared all out of breath, from almost nowhere and.
Some boy.
It turned out later had wanted to get the coins away from and he had grabbed the coins out of her hand. She ran after him to get the coins back and tried to catch him and recapture the money that was stolen and got lost. And her mother was oh so thankful, frightened to think that in that wicked city of 3 million poor people.
There was her girl lost that age and her mother said the Rebecca, there must have been an Angel looking after you. And she said, yeah, mother, there must have been two of them.
Well, I believe there was an Angel, perhaps two or more looking after.
So, parents, you have angels to look after your children. Their Angel only looks at the face of the Father. That's going to happen.
And the Son of Man has come to say that which was lost. If one of them perished before the age of accountability, you can be short from this first, and that they're with the Lord. He died to say that which was lost.
When it comes to Zacchaeus.
It says about that adult man, the Son of man, has come to seek and to save that which is lost. There comes a time of responsibility in our lives when we have to be sought and then say that God takes care. Christ takes care of these little children while we press on.
Verse 12 Now thank you if a man have 100 sheep and one of them be gone astray that the not leave the 90 and ninth door into the mountains and she can that which he is going astray and if so we.
Let him find it. Verily I say unto you, He rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the 99 which went not astray. Even so, it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. Here the characteristic of those who are doubting to the Lord's name is a care for the lands, and this is past your work. This is the positive side of the time.
00:40:21
Thank God it's true. Our dear brethren, Pastor Shepherd and you Sunday School teachers are doing it and it's a blessing. I would encourage you in it, caring for the sheep. It's a wonderful, wonderful service.
Often not noticed and not much rewarded down here, but the rewards are coming. So this characteristic we can say is seen and it is very helpful.
So to be encouraged in the work of a pastor is a great thing. We come to verse 15.
And I don't think I'll proceed just step by step because I think it is known to you all here and it'll consume some time.
There it is.
The necessity of following these steps, brother to brother or brother to witnesses, and finally the Church to get these offenses taken care of as personal offenses are taken care of and they are done so amongst the Saints that are gathered through the Lord's name and like no place else in Christendom that I know.
It is a characteristic which is seen and is necessary, and the very necessity of having it here, I think, is humble. In effect, the Lord is saying I'm going to build my church, but I'm going to turn the responsible side of it over to you, carry it on to be the building. It's what we get in First Corinthians 3. Paul laid the foundation. Others build their line. You and I are the builders today.
Take heat how you do and so it's like that. So these personal vectors are to be taken care of and the very necessity of having them.
Ought to make us almost ashamed. We ought never to come to these points, but we do. We even come to the last where the Church has to take it out, and that's another thing.
Verse 18 New Read.
Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound to heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in that.
We read similar words spoken to Peter.
About the keys of the Kingdom, that is. He was open.
But now here's the binding and the losing that's put in the hands of the two or three cabinets, the Lord's name.
So this characteristic is authority, it's power, and brethren, it is power because.
You find in First Corinthians nine in the fourth verse that the Lord is there in that verse for the Saints were to be together.
All severe, and the Lord is the authority. We must be careful how we use that authority, but we are responsible if, if necessary, to use that.
And I don't find this authority anywhere else on earth, because it is with the two or three gathered to the Lord's name.
It's one of the characteristics of peculiar to those who are gathered the large name.
And it's necessary.
And this comes to that point. The purpose, of course, is the glory of the Lord 1St and then.
The time when we can loose.
It's good to get to that. We should be able to. We can't always, but the whole thing just put you before and then we have the 6th characteristic of those that have gathered the Lord's name.
Verse 19.
Again I say to you back here, two of you shall agree on earth by touching anything that they shall ask. It shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. This is prayer.
00:45:06
We can understand this.
If you might say the 7th one is on the 6th one, I should say it's a positive note because there is one more.
These six characteristics proceed.
The 20th 1St and there's one on the front, but prayer, how wonderful necessary it is, what a source of help it is, and the blanket check is if 243 Now you shall agree as touching anything that they shall ask. It shall be done of them of my Father, which is in heaven when, brethren.
Are in a court, I believe you fine the thought grants the answer.
This is a characteristic too.
Then we have this 20th verse and then we have verse 23 and it is another parable, a similitude of the Kingdom of heaven. Therefore He is the Kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his service.
Now we're going to find.
That the characteristic that applies here to the gathered Saints is forgiveness, brotherly forgiveness.
It's very important.
Brotherly forgiveness may we learn.
Let us put here as one of the similitudes of the Kingdom of habit. The Kingdom of heaven is likened and then he draws the picture till we read it at least part of it. It's like another certain king which would take account of his service.
And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him 10,000 times.
But for as much as he had not to pay, his Lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down and worshipped him, saying, Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. Then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. To stop a little bit, because I believe.
We need to speak about this, this servant who owed so much. He owed 10,000 tons at that time, and perhaps primarily I believe it applies to the Jews.
Who have had the articles of God committed to them? They have had the prophets, priests, and kings, and last of all the Lord Himself the King, to witness to them.
And it didn't turn out well.
They despise the problems they shown those that were said unto him. And last of all, God sent his Son.
And they were ready to kill him, and they did kill him.
And so they had had much committed to them, and they owed it all. They were terribly in debt. They had not followed the Lord. They have not obeyed God. And.
So he had nothing to pay, because you had nothing to pay. But the grace of God came to you. And even in the Gospel period.
In the book of the Acts that you first and also the Greek.
The order of presenting the gospel of the grace of God. What we would say about the Kingdom of heaven. Here is grace needed to bring the two in grace with me. That's what's expressed as to the civility of the Kingdom of heaven.
And I'll point out the other three. We won't have much longer to talk on this one, so that we'll understand a little bit the last four. Here's grace needed for the Jew, who was more in depth to God than the Gentile. For the Gentile haven't had much given to him to whom much is given. All the Saints. I must be required with the Jew. But the Gentile was guilty also. And here we find about him in the end of this portion.
00:50:21
But pass on over to the.
20th chapter in the first verse.
And we'll just state what these last three similitudes of the Kingdom portray to us. We've set a needle chapter that is grace needed.
In chapter 20, For the Kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labor into his venue. And you know how the story went, those that went out early, they agreed for such and such a way. So others came along.
They agree for such and such a way. It turned out to be a penny a day but some came as 11Th hour and what much time to work. They went out and worked and when they came back everyone received the same day and those that worked so hard they thought that was unjust. But really what it is, is grace is on and grace is offered to alone regardless of when you come.
People can be saved right now and the Lord may come in the next 5 minutes.
It's grace that's offered. Oh, you must take it. And when you take it, you get the full, you get the full pay. There's no shortage of grace given to anybody, no matter how much they work. It's all great. It's offered you all. Then they go to the 22nd chapter.
And we get responsibility under grace in the first verses of the 22nd chapter.
And Jesus answered and speak unto them again by parables, and said, The Kingdom of heaven is like. Notice that word under a certain king, which made a marriage for his son.
And here we'll say its responsibility under grace.
But it's also grace refused.
Pictured by that man at least, who had didn't have on the wedding.
Pretenders imprisoned them are in a most serious position.
And I fear there are many of them that hose as Christians and have not placed Christ is the role of righteousness and without that no one will ever enter into the Kingdom of heaven, the Kingdom and glory. So it's grace refused to return to the 25th chapter and find that in this last the 10th cenotaph.
Verse One. Then shall the Kingdom of heaven be likened under 10 virgins, and five were wise, and five were foolish.
That we have again at the end, separation, just as we had you remember when we came to the 6th parable in the 13th 10 that dragnet cast into the sea.
The series in chapter 13 are complete and they bring us down to this separation.
We're getting near to that time when the wicked shall be severed from the just and the wicked thrown into hell and on the earth. They're just going on into the Kingdom on earth. And so it is here with the.
Ten birds by her wife.
And five were true, so the Lord.
Leads through these last four and comes to the same conclusion.
The Kingdom of heaven is going to run out. That is, this dispensation is going to conclude. It's going to be over. Well, this is wonderful in the gospel.
And we can use it that way, but encouraging for us who are, I trust, children of the Kingdom to go on willingly representing a rejected Christ and enjoying all grace has brought to us, rattling it immensely. And particularly that position has gathered under the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:55:14
Having His presence enjoyed in the midst of the two or three where we can break bread in his name and let's pronounce that we are members on his part and remember that that cup speaks of his precious blood that put away our sins to bring us into this favorite position and looking onward to the Kingdom and Lord all we're going to be put into it soon.
Meanwhile.
The lesson in the 18th chapter.
About brotherly forgiveness, we couldn't get into it. It's just as easy to reach yourself as to speak about.
When we are offended, let us learn to forgive, Peter says. Until 70 times. How often? Tell my brother sinned against me and I forgive him 70 times. He thought that till seven times.
You know, the Lord says until 70 * 7 we would run out of account if we would just keep that out. That is where we're only super here and if we don't do it, there's going to be a root of Britain.
Breaking up and therefore many will be defined. So there again that last likeness of the gathered Saints, that is forgiveness is seen an ought to always be practiced so that we can enjoy that sweet fellowship. We'll sing to him the first one in the appendix, which is about that. It is more the forgiveness that we get.
Perhaps totally the forgiveness that we get when our sins are put away.
And like the two, we have to think that we were 10,000 pence debtors instead of 50 pence debtors for all of us.
Have nothing to pay. Then he came and we'll put away our sins. So number one in the appendix of some brother. Brother will start it for us.
I.
2 Timothy
Address—C. Hendricks
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The spotless line of God. Thou hast bought us with thy blood. We are thine and thine alone. This Enlightenment fully owned 123 Someone raised opportunities.
Glory.
To God.
When we are.
In the Lord.
And I wish it's our heavens are going to have a little negative.
It's great.
I'd like to please turn with me to second Timothy. I'd like to.
Go through this epistle.
To get the.
The tenor of the epistle. It's the last epistle, the Apostle Paul wrote.
Second Timothy. And there's something specially solemn in the last words of anyone, And it's especially true respecting the words of our of the Apostle Paul. These were his last words that he ministered to Timothy, his child, in the faith.
And some time ago I went through the epistle and I recorded.
38 distinct directives.
To this young man, Timothy from the aged apostle. And we're going to look at them. We probably won't look at all 38, but we look at a large number of them and as we go through these directives, these.
These words to stimulate the young man Timothy in the darkened state of the Assembly. The whole theme of the epistle is.
To stir Timothy up to energy, and to stand for the Lord, and to stand for the truth, and for the deposit of truth which had been entrusted to him in an evil that stand. Stand fast. And Timothy was evidently a not only was he a young man, but he was evidently A timid man by nature, so he had to be stirred up. Now many of us are just that way. We're not too Peter, for instance. He was. He was a rapid old man.
00:05:13
And he was always coming forward, sometimes not, not too wisely, But some of us are quite retiring and not forward and somewhat bashful, and I believe Timothy was like that.
But he hadn't. He had what was essential.
Something more than boldness. He had a real fervent love for the truth of the Lord and for the Saints, Paul could say in Philippians. I have no men like minded with Timothy who will chair the genuine feeling. How do you get on? That's more important than?
Great guests or great power but it's it's to have a heart that is desiring the blessing and the good of the Saints. Let's just read the first verses of chapter one of second Timothy and then we'll look at these directives and 1St verses are introductory to this epistle. Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. How important that this be stressed.
Especially in an epistle which addresses the last days.
That these instructions come from an apostle who was put in that position, given that gift set in that office by the will of God, by the will of God, according to the promise of light which is in Christ Jesus. I hear the Apostle Paul gets very close to John's ministry. John who spoke of the pleasant possession of eternal life, Eternal life is as a possession that we have right now generally in Paul's writings.
Eternal life is presented as future.
As what we're going on to the end everlasting life.
But here he speaks of the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus. And having Christ we have that life. To Timothy, an ideally beloved Son, you see, life is beyond this drama magical moment. Life is beyond all dispensations. Life is something which which is absolutely essential.
One needs a life. He needs the very life of Christ in order to, in order to to be in the path at all. That's, that's basic, that's essential. And so he goes back to the very essentials according to promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus and all those that have this life, that are children of God by faith in Christ, that have been brought by the new birth into a new.
Relationship with God, new life, new nature, and they have this life.
To Timothy, my dearly beloved son, notice the terms of deep affection that he uses in these in this epistle which addresses the last days, the days when the love of many shall wax cold and there'll be a turning away from the truth. To Timothy, my dearly beloved son, here was one that that had a heart just like the apostle Paul, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father.
In Christ Jesus our Lord.
I thank God, whom I serve for my forefathers with pure conscience and without ceasing. I have remembrance of thee and my prayers, night and day, night and day, greatly desiring to see thee being mindful about tears, that I may be filled with joy.
Evidently there was the previous meeting between Paul and Timothy, and Timothy shed tears at the prospect of not seeing this.
Beloved father or followers his father in the faith not seeing him again. Be mindful of that tears that I may be filled with joy when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith, the genuine faith that is. Indeed it's brought first in my grandmother Lois and my mother Eunice. And I am persuaded that in the also So what a, what a blessing.
To be able to point to a godly parent and then to a godly grandparent.
In this case, it was his mother and his grandmother who were Jews Jewesses, evidently. Evidently, Timothy's father was a Gentile. He doesn't allude to him, but he alludes to the line of faith that was in his family.
00:10:14
Now he starts the directives.
Wherefore, verse six, I put thee in remembrance that thou stirred up the gift of God, which is ending by the putting on of my hands.
He'll turn back to First Timothy Chapter 4, verse 14.
Paul says, neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery or the elderhood.
Evidently there was a prophetic utterance made by one of the prophets of the day as to this young man Timothy, that he was to he was marked out as a special vessel to be used in a special way. And the first question to Timothy, the third chapter, the apostle gives the qualifications of a Bishop and a Deacon, or a menace, or a a a Bishop is an overseer.
And the Deacon is a minister laundry ministers in temporal things. The overseer or the Bishop was responsible for the spiritual welfare of the local Saints, and the Deacon or the minister was responsible for meeting their temporal needs.
Well.
He was given this gift.
Gift, he says in verse 14 in chapter 4 and neglect not the gift that is indeed which was given thee by prophecy. That is there was there was a prophecy.
That went before Ounces of Timothy turned back to the first chapter, First Timothy verse 18.
This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thy that thou by them might as were a good warfare. So here again he refers to prophecies as to Timothy, and going back to chapter 4 again he he absorbs going to be neglect now the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy.
With notice the preposition there with the laying out of the hands of the presbytery, but in first and second Timothy chapter one, verse 6.
He says I put the in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by notice it's a different preposition by the putting on of my hands. I think Timothy is the only exceptional case in the New Testament where a gift was conferred to 1 Generally there isn't heaven. The Lord Jesus, Ephesians 4 He is ascended up on high and he gave gifts unto men, and then he gave some apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers and so on.
And there Christ himself directly gives the gifts for the good and benefit of the church. But in Timothy's case, because he was a young man and could easily have been despised false sensitivity, that no man despised by you could be thou an example of the believers in Word and doctrine and faith and impurity and so on. So Timothy received the gift by the laying out of the apostles hands of prophetic utterance was given respecting Timothy.
Correlated hands upon him.
And he received the gift, and the presbytery or the elders expressed fellowship in that it says with the laying on of the hands of the elderly. So they recognized that Timothy was called by the Lord for special purpose and function in the early church. I believe he was what you would call an Apostolic delegate like Titus was, where he was delegated by the apostle to appoint elders in in the churches.
A most extraordinary.
Function for a young man, But he was called into this special position to parlay his hands upon him. He received this gift, and then the other hood expressed fellowship with him by the laying out of their hands. They didn't confer the gift, but they expressed television with what God was doing. So he's exerting him here in verse six of our second Timothy one. He says, Stir up the gift of God.
Which is in thee with the putting on, by the putting on of my hands. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear and be afraid, Timothy, in in the face of opposition. You see, a young man, a young man and a timid man, in fact, would need this encouragement, this directive from the apostle, to stir it up. And I believe that we're in these last days, these directives that were directed to Timothy, are needed by.
00:15:13
And by each of us, and especially those who may be really desiring to go out for the Lord, but maybe young, something like Timothy, and maybe somewhat Timothy, take a firm stand for the Lord in the evil day. For God has not given us the spirit of fear. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid of what the enemy is going to do. You can get forward in the strength of the Lord, but He's given us the spirit of power and of love.
And of a sound mind of the spirit of power.
And of love, and of the sound binding and the strength of that we can go forward and hold fast in evil day, when the grave majority of believers are turning away their years from the truth and not standing, but giving up the truth of God, not standing for it. And then he says another directive, the second one in verse 8. The first one is to stir up the gift of God, And Paul knew that he had that gift because he received it through Paul's laying out of Paul's hands.
And there was fellowship. The elders had to recognize that Timothy was given this gift because they expressed fellowship with it. We saw that in the 4th chapter of First Timothy.
Now he says in verse 8, Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner.
It's easy to identify with the Christian testimony when large companies are doing it, when multitudes are doing it. But the Epistle to Second Timothy looks on to the day when the numbers would diminish, when the enemy would be there to oppose and to withstand and to ridicule and to scoff at and to mock and to hold those that were standing for the truth and derision.
It is such a day. It's very easy to become intimidated. So he needs to. He needed to stir that gift up. Not let it lag, not let it lapse, not not hide it, but to stir it up. Whatever that gift was that Timothy had, that was in connection with the establishment, in the faith of the early Christians. We'll see that as we go through all of these directives in this epistle.
And it can't be carried out. If one is filled. One's heart is filled with fear. But God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound market. Power and love in the sound of mind. We can't say that things have come to such a pass in these days that Second Timothy speaks of the last days. There's no power left. You can't say that God has given us the spirit of power.
We have all the power of God in our disposal.
To stand for the truth of God, no matter how weak the state of things has become.
Don't hide our failures. Don't hide failure. Timothy on on the excuse. We are so weak we just cannot go forward. In the strength of the Lord, God has given us the spirit of power.
And as well, Timothy don't allow the coldness and the deadness. It says the love of the many. In the last days the Lord says, shall wax cold and men shall be lovers of themselves, he tells us in this third chapter of our epistle.
Occupied with self and the love for others, and going out to others and seeing and seeing needs wherever they might be, he's given us the spirit of love. Love is selfless. Love doesn't think of self. Love thinks of the object that is before it. Love always seeks the good of its object, and so love does not cease to operate.
Just because others may fail in it, God has given us the spirit of love. Get the hard heartedness of the Pharisees, turn the Lord Jesus aside? Did it cause him to withdraw into himself and to cease to bless him to meet the needs of those roundabouts? Of course not. You could not stop the heart of Christ in flowing out in blessing to man. You could. You could put a wall in front of the river and all it would do is go right around it and still continue to flow.
If, if his, if his acts of goodness and love and benevolence to mankind were met with stiff and blind underneath, it flowed out to others, but they couldn't stop it. And that ought to be true of us. God has given us the spirit of love, the spirit of love, and a sound mind, important in in these days when false doctrines, when wrong teaching, when erroneous thoughts are everywhere.
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He's given us the spirit of a sound, fine, wise discretion, so that we're not carried away by every wind of doctrine, and the slight of men in unprincipled cunningness whereby they lie and wait to deceive. Paul says no. He's given us the spirit of wisdom and spirit of the sound of mind, to know how to whack a walk, and to know what to do, and not to be carried away into error. Because we have.
The precious truth of God.
And then he says in verse 8, Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me and his prisoner, that second part of the phrase there, nor of me and his prisoner. Don't be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord. Don't be ashamed to stand for Christ. You know, we're living in a day when to really come up with a bold confession of Christ, and to stand firmly for him in his last days, is going to bring reproach.
Going to bring persecution. It may not be physical abuse. We may not be stoned or beaten or cast to lions, but there's all kinds of verbal abuse and disdain and and and and mockery. These things are hard to take and we've we've made a witness at work and then we see a little group over in the corner that blasts our way from time to time and they break into roars of laughter and and you know, they're talking.
About that that queer.
Christian that still believes this book, still believes this book. Well, these are all intimidating things. These are all things calculated by the enemy that cause us to drive to our shell and not be so vocal about our faith. Not not witness so boldly about our faith, Be not ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner. What does that mean? Why? Why does he bring that? Because, Paul.
The ministry of Paul, he ashamed first of all of the testimony of the Law, to be ashamed of witnessing and standing for Christ in the evil day, and then to be ashamed of Paul his prisoner. God's put in Christ's prisoner, now he's in prison and.
That calls ministry while being in prison is a little picture in these last days of how unpopular Paul's ministry has become.
It's been sort of, so to speak, imprisoned them, locked up in prison. Not wanted not. He was one that was not not visited. He mentions one at the end of this chapter on a on a syphilis who who sought him out and found him at at at at the risk of a great cost to himself. We don't know what that cost.
On the sickness to seek fallout, as he did.
Says he often. Freshman was not ashamed of my change. And so here, though the apostle exhorts, urges, directs Timothy. Don't be ashamed of the testimony of the Lord and his prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God, if we're reading on the stand for Christ in an evil day.
Then we're going to have to be a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel. Here the gospel is personified, that is the enemy as opposed to the gospel, and we who are burying that, we who are holding it forth are going to be a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel. He is conditioning Timothy. He's preparing Timothy. This is what you have to expect, that you're going to stand for Christ in an evil day. And we are in the last days of the Church's history on earth.
The world is about ready to throw Christianity off altogether.
It's had enough. It's had enough. See Christianity in the in the way the world views it has failed. It has not converted the world. It was never intended Not converting the world. It was never God's purpose. The world will not be converted by the by the testimony of Christians.
The world is a condemned thing, and Christians are left here to bear witness to it. That it's it is condemned and it's it's under the judgment of the God, and that the the word we are to give to those who are in it is flee from the wrath to come. Save yourselves from this unforced generation.
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Sever yourselves from your connection with the system of things which is under the judgment of God, and soon that judgment is going to fall. It's about to fall. And we're here in these last moments. The clock is just ticking away these last few moments.
Of our soldier in here. If we're going to be a witness for him in an evil day, we're going to have to be a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel. Can't escape them. You can't witness for Christ and escape persecution. That's what Paul is telling to me.
Now, I can't possibly go through all these verses and get through these directives, so I'm going to pass on to the next directive, which is in verse 13. It's just an outline I want to give tonight. If you give the, the, the, the, the flavor you might say with this epistle, he says to Timothy, hold fast the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me in faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus. Grow fast, the form of sound words. We're we're living in a day when that's.
Quickly, fast being let go.
Not holding fast, not having an outline of sound words as he's given it to us in his precious word. Keep things in their proper perspective. Don't mix things that apply to the Jews and apply them to the Gentiles or to to the Church of God. But right later on you'll see the expression rightly divided the word of truth. But here the new translation renders that have an outline of sound words.
Be so in the truth of God, so in the word of God that you have in your mind and outline. That is, you can go through the books of the New Testament, the Old Testament as well, but you can go through the books and you can you can know just where each one fits. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John 4 Pictures of the Lord Jesus as he was here Matthew presented presented him as the Messiah. The King, the Son of David, the son of Abraham. Mark is the perfect servant.
That behold my servant whom I have told my elected, whom I so delighted. The characteristic world words in the gospel of Mark are a non immediately, forthwith, and that is the the action of a servitude immediately respond to commands that are given to him, And then the Gospel according to Luke, he's presented as his. His genealogy is traced back to the Son of Adam, who was the Son of God.
His manhood, The perfect man.
At the Son of Man down here in this world.
The perfect humanity of Christ. Beautiful to trace that through the Gospel according to Luke. And then of course the Gospel of John presents him as the divine eternal Son of God, Son of the Fathers, The delight of the Father's heart, the one who is always in his bosom He came down here to make known to us within that boozing rise. Well, that's just a little example. I could go on and trace out the other books in the New Testament Heaven outlined.
Of sound words, you know where everything fits.
And adult confused things, so that we have a thorough understanding of the of the word of God and the mind of God.
Fast the form, or have it outlined, of sound words which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love, which is in Christ Jesus.
Then we go to the 6th, the 2nd chapter, the oh verse 14. I should read that that's another directive, a very important one of chapter one, that good thing or that good deposit which was committed unto thee keep.
By the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us, Paul talks about the truth that was deposited with Timothy. He calls it that good thing or that good deposit that was committed unto thee key how could he keep it? Thy Holy Ghost which is given to us, We have the Spirit of God. We have the Spirit of truth. He's called the spirit of Truth in John 1415 and 16. He's the Spirit of truth. By word is truth.
And so we have all the power at our disposal to keep that deposit, not to let it go to the Philadelphia's. The Lord says, hold fast. What? Thou hast that no man take thy crown. So here Paul exhorts Timothy, to keep by the Holy Ghost that could be positive, which was committed to thee, when we think of the deposit of truth that has been committed to us.
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Is gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus.
Outside of all the confusion and Christmas, outside the camp, outside of the systems of men which have been arranged and set up according to man's will, and man's arrangements and man's ordering, but to have a blessed day of the Lord for the way we meet.
Thus saith the Lord, for our comings together, the acknowledgement of the presence in our midst of the Spirit of God, to lead to God, to direct in ministry, in prayer, in worship, in in our assembly, functions, in the administration aspect of things, reception, putting away, and all that is connected with the disciplinary matters. The Spirit of God is there. And so we have we have the power.
And the truth in him who is the Spirit of truth to hold the truth as God has given it to us. But he says to Timothy that good thing and good deposit which was committed under the key by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us which dwelleth in us. Now every one of us has the in duality of the Spirit of God. Everyone of us then is qualified by that to to hold fast.
The form of sound words and to.
Not be intimidated, not be afraid, not be filled with fear. He's given us the spirit of power and of love, and of a sound mind and hear that same spirit that dwells within us, enables us to keep that good deposit which was given to us. While he's speaking, of course, to Timothy, but it applies to us in these days who have been given so much. There's no, there's no company of Saints, I'm persuaded, and the whole earth that has a richer deposit of truth.
A wonderful legacy of truth that we have and we have.
What are we doing with it? I will make it our own. Are we? Are we into the ministry? Wonderful teachings, Truths are recovered in the last century by that marvelous operation of the Spirit of God. We have two epistles, especially three. I can add the Epistle of Jude, but I was thinking of Second Timothy and Philadelphia. Two addresses. That address to Philadelphia gives what is characteristically approved of Christ.
In this evil day.
And one of the things he says, Thou hast kept my word, and that the night my name kept my word, and not the magnet. These are the the, the features, the moral features in Philadelphia that he approves of. And so he observes Timothy, to keep by the Holy Ghost with Rosen aspect to deposit now chapter 2, verse one. Now therefore, my son be strong, another director.
In the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
One who might tend to be fearful.
And timid as Timothy, if he had such a sense in his soul of the grace that is in Christ Jesus, the grace that kicks him up.
And when he was nothing but a massive sin, that's what we all were before we were saved. We were all alienated from the life of God through the ignorant that was in us because of the hardness of our hearts. That was our condition by nature, and our practice was the same before we were converted to God. Some of you have been raised in Christian families and you haven't fallen into the depths of sin and that others have who were saved right out from the world, but the nature.
The heart that you have by nature is just as rotten.
And justice as corrupt as anyone who's on Skid Row, alienated from the life of God? Well.
Be strong in the sense, she says to Timothy of the grace which is in Christ Jesus. The only way we're going to be enabled to stand for God against the onrushing tide of evil which has come into Christmas, coming into Christmas. Because this at last Epistle of Timothy is in view of the last days, says that in 3rd chapter and so all this ministry.
Is really taking us down right to the last stage, right to where we are today. With all this influx of evil coming in, how can you? How can it be withstood on a legal principle? Principle of law may not never be strong in the grace. It is in Christ Jesus, a sense of grace in your soul, Timothy sense that you are nothing.
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And Christ is everything that will enable you to stand firm. It's not your own strength. It's not something that you have within you that you can draw upon that gives you the strength to stand against the evil. It's a sense of the grace that is in Constitution.
That will enable you to be strong. So he says, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And then he goes on to say verse two. And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses the same commit thou to faithful men. There's another director, Timothy. You commit these things to faithful men. Don't hide them in your own heart. Don't reserve them for yourself. I've given them to you. Now you give them to faithful men.
Who shall be able to teach others? Also notice in that second verse you have 4 generations. You have the Apostle Paul committing to Timothy, who commits to faithful men who should be able to instruct others also 4 distinct generations. But to whom is Timothy told to commit these wonderful truths? This deposit that had been given to him, that he was to keep by the Holy Ghost? To whom was he to commit these things? To theological students? To to those that have gone through great learning in universities?
To take them not to gifted men, not to learn his men, not to intellectual men, but to faithful men. That's what's needed in an evil day such as your living. And these thankful men will be able to teach others also.
Then we have another directive. In verse 3. Thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. We are in a warfare. We're in a warfare. And Paul says in First Corinthians 9:00 and 9:00 he says so thy guy not as one that beateth the air, not as a shadow boxer, but as fighting a real opponent, a real opponent. And so we are in a warfare, and that requires enduring hardness. A soldier is not a softy. He's one that's trained to endure hardness and if we're going to be in this warfare.
For the Lord Jesus, we're going to have to endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
No man that worked and taken with himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him to have chosen him to be a soldier, being a being in the in the service of one's country as a soldier, he disentangles himself from the affairs of the world round about. He's no longer in the domestic life of of a whirlwind. He is in another sphere. He's in another world, so to speak, the world of warfare.
And so he does not.
Entangle himself with the affairs of This time. He's separated men. He's got one object before him, and that is to deal with the enemy and to stand for the Lord.
Verse. I'd like to comment on these other versions, but the time is running out, so verse 7 is another directive considering what I was saying.
But I know I do want to comment in five and six. I don't want to pass it over. If the man also strived for Mastery's yet is he not proud except to strive walking?
Those of us who know a little bit about the Olympics that took place over and saw know that Ben Johnson of Canada, who won the gold medal, was stripped of that because he violated the rules. And that's what Paul's talking about here.
We're not crowned except we strive lawfully. There were others that lost their prizes too, because.
They violated the rules and in the things that God, this is a rule book right here holding it in my hands. We have to go. Not by my thoughts. Not by what do you think, brother? How do you think we ought to do this? Know what? Say it below. Let's say it below. What does God say? How off this could be done. What did not not the question. I heard it said what would Jesus do? Not fact. Because that depends on what I think he would do. And what did Jesus do?
What did he do? How did he meet this kind of a situation?
His life is so full and we have the four gospels. We can study those. When you get the answers to our questions, how he met these different kinds of situations that confront us in what is our pattern? He is the one where to follow. He is the one where to walk, just as he walked down here. So let us study here. Let us study him so we will know the path because he has marked it out before us.
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Well, if we're in this in this.
Contest one is not crowned unless he strive lawfully, and then those that are in farming certainly know what verse 6 means, and I'm going to read that as it is in the new translation. The husbandman must labor before partaking of the fruits. You know what that is and you have to prepare the ground, sow the seed.
Fertilize it.
Take care of it, weed it and all the things that are needed.
In order to get a good prophecy, and so there has to be that labor which comes.
Way before the crop that's produced. And so he's preparing Timothy for the warfare, the abiding by the rules, striving lawfully, not violating the rules, not interjecting my own thoughts. And the way the word of God is to be held, the way it's to be presented, the way it's to be preached in the gospel.
And the things that are to be brought into the assembly, we have to we have to have the word of God. It's so important during a day when man's will is very active and he's bringing in things. And one of the great dangers amongst the gathering Saints today is to to read ministry or to listen to ministry habitually that comes from the camp. And that gives me ideas that I may never have had, that are not necessarily ideas from the word of God.
But they are things that come in from the Philistines, and they're not, they're not sharing the ark in a scriptural way. Where did they get that idea of the new parts? Well, they got it from the Philistines, and when they tried to carry the ark on the cart, the judgment was immediately administered to them. So we need, we need a thus saith the Lord for everything that we allow in our assembly life and in our spiritual lives, individually as well as collectively.
And then there has to be much labor before the truth comes. You can't expect to see converts immediately. If you're laboring in a field, the word has to be presented, and might be years later before the fruit is partaking up. And in verse seven, another directive, consider what I say, always given so much instruction here so far, he says consider what I say. I believe that would be the thought of Meditate upon it. Think it over.
The way sometimes the word of God is presented to us is the way we should read it. You know, a chapter a day, and then we go our way. You know how long it would take to get through the Bible. If you read a chapter a day, it'll take you almost four years.
We ought to go through the word of God at least once a year, and that takes close to 4 chapters a day. That isn't much time. 2:00 in the morning, two in the evening, 4 chapters a day. Maybe It would take a half hour in the morning, half hour at night, an hour a day to spend the word of God. That's that ought to be our bare minimum. It ought to be men of the book. Men of the book have this precious water of the Word flowing over our soul. So we are so familiar with His will.
And with his ways, and with the truth of God, that we are not bewildered when questions that present themselves to us. Consider what I say. Think about it. Give thyself, he says later, holy to these things, but they probably may appear to all. Consider what I say in the Lord will give the understanding in other things. We don't understand something, we don't understand what a passage means, or maybe a problem can confront us.
Consider considering the word. We find the answer to all our problems not by going to books of psychology, not by going to something that man has written, but right here. We've got all the answers right here.
Be there, Paul says to the Colossians, lest any man spoil you through philosophy, invade the seed after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the firmness of the Godhead bodily, and you're completing him.
The head of all principality and power beware. Unless they even squad you. Through what? Philosophy. That's the world's distance. It's psychology. It's philosophy. It's wisdom and the vain deceit. That's the world's religion. Those are the two things the enemy uses to lead us astray. We have all that we need right here in this precious book to guide us through this wilderness scene. He hasn't failed us. We have the spirit of God.
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Dwelling in us, the word of God in our hands, the glorified Christ in your seating for us in heaven, ministering to us from the glory all that we need.
Through this sin consider what I say and the Lord will give you understanding in all things. Another one verse 8 Remember now this says our King James says remember that Jesus Christ of the sea.
Of the dead according to my gospel. It sounds like he's asking Timothy to remember that fact. Let me read it as it is in the new translation. You'll see the sense is different. Remember Jesus Christ of the seed of David raised from the dead. According to my gospel, he's not telling us telling Timothy to remember that he was raised, but to remember Jesus Christ who was raised when we did to remember him. The risen 1.
He is now in a new position, a man in the glory, and thou our associations of life, our citizenship, is in heaven, is identified with him. Remember him.
Is identified with him, remember him, where he is and who he is.
Raised from the dead, according to my gospel, where had I suffered trouble, trouble as an evildoer, and so on.
Verse 14 Now of these things, put them in remembrance. Another director, Timothy, you put these others in remembrance. You're responsible. This isn't just for you.
I feel we fail in this.
We are given truth not to just have it for ourselves, but to communicate it to others, put in remembrance.
Put them in remembrance. Charging them There's another one. Charging them not just to tell them what to solemnly charge them about these things before the Lord, that they strive not about words to no prophet, but to the subverting of the hearers. Arguing, trying to persuade another by argument is just a way of the flesh.
A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion. Still, you can win the argument that you think you haven't changed his his convictions whatsoever. So we're not to strive in such a way with those that are opposing the truth about words to no prophet, but to the subverting of the hearers. Some some of those kinds of discussions can be harmful to a simple soul that might be listening in. And then we come to verse 50 and most important, verse.
Study another directive Timothy studied to show thyself approved unto God, A Workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Rightly dividing the word of truth study. Be diligent in this.
That when you, when you set forth the word of God, set it forth as God intended, give the sense as it says in Ezra the priest. They gave me sense. They gave me meaning. They didn't give some fanciful interpretation, totally unrelated to the context of the passage where the verse was to be found.
I remember a Bible study group was being conducted in some church group and they were all going around in the head of verse before them and each one was to give what that verse meant to to him or to her, the individual. And they went around the group and then a brother who had been listening in on this.
He said to one who had given a most outrageous, fanciful interpretation.
What it meant to him? He said. What would this first mean to you? What would this verse mean if you died right now? Would it have a meaning? Are these verses only meaningful when they're related to a living person, or do they have a meaning, the meaning of the spirit of God, whether we're here or whether we're not here, whether the church is here or not? How do these forces have a meaning? What does What is God saying in the verse?
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Now to set this forward is the is the business of a teacher. A teacher deals with the word of God. He gives the sense, he gives the meaning. He rightly divides the word of truth. A shepherd or pastor, he deals with the sheep, he deals with souls. He visits and he seeks to to encourage and to enter into the sorrows, the trials, the difficulties of of souls as they go through this scene.
You'll notice in Ephesians 4 he gave some apostles, some prophets and evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, pastors and teachers.
That is the the one that deals with the sheep and the word they're put together. You can really hardly help a sheep if you don't rightly divide the word, if you don't apply the word as needed for the help of blessing the sheep. So those two are covered. Some have more of a pastoral gift, others more strictly teachers, but you really can't pester properly. If you don't, you're not able to teach to some extent.
Study and show thyself approved unto God a Workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly divided the word of truth. The word is going to judge us everyone in the last day. Everything that is done down here in the sphere of Christianity is going to be judged by the word of God. Remember in the revelation one get this vision of the Lord in his judicial character. And out of this mouth comes and it goes with sharp 2 edges sword.
And that's the word of God. The word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword.
It's it's what gives me discernment of the mind of God and how important it is when one is setting forwards. I'm seeking to do tonight the sense.
The basic teachings of this epistle that if you rightfully divided that we we get a real understanding of the intent of the Spirit of God in this portion of scripture.
Verse 16 He gives another directive, but Shannon profane and vain babbling. There are there are discussions that the man of God is to shun. He's to avoid these things. He's not to allow himself to be drawn into propane and vain backwards. For they, that is, those who uttered profaning, being babblings, will increase unto more ungodlyness, more ungodliness.
And there were no leaders that the canker of whom his Henonius and Thalidus, who concerning the truth of urge, saying that the resurrection is passed already in overthrow the faith of his Son.
Now in verse 19, nevertheless the foundation of God's standards sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. And here's another directive like everyone that nameth the name of Christ or the Lord depart from iniquity. That's solemn responsibility of everyone in these last days. It is always been so that this this is especially instruction for the last days. Everyone that names the name of Lord is to depart from iniquity.
That word iniquity means unrighteousness. What is not right? What is not, according to this book?
Iniquity, unrighteousness. There is so much that passes in the Christian world today that is really iniquity. It's unrighteousness. It's not according to the pattern.
Remember what the Lord told Moses? He charged him. He said that when you build up Tabernacle, make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mouth. Don't deviate from it. One I owe them that instruction is just as good for us. And that's exactly the point he's making here. To be able to Timothy to show that don't deviate from the pattern, Don't deviate from the word of truth that God has given to us. Hold it fast. Keep it.
And avoid these things that would be unprofitable.
Not everyone, the name of the name of Christ, depart from iniquity.
Verse 20 In a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some delight and some to dishonor if you're going to be a vessel to honor in this great house. In first Timothy it wasn't called a great house, it was called the House of God. But here in Second Timothy the House of God has lost its character as the House of God. And it's a great house. Vessel to our vessels to dishonour, clean and upgrade vessels. Vessels. Vessels suitable for the masters use. Vessels unsuitable for the masters use.
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Well, what are we to do? We are to separate from the vessels. To dishonor from that which is unsuitable for the masters use, we have to separate from it. That's what the next verse says, verse 21. If a man therefore purge himself from these these vessels of this honor, these unsuitable vessel throws at the master cannot use because they're not clean.
He should be a vessel unto owner, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work, every good work, the way to be a prepared vessel you might have in your home. You might have a gold vessel that was used for a previous.
Group of guests and somehow it neglected, getting rushed and you have company now tonight, even though it's a gold vessel, even though it would represent a true believer.
But it hasn't been washed. It hasn't had gone under the action of the Water of the Word, and it's unclean. It's it's a vessel at that point in time to dishonor, and so it can't be used to serve your guests, and the master can't use a vessel that is unclean, even though they might be a true believer. I don't believe the issue here is that our vessels to honor our saved souls and vessels to dishonor are unsaved souls. I don't believe that's the point. I believe the point is that everyone that names the name of Lord depart from iniquity.
There are those who name the name of Lord, and yet they are involved in iniquity. They are involved in that which is not according to God.
We're not raising the question when we separate from such. We're not saying you're not saved. What we're saying is you're not walking in a clean path. You can't walk that path with you. Finally, please to look, I have to separate from the unclean path that you're walking in and from some of those ways that you're you're engaged in which are not according to this book. I'm not judging your state of soul. I'm not judging whether you're saved or not. Put it that way. You do judge the state of soul of the individual, but you you don't judge. It's not our prerogative to judge what I want to say or not. Saving them, we don't know.
We're not come upon to make that judgment we're called upon to.
In part from iniquity.
Notice it says in the middle of verse 19, the Lord knows them that are His. No, we don't. We simply don't.
Everyone in this room that professes to be a Christian.
Because everyone in this room is everyone absolutely sure that each one who makes that profession is true and real.
You know the if you'd ask the 11.
They wouldn't have singled out Judas.
They wouldn't have known he was sweet and fostered.
Even when the Lord gave you the tongue, and he told them he it is to whom I should give the sound after I have sucked saying he is, and they still didn't know it. John 13 You can read it yourself, but it still didn't gasp, he says to Judas. What I'll do is do victory.
He knows when Lord knows them that it is. And there's so much that's going on in the Christian world today that is contrary to God. And yet we wouldn't want to say because someones engaged in some of those things or someone has fallen into some awful evil.
That they're just because of that their beliefs are not going to be in heaven. That's not for us to judge. But what it is for us to judge is to not walk in a path. Whether one says he's a Christian or not, that is not according to this word.
That's the important issue. And so we are to purge ourselves. Verse 21 But man, therefore purge himself from these He should be a vessel of the honor, sanctify the meat for the masters used and prepared unto every good work. And that's the more directors please also use the lusts plea youthful lust, those lusts of ambition, of pride, arrogancy, conceit.
Self assuredness, all these things that kind of characterize youth when they.
They've learned a little bit, and they're not dry behind the ears, yet they think they know it. All these are youthful lusts as well as the youthful lusts of the body, which we know.
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Want to know what that means?
Well, he says Please, just as Paul says elsewhere, flee fornication. There were times of sins without stand against. We are just free. Get out, get out from under the temptation.
Well, follow. I was talking to a man. I was talking to a brother who had left the Lord's table.
And I said to you, what do you have? Where are you?
Could left the place when the Lord said his name and.
He's talking about following the path, the path which the vultures I have not seen the lions Welsh have not tried Nick that path. Job 28, I said that's the path of faith. He said we ought to be able to trace that path in Scripture. And I said to him, yeah, I'm sure it's traced in second syndicate. He worked for the last days. The apostle Paul kind of looked at me, startled, traced and seconded. I said, yes, it's right here.
In verse 22, three also youthful lusts but follow. Here's the back follow righteousness.
Faith, love, peace with them that come on the Lord out of the pure heart, I said. Would you please tell me who the them is in your case?
Who are you following with in this path? Well, of course he was all alone. He was outside and I was trying to press upon his conscience that he was not in that path. If he was in a path of individuality when we when we leave the collective path where we're walking with our brethren and just said, I'm going to go it alone, I can't get along with my brethren and I'm going to just stay home and go to work, That's exactly what Satan wants you to do. We want you to miss the meetings. We want you not to be there. He wants you to avoid your collective responsibility. But he hasn't given us that option.
He says in Second Timothy a word for the last days follow. Righteousness, doing the right thing. Faith. Trusting God for your past, love.
Don't let, Don't let the.
Evil that's come in, the coldness that's come in, the love of many waxing cold. Don't let that cause you to cease to love and then peace the end of yourself of this with them that call the Lord out of a pure heart that's not an individual attack. Collective, that's a collective path. That's the path for faith. It has to be collected because the truth that were you upheld in these days is there is one body and one body is composed of members one another. So that if one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, if another member be glorified, all the members rejoice with it. We're members one of another, we're members of that one body. So if we're going to give expression to that practically it has to be with them.
With others, fellow members of that one body and calling the Lord out of their pure heart. Verse 20, just I just have to go quickly now because the time has slipped through. Our fingers were foolish and unlearning questions are void. So there are things that the man of God is to avoid knowing that they do. Gender strikes. Chapter 3, verse five, having a form of godliness. He's describing the last days. He says in the last days.
Tell us time should come. In verse five he describes these men having a form of godliness but denying the power they're out from such turn away. There are those that the man of God in these last days love does not mean you throw your arms around everything and everyone and you embrace all kinds of evil that's there. But there are those we are to turn away from, those that are that have the support of godliness but deny the power thereof from such turn away, just as he says in the verse 21 of chapter 2.
If a man hurts himself from these, there are those we are to separate from in order to be a vessel to honor. And so there are those we are to turn away from and before.
Lift up the hands and hang down. Strengthen the people knees. Make strength paths for your feet less that which is lame you turned out of the way. You'll better grab your feel.
Don't give up, continue thou, Continue thou the things which thou hast learned, and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou learned them, and that from a child, Alice doing the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
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Chapter 4.
The first one I charge the therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead. It is appearing in his Kingdom. I hear you've got a whole bunch of directors preach the word.
The instant in season of a season, the urgent that means.
We true or convict of sin.
Rebuke.
Exhort encourage with all long-suffering and darkness, for the time will come. It has come. We're living in these days, when they will not endure some doctrine, but after their own lush, and they keep to themselves teachers having itchy ears. And they will, they should turn away their ears from the truth that shall be turned under fables.
Watch thou or be sober. Another directive in all things. Be sober. Don't be intoxicated by the things of this world. Don't be so occupied with the world's entertainment that it's it's it's glittering tinsel that it dangles before the eyes of youth.
As though there was something out there that's worth pursuing. It's not. The world has nothing that's worthwhile.
He really does.
Only things that really count, the things of the war, things of the law. Give yourself holy for these things also.
Watch down all things endure afflictions.
Their evils, and through the work of the evangelist, never cease getting the word out to the lost.
That's out of tracks. Speak a word to those that you meet with. Never cease an outreach. Christianity is is not an enclosure. It's not a Judaism. It's not a fold in an enclosure. It's it's an outreach. It's going out. It's aggressive. It's it takes the offense and reaches out to those who are lost.
I am now ready to be offered, he says.
Just make full proof of thy ministry. And then he says, I'm now ready to be offered the time of my departures at hand. I thought that ought to read The good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the next story that was laid up for me, the crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous church shall give me at that day and not to me only unto. All in all, sin of love is Ethereum. I'm sorry a little bit, but I think it's so important that.
That we we see.
Those wonderful directors that the apostle gave to this young man, Timothy, who made this to that committee, they need to be stirred up. We need to be encouraged to hold the password. All these truths that we've been looking at 224.
All that we never might forget of Christ is suffering for our sake to save our souls and make us need of always glory to partake, but keeping this in mind, press on glory.
224.
All that we have.
Water.
I have.
Lost the water, I said.
In that way we are so.
Achan
Address—N. Berry
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Have the opening scene by seeing him number 169.
169.
Lord, we can see by faith in thee a prospect break unfair.
For God shall shine, and light divine glory, and every faith. 169.
Lord, we can.
Say by the way.
I cross and rise in my bed. You're living.
Where God shall try, Never mind.
In the world rain and earth perfectly.
Where God shall shine.
Near my daylight day, in the rain, nevertheless.
Lord.
Some of you were at Sally when I took up the.
The other side, you might say, and a contrast to this story concerning a man by the name of Caleb.
Who, in contrast to this one, as we will see, was a man who was a stealer of the people, as the Scripture says, when there was so much against him.
And when he had brought back the report of the the searchers who went up through the land, they were here and they went up and they made a complete search and they came back. And on their way back they picked up in this place called Asheville. It's just north of Cadish, which was the border of Israel. After their long journey through the wilderness, they picked up those that.
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Bunch of grapes, which was so big that it required two men to to carry. We know that story well.
And the ten men that were with Caleb and Joshua, they discouraged the people that were standing waiting and they were on the verge of stoning. These two men, Caleb and Joshua. Joshua and Caleb the leader and this and Caleb. But Caleb spoke at 1St and he said we're able to go into that land The other ten men said nevertheless were. And though it's a good land, we're not able to take it.
And they discourage the people. But Caleb stepped on with his insistence that if the Lord was with them, he was able, because he had promised that they were going to get into that land. Exodus 6. We saw how God promised he would take them out of that land of Egypt, and we would take them into that land of France. Now this is a story, beloved ones of your life and mine.
We've come out of Egypt.
The world God has delivered us now by that far superior deliverance than what they experienced in the land of Egypt, where the lamb was killed and the blood covered them. Remember that story so well? And then they were went across miraculously. They read sea on dry ground and then they were going down here to build the Tabernacle, which they did do for a year and then they went in a straight line of little solid line there.
To grow into that land and the entrance into that land is a picture not of your and not getting into heaven, but it is a picture of you and my enjoying today our heavenly portion. To be living in the heavenly life where citizens of heaven are passing through this world. And we saw in that story how the two men had the courage.
To say we are well able, we're well, not because they were strong, but they were counting on God. So Caleb was a Stiller, says he still the people he wasn't encouraged. Every one of us here who knows the Lord is our savior. You are in this assembly, Impella. You are either a Stiller of the people. You are seeking to encourage the Lord's people to be a health by your life, by your example.
By a little word here, brothers or sisters to encourage each other keep on they were on the verge of picking up stones to kill them. It was life or death for Joshua and Taylor. Nevertheless, they they persisted, and they were rewarded and beloved ones. We too. Not that we act for rewards, but we too can know that the Lord is looking down into your life every minute.
Of today has been recorded in heaven as to what you and I did for the Lord's glory with to God, we would all be stillers of the brethren that we would be helping and encouraging. And we saw that side of it that was at the end of that long journey, 38 years through the wilderness. And this took place when they got into the land at that place called Hebron, which was the choice spot of the whole land of Israel.
Yes, of Israel. Now we're going to go back in this story to the beginning of it and we're going to be seeing how that when they when they cross here the the.
That's one day, not the beginning. Well, let's let's tell the story. They crossed the the Jordan River and they arrived here.
And there was the great city in there of Jericho. They were in. It was impossible for them to take that city. Just the same as you and I. It seemed possible for us to be able to stand against the powers of the enemy. It's impossible. We have no strength of our own, but they saw by their obedience to do what God said. They walked around that city 7 times.
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And they faced the city, and the walls fell down flat, and that city was destroyed. They saw that. And you and I experience in our Christian life the power of God. We do. We can look backhandly and we could say, surely I saw that. And even in our salvation and in deliverances from time to time, that's how God encourages us. But at the time of our other, our greatest.
Deliverances. That's the time when we are most open.
To follow and to lose confidence in God and to be doing things that we know are not pleasing to Him. We get careless, don't we, when we are not.
When we let down those bars. So now let's go over to look up Joshua and we're going to see.
What transpired?
Chapter.
And I just want to read.
One verse first, chapter 6. Joshua chapter 6.
They had to. They had been told. I would like to say this too. I want to be talking too much without referring to the scriptures. But they had been told when they were about to take Jericho. Don't take anything out of the city. Don't touch it. Why? Because it was a city that was to be known as the city of the curse. Jericho is a picture to for you and me of this world.
It can give us nothing in our Christian life. Not that there's no sustenance here. It's just like what this illustrates. The wilderness. They couldn't survive a day without God's provision. Nothing there in that wilderness is just sunshine all the time. And it was burnt, dried and.
Dusty.
No tracks, no way to find their way. That's what your life is here on this earth. But unless you and I realize that there is one who is guiding us and supplying our spiritual needs, feeding our souls, we're liable to be going back. And we drifting back into living in the wilderness.
Now that is a little bit of a picture of what Jericho was. Now let's read this verse, Joshua 6 and verse 18 and ye?
In any rice or in no rice.
Keep yourselves, or I should say in every way, keep yourselves from the cursed thing, lest ye make yourselves at first. When you take probably a first thing and make the camp of Israel a first and trouble it, that's all we need to read. There was a definite warning. Don't touch anything in that city.
So now go on to the 7th chapter.
They won't read the first verse yet, but read the 2nd and Joshua sent men from Jericho. Notice that two AI which is beside that haven on the east side of Bethel and speak under them saying go up and view the country. And the men went up and viewed AI, so we stopped their bridge.
They came from Jericho. This is what I want to emphasize. They had just experienced A tremendous victory that God had given. They hadn't won the victory. You and I don't get deliverance. We get deliverance. But the Lord gets the victory. We don't live in a victorious life. As some Christians are trying to tell us, the victory all belongs to the Lord. You and I get the deliverance and all the phrase goes.
So here they were. They came from Jerry, as I said before, the very place where we sometimes.
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And experience a good hand of God. That's where we go out from in a in a position of strength and confidence. That is where we have to be very much on our guard the winter that they weren't told to go and search the land.
To search this little town, tiny little place near Jerry Golf right in there and they weren't told to go there. Doesn't say that they prayed or asked the Lord about it. They send men up to have a look at the city. Now let's go up. Let's go to the next verse, verse 3. And they returned to Joshua and said unto him, Let not all the people go up, but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite AI and make not all the people to labor physics.
They are, but you let's pause there. So they get the men that go up to search the place they find. It's just a little town, little tiny place. They're full of confidence. They say when they come back, they don't bother sending this whole great camp of Israel. You know, there were 604,000 men in this street, Campavision, and we're all there. Don't send the whole 10.
What have we learned from that?
Confidence.
No, we don't need to be so careful. Just send 3 or 4000 up there and then they said and smite AI. They were full of confidence they were going to win verse 4. So there went up thither of the people about 3000 men and they fled before the men of air little tiny village and three or 4000 men. And here they are defeated, they run.
Now Israel never, never ran before their enemies. I just wonder it's put in that.
Though they had many enemies and the Philistines were all was superior to Israel in number in that land.
But if God was with them, it didn't make any difference how strong the enemy was.
That Israel just never ran from their enemies because God was directing them to go ahead, and if they did in obedience, they never. Unless there was something that was seen. Let me say this, beloved ones.
When Satan overcomes you and me.
There's something in my life that God sees.
He sees and I'm not listening to him. I haven't got the sufficient confidence in him and so he as it were, he uses Satan to attack them. Satan is never allowed to attack me unless the Lord sees something in there. Good thing for us all in order to see this. And I realize this because sometimes people have the the, the just, the right attitude or the Satan is going around and attacking here and there and everywhere.
Wherever we can find an opportunity attack that isn't true at all.
He never is allowed unless, as I said, the Lord sees something in us that is required that requires.
The Lord to use that, the brother said to me one time. Oh, I said. Satan gave me a flat tire on the way to the meeting the other day. I said to him, The Lord never allows us to get a flat tire on the way to the meeting unless he sees something.
In US that I'm not requesting myself, did I want to go to that meeting or not? And if that was so, well then these are the things that happened. Let's beloved ones, each one of us, be sensitive in every little thing that happens. Not that the Lord is angry at us, but he wants to correct us and He allows something that might happen that would really normally upset us. But if we are sensitive, I've told all my children all the time.
They ever have something that happens, don't come to me and say that it wasn't my fault ran into me in the car or something. You know, go to your bedroom, get up. They get before the Lord and say why? Why that's so important, why always a purpose to teach us that we can act ourselves alone. And if I act without getting the will of the Lord, I'm acting himself will and I'm going to be in trouble.
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As they were here, they were beaten, so let's go on.
Verse 5 And the men of AI smoke are them about 36 men to even count how many men die? 36 And God is interested in every little detail 36 Men die, Bible tells us that. Why? Why didn't we just say, well, they were all beaten? No, everyone was all miserative and God knew every little detail.
For they chased them from before the gate, even unto Shabbir.
And smoke them in the going down, wherefore the hearts of the people melted and became as water. Why do we get discouraged below?
Does my new nature ever get discouraged? Yeah.
And you can't get this, the Lord tells us, and I think it's the 41St of Isaiah. He never gets discouraged. Minor nature never gets discouraged. If my old nature gets discouraged is because I'm not getting what my old major wants, that's just plain as that isn't so. Here they are, and they're all discouraged.
They didn't see the mulch. They didn't see what God was trying to teach them. I trust we just will apply these things rather than my oldest just going back to applying spiritual ways and what we need to learn.
If we are sensitive tonight, we will get what the spirit of God will lay on each one of us as far as our own life is concerned in connection with this story. So they were discouraged that people's heart melted and became as water verse 6 and Joshua rent. His clothes look pretty good, isn't it? He ran his clothes. And sometimes we bring our hands, don't we, when things go wrong.
Instead of saying why?
So he falls on his face and to the earth before the ark of the Lord, until Eventide really looked very good, and he, He and the elders of Israel, and put dust upon their heads. Why? It was a false humility entirely, wasn't inquiring of the Lord. Why? Why? I emphasize this. It's so unnecessary for us to be sensitive to everything that happens to us. Why, Lord? There's a why Lord in every one of our lives so often.
So here they were just giving the appearance of of deep concern verse 7 and Joshua said, Alas, oh Lord God, kind of a hypocritical way of speaking. Wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over, Jordan?
Deliver us into the hand of the Amorites. To destroy us would to God. We had been content and dwelt in the other side. Jordan. That's kind of sad, isn't it?
Is he saying he's saying, just like in your life and mine, I tried Christianity, I went on with the Lord, but oh, it was so, so difficult. And I'm just going to go back into the world again, Just give up. Does that happen to us? Yes, it does. It happened to them.
And it was. It was. Some of the people noticed Joshua that was falling in his face a few minutes before. There was no reality to it, No reality. And beloved ones, the Lord wants a reality in our life, doesn't want us to be Capricorn, so to be pretending that we're holy and so on when we're not. He wants us to fall down in humility before him and confess what was wrong. He wasn't doing that, as we will see now.
And he blames the Lord. And then he says, what the God? We'd stay there from the wilderness.
Like us who wanted to get back into the world and finding it easier there. Mercy, oh Lord, what shall I say when Israel turn at their backs before their enemies? What shall I say? Thinking about the great big eye in it itself? And then the 8th course gets worse for the Canaanites, and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it, and shall environ us, circle us ground and cut off. Who notice this hourly over there was right. Isn't that something? We're so touchy?
Excuse me for saying that, but we're so sensitive to our brethren and we take offense when somebody just trades to sideways at us and we're we're just like this. Our name, our reputation, me, a great big me.
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And so there it was. But notice now that it says, And what will thou do unto thy great name? The Lord's name is just heard.
Kind of by to buy what do you do about your great name. And he says that to the Lord theirs was first verse 10 And the Lord said unto Joshua, Yet they are.
Wherefore liast thou upon thy face? It was just vain humility. And the Lord saw what did he see? He saw that there was a state of soul of that volcano.
And how we affect each other is going to be very clean as we go on. First select. It doesn't say one man of sin. Notice what the 11 Says. It is real. As we're beloved once we're living in a day when we are suffering from the result of Christians all over the world going on in carelessness and earnings, we're in the body and we're suffering from it all.
Those things that are happening in the world, we've seen it in the last six months or so, that dishonor that has been brought to the name of Christ by evangelists that there are there in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I see we suffer from that because we're in the body. So here he says Israel has sinned. Don't look down our noses at him say I'm glad I didn't do what that fellow did. Our hearts are just the same, and it's pride. If we do, we must humble ourselves.
Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant, which I commanded them for. They have even taken of their first thing, and have also stolen and dissembled also, and they have put it among their own stuff, but stuff they're not. The Lord just tells the whole story one sense, but he blames the whole of the camp. He doesn't say anything.
But now he says bring the whole camp before me. There's the whole camp, maybe 3 million people in the whole camp, all in this perfect quarter. All instructed by God as to where they were. And these are the this is the Tabernacle in the center here. And this was always looking toward the east. And here in the front was the Greek tribe, the royal tribe of Judith. And they were the leading tribes when the.
March went on. These ones wheeled a bait about it, and they led.
Procession. And they were the royal line. From that line came the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
And so when they come before the Lord, let's read it now, verse 13.
Sanctify the people and say, sanctify yourselves against tomorrow. For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, there is an accursed thing in the midst of the O Israel, thou canst not stand before thine enemies until you take away their first thing from among you. Just let me make this come, when I do something, that I that dishonours the Lord when the assembly.
Have to deal with a person who has fallen, and then there is a restoration. How important it is for that person, for me, for me to go right back to where I started to go off the track. That is what judging the route really means, to go back. Not just to say, well, I'm sorry I did this, to confess that I did it.
What led me to come to that fruit?
One of the girls in our own assembly a year ago at the Montreal conference, she was rightly safe and went on very happily, took her place at the Lords table and was a real testimony for quite a while. Few months ago we noticed there was a little bit of a change in her. She wasn't quite the same and the next thing you know she started to miss the meetings.
Started to go into a group that was going to be helping the third world countries and the next thing she has left the meeting. We also are intensive her father.
00:30:01
Catholic man, Frenchman. But how gracious of the Lord to give us an entrance to that home and we found. I asked the Father. I said, Did you notice anything that men off? Did you notice a coolness? And he didn't know what I meant, because he's not.
Believer and taught in the word. And I said here, did she stop reading her Bible and he said yes, he said. I noticed a month before she left home.
Upgrading about cure. April's later side, Both the lovely ones. Are we feeding them alone? Are we really not the word of God for ourselves every day, morning if possible, before we face the world. That's what is going to conserve. And so here there was the exposure.
Of getting to the root of control. So the Lord says, bring all those tribes before me.
Verse 14.
Verse 14.
In the morning therefore ye shall.
Ye shall be brought according to your tribes, and it shall be that the tribe which the Lord taketh shall come according to their families. Let's go down.
Verse 16 So Joshua.
Grows up early in the morning. Nothing about falling on his face. Now he's in urns. He gets up early in the morning. He's doing what the Lord told them to do. And brought Israel by their tribes. And the tribe of Judaistic here. Was that the privileged tribe? All the privileges privileged. Let me say this.
Has gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ in this, the town here Appellate. You are the most privileged people in this town.
You're the people apart by God's grace gathered, and you there a testimony. Here your responsibility is very not that it's increased by taking our place at the Lord's table, but oh how important it is for every one of us to judge everything in our life that would in any way spoil the testimony.
Revealing the stores or our jobs or school, wherever it might be, probably we might realize how important it is as privileged people. There was the royal tribe, we are the Lords royal people as being Christians, but then also the privileged people that we are be gathered to his blessed thing. There was the tribe of Judah taken verse 17 and he brought the family of Judith.
They were my son-in-law made these illustrations and you could take a look after it and you'll see how interesting the whole thing is. But apart from that, here was the tribe of Jude 42,000.
About 42,000 men, they're single. That now God is reaching out his hand, his finger, as it were, and he's putting his finger. I just trust to God that there's no one here that is going on with something that we know in our hearts is dishonored for the Lord.
Nothing will weaken the assembly more than a heart and conscience. It was a man with a heart and conscience. It was the tribes first privileged tribe. The pride of the tribe of Judah is taken.
In the middle of 17 and he took the family of the Tsarites and he brought the family of the bizarrely man by man. And Zapdi was taken. And he brought his household man by man and taken the son of carmite spelled riddled. Now the son of Carmi, the son of that guy, the son of zero of the tribe of Judah was taken. So here we go down.
More more isolation.
Down to the family of eight areas with this chip. Look at the drawing. So this is not important. As to what the man looked like this morning, There he is, 1.
He's the troubler is God put his finger on that spot on that thing.
Now then, let's go on verse 19. What a change in Joshua now.
The Spirit of God has worked in that. And Joshua said unto Akin, my son.
00:35:07
Hereby praise the glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession not to me but unto him.
And tell me now what thou hast done. Hide it not from me done in secret.
Exposed to the eyes of everything, and that is what the word of God says. Those things that are spoken in the bed chamber are going to be proclaimed from the House time.
Everything that we say is restorative, the ear of the Lord, how important it is for us to be guarding our language, even in secret.
The Lord heard effort, and here now the Lord is. It's at least Joshua the Saint. Don't hide it.
That is all is what sin accompanies, or the accompanying of sins. Always time for the next verse. And taken, answered Joshua. I think this is Sophia, indeed, indeed not in thought. Indeed, indeed, I have sinned against Israel, you know, against the Lord God of Israel. And thus and thus have I done.
When? When Joseph was.
Attempted to be seduced by Potiphar's wife.
He said a remarkable thing. I told this to the young people in the Nova Scotia 10 for many, many years.
How can I do this? Great wickedness and sin against God wasn't against those men, or the woman's husband, or the woman against God. Every sin is against her.
How can I do this great wickedness of sin against God? And here he says against the Lord God of Israel and he his heart is opened and he confesses the whole thing. How important this is, how important it is. I had a brother one time that went on and seen in a prominent position in an assembly like 20 years. He was going on an immorality and he was hiding the holes. And at last.
The state of the assembly was.
Better. And when the 1St Corinthians 5 was taken up, he told me afterwards, He said it was just like a man with a £50 mouth hitting me on the head and he said I could stand it no more. And he said, as a matter of fact I took a bought a ticket to go out to one of the bridges across Montreal and the leap off and take my life. Instead of doing that, he kind of passed. He called together the brethren and he told everything.
It's so important, isn't it? When you and I are dealing with the Holy Lord God that we come into His holy presence, how important it is to have everything clear, no thoughts, even of malice against a brother unjust. If you do, If I do, I'm going to bring wings in this. And this is what he was causing amongst this whole vast number wasn't just himself.
It was not only his family. It wasn't only his larger group in his family. It wasn't only his tribe. It was the whole camp of Israel that was now under the judgment of God, Beloved ones, we affect each other. We affect each other. How do you live? How do I live? Do I live so that my life won't be a discouragement or a hindrance to others amongst the Saint, the Lord's people?
How important it is? And so now he says verse 21. Notice the four things here in verse 21.
When I saw his eyes first, when I saw, he goes right back now to the time when he is standing outside of Jericho and he's about to March straight forward into the city he saw.
Among the spoiled.
A goodly babylonish Babylon, Babylon the World.
The cream of the world. Probably some very expensive.
Particle that is being brought by somebody from Babylon, the capital of the world at that time. And here he sees it, it attracts his eyes and 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of 50 shekels weight. And you know, here's the 2nd and I covered it.
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First his eyes and then his mind he covered. He wanted them.
Sin is always preceded by thoughts in our hearts.
And here's the third one.
His hands back.
And behold, they are his.
Always accompanies sin. Doesn't we have to hide that we have to cover up. We have to lie to cover up our sins, whether we're deceiving our wife or our husband or our parents or our brethren. We have to hide those things with an awful conscience. And here was the man just exposing the whole thing, telling everything, the details of it, the order of the things. And then he says, and I hid them in the first.
That's all. The treasures of this world is just in the Earth. Nowhere else there's nothing happen.
In the midst of my tent and the silver under it. Now let's just pause there for a few minutes.
Here, here he is with his family and I know everyone is going to say, well, surely the children aren't going to be affected by her father. The children weren't doing anything. What? I didn't mean to see it at a minute. Now I believe we're going to see that those children must have known what was going on.
They're going to be involved in this. I say myself, what are my, what are my children? See, you know, the tent is our personal life, our home. That's the intimate circle of the family. That's the physical circle. The assembly is the spiritual circle. And so here is the tent and it is in the middle of the tent. Well, we know that those in those.
Tents. Why everything was exposed?
And possibly the children said to their father, what are you doing that I'm only supposing this? And the father said, you keep quiet now we're going to just hide these things. It's going to be benefit for you.
And we just keep quiet. And so there a hole was dug in the earth and in the middle of the tent where they all could see it, the middle of their home and their prostate covered over so that nothing would appear. I say this to each one of us who are fathers and mothers who are doing to our children.
Those heathen gods that they had at that time, big brass, hideous looking things. They they made them a brass and underneath it they had big fires lit. And they would make those fires so exceedingly hot that the whole brass thing, this hideous God with with its arms, it would be just red hot. What do they do? They bring their infant babies and they leave them in the arms of those guys, I say to myself.
What do we do to our children? Are we exposing the world to them? Are we bringing the world into our homes? That's what we're doing. We're destroying our children. I speak plainly and I don't have anybody in mind, but I say that to my own self. So whatever my children.
They turn out well. No credit to us. They don't turn out well. It's because we are to blame. And here was this man, guilty not only of bringing his sin and guilt to the whole of Israel, but is immediate and how careful we need to be the other ones in these dark days. Notice what it said there? There was silver and gold and a garment.
Turn take time to look at it. I'll just give you the reference in in Genesis chapter 2. It tells us there that our first mother on this earth.
She saw that that fruit was good.
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To the site, and there she did the same thing she coveted and she took it. And she blamed her husband.
Paul could say in Ephesians chapter two, I think it is verse 30, he said. I have coveted No Man's silver and gold or apparel at the contrast there was even here is taken.
Using these things that would appeal to the eye, the clothes that we wear, how careful we have to be beloved ones. I'm not speaking with anyone in particular, but so much stress is being laid on fashions and being up to looking like the world.
And that we have departed so far away heavily. I'm not saying this in criticism, but just for the conscience of myself and each one of us. Do we look like Christians or are we indistinguishable from the world?
Wanted to have a garment that would be like the world's garments, the babylonish garments. I ask you this, did he ever wear?
Ever get a chance to put that garment on?
But every year you spend a nickel of fat silver for that gold.
Let's look on.
Verse 22 So Joshua sent messengers and they ran under the tent. They ran for series. When the assembly has to deal with matters, it is so important not to delay and say, well, we.
We don't want to be too fussy about these things. It must be looked into very thoroughly and quickly. And so the men ran to the tent, and behold, it was hid in the tent, and the silver under exactly as he had said. And they took them out of the midst of the tent, and brought them under Joshua, and unto all the children of Israel, and laid them out before the Lord. There was the whole thing. Shame. It must have been a shameful scene. There was the whole of the display, the garments, and the silver and the gold.
That which had weakened that whole assembly of Israel.
Assistance weakening our assemblies that may get any weaker.
We travel about. We certainly see it beside to see it. Why? Because we are allowing things of the world to creep into our lives individually. So here it was it was the whole thing is exposed now. Verse 24 and Joshua knows this and all Israel everybody was involved. All we involved the whole of the assembly because.
I say that that the assembly is The assembly represents here in in.
Hello, it's a little.
You might say a little cell of all the believers in the world. Your assembly here is the exposure of of the that which is the expression of all the believers on the earth to display the holiness of the Lord Jesus in our life, and how important beloved ones it is.
To realize that we affect each other's so much.
And Joshua and all Israel with him took Akon the son of Zerah, and the silver, and the garment and the wedge of gold, and his sons, and his daughters, and his oxen, and his passes, and his sheep, and his tent, and all that he had.
And they brought them onto the valley how they go.
And Joshua said.
Why hast thou troubled us?
The Darby translation says.
How hast thou troubled us? Not a question mark. It wasn't any more questions now it was. These were.
Trouble.
The Lord shall trouble thee this thing. He's going to turn them over to the Lord. First Corinthians chapter 5, verse four. It says this in the name.
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In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, and my spirit.
In the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such a one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh unique destiny just parallel here.
For the destruction of flesh, that man wasn't going to be sent to hell. That man would sing in First Corinthians 5. But it was a serious offense that had been involved the whole of the church.
And he was delivered to be delivered by the apostle Paul in his power of his name, toward the distance that he might die. God graciously preserved him. God doesn't preserve this man.
And all Israel stoned him with stones and burned them with fire. After they had stoned them with stones, Both them everything waited happy little family in order to drive.
Stoned to death, burnt.
Why? Because God was going to have evil in that camp, and I believe this too that other ones. And though the assemblies are getting small, I believe that the Lord is going to maintain a testimony until they come.
But Matthew 18 it says where two or three first home or two or three islands since the childhood. Wondered what that would mean. Just two or three big assembly. We used to have 350 in our assembly and it's a large assembly still.
But the assemblies are going down, it's getting smaller and smaller, and I just believe this beloved ones that were being tested individually now individually.
Can't depend on numbers.
They are. May our hearts be sensitive to the effect before the Lord's Lord He brought that whole family down into ruin, and they're all dead, and they are in a valley of people.
Come to the last verse. But before we read the last verse, in order to pass on the thought that I have now just about to give you, I want to go back to the first verse, and then we'll read the last verse. There's a strong contrast and a little bit of a surprise. Look at the first verse. But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the first thing.
For Akin, the son of Carmi, the son of Zadai, the son of Zerah.
Of the tribe of Judah took of the accursed thing, and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel, so He stopped there. Notice that this is the beginning of the story, and God tells the whole thing before it all comes out. You see, the Lord knows that He knows what's going on in the life of everyone who's here.
He tells the whole story before it happens, but it does say that the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. Alright, now look at the last word.
Verse 26 And they raised.
Over him that's taken a great heap of stones until this day. So the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger. Wherefore the name of that place was called the valley of Hagar unto this day. See the contrast. First verse says that the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and here it says that the anger of the Lord is turned away.
Why? Because there was death.
And I think I can find it in James.
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50.
Then when lust have conceived, it bringeth forth sin and sin. When it is finished, bring forth death.
Romans 5 says.
Where sin abounded, Grace did much more about it.
Now I guess you wonder what I'm coming to.
I'm going to change the whole story now and I would like to point out that instead of this man.
Being.
A warning, and I trust he is to us now, We're going to look at the picture. We're going to see what the Lord has in all these things and telling us this sad story. I don't want to end this story on a dismal note like this.
God has a wonderful story to tell us, I believe. Let's go over to the Little Book of Moses.
Doctor Ezekiel, Daniel Fuzzy.
Chapter 2.
Verse 15.
And I will give that posse at chapter 2 verse 15 and I will give her vineyards for fence.
And the valley of Egor for a door of hope. And she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of each, and go over to Isaiah, chapter 65.
Thank you.
Verse 10.
Isaiah 6510. And Sharon shall be a field of flocks, and the valley of Achor, a place for the herds to lie down in for my people that have sought me.
Just this stuff now coupling these scriptures that I've read.
Entirely different place in the scriptures telling us a whole new story. Coupling. That was the fact of the first verse of our chapter saying that God's anger was kindled against Israel. The last verse that his anger is turned away from Israel. How is God's anger ever going to be turned away? Only one way, the other ones. And that is through what the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished.
He's the one. He's the one.
That Aiken is a picture of, and this is what I want to leave with you tonight. So that's where Grace where sin about it. Grace did much more of it.
God has turned the cross around, that cross which is the village, some total of what this world has done to God, beloved Son. God has turned that around and made it to mean the blessing for your soul and mind forever. And bless our blessed Lord. Jesus is that one who has taken the judgment, Adam who brought the whole race down, all his wife and his children.
Through obedient and disobedient.
Death came in, and the whole world is in this awful state. Time for how thankful we are, beloved ones, that we can see that the Lord Jesus Christ has come and he is our apron now. And what was a valley of despair and death and sorrow and and separation has become a dual.
So maybe go through that door, beloved ones, and maybe taste the fruit of the travail of his soul, Bless his Lord Jesus and the glory. Now he went into death taking his body. Lies over there in Israel, the blessed Lord Jesus, who was the one who took that stoning for worse than that, the crucifixion. He's now alive forever. He's sitting there in the glory, looking down into your heart and mind. May he find a response in our heart that I'll be doing. We're close to the end now.
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And you hear we've come here to tell it, to encourage you to go on people.
Days of dark shadows are lengthening everybody's there's so many are giving up and turning into corruption of all kinds, compromising with the truth. Were unwilling to stand in separation for the truth, even if it's two or three alone. May God help us now and he will. He'll encourage you and me to stand until the moment we believe it's so close at hand. And he's going to give that shout. And we're gone on the day of faith.
Will be forever. All the trials and the sorrows and the fever of life will be gone forever and will be there. The day of faith will be over. But today, 11 months, today it's your opportunity and mine to give to the Lord just a little bit of prayer for all that He has done. He doesn't have much credit left this world that rises up in blasphemy against him and even the Christians saying such awful things about the Lord. May you and I seek the grace He gives it He provides.
Press on now on the last little block until we hear this year, let's down for.