Pella Conference: 2007
Table of Contents
1 Peter 2:1-3
Reading
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We are thine.
Wherefore, laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby. If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious, to whom coming is unto a living stone disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious ye also, as lively stones are built up a spiritual house.
And holy priesthood to OfferUp spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone elect precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded unto you therefore which believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling in a rock of offense.
Even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, where unto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy.
But now have obtained mercy. Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lust, which war against the soul, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evil doers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the King as supreme.
Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that both that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men as free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness. But as the servants of God honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king, servants, be subject to your masters with all fear.
Not only to the good and gentle, but also to the forward. For this is thank worthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
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For what glory is it if when ye be buffeted for your faults, you shall take it patiently, But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently? This is acceptable with God. For even here unto where ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps.
Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Who when he was reviled, reviled not again when he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously, Who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sin, should live under righteousness. By whose stripes you were healed, For ye were a sheep going astray, but are now returned under the shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
Just to read the last four verses of chapter one, that seems to blend into the wherefore of the second chapter in first verse. Seeing ye have purified your souls, and obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure heart, fervently being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away.
But the word of the Lord endures forever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Wherefore, laying aside, well, just.
An exercise that I've had in connection with tying together the 2nd chapter with what went immediately before.
It certainly does connect because he's going to go on now and talk about the subject of growth and how we grow. In fact, you get this in Peter. And the 2nd epistle ends with an exhortation to grow, to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
But there has to be life for there to be growth. And how do we receive that life? We're not talking about natural life. We're talking about divine life, spiritual life. And how do we receive that life? Well, everyone of us here that are the possessors of divine life this afternoon, it's the result of having heard the Word of God in some way. Perhaps we heard it from our parents. Perhaps we heard it in a meeting like this or a gospel meeting. Perhaps it was from reading a tract or perhaps opening this blessed book for one reason or another and reading it. But as Brother Stan has pointed out, we're born again.
Not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible by the word of God, that liveth and abideth forever.
That is, it's the word of God in the power of the Spirit that God uses to impart divine life to us. But just as in natural things, afterlife is given, then we expect growth. Any one of us who have raised children, we get concerned if there isn't proper growth.
We talk about how surprised we are to see our children and young people from time to time and how they've grown and so on. And we say, oh, I can't believe that young person has grown like that.
But by the same token, if they hadn't, wouldn't we be concerned if we came to meetings like this and we saw children and young people of other parents that we hadn't seen for a few months and we didn't see some proper growth and maturity and natural things, why we'd be concerned? We go to that parent, we'd say maybe there's something wrong. And so it's interesting that as our chapter opens, he talks about the things that hinder normal growth in our in our spiritual life.
We have divine life. We have that life imparted to us by God in the power of the Spirit. Now he says there ought to be, there ought to be growth. There is a progression in spiritual things. He says don't let some of these things that he lists here hinder that growth.
They're going to, Someone has said it's like weeds in a garden. If you don't pull the weeds, they're going to hinder the proper growth of the plants. You don't expect to sow seed and go back in a few months and have mature plants that have grown properly if you haven't weeded and tended that garden in the proper way. And so as we look at this list, let's remember that these are the things that are going to hinder growth if they're allowed to be in our personal lives.
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It's going to hinder personal growth and it's going to hinder growth and proper relationships together in divine things as well.
Says to lay.
And I think it takes some getting into the presence of the Lord to realize that many times.
These things are in our lives, brethren. Sometimes we like to exonerate ourselves, but these things do get in and we need to be careful that they don't have a place there in our hearts. And all malice. It's just bad stuff. Lay it aside.
All guile that's pretending to be what we're not. Hypocrisies too. And envies.
And all evil speakings. How easy it is to let our minds go and speak negatively about God's people.
We really need to be careful not to do that. If that's the thing that takes place, we need to lay it aside. Just feel very strongly, brethren, that we take time sometimes to speak.
About negative things about our dear brethren.
Do we take time to pray for those brethren? That's what we should do.
You know.
Moses had two siblings.
Aaron and Miriam. Miriam was the oldest and Aaron was the next and Moses was the youngest and they got perturbed at Moses one time.
Because he had taken an Ethiopian woman to wife.
But they started speaking madly about him, and the Lord was not pleased with that, whether it was right or not what they said.
Brethren, we need to be careful what we say about God's people. God loves His people. Even when they are disobedient or stiff necked, He still loves them. And if you're going to do anything about negative reports, get down on your knees and pray for those, dear brother. That's what we need to do to have the proper attitude towards them.
That's what it is. Notice that evil speaking is the last of the list and it's really the result of fruition of letting the other things develop in our hearts. If you speak about praying for one another and you and I really can't get down truly in the presence of God and pray by name for individuals and hold these things in our hearts, often the remedy is to pray in the presence of God by name, and not just in general, but by name.
And circumstance for these for a brother or sister in Christ and you'll find that it will take care of the.
Uh, malice, the guile of hypocrisies and the envyings. And if those things are taken care of, then we're not going to speak evil one of another. But I say that because it tells us out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. And if I come to you after this meeting and talk about a brother or sister in an evil way, in a bad way, it's going to be because I have perhaps for some time harbored in my heart some evil thoughts. Evil speaking is the result of evil thoughts.
And so we need to get these things judged in the presence of the Lord, as Bob said. And I think we can't emphasize enough the praying for one another by name and need. That's what Epiphros did. He prayed for the Saints, and there was a great blessing as a result of it. But I say the evil speaking is the last on the list.
Because it is the result of holding these other things in our hearts. Let me ask the question. You know the answer, and I do too. What man is mentioned in the New Testament as the only one whose failure in the Old Testament is told in the New?
I remember those of us are a little older remember a brother saying the only failure of an Old Testament St. recorded in the New is in Romans 11 verse two. He made intercession to God against Israel.
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And then there's a verse in James that is very similar to our verse and James four and verse 11. It says speak not evil one of another brethren. Now I'm no Greek scholar, but I can look up books that that purport to be and that word for evil is not what we usually think of as evil. I may be sarcasm. It may be a criticism of one sister against another for the way she she has her hair or doesn't seem to be able to coordinate colors or or men that would say, well, he certainly doesn't understand Scripture as much as he thinks he does or.
So those are evil things. It's, it's inconsistent with seeing our brethren from the top of the rocks, isn't it?
So we shouldn't hide behind the fact that, well, I know what evil is, evil is evil, but I don't do that. Well, that's a.
That's a cop out, isn't it?
So in the beginning of verse 22 read it says they're seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren. And so Peter speaks of obedience and disobedience in this particular epistle. I just bring call to attention in verse two. He speaks of part way through, he says through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. So he brings before them the obedience of the Lord himself and then in verse 14.
As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former less in your ignorance. And then in verse 22 There and then he speaks other times in in our chapter chapter 2 of disobedience in verse 7 unto them which be disobedient. The stone which the builders disallowed the same as made the head of the corner. And then they stumble at the word, being disobedient, where unto also they were appointed.
And so in chapter 3 it says, if any obey not the word, that they may also, that they also may without the Word be won by the conversation of the wives. And so we'll enter into these things and enjoy them. If we walk as obedient children, we cannot walk in the will of the flesh and bear fruit for God. And so as we just read these portions of Scripture, if there are those things that trouble us, then there needs to be that self judgment, the knife of self judgment applied, that we might be able to judge it in the presence of God.
And walk as obedient children.
Or.
Going through these verses to recognize the place of new birth.
And the exhortation that's connected with it in the first chapter.
It says in verse 23 being born again and then in the chapter where we read in verse two as newborn babes, the connection is important is because in verse one you have what belonged to the old life. That's why it says put it aside because we had.
Everyone of us had hearts born with hearts that were characterized by malice, guile, hypocrisy and so on. It is our nature as fallen to have those things in US. And so the foundation of Peters exhortation.
Was based on the fact that they had they were born again and they belong to the family of God.
And now, as newborn children in God's family, they were to put aside those things that belonged or characterized them in the family before.
An illustration of it he uses the expression newborn babes because even in natural things, although every child is born with these things, they develop themselves and are manifested in the life as a child grows.
There's a little girl in this room named Emma, and you'll probably some of you see her and Emmas. Not quite a year old. She doesn't. She wouldn't know what it meant. An expression to show malice.
Emma wouldn't know Guile if she saw it.
There's a simplicity seen at first we call the innocence of the child.
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In natural things, because a child doesn't know at first, they have to learn by practice, since watching older people sometimes how to express pretend and pretense and things. And so Peter is saying to his brother, and you have a new life, put aside the things of the old light and be like a little baby, be like a little child.
You have a life, which, thankfully enough, we do. The life that is to be shown in US doesn't know what guile is and never will.
It doesn't know what evil speaking is and never will. It's a perfect it's the life of Christ in US and everyone of these things that are spoken of in verse one. You think about the Lord Jesus and you say impossible, impossible. There was never seen in him hypocrisy or guile. Well, brethren, you've got the life, you have that life, you have the life and I have the life in which there is no God.
There is no hypocrisy, Peter says. Live it, live it like a little child and put aside those things that came from that old bike, which is not the life you're to live anymore.
Concerning Christ because two, isn't it?
The real offering?
How do we get this like?
Born of the water and of the Spirit, the water being the word of God and the.
Spirit taking that word and imparting new life through the hearing of faith.
Peter calls that the incorruptible sea.
Then we know what sage is, we're in farm country, we know what it is to plant the garden.
Who planted the seed?
So behind work, isn't it?
It's only ever gone.
But he uses human instruments, doesn't he?
That's right.
It's interesting in verse two it says as newborn babes I noticed the new translation says earnestly desire the sincere milk of the word. I enjoy watching a little baby when he's hungry.
Grabbing that bottle and the whole energy of that baby is to get the milk out of that bottle into his tummy.
And that's the picture. We should never lose our appetite for the precious Word of God. You know, in my mind's eye, many of you remember dear brother AC Brown.
It's out in California. I'll never forget how he read the scriptures when he in a reading like this. But he was just as if he was afraid he was going to miss a drop of this precious word. He would read it like this as newborn babes.
Desire the sincere milk of the word.
Giving emphasis to every word, brethren, it's the living, the abiding Word of God. This is what's going to make you and I grow in our faith, and we should never lose the appetite for it. I don't suppose it be right to say that everybody here is obeyed. No, there are those who have grown in the faith. But we should, as newborn babes, never lose our appetite for that precious.
Word of God There's another word here that I think is good to explain this sincere milk of the word unadulterated.
When we lived in Bolivia, I remember a man used to go by the front door of our house every morning.
Crying out milk, milk for sale. And we'd often go out there and buy a liter or two off of him. But then we found out that to make his profits a little better, he added a little bit of water to the milk. It was not unadulterated milk, the brethren.
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This book is the unadulterated mind of God. Think of it that God has communicated to us and that's what's going to feed. That's what's going to make us grow in our spiritual lives. How precious it is precious it is to open this book on a daily basis and drink of this unadulterated milk. We have good books of ministry.
But there's always the danger in books of ministry that something of human thoughts will enter in. That's why we're told despise not prophesying. But it then goes on to say, prove all things hold fast that which is good. So we listen to prophesying, but we all have our Bibles open, and we should test it by this standard. This is the only completely pure standard.
I was thinking when Brother Dawn was mentioning how that the little child learns those things that are in verse one by seeing them and others but as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word.
I don't know if any of you brothers have had this experience. You may have picked up one of your grandchildren and as of infinite, hold it against your.
Your body and you know, without even knowing it, the child turns the head as it was going to be fed, not realizing that you're incapable of doing this. But that's the instinct. That's the new newborn. Instinct is not taught. It's, it's part of that child's being. It knows that food is there, knows which way to turn.
So that's interesting, isn't it, as far as you meet a new believer and they just want to drink in everything you can tell them about the word.
We should be like that continuously.
The problem is that we allow things that spoil our appetite or distract our appetite from the sincere milk of the word. When I was a boy, I grew up in a home where my father was the old school and he felt that a child should drink an 8 oz glass of milk at every meal. And certainly there was nothing wrong with that. And so we learned to drink milk and to enjoy milk. But when I was about 12 years of age, I ended up in the hospital for several weeks.
And for some reason, whether space or whatever, instead of putting me on a child or youth ward, they put me on the adult ward and they served me tea and coffee every day.
And you know, have drinking tea and coffee every day. At 12 years of age, I lost my desire for milk. Something came in and spoiled my appetite for milk. And in natural things, I have never really learned to drink milk again. And anyone who's had me in their home will know that if they offer me a glass of milk, I will flatly refuse it. One thing I really can't drink, even to be polite. But my appetite was spoiled for milk at that time. And Brother and I believe that we need to learn or be careful that we don't allow things to spoil our appetite for the sincere milk of the word.
Now, some of the things not to go back that were, but that were listed in the first verse, they can distract us and spoil our appetite for the sincere milk of the word. But I believe there are other things too that come into our lives. If we're it's a question of what we're drinking and feeding on. Where are we drinking from? Are we drinking from the things of this world, the joys of this world? Are we feeding on the husks of this world? It's going to spoil our appetite for the sincere milk of the word.
Often said, and you've heard me say it many times, if I made sure my girls ate a good healthy breakfast and drank a glass of milk before they went out the door to school in the morning. They weren't so apartment to want some soda pop and something that wasn't good for them at recess because their appetite was already satisfied with good wholesome food that which was good for them. And brother and I believe the more we drink in the precious word of God, the more we will develop an appetite for it.
The more their self judgment in our lives to keep out the things that hinder our enjoyment and our growth in spiritual things, the more we are going to desire the sincere milk of the Word. But I need to stop as we all do today and really ask our own hearts, do I really? Does this desire the sincere milk of the word? When I get up in the morning? Is that my first thought? Not just to get a good stiff cup of coffee to get on my way?
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But is my thought to enjoy something of the sincere milk of the Word to drink in, take time and energy to drink in something of the precious Word of God that will sustain me for the day as I face the world. That will refresh my spirit and my soul as I go out into a spiritual wilderness where there's nothing to sustain the new man or refresh the spirit. Plenty to feed our lusts and the flesh and the old. The feet are the flesh, and so on. But.
Nothing to feed the Newman in this world, nothing to refresh. Are we drinking in the sincere milk of the Word every day? And is it really our desire?
That's quite a question to ask.
No, the Old Testament suggested or mandated that the kings write out a copy of the word of God, and you know versions of that I've taken.
Access to my computer and I have what I called special verses. Pretty soon I realized that the call them special verses was to put down those that I didn't choose as not being special. So it was a poor term.
But I've gone through Isaiah and Jeremiah.
And Psalms and Proverbs. And now I have on my computer those verses that have been chosen from Isaiah and Jeremiah and Psalms and Proverbs and Isaiah. And I can go back and, and sometimes I look and see, oh, that verse is so special, how could I possibly have left it out?
But you know and encourage young people have a notepad, have something that you in addition to reading you write down because the early due of morning has passed away at noon and in the afternoon. If you would ask me, Brother Stan, what did you enjoy this morning?
Oh, I wish I hadn't asked me. I've been so busy. But you know, write it down and if you keep it in your pocket or put it in the back of your Bible, though the person that rebound my Bible said the hardest thing on Bibles is to keep too many pieces of paper in the back. So do that as as you think best, but make notes of what you have read and and you can pick it up during the day and and retain it and it will mean so much more to you.
As you go on.
Verse three reads that.
If so, be have tasted the look that the Lord is gracious an.
Another way of reading that would be since ye have tasted a past tense if you are saved born again the first time you tasted the pure milk. The graciousness of the Lord is in salvation, wasn't it? So we have a past tense since you have tasted but the.
What he is writing here is that we need to continually keep tasting, the psalmist wrote Psalms 34 and eight.
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.
We learned he was gracious in salvation, didn't we? But we can continually taste and see that He is good also too, can't we? So there is the past tense in the current. Right now we need to taste. When we read this passage, did it give me some milk?
Yes, it did for myself. I can show you what it gave me for milk today. It gave me milk in one word. One word over in verse 23.
That word was committed.
It reminded me of Luke 23 and 46. Into thine hands I command my spirit.
He fed me with some milk on the little word, Commit into thy hands. I commend my spirit.
Look at First Peter chapter 4 and verse 19 together please.
First Peter 4 and 19. Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God.
Commit the keeping of their souls to Him and well doing as unto a fateful Creator. The only time in the New Testament that the words faithful Creator are used together.
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And it may be the only time in the whole Bible. I'm not sure on that. A faithful creator we have committed.
First Timothy 1:00 and 12:00 For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day. The committal of our souls took place the first time we tasted the pure Word of God. It rang out in the heavens above, and it was accepted on high that we loved His Son, and believed and trusted in Him. And the Almighty God, the faithful Creator, accepted that vow.
And He saved our soul and we have committed that soul into His hands, into thine hands. I commend my soul. That was our Lord right on Calvary St. wasn't it? What fed you today in this passage? What is going to feed you in the pure milk when you get up out of your chair and you walk away? I just shared with you the little portion that fed me today with the communal committal that ring out in heaven. There's going to be something that the Holy Spirit.
Will guide and lead you with the passages that you read and you have to read them daily. You cannot leave it late to be fed with the pure milk of the Word of God.
But in the gathering of the manna, when the children of Israel gathered what God had provided for them in its pure form, we find that it was palatable and sweet. And I think of it in connection with the 34th Psalm and our verse here about tasting that the Lord is gracious. I say it was palatable and sweet because we find that it tasted like wafers and honey when they tried to do other things with it, beat it and put it in a mortar and bake it and so on.
It tasted like fresh oil. I'd rather eat wafers than and honey than fresh oil, but in the way God gave it to them in the purity of its original form. It was all that they needed for the wilderness journey and it was sweet to the to the taste. And so we've been Speaking of the sincere milk of the word, the pure milk of the word and brethren, it's true has been said that there are many things that have been written that are helps on the word of God and so on. But we need to if we're going to really take.
Of the goodness of the Lord and that the Lord is gracious. We need to get back to the simplicity that is in Christ. We need the pure milk of the word. Not that there ought to be growth and in our souls. Not that there ought to be a deepening of the appreciation and understanding of things in our souls. And sometimes those helps that are written and good Christ exalting ministry is a help. It is and I we don't want to discredit it in any way, but we need to take the Word of God in the pure form that God gave it.
And one of the great sins of Israel in the wilderness was that they despised the simple manna that God gave them. Brethren, let's be careful that we don't despise the manna that God has given us, or in our the illustration used here, the sincere milk of the Word.
In the 78th Psalm it says.
Man did eat Angels food. He sent the meat to the full.
Marvelous.
Been said, I'd just like to give emphasis to it.
Spiritual food, the Word of God is the life, the food of the life of.
That we have when we're born again.
It is vital. It isn't just maybe or maybe not. If you look at a person and they aren't eating physical food, they're starving.
And if you look at a person who is not feeding on the word of God, they're starving. If there's a person in this room who does not read the word of God every day, you're starving.
Young people, did you hear it? When I sometimes hear a young person say, well, I don't read the word of God all the time. I don't necessarily say it to their face, but in my heart, in my understanding, I know they're starving.
It is the light, the life of the new life, it's the food of that life, and it will be so forever. It's not going to stop when we get to heaven.
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We are going to continue to feed on the Word of God forever. It is the food of our life and we need it now. You can't live properly without it. And the wonderful thing about the food that God provides is just to give emphasis to it. Again, it's Bob used the expression unadulterated. Mr. Darby translates it pure.
It's absolutely pure food. You feed on some of the, I'm going to say mental food that this world provides and it draws out the lust of the heart.
It's impure.
It is that which promotes sin in the life because it is an impure mental food.
But the word of God is pure food. It you'll never read it and it in such a way that it will ever stir you to ever want to sin. There's not a bit of it that promotes sin in the soul because of the purity and the way that God is given to us and consequently we need it. It's vital. It's not just knowledge.
It's not necessarily that you have to read it and learn something new every time. While we enjoy that and it's important you you eat a meal.
You needed the meal whether you got any new knowledge about food or not on that meal.
Or even you necessarily conscientiously enjoyed it more than some other time. But you have to have it and.
I say this particularly burden free on people. You gotta have it, read it every single day or you're going to starve. There's no in between. You either feed on it or you starve.
Brother in the Denver Assembly long ago went to be with the Lord and the fan without mentioning who he is because we know all too well and still missing that. They noted he was dying of cancer. And they noted after he had passed away that there was a time about 12 days before he passed away, he lost complete appetite. And they knew from precedence that.
Health care people know of that. That was the sign that his days were numbered.
And so is it that serious with what our brother Don has said that that you're not well? I, I don't think he meant that you're going to die of cancer, but the opportunity to be kept.
Is is lessened by not having the word of God each day? How important.
I've read alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, and when you consider, brethren, how well we take care of our bodies, we take a good chunk of time every day, I would suppose close to an hour a day feeding these bodies.
Young people and older ones too. How much time do we take feeding on this living, abiding Word of God? So often it's easy to let other things push time for the Scriptures out of the picture. Do you understand the importance of reading the Scriptures? You will definitely take steps to spend time with the precious Word of God.
Something at least in the case of the man, and it says he that gathered little had no lack, and he that had gathered much had nothing over. So at least read a few verses a day. It's our life. It's what will feed that new life in Christ.
Proverbs chapter 23 we've been reading what a believer should feed on, and it's really begins with a taste in verse three. But in Proverbs chapter 23, there's a warning given there. And the Spirit of God says this in verse six. Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats. For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. Eat and drink, say is he to thee, but his heart is not with thee.
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The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up and lose thy sweet words. And So what this world is feeding on is filth, and it feeds on its sports and entertainment and all those things that appeal to the natural man. And it gives no nourishment to the believer, nothing at all. And the Spirit of God says, if you that's what you eat on, that's what you feed on, It says thou shalt vomit up and lose thy sweet words. You know when I'll just give a little illustration of that.
Some of you have heard me give it, but when I was a little boy, my twin brother and I, we used to live in a station house and it was heated by coal and there was a wood or a coal fire there, his little box stove. And when the fire went out, we would very carefully open up the door of that stove and we would go in there and we would play with the ashes.
And if my father caught us, we got a spanking. But if he didn't catch us, he wanted us to know why we were being spanked. So he didn't spank us if we didn't get caught. But you know what happens if you eat ashes is you, you vomit. It has no, no nourishment at all. And so every bit of nourishment has been passed through the fire, so to speak. And so, you know, we need to recognize that what this world is feeding on is filth. It's going to all be judged by a righteous and a holy God. And he gives us something.
Now to feed upon in our soul something of immense value and nourishment. It's the Word of God and it all speaks of Christ and that blessed manna. Why would we desire anything else? But if we get a taste for what this world is feeding on, it only begins with a taste. And that's what happened at the garden in the garden of the Lord with Adam and his wife. They just got a taste and what ruin it brought. And that's the same thing in our own lives, if we desire to just taste a little bit of what this world feeds on.
It breeds death and corruption.
Look at that first across the page here in the Proverbs 22.
And verse 20.
Have not I written to the excellent things in counsels and knowledge, that I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth?
If we could get a taste of that, you know, it's such a wonderful book we've got in our hands.
Just like water. The doctor tells me to drink water and you probably haven't been in the habit. And the more you drink, the more you want to drink.
Was the word of God.
Turn these things.
I wish I had done this more when I was younger.
I wish I had read my Bible more. Ribs.
The Lord Jesus is presented to us here and elsewhere as food.
It's important to realize that we, through the Word of God, the Lord Jesus is brought before our hearts and our souls, and it's unto you, therefore, which as he says in verse three, if you have tasted that the Lord is good, there's a tasting.
In the soul of the person of the Lord Jesus and his work and.
So we read the word of God.
With that desire.
And we trust it's an increasing earnest desire in our souls to have more of himself for the heart. And God feeds us by occupation with the beauty, the perfection, the wonder of His Son. The manna in the Old Testament is a picture of the Lord Jesus. The old corn of the land is a picture of the Lord Jesus. And that's what the people, spiritually speaking, fed on.
And so we too, and whoever has enjoyed in their own heart the Lord Jesus and not said it's good.
It's impossible to have it otherwise. The life that God has given us finds satisfaction in feeding upon the sun. It is good. You can only say if someone doesn't find it good, that it's not the new life that's speaking, it's something else. Because the life that God has given us is newborn babes. Enjoy. We do enjoy. It can't be otherwise.
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Satisfies the Newman, the new nature in US. And so he says, Well, if you tasted, have you not that the Lord is good?
We're going to feed on him forever and we want to get started now and.
If we do it in the right way, there's never indigestion, there's never anything that because of the purity of the food, whether it's little or much, it satisfies.
There's a beautiful bird in Leviticus 23. I'll just read it in verse 14. Now notice, and ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears, until the South same day that you have brought an offering unto your God.
There is no possibility for unregenerate man to enjoy Christ as bread.
Incarnation, parched corn and death, nor green ears and resurrection until the South, same day that you have brought an offering unto your God. Marvelous. The aspects in which we can and do enjoy the person of Christ.
172.
Teach us more.
About the mistakes by the Lord, I want to make you cry.
And everybody is going to get your shake with God. I'm grateful, right?
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Him, for we shall see him as he is.
The same transforming effect in this world, isn't it the same type of spiritual transformation?
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Gospel 1
Gospel—Jim Hyland
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All the Savior at the door, he gently knocked as knocked before.
Has waited long, this waiting still you use no other friend says. Well admit him for the human rest. There it came so kind of death. No mortal Kong. The joy to tell the name is on the presence of God. Open the door. You'll enter The end.
Remember 20 arrived between.
Oh.
My God.
I'd like to turn tonight to the 34th Psalm.
Psalm 34.
I'm not only going to read this Psalm, but I'm going to read the title of.
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34.
Beginning with the title a Psalm of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, If you notice your margin, Achish, Who drove him away, and he departed, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord. The humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name. Together I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him, and were lightened, and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried unto the Lord, cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The Angel of the Lord in campus round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.
O taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that trusteth in him. Oh, fear the Lord ye his Saints, for there is no want to them that fear him. The law. The Young Lions do laugh and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing. Come, ye children, hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. What man is he that desireth life and loveth many days?
That he may see good, Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open under their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and save us such as be of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. He keepeth all his bones. Not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked, and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants, and none of them that trust in him.
Shall be desolate. Now just hold your finger here. We're going to come right back to this portion, but I want to read 2 New Testament portions as well.
The first one is in Hebrews chapter one.
Hebrews chapter one and verse one God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time passed under the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory and the express image of his person.
And upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, and then in Revelation chapter One.
Revelation, Chapter One, and we'll begin with the third word of verse 5.
Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the Prince of the kings of the earth.
Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Well, this 34th Psalm might seem like a strange portion to begin a gospel meeting with. But you know, as was said in these meetings already, no matter where we turn in the word of God, the subject is always Christ.
Because it's Christ that we have to present to the say as the Savior of sinners this evening.
It's Christ in Christ crucified. And as we read a Psalm like this, we see prophetically brought before us the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, I know that these psalms in their character are Jewish. I have no doubt that this song will have its real fulfillment.
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In a coming day when God's earthly people, the Jews, are no longer atheistic as they are today, but they come to sit down under the shadow of His wings, they recognize the Lord Jesus for who He really is, the Messiah. They realize that He's the one who died on Calvary cross, and He finally.
Peace for that nation and for this world, when the King of righteousness rises with healing in his wings, and the Prince of Peace rules in this world. And so no doubt this Psalm looks on to a future day. But I suggest that there's something very exercising for us to consider tonight in the presentation of the gospel of the grace of God. Because as I say, what God has for the soul tonight is Christ and Christ alone.
Maybe there is someone and you come into this gospel meeting for one reason or another, and you come in with an empty, aching heart. If you come in with an empty, aching heart tonight, oh, we have good news to tell you. We have to tell you of one who can fill and satisfy your heart right in the city of Pellet tonight, the state of Iowa, the country of the United States of America, and around this world, people are trying to satisfy their thirst and hunger by the things of this world.
They're trying to satisfy it by pleasure and amusement. They're trying to satisfy it by the vices of humanity.
But are they finding satisfaction? Oh, never will the human soul, the human heart, be satisfied apart from what God has to offer through the Lord Jesus Christ. I might just say this, that if you have come into this gospel meeting lost and in your sins tonight.
I want you to realize that you were the special focus and object of prayer just a few moments before this gospel meeting started. I don't know if you realize, but in another room of this building there were some who met to kneel before the throne of grace and to plead for your soul.
And perhaps if you had heard some of those prayers, it would touch your soul to realize that you are loved not just by a loving God, but by for individuals sitting in this room tonight. Individuals who have called a gospel meeting and who have poured out their soul before the Lord on behalf of your blessing. Because they don't want you to go to hell. They want you to turn from darkness to light.
I was reminded just before that prayer meeting of an individual at this these meetings last year, one year ago, who had a very unique opportunity.
A young man who attended these meetings a year ago and who went up to the room where we had prayer not only this evening but a year ago for the same purpose. He went up there to kind of escape the crowd and be alone for a little while and to rest, and he stretched out on one of the couches up there.
And this young man was rather shy and reticent, and pretty soon brothers began to congregate in that room for the prayer meeting for the gospel. And not knowing quite what to do, he remained.
And he heard not only brother after brother pray for the loss.
But he heard at least one brother pray for him by name. I am told that since then this young man has come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as his savior. What about you tonight? If you could have listened in to those prayers and heard brother after brother pour out their heart, would it make you realize that you're loved but all tonight you're loved, not just by somebody in this room.
But you are loved infinitely by a God who sent His Son to be the Savior of the world's. You are loved by the Lord Jesus Christ, who, when He was here, He saw a young man who came to him.
And it says, Jesus beholding him, loved him. Do you realize that the eye of the Lord Jesus looks down from heaven tonight and the Lord Jesus loves you? We often sing with the boys and girls that little song. Jesus loves me. This I know.
How simple are those words? And yet, this is the simplicity of the gospel tonight.
God loves you. The Lord Jesus loves you. He's proved his love in going to Calvary's cross so that many of us could stand up tonight and echo with the Apostle Paul, the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
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This Psalm. I read the title because the titles of these psalms are inspired. I've often said that I wish they were printed just a little bit bigger. In our Bibles, sometimes we Passover them because they're printed so small in our Bibles, but they are part of the inspired word of God. And every word of God is pure. And that's why at the beginning of a gospel meeting, we open the holy scriptures and we read them because if there's blessing tonight, you're born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible.
By the word of God that liveth and abideth forever. And this Psalm is a Psalm of David. There are many psalms entitled The Psalm of David. You know, David is a very beautiful type and picture in the Old Testament of the Lord Jesus Christ.
If we were to back up to the book of Samuel, we would find there was an occasion.
When Jesse, David's father, sent him to his brethren, who were with their with the army of the Israelites fighting the Philistines, and there was a champion of the Philistines, a giant named Goliath, Most of us have heard that story from the very early days of our youth.
And we find that David, sent by his father, goes with provisions to his brethren, and when he comes to his brethren, they question even the motive of his heart for coming. Why camest thou down? Hit her, And the next thing we know, David, with just a 5 stones in his shepherd's bag and a sling, goes down into the valley to meet the enemy of God's people and in the power of God.
He overcomes the enemy. It's a picture of the Lord Jesus coming into this world scent of his father.
It's a picture of the Lord Jesus when it says the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. It's a picture of the Lord Jesus humbling himself and becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. It's a picture of the Lord Jesus overcoming the enemy at Calvary cross victorious over.
And raising from the dead and going back to heaven, seated at God's right hand.
But you know, that's not particularly what I had on my heart in reading the title of this Psalm.
But to notice that following the fact that it's a Psalm of David, we find that this Psalm was written under very difficult circumstances. A time when David and we won't back up to Samuel. But if we were to back up to the story, we would find that it was a time when David was afraid. It was a time when he faced a real difficult circumstance in his life. And you know, often God allows circumstances in our lives to bring us to the end of ourselves.
So that we realize that there's nothing we can do in ourselves to better our position before God. To realize that we do have eternity ahead and that this life, this world, is just a moment in comparison to eternity and what's ahead. And maybe there's someone here tonight and you're going through some real circumstance, some health issue, perhaps.
Some difficulty financially.
Something in the family circle. And you say, I just don't know where to turn. I've come to the end of myself, Oh, tonight, the good news is that there is the Lord Jesus Christ to turn to. You know, there are people out tonight and they don't know where to turn. And they're wrecking their lives, they're jumping off bridges. They're trying to commit suicide. They're turning to this and that. Why are they doing it? Because they don't. They're not turning to the right source.
They're not turning to the one and the only one who can bring blessing into their lives.
For eternity as well As for this life. And so this Psalm was written under very difficult circumstances. And we find here that this Psalm brings before us the Lord. And David says in this Psalm, oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. That's what we want to do tonight in the gospel. We're not going to tell you about reformation or sociology or turning over a new leaf or that kind of thing.
No, we want to exalt the person in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, because there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, it was announced at his birth. Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
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We have only one Savior to present tonight. There is a Savior on high in the glory, a Savior who suffered on Calvary Tree. A Savior is willing to save. Now as ever, His arm is almighty, His love great and free.
You know, I don't suppose there's a person in this room who doesn't want to get to heaven. Really. If we're really honest with ourselves, we all want to get to heaven in the end. And we all realize, if we're honest with ourselves, that there is something after this life, that it's not all over.
There's a story told, and I'll repeat it, story of some men who were fighting in the trenches in World War One. You know, I have had opportunity to visit some of the battlefields of Europe. I have stood at Flanders Fields I.
My wife and I recently stood at Vimy Ridge, and in our minds I tried to picture the awfulness of those battles that were fought there. In fact, just recently they spent several $1,000,000 revamping a monument at Demi Ridge to the Canadian soldiers who fought there so bravely, and so many thousands of lives were lost. But it turned.
The tide of war in Europe at that time, we were taken down into some of those trenches that have been preserved, and yet I'm sure we little realized the awful reality of what it must have been to be there in those trenches with mud up to their knees, under fire from the enemy. But the story is told of a line of soldiers who were under fire, and as you know, in World War One, it was basically man to man combat.
And one of those men was hit fell backwards into the trench.
And a couple of his buddies jumped down to see if they could help him.
They could see that he was wounded to the point that he wasn't going to make it and that his life was ebbing fast and all they could do was take a couple of empty sandbags and a jacket and try to make him a little more comfortable on the floor of that cold, damp trench until he took his last breath.
They did that and they went back to their post and pretty soon one of the men heard his friend weekly calling to him.
He jumped back down, put his ear close to his friend, and his friend was asking the question. Can you tell me the way to heaven? Interesting question, isn't it?
You know, back home in peacetime they would have been all brushed aside.
But in the face of eternity, this man was earnest. He wanted to know the way to heaven. Suppose someone came to you in their final moments of life and asked you that question. Could you answer it? What would you say?
This man looked at his dying friend and he said I don't know.
Not solemn, he said. I don't know, but I'll try to find out.
He went back to his post and he asked the man beside him, Can you tell me the way to heaven?
Man shook his head, and from there the question went down the line.
16 men.
Can you tell me the way to heaven?
Nobody knew.
You know, I dare say that all sixteen of those men came from a so-called Christian country.
And I suppose if they had been back home and someone had asked that and things were going well, they might have had some answer. But somehow the answers that they might have given in better circumstances didn't seem to bear any weight in the face of the reality of eternity.
The 17th man was asked the question, Can you tell me the way to heaven?
And with a glad smile, he reached into his pocket and he pulled out a New Testament, and he turned to that familiar verse, which I'm going to quote in a moment, And he folded his testament back, and he put his thumb on that verse.
And he told them to pass this testament back and to give their dying comrade this one verse.
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And it would tell him the way to heaven. And this is the verse that those men put their thumb on in the trenches of Europe, facing death.
From the barrel of the enemy's guns. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And that testament was passed on back down the line.
And the first man jumped back down to his dying friend, and he could see that his life was going fast.
And he put his his lips to his ear, so he was sure his friend could hear. And he quoted him this verse. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
He read it again and again.
And as he read it several times, he could hear his dying friend.
Say on his lips whosoever, whosoever.
There was a long pause.
A smile broke over the dying man's left face, and one more time, in utter weakness he uttered those words, whosoever.
He took one final breath, and he went from the battlefield of Europe to the presence of the Lord Jesus, absent from the body and present with the Lord. Oh, tonight these things are real.
This is the way to heaven. It's the Lord Jesus Christ, the one that we were singing of, the one who could say himself, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. It's the one that we read of in Hebrews.
Son of God, God has spoken to us through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who not only died on Calvary Cross, but the one who is risen. He's seated at the right hand of God, the majesty on high as we read together those glorious words.
We read in another place that God has seated him at his own right hand and given him a name which is above every name God raised him from the dead. We read two of the Lord Jesus. He could say concerning resurrection. He could say, I have power his life, I have power to take it again, to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. Oh how vital an element the resurrection is.
When we present the gospel, because if Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain, ye are still in your sins.
Oh, how glorious that we can present the Lord Jesus as the risen Son of God. Thus the resurrection was God's. Amen to the work of Calvary. The proof that God was satisfied with the work that was accomplished there on Calvary cross the tomb of Lord Jesus is empty tonight. He is not here. He is risen. Come see the place where the Lord lay. He died. He was buried.
And he rose again the 3rd day according to the scriptures.
I'm going to repeat a story that I know I have often told, but I'm going to repeat it because I think it illustrates the importance of the resurrection very much.
You know, some of us have had opportunity to travel to other corners of the world where something other than Christianity is the order of the day or the profession of the people.
And it is a very sad thing to see those who bow down to idols of wood and stone and other commodities. It is a very sad thing to hear people wail out their heart at the hour of prayer to some one who is in the tomb. Christianity is unique from, shall I say, all the other great religions of the world in that Christianity presents a living savior. All the other religions of the world have their tombs, they have their monuments.
We have a tomb too in Christianity, but it's an empty tomb and I remember reading of two missionaries who were working in one of the busy cities in India and one day they were on a crowded St. in that city and they were startled by a large procession coming down the road.
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And there seemed to be a lot of rejoicing and celebration as this possession moved along.
And they made inquiries as to what was taking place.
And the missionaries were told that supposedly.
A bone of Buddha had been found and that it was being carried in a.
Box along the street and there was great rejoicing amongst the followers and worshippers of Buddha that this bone had been found.
Well, the missionaries watched this for some time, and when they retired to their quarters and talked over the matter, they were struck.
By the as they said, the contrast between that and if supposedly a bone of the Lord Jesus were ever found. Because they concluded, if a bone of the Lord Jesus were ever was ever found, it would not cause great rejoicing amongst the Christians. It would cause great sorrow, because it would be the proof that the Lord Jesus had not risen from the dead. But the wonderful thing is a bone of the Lord Jesus will never be found in this world, because in resurrection the Lord Jesus said to his own handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bone.
As you see me have. And that's why the Lord Jesus remained on earth as long as He did after the resurrection, to give ample and complete testimony witnessed beyond the shadow of a doubt that he had indeed bodily risen from the dead.
So the Lord Jesus is risen from the dead, He seated as the Savior of sinners at God's right hand.
But you know, on the cross, not only did the Lord Jesus lay down his life.
But he shed His precious blood, and for a few moments I want to make much of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is why I read the verse.
In the Book of Revelation, and I know there's just so many here who rejoice.
And join with the language of John in giving glory and praise as we think.
Of the one who loved us and shed his precious blood for us.
That blood of the Lord Jesus that was shed on Calvary's cross is that blood of which we read the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin. There is no other remedy for sin tonight but the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That blood that still has cleansing power, that blood that flowed forth at Calvary's Cross. And so often we've gone in our mind's eye to that scene.
Where the Lord Jesus after those hours of darkness, he cried. With a loud voice he said It is finished. He cried again. Father into my hands. I commend my spirit. He bowed his head and he gave up the ghost.
And shortly thereafter a soldier with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came throughout blood and water. I love that word forthwith. I love when I read that verse just to stop but that word forthwith and meditate on it.
You know, if it's said that a soldier with a spear pierced his side and there came out blood and water, that would be enough. But it says forthwith to my own soul. It's just as if the Spirit of God would record that God was in a hurry to blast forthwith immediately Anon.
Came out blood and water, the crowning act of man's hatred against the Lord Jesus Christ.
Was the very opportunity that God used to show what his heart really was.
And forthwith came throughout blood and water. Doesn't that thrill your soul tonight?
Or does it?
Or does it? Do you squirm a little bit when we talk about the blood of Jesus?
You know, I as a young boy, I sat in gospel meetings and I watched the clock move ever so slowly.
But let me digress here for a moment to say something.
You know, we in that room where we had prayer this evening, there was a clock, a very nice looking grandfather clock.
But you know that clock is only right twice a day.
That clock is stopped.
And as I looked at that clock, I thought about eternity.
You know, eternity really is like a clock with no hands.
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Eternity is forever and ever and ever.
How can we even conceive of such a thing? We are so governed by clocks that work and we get upset if the clock stops or the clock is slow. We're so governed by time and locked into physical limitations in this life.
But what about a scene? What about a place where time never passes?
Where there is the blackness of darkness forever, where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth. Where there is eternal torment. Where there is the eternal memory.
Of opportunities to be saved.
A place where the worm dieth not in the fire is not quenched.
But all tonight the wonderful story is that through that precious blood of the Lord Jesus, there is forgiveness.
And it tells us here I sought the Lord, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him, and were lightened in their faces, Were not ashamed.
Have you sought the Lord? There's a verse that tells us, Seek ye the Lord. Well he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Have you ever called upon the name of the Lord? Have you ever sought the Lord?
Or are you a Pretender tonight?
You know, sometimes I have had opportunity by the grace of God.
To look into the faces of an audience where I felt most were not the Lords, and perhaps most had never heard a clear gospel message. It is a tremendous challenge to the soul to present the gospel to an audience like that.
But I wonder if it isn't a greater challenge even to present the gospel to an audience like this tonight. An audience who's heard it so many times, boys and girls and young people who've heard it over and over and over again. And maybe some who are not so young, who heard it over and over again.
And yet have hardened their hearts. I'm thankful that the word of God is able in the power of the Spirit, and that it's like a rock that breaketh a hammer that break at the rock and twain, and then it's the sword of the Spirit. But what about you tonight? Are you a pretender?
I remember one time.
In Morvant, Trinidad, the gospel was presented when Lord's Day evening.
And after the gospel meeting, a 16 year old girl stood up. This 16 year old girl had been brought up in a Christian home. In fact, I was a guest in her parents home while I was staying in Trinidad that trip.
She had heard the gospel all her life.
The night before, if you had asked me if she was a Christian, if she was saved, I would have said there's every evidence of it.
When there was Bible readings in her parents home, she was always there with the word of God.
She was at all the meetings.
Outwardly, I would have said she was a Christian, a believer.
But she stood up that night to tell us that she had just got saved during that gospel meeting.
I'll never forget the hour that followed if ever I saw a floor wet with tears. It was that night we prayed and we sang and we wept for one hour as all those who were there rejoiced that another one had been brought to repentance.
But what about you tonight? Are you 16 years of age?
And you're not saved. Oh, if I were to shake your hand at the door and ask you if you were a Christian, you might quickly say yes and pass out into the night. But that won't do it. No God sees your heart tonight. Have you ever called upon the name of the Lord?
They looked unto him, and were lightened.
You know, if you are not a saved soul tonight, you are in darkness. Scripture tells us that you are in darkness. Oh, maybe not physical darkness, but moral and spiritual darkness. And you're on your way to a place of eternal darkness.
But tonight you can be turned from darkness to light. You can become a child of light tonight by simply receiving the Lord Jesus as your Savior. Blessed it is the man that trusted in him.
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There was a man in a jail in Philippi many years ago and he heard a simple gospel message.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. You know what it says of that man? He believed in God.
With all his house.
Are you going to believe tonight? Are you going to trust, oh taste and see that the Lord is good? If you could just get one taste, one inkling of the love of of God, of the love of the Lord Jesus, of the things he has for your blessing and happiness, you'd want more.
When my girls were younger, we often had a problem at meal time.
The bowls and plates would be passed.
And sometimes the comment was made. Oh, yuck.
And they didn't want to try what was on those plates and in those bowls.
And I would say to my girls, if you would just try it, you'd like it if you could just get one taste of it. And sometimes I could convince them. Not always, but sometimes I could convince them to just take one little taste on the end of the fork. And you know what I would say? More often than not they were convinced that it was good and they would take more.
But are you going to turn away from the love of Christ tonight and not even taste and see? But the Lord is good?
Are you just going to turn away and say I don't want it?
God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. God is recommending his love to us, and we turn away and we say no, I don't want it.
And yet we want to taste the things of this world. Is that what's keeping you from coming to Christ tonight?
Some years ago we were holding some gospel meetings in a little town called Widow Pitlock, Maine.
I think the name is bigger than the town. It's not a very big town right in the Northwoods of Maine.
And we were moving in, getting ready set up to have these gospel meetings and.
We had rented a Fish and Game club. It was a very rustic building right on the shores of a fast moving river.
And my wife and two daughters and I decided that we would stay in one corner of the building. We'd put up some tarps and partition it off, put our sleeping bags on the floor, and it would be our accommodation for the week. We held gospel meetings in that community.
We had a busy afternoon of getting set up and as twilight was falling over Widow Pitlock, we all sat down in a circle in the main part of the room just to chat and relax for a few moments.
And talk about things that we were exercised about in connection with the upcoming meetings that have been scheduled.
And as we were sitting there in the twilight, I looked over and up the chimney. On the inside of the building there was crawling a large mouse. A nice plump mouse.
Well, I decided that for the next week, I didn't want to share my accommodations with a mouse.
And so I went out to the kitchen of this building and I rooted around in a couple of drawers and I found a mouse trap.
And we had brought some provisions for the week and I opened the fridge and I found some cheese that we had brought.
And I always figured mice like cheese. And so I secured some cheese on this mouse trap and I set it near that chimney. Later on we all went off to bed. In the morning I went to check the trap and I found that the cheese was gone, but we had not caught the mouse. I was still. We were still sharing our accommodation with that mouse.
Was suggested to me by someone else that perhaps peanut butter would work.
And so the next night, I set the trap with peanut butter.
And sure enough, in the morning, that mouse was dead.
You know, I thought a lot about that the first night that mouse came back down, That chimney sniffed the air and sniffed that cheese, he thought, You know, these new tenants are pretty good. They're going to feed me.
And he was able somehow, to nibble that cheese and not get caught.
00:45:03
Isn't that the way it is with sin? Now we try something, it's not so bad.
Sometimes young people try things and they don't get caught.
Not so bad. Felt good at the time.
Do you know the next night that mouse came down and I can only imagine. I'm only imagining what was in the mind of that mouse. Of course, for the sake of illustration, but I just picture that mouse coming down and sniffing the air. And not only do these two tenants feed me, they give me variety in my diet. Some peanut butter tonight. The cheese was good last night.
He went for that peanut butter.
Smack.
Got it.
The way of the transgressor is hard. Sin is costly. Sin has its consequences. Oh, there's pleasure in sin for a season, the Bible says. And there's a verse that says Rejoice so, young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth.
Oh, you say? That sounds pretty good. The Bible tells me to have a good time while I'm young, but the verse doesn't stop there. But know thou that for all these things God will bring me into judgment.
I'm going to tell you another little story because I want to impress upon our souls the solemnity.
The reality?
Of refusing God's offer of salvation.
Of refusing the good things that God has for us through the Lord Jesus Christ.
This again happened in northern Maine, in another community.
One morning we were having breakfast, my wife and girls and I.
And we looked out the window.
And we saw a large white cat.
Coming across the lawn toward us.
We knew that cat. It belonged to the neighbors in the house next door.
But as that cat approached, we could see that in the jaws of that cat, it had its breakfast a chipmunk.
Now I probably would have let that cat have its breakfast.
But my wife is a little more tender hearted than I am, and she decided as the cat approached that she would try to save that chipmunk because it became evident that that chipmunk was still very much alive. And so as the cat approached the trailer that we were staying in, my wife went out, caught the cat by the scruff of the neck, and forced the cat to drop its prey.
Now, perhaps your vision in trying to envision what happened next.
I thought that the chipmunk would have scrambled for the nearest tree because there were a good many trees.
Right there.
You know what that chipmunk did? It went about 3 feet from that cat.
Turned on its haunches, and gave that cat 1 frightful scolding.
It wasn't very long until that chipmunk was back in the jaws of that cat.
My wife went out again.
And forced that cat to put down its prey.
And the chipmunks scrambled for the nearest tree. I couldn't believe it, but it did the same thing again. Three times my wife released that cat that chipmunk. 3 times that chipmunk.
Scolded that cat and three times the chipmunk ended up.
In the jaws of certain death, finally my wife went out.
Took that cat and brought it inside and gave it a saucer of milk.
The chipmunk hung around the door for a while looking for the cat, and when it realized the cat wasn't coming back, it finally made its way to the nearest tree and off through the woods. You shake your head in disbelief.
But you know, I thought about boys and girls and young people and men and women who have warning after warning after warning as to the consequences of sin and the consequences of following Satan.
And they play. They toy with danger to their eternal peril, to their eternal peril.
If you lift up your heist in a lost eternity, it will be with the realization that you have lost your soul forever.
00:50:09
And that there is no hope.
How awful to be in a hopeless situation.
That is the awful consequence of gambling with eternity, of toying with your enemies, Satan. And Satan is not your friend. That cat was not a friend of the chipmunk, and Satan is not your friend. Tonight he wants to drag you down to a lost eternity. He's the Destroyer, and he's the father of lies. And he's whispering in your ear right now. Not tonight. Not tonight. Put it off.
There's something better, but O taste and see that the Lord is good.
Come, ye children, hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord. I know I'm going to take this verse out of context, but again, I'm burdened as I look into the faces of children here tonight.
Children who've heard the Gospel over and over and over again.
Someone's praying for you tonight. Maybe someone on the seat beside you or down the road.
The Lord Jesus loves you tonight.
How often?
I have stood up and taken the funeral children and young people.
It's reality.
I remember being called to take the funeral of a young boy nine years of age.
And before I took that funeral, another young boy came to me, he said. Mr. Highland, I have something I want to tell you.
He said. I know that my friend who was killed is with the Lord Jesus.
Oh, I was all ears, I said. How do you know that he's with the Lord Jesus? Young boy looked up at me and he said, oh, Mr. Highland, he told me that he knew the Lord Jesus as his savior.
That was a comfort to me.
It was a tremendous comfort to his parents.
To know that this young boy was with the Lord Jesus Christ nine years of age.
What about you tonight?
If we were to announce tomorrow morning that you had died between this gospel meeting and Sunday school tomorrow morning.
Would we be able to say?
That you are with the Lord Jesus.
Have you ever told somebody, have you ever confessed with your mouth?
Have you ever told somebody that you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior, or if you were to pass into eternity tonight?
Everybody would have to speculate and say, oh, I hope he was saved. I hope she knew the Lord. But you know, they never told us. We never really knew for sure.
If you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, tell somebody after the Gospel Meeting tonight.
It will not only be a joy to the person you tell, but it will be a joy to the heart of the Lord Jesus.
It will be a joy to the heart of God the Father to hear the name of his Son confessed once again. And you know what it'll do, too. It'll give you an extra assurance in your soul that you know the Lord Jesus is your savior, that your sins are washed in the blood of Christ, and that you're on your way to heaven.
The Lord redeemeth the soul of his servants, and none of them that trust in him shall be desolate. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I can assure you tonight that if you receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior.
He will receive you. He has never turned anybody away who has come to him in sincerity, who's come to him in reality.
No. He'll redeem you tonight. By his precious blood, he'll save you. He'll wash your sins away.
We're going to conclude this Gospel meeting in a moment or two.
But maybe you haven't settled the issue yet.
Maybe you don't know the Lord Jesus as your savior. I am going to beg with you. I'm going to plead with you tonight not to get up off your chair.
00:55:00
Till you receive the Lord Jesus as your savior, don't say I'll do it later on when I get to my room. Don't say I'll do it when I get home next week. No. Come now.
Oh come now to Jesus. That dear loving savior receive him this moment.
And peace shall be thine. There's an urgency concerning the gospel.
Don't put it off.
What is your life? It is even as a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. But more than that, the coming of the Lord draws nigh. The Lord Jesus is going to come, and it tells us that when that event takes place, there are going to be those afterwards who come and knock.
And they say, Lord, Lord, open unto us.
But he says from the other side of that closed door depart from me. I never knew you. It tells us in Luke's gospel, when once the master of the house hath risen up and shut to the door, then they knock, and they want entrance. The door will never be opened again. But there is a door open tonight.
The Lord Jesus is the door. I am the door. By me. If any man enter in, he shall be saved. I'll come to night, come to the Lord Jesus to night, receive the Lord Jesus as your savior is so simple. But won't you just come get one taste of his love and the blessings and the mercies that He has for you? Oh, you won't want to stay away. Some of us have been tasting of those things for many years, and when we taste of it, we want more.
And more and more I would like to conclude by seeing him #21.
Decide for Christ today and God's salvation. See yields soul and body, heart and will to him who died for the hymn #21. If someone will please start it.
01:00:04
I just want to leave you with one verse before I pray. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and Sup with him and he with me.
Water
Children—John Bilisoly
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
OK, let's sing. Let's just sing the 1St and the last verse of this song.
We know their surprise and a glorious.
Heart.
OK, who has another one that we can sing?
All right, Ellie.
You know what, we don't have that many in this little hem sheet, but if you look on the back maybe you might possibly see that one.
46, OK #46.
Glad.
To come back.
And he traveled and he traveled.
And.
Taken.
OK, who has another one?
All right.
OK. What would you 40? Thank you.
Is it OK if we sing maybe the 1St and the 3rd and the last? Is that all right? Okay, 40, I'm sorry, on the back versus 1/3 and five of #40.
Jesus loves nearest.
00:05:12
Say.
So Jesus loves me.
Close.
And my trust himself.
Yes, James, I'm Sunshine.
Yeah.
OK, children, why don't we have one more and then, if you don't mind, I'd like to give out one, okay.
Which 141? Thank you.
Around the throne of God in heaven will many children save children.
Before we sing this last verse, I was wondering if.
We could all sing it together and then just hear the children sing that little thing that says refrain there.
The chorus. Glory, glory. OK, would that be all right? So remember, boys and girls, sing out loud when? Because you're not going to have our help. OK, All right, let's sing the last verse together and then you sing the chorus because.
Behold.
We need to go.
Well, that was pretty good. Very nice.
Now I wanted to give out one, if that's OK, and we're just going to sing one verse of it and the chorus. And that's number 19 because it has a little bit to do with what I want to talk about this morning and.
I would like to sing actually, why don't we sing the first verse and the third verse, OK, the first verse and the third verse of #19 and the chorus after each of those.
Oh Christ.
Well you know children, it's our earnest desire, each of us here that are older that you really would find that in the Lord Jesus alone is what can satisfy. You know when I was asked before these meetings began, I was over by the looking at some of BTP things.
And a man came over and he asked me if I would speak to the children. And I asked him if I could pray about it. This is before the prayer meeting and get back with him. And so I did. And I asked the Lord to give me some kind of confirmation as to whether I should go ahead or not. Because, you know, I'll have to admit my natural tendency is to turn and hide somewhere. So anyway, I asked the Lord for a confirmation. And our meetings, as you remember, you might remember, our meetings began with.
I had been in joy, I should say. I had been enjoying some some things, simple thoughts about water and scripture, and I was so encouraged when our meetings began with that hymn that was given out. Whom have I, Lord? But whom have we, Lord, but the soul thirst to satisfy?
Exhaust the springs, the water is free, all other streams are dry. And so I felt encouraged to go ahead and speak on this subject. It's a big subject, but I just want to share some very simple things with you this morning. But before we do that, let's close our eyes and if we need to, fold our hands and let's ask our God and Father in Heaven for help in this little meeting.
I'm going to read a verse in the Old Testament that's well known to us. We read this quite often. It's an invitation.
You know what an invitation is, children?
Can you tell us?
Susie, what's an invitation?
Like somebody asked you to like good, somebody asked you to go to their house.
You can make a choice. You can say no thank you, or you can say yes, I would like to come and I hope usually you say yes, I would like to do that. And so there's an invitation in the Old Testament, in Isaiah chapter 55.
And it goes like this.
Isaiah chapter 55 and it's easy to find because it's the very first verse and it says Ho everyone that thirsteth come you to the waters. And he that hath no money come, he buy and eat. Yeah, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Is that hard to understand, boys and girls? I don't think so. It's somebody that's giving a call. You usually don't use that word unless you're calling out at a distance to someone.
And you know, that's how we are in our sins.
Before God, we're at a distance from him, but here's an invitation that all of us can hear. Oh, everyone that thirsted and it just means to to me, it just means to stop and consider what's being said. It's it's it's a word that's used to get our attention.
And God is seeking to get our attention and he wants to tell us something. He wants to tell us that he has a gift for us and it's free. It says we can come without money and without price. And so the invitation is to everyone that thirsteth to come to the waters. And that's what we want to talk about this morning. You know, we had a lot yesterday, didn't we? About waters, I mean about that which sustains us in this wilderness.
00:15:26
Food. We need food, don't we?
And we heard that if we don't get the food of God's Word, as Christians, we're going to remember what was said. We're going to starve.
And I'd like to just add this to that too, that we're going to starve or we're going to die of thirst because we talked about this being the water of God's word, our Bibles. OK, just just picture your Bible as kind of like a well that provides you water.
You know, I work in a business where we we deal a lot with wells and I'm going to talk about that a little bit. But just think of this blessed book in our hands as a well of water that provides refreshment for us, that which sustains life. You know, you can't live very long without water. Tell you a story about a man that was sailing in a boat by himself and he was a good sailor and he got into a storm and he didn't have a very big sailing boat.
And his boat capsized or he began to take on water, I believe it was. And anyway, his boat began to swamp, fill up with water. And he had some emergency provisions on there. He had a life raft. He had some water to drink, some drinking water. He had a little bit of food. And he had a few other things. I think he had some flares that you could shoot up into the sky and make a bright light so that somebody could see you at night maybe, and rescue you.
And so he had a few things on this boat, but he didn't have very much.
And this whole story was about his survival on this raft. And I don't remember every particular, but I do remember that it was astonishing. It was amazing how many days he survived on this raft. It was over 60 days.
And he had a few other things, and one thing he had that probably saved his life the most was he had a little water distiller. Because you know when you're on the sea in a raft, you've got water all around you.
But how good is it to drink?
Is sea water good to drink?
The ocean water, is that good to just take a big glass? And what do you think? Would you like to do that? No.
You'd have to clean it. That's right. And that's what his little thing did at used solar energy from the sun and it made little droplets of water and he collected those. And sometimes it would break. And I think he lost a piece of it when a wave came over and oh, he had an awful struggle. And he learned to fish and he was able to to spear these fish and bring him up on his boat and he would cut him open. I think he had a knife.
And he would lay their strips of meat on the raft and hoping that it would cook a little bit in the sun so he didn't have to eat it just plain raw. But he survived an amazing number of days. And you know what was sad though, boys and girls, There wasn't one acknowledgement in that story, A very interesting story, but it was there wasn't one acknowledgement of God saving his life.
No, poor man, and I hope, I hope since he's come to the Lord, because I feel sorry for him. What a voice from God to be in a circumstance like that and to be rescued out of it and not to turn to God in his extremity. Oh, he had lots of thoughts and it went into some of the thoughts he would go through, but oh, how sad. Boys and girls, God is offering you water.
Of life.
Invitation in the Old Testament and let's go to the last book in the Bible and the last chapter, Revelation chapter 22.
Now we're going to read about another invitation because as I said, this is a very individual thing. And so in the end of Revelation, it says right near the end of the word of God, he gives this invitation, how faithful of the Lord to do this. And it says in verse 17 and the Spirit and the Bride say, come, and let him that heareth come, and let him that is a thirst come. And whosoever will let him take the water of life freely. Now let me ask you a question, and this isn't a very hard question.
00:20:18
Let me see. I'm going to ask you because I think you know the answer.
Can you be saved for me?
If I want to be saved, is it OK if you can you do that for me? You can't do I have to do it for myself.
Do you have to do it for yourself?
That's right. OK, we can illustrate it this way.
Let's see, do you like to run? OK, I do too. So let's pretend that we're running a race and we run a long ways off and we run all the way back and we'll say that you beat me. And we're just very tired. We're just huffing and puffing and we're trying to catch our breath. And what do you think would really taste good to us right about then?
A drink of water. So let's say that, umm, let's say in our imaginary run here that we're so tired and that someone comes up to us. I can find my cups here.
Someone comes up to us and and offers us a drink of good water.
Now, do you think that I can just take a drink for you and you'll be fine? No. We heard from this young man over here that we've got to do it for ourselves. We've got to take a drink for ourselves. So let's do that. I'm going to give you a cup and you can have a drink because we're tired from that run.
And we can taste this water.
It's pretty good isn't it? It just hits the spot. It's just what we needed after being so tired and taking that run. Boys and girls, salvation is that way. I can't take a drink for you and satisfy your thirst and you can't satisfy mine. You have to. We each have to have our thirst satisfied the same way we have to take what's offered to us and drink it. And you know it wouldn't do any good if I drank 2 cups, one for me and one for her.
She would still have that need. You know, we I mentioned that first hymn that we started these meetings with.
Whom have we, Lord, but the soul thirst to satisfy, you know, boys and girls. It sounds maybe complicated, but it's really not. Although we don't really understand it, but our bodies are made-up of three parts.
We can see our bodies, that's all we can see. But then we have a soul, and maybe we see the results of our soul. We can see the evidence of it, but we don't see it. And then we have a spirit which we can't see, and we know that that. So man is made-up of spirit, soul and body.
And the Spirit is what makes us different from any other creature. It links us with God. But our soul is what gives us our appetite, our feelings. It's that part of us that that we might say is, is our affections, our our appetites.
And that's why it says, Whom have we, Lord, but these soul thirst to satisfy? I believe that every boy and girl sitting here in this room.
Is born with a soul that has a thirst for something.
I think it's a thirst for God.
But you know, it's so sad, children, how many grow up in this world and they try and fill that thirst with anything but God, but that he's the only one that can satisfy that. And it's this water of life that He offers freely. If we'll just take it now, I've got 2 bottles here. As you've noticed, there's 2 bottles here, but there's something different about these bottles of water. 2 bottles here and there's something different.
About these bottles, Does anyone have an idea of what's different about these bottles?
What do you think?
What's that? I just saw the other side. Oh, OK. OK, so you thought you saw a different?
OK. How about you over there, anybody?
Well, yeah, because we drank some.
Yeah, that's true. That's that's right.
I'm not going to drink from that one. I'm just going to tell you that right now. What do you think?
No, I don't think it has salt in it. I could be wrong, I'm not a chemist.
I'm not sure about that. I don't think so.
The bottles are different. No, no, the bottles are exactly the same as far as I know. I.
00:25:06
I think they're exactly the same.
It says here that this comes from the French Alps, its natural spring water from the French Alps, and they both say that exactly the same. But there's something different about these bottles.
Ah, you are right on target, he said. There's a different kind of water in this. Well, I'm going to tell you something, boys and girls, there's something on the lid of this one because I wanted to make sure that no one drank from this one. So what does that say on it?
The letter, what she said, it's the letter P Can you see that?
What do you think that means? What's that trying to tell us?
Pond. Good guess, Susie, very good guess. You know, I actually even thought about that because I saw the pond out there and I thought, well, that that would be easy.
Poisonous poison. Well, you're getting close. Yes, I, he's on the right track. I even thought of that, that P could stand for poison because I, I don't want to drink that water and I, I would not want any of you to drink it either.
And I don't think you'd want to, once you find out there's something else, I'll give you a hint, it could stand for polluted because I think it's also polluted. So we've got poison water, we've got polluted water. There's something else it stands for.
I know this is kind of hard. I'm going to give you a big hint, so just listen to this little story.
Friday night when we are Friday afternoon when we arrived at the hotel we decided to go for a swim.
And in the room where the pool was, there was a drinking fountain.
And, you know, I swam some laps trying to get a little exercise after sitting in the car all day. And after I was done swimming laps, I decided to go over and take a drink. I took a great big drink from that drinking fountain and it was good. It was chilled. This is chilled. It's been sitting in the fridge all night.
And it was refreshing. Did it taste good to you? OK, so anyway, what my question is, why didn't I just take a great big drink from that big pool of water that I was swimming in?
Why?
What's that?
Chlorine. Yeah. How many of you children have ever taken a gulp of pool water?
I have.
OK, anymore. All right, now let me. Now let me ask you this. How many of you thought it was quite good?
No.
You know, there was a, there was a girl and I think she's at this conference right now, but there was a girl that was swimming when we were there. And I think she, I didn't ask her, but I think she probably took a gulp of pool water because she started crying and she got a little scared and her mommy had to comfort her. I think she had a pretty good gulp of pool water. Now, let me ask you this. If you boys and girls were swimming at your little pool, let's do any, have any of your, do any of you ever have one of those little pools that you can swim in or splash in at home?
Kind of fun, Yeah. So let's say you're out there and it's a hot summer day and you're swimming in this little pool and you get kind of hot and thirsty, and you say, Mommy, I need a drink. So Mommy comes running out with a cup in her hand, and Mommy dips down into that pool and she says, here you go. Is that what Mommy does?
No, she wouldn't do that, would she? What does she do? What does your mommy do?
She she has a modern sheep.
She puts water in that cup before she comes out, puts water in a cup and brings it out. Probably cold water isn't that nice. And if I came to your house and I asked for a drink, you wouldn't go out to the pool, would you? You can understand that, kids, can't you? That water is polluted.
And so this is pool water.
It looks the same, doesn't it? It looks appetizing. Maybe it looks nice, but it's polluted.
Now let's look at a story in Exodus Chapter 16. We're just not going to take a lot of time.
But we just want to touch on this.
To make our point.
Now the children of Israel were being led by a man named Moses. And it says in verse 22 of I'm sorry, Exodus 15, verse 22, it says, so Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea and they went out into the wilderness of sure, and they went three days into the wilderness and found no water.
00:30:17
So first it says they found no water. And you know, boys and girls, we often talk about this world being a wilderness, and we even have hymns that talk about us being in this wilderness wide and we're going through a barren land and so on. That's what this world is like. And in this first here they find no water.
And I think that would tell us that in this world, there's really nothing that is going to sustain our Christian life. If we're a believer, if you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior, if you've drank of those living waters and you have life from him, there's nothing in this world that's going to sustain that life.
The world doesn't have anything to offer you, but we don't always believe that.
Sometimes we're like the children of Israel. We go and we I'm sure they were looking for water, but they didn't find any water. And then it says that in verse 23 that when they came to Mara, they could not drink of the waters of Mara, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Mara.
And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the Lord. And the Lord showed him a tree, which when he cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet there. He made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them. So this man Moses, he didn't know what to do, because this was a lot of people to that were thirsty.
And they were complaining that we can't drink this water. Now, I don't know. I suppose that somebody must have tried that water of and they said, this is bitter. We can't drink this water kind of like that pool water. It's polluted, it's not suitable to refresh us. And so Moses cried to the Lord, and the Lord told him what to do. And we know that what Moses did is a picture to us of the cross of the Lord Jesus.
And when Moses through that.
Tree into the waters, they were made sweet. Isn't that nice, children? And the Lord Jesus went to Calvary's cross and he died there on the cross. And as a result of his work on the cross, you might say that the the springs of salvation are opened wide and that living water has come out and it's sweet. You know, we had yesterday to taste and see that the Lord is sweet. What's your name?
Sarah.
Taste of that water and she said it was good. I can I can testify that it was good. That water was good. I'm going to have another drink, right? My mouth is getting dry.
And I noticed yesterday, maybe you did too, that Mr. Smith sitting over here, he was talking to us, telling us about a king that did that, which was right in the eyes of the Lord. And I could tell he was getting a little thirsty. And you know what he did? Do you remember right up there? See that picture?
And the cups, he reached down and he got a cup, and he poured himself a cup of water.
And then he just held it for the rest of the time, Is that right? No, he took a drink of it and he was refreshed and he took several drinks of it.
See, we were listening.
And he was refreshed. Children, that's what you have to do. You have to take a drink of this water of life. Well, here the children of Israel, they couldn't drink this water. It was bitter. The tree made it sweet. Now let's look at.
A verse in John's Gospel.
But before we go there, just turn to a verse in Proverbs Chapter 9 because I want to get to this, the point I'm trying to make with this pool water that none of us want to drink.
It's polluted.
Even though it looks clear, it looks good, it looks refreshing, it won't refresh us. And in Proverbs Chapter 9, it talks about this foolish woman in verse 13. And it says a foolish woman is clamorous. She is simple and knoweth nothing. For she sitteth at the door of her house on a seat in the high places of the city, to call passengers who go right on their ways. Whoso is simple, let him turn in, hit her. And As for him that wanteth understanding, she saith him. Stolen waters are sweet.
And bread eaten in secret is pleasant, but he knoweth not that the dead are there and that her guests are in the depths of hell. Children, what I'm trying to bring before you is that Satan has his counterfeit. It may look good, but it's not good. It's not from the source that this water came from. This water came from a spring, probably a deep spring, somewhere in the Alps of France. And this water came from the pool. So the source is bad.
00:35:22
And what Satan?
Offers to as a counterfeit. The source is bad. Don't take it you have a source of spring that you'll never be able to exhaust. This spring will never run dry. You know, down in southern Colorado in the San Luis Valley, there's wells that they call artesian wells, and these wells don't have a pump in them. And these wells are so flow so great that some of them flow at like 2000 gallons a minute.
Do you know how much that is?
I think there's about 400 of us in this room. That would be like 5 roomfuls of people in this conference here, each of us taking a a gallon jug. And I've got one here, a gallon jug of water and all pouring it together, let's say down some kind of a chute or something. That would be 2000 gallons of water a minute maybe. I didn't say minutes. So 2000 gallons of water a minute. That's a lot of water and in the winter time.
Some of these these wells continue to flow. They usually taper off in the summer because the farmers are all pumping the water out of the ground. But in the winter they come back and they flow and they freeze and they they make ice castles and some of these make beautiful mounds of ice. And when the sun is shining just right, it glitters.
On these ice castles. Isn't that neat? Well, girls and boys, Satan wants to give you this polluted water. But let's see what the Lord gives and let's go to John 5.
John 4 for a verse.
Now I'm going to just mention the story real quick because our time is running out. But in John 4, the Lord is talking to this woman that came to draw water and he was thirsty and wearied with his journey and he sat on the well and he asked for a drink. And she could see that he was a Jew and she was a Samaritan. And so she starts saying she's not sure she wants to have any dealings with a Jew. And so they get into this conversation and the Lord says to her.
In verse 10, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. And the woman saith unto him, Serth, that thou has nothing to draw with him. The well is deep. From whence then hastow that living water? Art thou greater than our Father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? And Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but whoso drinketh of the water that I will give him shall never thirst.
But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
There it is, dear children, a well of water or a fountain of water. Isn't that nice? Springing up. That's what the Lord wants to give you. Each of you in your hearts is a fountain of water springing up. We have a little song, maybe you know it. Let's, let's sing it together and then just a few more things and we'll be finished. But this is about a little song that we can use a hand motion with. I'll just go through it with you and then you sing it with me. It goes running over. Running over.
My cup is full and running over.
When the Lord saved me, I'm as happy as can be. My cup is full and running over. You think we can do that? OK, let's try it.
Running over. Running over.
Since the Lord saved me, I expected me.
Like up this fall and Rainbow.
Were good, now I think you can remember that and you know that's a nice little song to sing once in a while is to remind yourselves that the Lord has filled our little cups. However, what size they are and they can be full and running over.
Now there's one more thing in the 7th chapter of John.
We read a little bit more about water, and in this case it says in verse 37, In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come into me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
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But this spake he of the Spirit which they that believed on him should receive for the Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified here. Boys and girls, it's not so much a well of water inside, but it's rivers of water flowing out and blessing to others. And you know, I thought sometimes, and this is an exercise to my own heart, the Lord wants each of us to be able to share with others. And sometimes I feel like what happens when you when you damn up a river, what happens?
When you put a dam in a river, do you know what happens?
It either runs over the dam or it creates, it backs up and it creates a big reservoir. And sometimes I feel like in our lives, that's what we do. Instead of letting this water flow out, it's it's sort of like we put a dam there and we kind of keep it to ourselves and maybe the reservoir gets bigger and bigger.
The Lord wants us to let it flow out and blessing to others. Just something something to think about now.
I shared with you that this water was good, but you don't know that yet, do you? You don't know that. So what I'd like to do is I'd like to have all of you to taste it and and to know that it's good. It's refreshing. You know, sometimes as children will say, Mommy, can I go get a drink and meeting, you know, and Mommy will say, why don't you wait? Meetings almost over. But I'm going to say that you can have a drink even before meeting's over. OK. So I'd like some of you to help me, maybe two of you girls. You 2.
And maybe two of you boys, how about you 2 just come up here and we're going to just fill a few glasses and you just pass them around and then we're going to sing a song together and then we'll be finished.
Take this good water and you can start filling.
Some of those glasses just fill them about 2/3 of the way. You don't have to fill them all the way. We won't have them flow over, or maybe we will.
OK, why don't you take another one here and pass them out. Start down at the end there. Here's another one.
OK.
Now this has been chilled all night so it should be nice and refreshing.
Let's see here.
Maybe you could set a few out for me. Can you set a few out?
And then I'll just fill them here.
OK.
All right, I'll, I'll just fill that. How many more do we need?
Everyone get one or do we need a few more?
OK, so did you all get one then?
OK, now you that were helping you can sit down with one.
And.
I know you, your children didn't bring your Little flock hymn book with you, but we're going to sing one verse of a Him and the Little Flock and you can sip your water and listen to us.
OK. Did you want one, get one or?
All right.
Did everyone get one? Did you get one?
Let's see.
Don't want anybody to miss out tasting this nice refreshing water. Would you like one?
OK.
I tell you though, it's it's good water.
OK, all right, I want to sing one verse of a hymn #77 in the back. And if you, if you kids will just listen to the words as we sing to you.
You know, I think this, this little verse is so nice. It says, Oh Christ, he is the fountain, the deep sweet well of love, the streams on earth. I've tasted more. Drink deep, I'll drink above.
There to an ocean fullness his mercy, death, expand, and glory.
Glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's land. You know what I think it's saying, children, is that we, we can taste now as we had yesterday, and we want you to do that. But it's only going to get better and better and when we get to glory.
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We'll realize that we've only barely tasted of the goodness and the love of God. So let's think of these words as we sing them, and maybe someone could start the tune for us.
Oh, Christy.
Corner Stones
Address—Robert Boulard
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I'd like to read a few portions of Scripture this afternoon, and before I get to what's really on my heart, I'd like to just read a few verses in Proverbs chapter 3.
We, you know, the word of God has been brought before us as that which is absolutely necessary for us in our Christian life. Absolutely necessary. It's not an option. You know, I spoke last night to my daughter.
One of my daughter's I called home as my habit is to do, and I called and I talked with her and she said.
You know, she said she wanted to know what the conference was about. And I told her a little bit about our Bible readings and some of that which was taken up in the open meeting. And she said, oh, that's so nice, you know. But Dad, she said, get it out of your head. But if you think that all the young people are reading their Bibles, she said, Dad, probably 25% of them maybe. And I said, well, you know, if I was at a conference and I heard those things ministered, I might be more tempted to go to my hotel room and perhaps read the word.
And she said, no, Dad, they're just trying to have a good time. I hope you know that there's a desire of heart, each one of us, to take up the precious word of God because it is that which is given to us from the heart of God to be able to walk through this scene of defilement and sin, wickedness, that we might not fall into the ditch of sin, and that we might have lives that are fruitful for Christ in this world. Oh, what a blessing our God has given us to give us the Word of God. Well, let's read in chapter 3 of Proverbs, make a few comments, and then I'll turn to some of those passages that I have on my heart.
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My son, forget not my law, but let thine heart keep my commandments for length of days and long life and peace shall they add to thee. Let not mercy and truth forsake thee. Bind them about thy neck. Write them upon the table of thine heart. So shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him.
And he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes. Fear the Lord, and depart from evil.
It shall be health to thy naval and marrow to thy bones. Honor the Lord with thy substance, and with the first fruits of all thy increase. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. Well, you notice that this section of the book of Proverbs, chapter 3 here begins with this little statement, my son. I like that statement, my son. And God sees you, dear young person, this morning, this afternoon.
Not only is a safe Sinner, I hope that there's everyone of us here are saved sinners by the grace and kindness of God, but he sees you as you sit in your seat as a son of God, an heir of God, join heir with Christ, a daughter. He sees you in that, the dignity of that position and a blessing that would bring you from that fallen creation of Adam, the first Adam and bring you to the very family of God. And then you know he's gone to a great expense, a great work as it were.
To give you the all of the instruction for life to walk through this scene and you know, I'll tell you a little story of a man got saved in Ohio. His names Dan Strong, some of you have met him. He was raised in the Roman Catholic system and.
We spoke of the Lord with them for nine years before he got saved, you know, but he came, came to visit me once at the office and he said, Robert, he said my daughter got saved and he had tears in his eyes. He wept. He said, what does she mean she got saved? And she sent me a letter and he showed me the letter. It was a nice letter to her dad. She said I got saved. I accepted Christ as my Savior and she mailed her dad a Bible.
And so he began to read that Bible and, umm, one day he sat in his car after we'd been speaking a little while and he got saved. He took Christ as his Savior. And then, you know, we met for breakfast one day and he, he said, you know, I, we read the word of God together and he said, your Bible isn't like mine.
He said I want one like yours. He said, you know, I was reading this morning before we came together here and he said, I looked on the spine of that Bible and it says paraphrase edition. And he said, oh Dan, you can't have that. You got to have the real thing. So he said, won't you just get me one of your Bibles? 1 Bible just like yours?
Oh, I want to just encourage you, dear young people, read the word of God and read the real thing. Read the, if you like the King James Version, Mr. Darby's version translation is a great translation. It's accurate. But love the word of God. And so he says here, my son, forget not my teaching or my law, but my teaching, but let thine heart keep my commandments. And so the heart needs to be engaged with Christ. We need to have affection for the very instruction that God has given us in the Word.
And you don't want to say this, dear young people, particularly God wants to manage your life.
Let me say that again, God wants to manage your life.
I spent a lot of time in business, the greater part of my business career, managing the affairs of other people, managing the affairs of the company, and guiding and directing the course that the company might take and setting the policy of that company. And so, you know, I would guide the affairs of individuals within the company and God in the family, in his family. Oh, he loves each one. His Son he sent into this world to die on the cross, to bear the judgment for your sins.
That you might have a life that was worth living, that you might know, it says. And I think it's First Timothy Chapter 6.
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Mr. Darbys translation he says this Lay hold on what is really life, lay hold on what is really life. And so he's given us the instruction of the word of God, that it might give length of days, and long life and peace shall they add to thee. And so it says, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall read it. Mr. Darby's translation make plain knight paths.
And so the Lord doesn't want us to lean upon our own intelligence. And I say that he's gone to a great expense. He went to a great work to provide the word of God. Many men labored, and God by his Spirit inspired this precious word. That you might have instruction from a loving God, that you might not fall into the ditch of sin, that you might not experience the pain and the heartache and the sorrow of what this world goes on with in ignorance of the righteousness and holiness of God.
That you might have a path that would be acceptable to Him and that would you would experience what it is to walk with God in this world. And so he's given us this word and he says, be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil. Well, let's just turn to the first portion in Genesis that I'd like to look at.
Four things that I want to bring out.
In connection with Christian life, some of you have heard me speak of this before in chapter 5 of Genesis.
And verse 21 And Enoch lives 65 and five years, and begot Methuselah. And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah 300 years, and begat sons and daughters.
And all the days of Enoch were 360 and five years. And Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.
Well, you know, the Spirit of God records this man his he's the 7th from Adam. And you find in the book of Jude, that little epistle that he was a preacher of righteousness and he had a walk with God. And you know, dear young person, perhaps you're saved and you know, in the Lord Jesus, perhaps his Savior.
For a little while, maybe you heard the gospel last night, the gospel of the grace and kindness of God. And maybe you did as our brother earnestly besought, maybe you took Christ to save your last night. You know, as I sat in that restaurant one time with Dan Strong and he just got saved, he said, now, Robert, what do I do? Where do I go from here? I'm 52 years old, I just got saved, what do I do now? And I said, you know, I picked up this book and I said, God has given you Dan.
An instruction book for life and if you read this book, God is going to guide you in what you do and how you go about.
Your life from now on until he comes for us to take us home to be with himself. God is get made every provision that you could be instructed. And so it says here that Enoch walked with God. Not nice. 4 words. God records them. Enoch walk with God. I want to ask you a question dear young people. Could God look down upon you this afternoon, this little meeting, and say so and so?
Walked with me.
Today own it nice to be able to walk with the Lord. Is there someone else that you would rather walk with? Oh, I trust that there isn't. You know, it says in Revelation chapter three, I think it's chapter 3. Yes, chapter 3 and verse 4. This is what the Lord says. Thou hast a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me.
In white, for they are worthy. Oh, you know her dear brother. Read those verses in the 102nd Psalm this morning.
About the Lord Jesus and how He could prophetically say I am alone as a Sparrow upon the housetop. Oh, He was so alone. There was no man that was ever so alone as the Lord Jesus was upon the cross of Calvary and in those dark hours bearing the judgment for my sins and for yours, if you know Him as Savior and have received Him. But what is it that He wants more than anything in this world from you? And that is your companionship. He wants you to walk with Him. He wants your heart's affections.
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And so it says in Proverbs 2326, it says, my son, give me thine heart. Give me thine heart. That's what he wants. That's what he desires. Well, you know, there's these four things that I'd like to talk about. They're cornerstones. I like to think of them as cornerstones in the Christian life.
And when you go to build a house, you have to lay generally 4 cornerstones. You take a bulldozer and you clear the lot and you take all the rock and all the brush, all the saplings, and you just bulldoze everything and you clear a place where you're going to build a house.
And, you know, I want to just give that as a little illustration sometimes, you know, we have to clear the brush. We have to clear all those things that are in our lives, all the clutter, so that we might be able to lay some cornerstones in our Christian life. And, you know, young people, I was a young person just like you at one time in my life.
And I couldn't lay these cornerstones in life unless there was a conscious decision to lay those cornerstones. That lot needed to be cleared in my life. Some of you have heard me tell the story. I tell it again.
Connection with my own childhood. When I was 10 years old, we moved to Saint Arise in Quebec and my uncle Bert who lived in the house and he left there and then we moved into the same house that he lived in and he left behind a little television, black and white television. That was 1966. We moved into that house and I began to watch that television, watch the hockey games on television, watch, watch the sports.
And I became really perhaps addicted to that. And in my father's home, before the television arrived, there was.
Bible readings in the evenings. There were times when the some of the Saints came into the house and we could visit.
But after that television came into the house, there was number more room for evening Bible readings and going to the assembly meetings was optional. We could go if we liked to. We could stay if we liked. And 10 years that went on in my my life. And you know, in 1976, I was 19 years old. And by the grace of God, I took a look at where life was going and I thought, this isn't going to end very well.
This is going to be fruitful for God. This isn't going to be a happy life. And by the grace of God, the television was in the basement and I took my Bible and I left that basement. I went and lay down on the sofa and I started to read my Bible and I read it and I read it. And I'm ashamed to say this to you, and I'm going to say it, but I never read my Bible through from the front cover to the back until I was 19 years old. I'm ashamed of it.
I spent more time watching hockey games and all those things that just.
Wasted my time. But dear young people, you know, there was a decision that I had to make in life. I was either going to take the bulldozer and take and take all that brush out all the rock and everything that was hindering me in laying the four cornerstones to a Christian life. And I was going to either have to take the bulldozer and and get rid of it.
And start to live for Christ where it was going to be a wasted life, an unfruitful life for God.
And so by the grace of God, I began to read, and I read it through another time. And you know, it's a wonderful thing. Dear young people, I just encourage you to start to read the Word of God. Just taste it. And a funny thing, a very important thing will happen if you do that. You'll acquire a taste and a thirst for the Word of God that you never had before. Because it's the living Word of God and it gives life and it gives us instruction in the path of faith. That is fail proof, you know the wisdom of this world.
Fails the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of a holy God and you're never going to make progress in your soul except that you take up the word of God and begin to read it. Well, the point is in as I take up this just this little verse of Scripture Enoch walk with God.
After he got Methuselah 300 years and begat sons and daughters, and so here God records that he walked with him 300 years.
There are three sisters here that I know of. There may be some others that are 95 years old, three sisters that are 95 years old. I talked to each one of them today.
One of them got saved when she was 12 years old.
Been walking with the Lord for a while. One got saved and has been saved for 67 years.
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Not nice.
And as I speak, I see the smiles upon the faces of those dear sisters. Are they sad that they walk with the Lord that long? Oh, they perhaps wish that they had been saved earlier and walked with Christ earlier. What's a wonderful thing to walk with the Lord? And I say in Revelation, it says that they shall walk with me. And so in the glorious scene above, there's going to be that communion with the Lord Jesus.
That will follow what was even developed in this scene. Well, let's turn to the next one in First Corinthians.
Chapter 11 I'd like to look at.
1St Corinthians 11 and let's just read from verse 23.
For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when He had given thanks, he break it and said, Take, eat. This is my body which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of Me. After the same manner also He took the cup, when he had stopped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood. This do ye is OFT as you drink it in remembrance of Me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup.
You do show the Lord's death till he come. Well, perhaps.
You can, by the grace of God, make that decision this afternoon. Dear young person, you're not too young to make the decision. If you know the Lord Jesus as Savior, you're not too young to make the decision to walk with God. Will you make the decision now in your seat to walk with God? It'll be a wonderful beginning. That's only one cornerstone, though. You know, you take that cornerstone when you make a new building. You pour the footing, and then you set the level of the first concrete block, and then you set the level of another, another one.
Then you set the level of the third cornerstone, and then you set the level of the 4th cornerstone, and you take all of your measurements and you set a Plumb line at those corners, and you begin to lay block one day at a time, and soon a house rises heavenward in your life.
Oh, the desire of your parents, your grandparents, and those of your brethren is that you would build every day one more block on that foundation, one more block up rising heavenward, and then the Lord would come to receive us unto himself, and you'd still, perhaps be building.
Well, it says here this other little corner block this do in remembrance of Maine.
Let's do in remembrance of Maine. All the hearts. Affections flow forth from our hearts as we remember the Lord Jesus in his death. And as I think of how the Lord Jesus on that day that he was betrayed, took with his own hands and broke the loaf and took him past that with his own hand not pierced yet took it and passed it to his disciples and requested that they would eat in his presence.
That they would there and that at that time, remember.
What was going to take place, as it were? But then He took the cup, and with His own hand passed it to them, and in His presence they drank that cup, and they in a future day they were going to repeat that solemn feast, as it were, that remembrance. And oh, he wanted them to come into His presence to remember Him.
And not to forget, if there's one thing that this world wants you to forget, it's that the death of the Lord Jesus took place on the cross of Calvary and that you are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, and that you have the privilege of walking through this world as a son of God, an heir of God, join heir with Christ. The world wants you to forget that. And the world wants to forget that Christ was crucified. They don't mind remembering that he was born they'll.
Like to remember that, but all the Lord Jesus knew that we would need to have our hearts affections taken up with him, and we need to weakly remember him, remember the circumstances of his death. Remember that we live in a world that took that blessed man and marched him and paraded him through the city of Jerusalem. And seven times it speaks in John's Gospel of how they led him from one place to another in shame and contempt.
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And then outside that city wall, they crucified him. They said we will not have this man to reign over us. And so that blessed man who loved us and gave himself for us, wanted us to remember what it cost him to redeem us unto himself, to set us free to buy us back and set us free to please him, to live for him. I want to ask you, dear young person, have you ever remembered the Lord Jesus in his death? Oh, it's a wonderful privilege, you know, when I was.
A young man.
I realized that the Lord Jesus was coming soon. And one of the things that really affected me was that I might stand before the Lord Jesus at the judgment seat of Christ and that I'm I hadn't remembered the Lord Jesus and death. And if he was to come, I would have to stand there and he would say you didn't Remember Me.
Why didn't you Remember Me? And I would have to say I wouldn't be able to give an answer because I was old enough and my heart was distracted. If I wanted to be honest, I would have had to say my heart was distracted, was taken up with something else, and I just didn't have the heart to set it aside. And to remember the Lord Jesus in death, Well, isn't it wonderful? You know, we can have that privilege of remembering the Lord Jesus in his death. That affection for Christ is warmed week by week.
And I say this, that it's a cornerstone in the Christian life. God not only wanted you to be saved, he wanted you to be there at his table remembering him when he came for his own. You know, it's wonderful. I sometimes think of it and enjoy it in my own soul. And Luke's Gospel, chapter 10, it says there, I'm just going to read it, it says.
Of the Good Samaritan in verse 33.
A certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was, and when he saw him he had compassion on him, and went should say up to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him, it should say, to the inn, and took care of him. And on the moral, when he departed, he took out two pants and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him. And whatsoever thou spend us more, when I come again I will repay thee.
You know, there was a man that was seen in the Luke's gospel traveling up to Jerusalem.
He was going up there and he was going to lay down his life for you and for me, and while he was going up. This picture is given of the man that fell among thieves, her among robbers.
But I want to just point out that this is what the man, what the Samaritan did, this picture of the Lord Jesus himself, He went up to him and bound up his wounds.
Pouring in oil and wine and set him on his own beast.
He set him on his own beast. I want to ask you, do you know what carried the Lord Jesus through this world? Do you know what he rode as it were? Do you know what carried the Lord Jesus, the Son of God?
It was obedience to the word of God. It was submission to the will of God.
It was love to his father.
And it was dependence upon his Father, those four things, obedience to the word of God.
Submission to the will of God.
Dependence upon his Father and love to his Father. Those are the four things that carry the Lord Jesus through this scene. And you know that's what will carry us into the assembly, those four things, obedience to the word of God.
Dependence upon him.
Submission to His will and love for Him will carry us into the assembly.
And will be cared for. You know, it says here that the Lord Jesus took care of him.
It was number small thing for the Spirit of God to work a mighty work of God in this area in Pella many years ago. And there was a table spread here where the people of God might be provided for in a temporary dwelling place. That's what it speaks of in the inn here. He brought him to the inn and He was cared for. Your soul is cared for in the assembly, and if you come into the presence of the Lord Jesus on a habitual basis and you remember Him in the circumstances of His death, you're going to be cared for in His presence.
Well, let's look at the third one, the third cornerstone in Genesis.
Again, I think it's chapter 3.
00:30:02
Chapter 2.
Genesis chapter 2.
And verse 18.
But of the verse 18, as the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone.
I will make and help meet for him. Well, you know, young people, this was really spoken of the Lord Jesus. It spoke of how God had seen ahead, as it were, and he'd seen that his Son was going to have a companion eternally in this scene.
It was going to be a good thing for the Lord Jesus to have His bride there in the glory. But you know, it says here it is not good that the man should be alone. And so God was looking upon man that He had created and said this. It is not good that the man should be alone. I want to ask you, dear young people, do you believe God when He says this? There's a tendency today to take up with careers and to put off.
Marriage and so on and to make.
Make a career of it and get get ahead in life and and the woman working outside the home and so on and this word, this clear, clear statement of God himself is not often.
Often remembered, God said it is not good that the man should be alone.
Everyone of us, I believe that are married could say it is not good that the man should be alone. We understand what God meant when he said this. And you know it takes grace to and help from God himself to be able to lay this cornerstone. I don't say that it takes it takes grace to lay all of them. That first cornerstone that might walk with God, the second one that we might remember him in his death.
At his table and then this one, you know it's going to take the wisdom of God.
Going to take purpose of heart.
I tell you personal, my personal experience and perhaps everyone else here that's married could tell a similar experience that's married in the Lord.
But when I was a young man and I had started to read my Bible, I began to understand that it was going to be a critical thing to be married to the right woman. I began to understand, as I read the book of Proverbs, that there were so many pitfalls and that the enemy was so clever in deceiving the heart and in turning what could have been a useful life into a shipwreck, that I felt it so necessary to get down upon my knees and weep before the Lord and cry for wisdom.
And ask them, beseech the Lord to direct my paths and uphold the Lord that I didn't have the wisdom to be able to select a Good Wife, that one that would be suitable as a help meet in this world. And I cried to the Lord for help. You know, I was specific in many of the things that I prayed for. And I'll tell you what I prayed for. I prayed for a woman that would fear the Lord, that was afraid to displease the Lord.
I prayed for a woman that would be given to hospitality. She would desire to have the Saints in the home.
And the home would be open to having God's people come in and to have meals together and so on. I prayed for a woman that would be a companion that would desire to walk in the truth of God all of her life.
All of her life, not just at the beginning, not just a good start, but all through life that she would be a companion that would love the truth and the love to be gathered to the Lords name and want to go on until the end.
I want to ask you, dear young man, this afternoon, have you been praying for a Good Wife if you know the Lord Jesus as Savior? Young people, there is nothing in all of the decisions of life, perhaps naturally speaking, that will most affect the turn out of your life in this scene as the girl that you marry.
But God says it is not good that the man should be alone. He makes full provision and gives instruction in connection with it. And I will just turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 and read a verse of scripture there, a couple of verses, and comment a little.
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Let's read verse 14, Second Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 14.
Be not, be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God, as God has said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them, and I will be their God.
And he and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be separate, saith the Lord. And touch not the unclean thing.
And I will receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, sayeth the Lord Almighty.
These are plain words, aren't they?
We don't like to hear them sometimes and as young people you might not want to read these things.
But you know, I'll repeat something Brother Gordon Hale used to say if there's a verse of Scripture or passage of Scripture that you don't like.
And that you don't want to read because it bothers your conscience, he said. You get down on your knees and you begin to read that portion of Scripture in the presence of God, and you submit to it. You learn it, you submit to it. Don't set it aside. Every word of God is pure and it's necessary. But it says here, be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
God is not going to make an exception for you.
God is not going to make an exception for you, dear friend.
When I was going to college.
Had a classmate.
I spoke to many of my classmates about the Lord. Thankfully, one of these men was brought up in a Christian home, but he wasn't a believer. His name was Dave Rialli.
And one day we spoke of the Lord's things and he felt the conviction of his loss and ruined condition. And it was later at night and we got down on our knees in that classroom and I prayed with him. He said he wanted to be saved. I prayed with him. And then I said, David, now you're going to have to pray and you're going to need to ask the Lord to cleanse you and to make you fit for his holy presence. And you know, we kneel down there for five or 10 minutes and he said, Robert, I just can't.
I can't do it.
I can't do it.
I said, David, what's the problem?
He said I've got a girlfriend.
And I don't know that she would appreciate that I just got saved. And so we walked out of that classroom and he wasn't saved. But you know the grace and kindness of our God.
That man got saved.
A few days later, God has a way of bending the knee and making us bend the knee.
And in grace and kindness, that man called me and he said, Robert, I got saved. I've accepted the Lord Jesus as my Savior.
Then he said something else. He said I called my girlfriend and I said to her, you know, Tina, I just got saved and I don't think it's right for me to continue to go out with you because I just got saved.
And that girl swore at him and did all kinds of things that he told me, some of what she did and said on the phone, and she slammed the phone down and he wept.
But you don't want to tell you this. He was faithful to the word of God. He said he knew that it says be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers, and we had spoken about that.
I want to tell you that his girlfriend got saved, she said. If that means so much to this man that he wouldn't go out with me, he wouldn't even keep company with me if I'm not saved, if I don't know the Lord Jesus as Savior, he must have something that I need.
And she got saved.
And they got married, have a nice little family and their teenagers now, but they live for the Lord. And dear young person, God is not going to make an exception for you.
His word is true, God is no respecter of persons, and if you find yourself in an unequal yoke, if you're keeping company with someone that you ought not to be keeping company with.
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It's not going to end up the way you thought it would end up. My own sister-in-law, my wife has a sister, her older sister and she married an unbeliever. They had three children and after the three children were perhaps teenagers, her husband left her or another woman. And she had a sorrowful, she had a sorrowful hard life of it because she wouldn't believe what God said. God said it is not good that the man should be alone, but he also said.
Be naughty, unequally yoked, together with unbelievers, all. Won't we just believe the word of God? I just like to encourage you, dear young person, that if you just pray to the Lord and ask for grace, seek grace from Himself. Tell him that you believe His word, that it is not good, that the man should be alone, and just pray and ask the Lord to provide for you. Then he will provide, and He will provide above what you could even ask or think, and you'll have a companion for life.
That loves the Lord and you can do perhaps what I do. I call on the cell phone sometimes and I'm traveling.
And I tell my wife a little bit of what I've been enjoying of the Lord's things, you know, and she said, well, have you thought of this and, or have you read the little booklet on such and such? Oh, I just enjoyed it. And she gives me another little treasure to enjoy. And we enjoy the things of Christ together. Oh, what a privilege it is. You talk to anyone here that's married and that has a happy marriage with a Christian girl and you'll know that they fear the things of God together. And it's a real joy of heart. I just want to encourage you to lay that cornerstone, that foundation in life.
And to seek the grace and help and the wisdom of God to lay it and don't reach out and take something that God didn't give you. You can't get away with stealing from God. Oh, he won't allow a blessing. You won't get something good. And I say he won't bless it. Well, the last cornerstone we want to look at is in First Thessalonians.
I think it's chapter 4.
First Thessalonians, chapter 4.
And verse 11.
And that you study to be quiet and to do your own business.
And to work with your own hands as we commanded you, that you may be walk honestly toward them that are without that you may have lack of nothing.
Well, there's another verse of Scripture. It's in Luke's gospel says occupy till I come, occupy till I come. And here he says to work with your own hands as we commanded you. And I say this, there's going to be a cornerstone laid in your life as to what type of work you take up. And oftentimes your parents will be able to help you and guide you as to that which you are particularly gifted in. And you can talk to them about it and they'll give you wise counsel.
And they'll they'll do they want your life to turn out well, but you know, the Lord Jesus who loves you knows what your abilities are. And it says in the in Romans, it says no man liveth unto himself. No man dies unto himself says this too. It says that.
The gifts and calling of God are without repentance. And so God has given you a natural gift, perhaps to be able to make a living in this world for His glory, for His honor, and for the blessing of yourself and for others. And so he says this, He gives this instruction. Do your own business to work with your own hands as we commanded you, that you may walk honestly toward them that are without, that you may have lack of nothing. Well, you know.
God wants to manage that part of your life too. He does. He's wise. He's perfectly wise and he knows the future. I'll give you a little example. In my own life, when I was a young man, it was, I was just afraid, you know, going to college and taking up a line of things I had seen in Toronto, where I, I was living at the time in my father's house. I'd seen many of the young people go off to university.
And very shortly afterwards they had very little heart for Christ.
You didn't see them at meetings too much anymore.
School took all their time and then they developed associations and friends in the school system and then the heart was gone, as it were, the heart for Christ. And you saw them maybe on the Lords day, but you know it says in Acts chapter 2 and I think of it often even now in verse 42.
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Is so that they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers and so learn early in life that those meetings are not optional, That we need to come to the prayer meeting. We need to learn how to pray. We need to be independence upon our God. We need the apostles doctrine and fellowship. We need to be taught the word of God and the apostles doctrine and we need the breaking of bread too. We need that remembrance.
But, you know, I saw those young people, they were going off and making, some of them graduated way before I did. And they were driving very nice vehicles and had very expensive homes, and from every outward appearance were profitable, were prosperous, but they had no heart for Christ. And that frightened me, you know, And so I got down on my knees. I knew that I didn't want to just be doing factory work the rest of my life, although that's an honorable profession.
And so I got down on my knees and I cried to the Lord, and I asked the Lord for help to be able to find some line of work, some line of education perhaps, that I would be able to use my hands and use my head at the same time. Then I got off my knees and.
Drove to the nearest Community College, Humber College of Applied Arts and Technology in Toronto, right across Highway 7.
And I got there and the counselor, the guidance counselor there, we, I interviewed with and he said, well, you know, I think there's one program that I could send you to, to apply for. It's an industrial design, furniture and product design, that sort of thing. And so I went, made an interview appointment with that man, Tim Stanley. And I sat down in his office and the very first words out of his mouth were these he said.
In this program will teach you how to use your head, but will also teach you how to use your hands.
You know God answers prayer. Dear young people, you don't know what the future lies, what lies ahead in the future. You don't know whether they'll be making computers in the future. My dad worked, he worked on the railway and they railway went into.
It just went into decline and pretty soon there wasn't any work for him and he had to change employment and go into another line of things. You can't look into the future, but God can look into the future.
And the Lord Jesus loves you, desire your blessing, He desires you that you would make a living for himself, for his honor and glory, and for your blessing too, and for the blessing of those that would be with you. Well, let's just turn to First Timothy chapter 5, and I'll just read.
Now let's read that chapter 2. I'm sorry, First Timothy, chapter 2 and verse 9.
In like manner also.
That women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shame, facedness, and sobriety, not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array, but which becometh women professing godliness with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. And then a little further on in chapter 5 and verse 14, I will therefore.
That the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.
Well, you know, I've just been Speaking of that cornerstone. A young man, perhaps as a young man, you're saved.
You've laid that first cornerstone. You've decided to walk with God, and you've laid a second cornerstone. You've decided that you're going to remember the Lord Jesus and his death.
At his table you have a heart for Christ, You're going to express that affection for Christ in a practical way, and you're going to announce to this world every week.
That the Lord Jesus died for you and you appreciate it.
Then you've perhaps you're considering that future step in your independence upon the Lord about laying that third cornerstone in life in connection with a wife. And then you have that exercise in connection with work, how to earn a living to the glory of God. You're going to lay that foundation shortly perhaps. But then the young lady, is there going to be a cornerstone laid to the glory of God? Is there going to be a desire young lady?
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Life, are you going to have a desire to walk in godly order and not, as it were, to compete with men in the workplace? But will you have a heart to stay in the home and to guide the home, to rule the home as it were, and to in love and affection, as the children come along to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? Will you take that responsibility? And while the world despises it?
And frowns upon those that call themselves housewives.
Would you have the courage to lay that cornerstone in the sight of God? And there Mary Bear children guide the house. Give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. Well, I just give these four cornerstones, these four, these little feeble illustrations. I just would encourage you to pray, to get down on your knees and to pray. Ask Lord for wisdom to lay those cornerstones. And I say.
Pick up the Word of God if you're one of those 75% that perhaps is out to have a good time. This my daughter said. And you haven't picked up the word of God even at this conference. Won't you just go to your room tonight and pray and just read something of the Word of God, Meditate upon something of what's being spoken in these meetings and seek by grace to lay some of those cornerstones and to begin to plow.
To take that field and to prepare it and to get rid of the brush and the stone and the rock, and to make it so that it's fit for a building that would be for the glory of God. Won't you do that? Oh, I just want to encourage you young people, if you lay those blocks, if you lay those foundations, you'll never be sorry. You might be.
Sorry if you don't, there might be those occasions in life that take place that will bring sorrow and remembrance if you don't all I just ask you just encourage you to get into the presence of God and each one of those four cornerstones.
Independence, ask the Lord for grace, help to lay them, and if there are those of us that are older that are going on with something that we ought not to be going on with, that we might by grace.
Exercise the nicest self judgment and give it up and the Lord will bring give us a blessing. Well, let's sing another hymn in closing 282. Someone start that for us please.
When is sweet hour of prayer?
1 Peter 2:4-10
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Communities.
Continue first Peter 2, verse 4.
Not much further.
First Peter chapter 2 and verse 4.
To whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God.
And precious ye also is lively stones are built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to OfferUp spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the Scripture. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone elect precious. And he that believeth on him shall not be confounded unto you therefore which believe he is precious, but unto them which be disobedient.
The stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation, the peculiar people that you should show forth the praises of Him who have called you out of darkness into His marvelous light, which in the time past were not a people.
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But are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy?
Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstained from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evil doers, they may, by your good works which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Submit yourselves to every ordinance of men for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the King is supreme, or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men as free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness, but as the servants of God honor all men love the brotherhood.
Fear God, honor the King, servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the forward. For this is thank worthy. If a man for conscience toward God, endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it if when you be buffeted for your faults, you shall take it patiently? But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
For even here unto where He called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth, Who when He was reviled, reviled not. Again, when He suffered, He threatened not, but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously, Who His own self bear our sins, and His own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins, should live under righteousness.
By whose stripes you were healed, For ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
Find in our guest book and he put down the reference first Peter 27 and he made a comment that the preciousness of an object defends on the value you put upon it and it looks like Peter put quite a value on the Lord Jesus and these precious things that he speaks of so we have it in the end of that fourth verse and the word occurs on through but.
He's putting a value on the Lord Jesus and the things that He's done for us. And unto you, therefore, which believe He is precious, it seems to assume. He seems to assume that He's precious to every believer, and well He ought to be. He saved us from this present evil world and saved us for glory. He's keeping us.
It's precious, insignificant that before he takes up the seventh verse unto you, therefore, which believe he is precious, he brings out the preciousness of the work and person of Christ to the heart of God. I say that because the verse we often quote in the first chapter, the 18th verse in connection with the blood of Christ, it says you were not redeemed with corruptible things of silver and gold, and then the 19th verse, but with the precious blood of Christ.
Now that's God's sense. That's God's value of the blood of Christ. Thank God it is because my salvation doesn't depend on my appreciation or my understanding of the work of Christ, but it does depend on the fact that God sees it as precious.
God sees that blood that was shed at Calvary cross as precious then as to the person of Christ. We have it in the end of the fourth verse precious and again confirmed in the middle of the sixth verse elect precious. This again is God's value of the person of Christ.
And then he says, having said, God, having given his estimation of the working person of Christ, he says, Now unto you therefore which believe he is precious, and the preciousness. Mr. Darby's translation, I think it's significant to notice the order here, because, brethren, the person and work of Christ will be precious to our souls in the measure in which we realize the preciousness of the work and person of Christ to the heart of God.
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Do we enter into what the person worth of Christ means to the heart of God? It's precious to the heart of God. He's precious to God the Father. The blood that was shed on Calories cross hasn't lost his preciousness to the heart of God. It's as precious and real to the heart of God as when it was shed on Calvary's cross. Now if you and I could enter into that more than he would be more precious to us. The blood would be more precious to our souls.
We would have a fresh and deep and precious appreciation of the preciousness of Christ in our own souls, and so often we think of what He means to us, and rather he ought to mean everything to us. Often we think even on Lords the morning. We think of what the work of Christ means to us, rather than ought to mean everything to us.
But I believe there's something deeper to enter in more what is going to produce praise and worship in our souls, To enter in more to what the person and worth of Christ is to the heart of God, that unconsciously he'll be more precious to our souls.
But that which was precious to God was disallowed of men. And it's interesting that what God esteems so often in this world circles is totally disallowed.
Oh, what a lesson that is for us.
I'd just like to suggest to brethren that it seems to me that Peter.
Comes from Matthew 16 and what he mentions here. Matthew 16 is where the Lord Jesus first mentions the church. In fact it's the only gospel that mentions the church is Matthews gospel and he speaks of himself as that rock upon which the church is going to be built because he wasn't building it at that time.
He says I will build my church on this rock, and the rock was the confession of himself.
As the Christ, the Son of the living God. Oh, what a rock to be to be settled on. And to come back to our verses of four. It starts there to whom?
Coming. How do you become a part of this building that the Lord Jesus calls my church?
To whom? Coming? Come to Jesus. You've got to do it individually. You've got to come and set your feet on that rock.
Oh, what a precious thing it is that it's so important that it be an individual matter with God. Not enough that your parents are believers. Not enough that others around you are believers.
But you have to come to Jesus as well.
To whom coming is that living rock? And then correspondingly in verse 5.
Ye also as living stones. Stones, naturally speaking, are not living, they're dead. So we were dead in trespasses and sins. But he's made us living stones for what purpose? To be built?
A spiritual house and holy priesthood to OfferUp spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. We have been chosen for this position.
To OfferUp spiritual sacrifices, brethren, I really have to confess for myself that I believe I do not praise the Lord sufficiently in my life.
It should flow. It should flow constantly. The praise of our God.
That's why He's chosen us, That's why He's put us in this spiritual house for His glory and praise. Do you and I take time to praise Him?
00:15:11
I don't understand why sometimes I see people in a breaking of bread meeting sitting.
While hymns are being sung with their mouths shut.
Is there no appreciation of the glory of this person?
I often think of the Lord Jesus when he was coming into the Jerusalem and what is called the Triumphal entry.
The Pharisees complained that there were so many children crying Hosanna.
And the Lord Jesus said if they should hold their peace.
The stones would immediately cry out.
God is going to have His Son praised, brethren.
If you and I do not do it, he's going to raise up others to do it.
Oh, may the Lord stir in us, brethren, the appreciation of the glory of His person and what He's done so that our hearts would just flow with His praise. How important that is in our lives. For that reason, we have been put in this position as holy priests.
And it's it's to offer up. The direction here is up.
Offer UPS.
The spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Christ Jesus.
Because of what you've said, it seems apparent that it's important. Is this a question of spiritual maturity and age?
Understand. Well, I've had an exercise in connection with. It seems to be.
Consistent in the fifth verse, it's holy priesthood.
In the ninth verse it's royal priesthood, and not until you get to the 4th chapter do you have if any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. And so first it seems.
That as fresh and new as a as a new believer he can OfferUp.
Spiritual offer of spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. And so then the development seems to be in the ninth verse, a royal priesthood. And then as I said, just to repeat myself in the 4th chapter, it says speak as the oracles of God.
And so how important to first see that, as the Lord said to the woman at the well, the Father seeketh such to worship him.
Scriptures this morning in the Sunday school in John four that you're mentioning. There it is. The water springs up because it's a question of worship, isn't it?
But in Chapter 7, there's rivers of water flowing out. It's horizontal, and that's what you have in verse 9.
As royal priests, we show forth the praises of him with call this out of darkness into his marvelous light. That's testimony, that's horizontal, that's out to others. It may be in the Gospel, it may to be to the Lords people too, but the water is flowing out first of all, because God always has his portion first. It's up. It's springing up into everlasting life worship.
That's first, and then it flows out in witness and testimony to others.
Two, I was thinking of the man who was healed in the third of Acts and immediately he rose up and he was walking and leaping and praising God. He didn't have an understanding of what had really happened. There wasn't maturity in divine things, but it was the natural reaction of having been brought into a place of blessing. Isn't it wonderful you've met a Christian, someone who's been recently converted, saved, and maybe there's a lot of things they don't understand about their blessings and what the Lord has for them and following the Lord.
But one thing they know, they're like the blind man. One thing I know I was blind. Now I see, and there's immediately praise and worship. But I just like to say too, in connection with what Bob said earlier, that praise has to do in Scripture with what is audible. Now praise ought to come from our hearts because the Lord wants more than just lip service. He said of those in his day. This generation draws nigh unto me with their mouth, and praise with me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
00:20:30
And so he doesn't just want something from the lips, but it does say two. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. And it's interesting that the psalmist said he hath put a new song, not in my heart, that's true, but a new song in my mouth. Even praise to our God, I create the fruit of the lips. And it's the sacrifice of praise to God continually that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. Whoso offereth praise, not silence, but praise glorifieth me. And Bob was mentioning about how sometimes when these good Christ exalting hymns are given out in the meeting.
You look around and there's some silent lips. I know some of us can sing better than others. Some can carry a tune better than others, but we sometimes sing that hymn. No heart, but of the Spirit taught makes melody to Thee. He wants to hear our voice. Maybe it isn't always perfect, but he wants to hear our voice, brethren.
The bridegroom said to the bride in the Song of Solomon. He said, Let me see thy countenance.
But he didn't stop there. Let me hear Thy voice. You know it's wonderful when He sees us at meeting. Wonderful. He wants to see our countenance. He wants to have our presence there, but doesn't end there. He wants to hear our voice. And brothers and sisters, you and I have the privilege of opening our mouths in praise and Thanksgiving when these hymns are given out. Brothers, you have the privilege of standing up and saying a little word of praise and Thanksgiving. Maybe it isn't always expressed perfectly.
Maybe it isn't always as eloquent as perhaps some others can express things.
But he wants to hear our voices. He wants us to praise. And so praise has to do.
While it comes from the heart, it has to do with what is audible. Let's learn to open our mouths, but not just in meeting, because the verse I quoted in Hebrew says continually. You know, I love it when I'm in a home and a sister's out in the kitchen peeling vegetables are getting the dinner on and I hear a little note of praise. She's humming or singing the words of some of some hymn. A brothers working around the yard and you're out there with them and you hear them humming or singing the words of some hymn. That's that note of praise continually.
Brethren, we have so much to be thankful. We don't just have a lot to be thankful for it. We have everything to be thankful for. We ought to be the singing as people on earth. We ought to be praising the Lord audibly every day of our lives.
Verse it's 114 you want to look at it, but the second verse much incense is ascending before the eternal throne. God graciously is bending to hear each table groan to all this is precious to all our prayers and praises. Christ adds his sweet perfume and love. The sensor raises those odors to consume.
All that.
Unlike the echo.
A comment that I remember Norman Berry making, and he was.
Older than I, venerable old brother, so don't look at me for any validity of it. Look at what he said. But I'll paraphrase it this way very often in morning meeting it's proper. We enjoy it one him, then somebody gives out a second him.
And may even give out a third him. But wouldn't it be?
And I hesitate to press it, but wouldn't it be wonderful if there were three prayers in a row? Like we enjoy 3 hymns in a row? And yet if it would happened, I for one would say that's unusual. Is that the way it should be? Well, we think we think properly. Like I say 123 hymns in a row, but all to think of somebody getting up and then another brother gets up and another brother gets up.
00:25:04
I think it would raise us to the heights of what God would have for that occasion of the remembrance of the Lord. Now brother Barry didn't say all of that, but but he I'm paraphrasing what he said how it has reached my heart and has reached my conscience and if I can reach the heart and conscience of those here. Don't take it as from me because you know each of us are are very feeble as an example, but all how important.
And another thing.
There are some that have been in fellowship for years, capable. We're thankful for them and they've never given thanks.
For the emblems never gone forward and given thanks for the loaf.
And given thanks for the cup.
Now I leave such individuals with the Lord and and you don't do it because somebody suggested that you do. But all to think of what it would mean for an assembly to have a brother that they had noted had never done that all the the elevation, the praise, the United thankfulness of that assembly to to know that there are those that.
Come forward and it doesn't require.
A depth of knowledge does it.
But it does require something of the heart expressing itself.
Testament A person had to be born into Aaron's family.
To be a priest in the New Testament belongs to everyone born into God's family.
Men and women, that's why our sisters sing as well. That's priestly activity, offering to God the sacrifice of praise. They do not lead in praise or in prayer, but they are present and they are part of of those who are worshipping together and praising together. But I'd like to say to our younger brethren, be exercised about praising the Lord.
Practice it at home.
Sing those hymns, those precious hymns. Make them a part of your hearts enjoyment. They're such beautiful hymns. We don't sing #150 very much, but it's a hymn that's almost entirely a worship Him. If you look at that hymn, it's not occupied hardly at all with the work of Christ. It's mainly with the person of Christ.
And that's worship. Oh, the blessedness of those hymns. Let them get into your soul. And then when you come to meetings.
The exercise that the Lord lays on your heart, a hymn. It's not a matter, like Stan says, of of maturity or of knowledge or of gift. It is a matter of being born into God's family, and it should be the exercise of every brother there.
To pray and to praise God in both those meetings, the prayer meeting and in the breaking of bread is where we exercise our priesthood, and it belongs to us all. Brethren, there should not be silent mouths in connection with this matter of praising our God.
Nine And he had not yet seen the Lord at that time, but when Jesus met him, I guess I don't know if he even knew who it was at the time. He says, Do you believe in the Son of God?
And he says, Who is he, Lord? That, That I finish it? That I might worship him anyway? He hadn't even seen the Lord yet.
And he didn't know who he was by sight, even though he'd received his sight. But he wanted, he was willing. Who is he, Lord, that I might worship him? Is that thank you?
So he was ready to worship the Lord.
As soon as he found out who he was.
This Are you a new believer, you might say, just exercising that desire to please the Lord?
Another illustration too is the 10 lepers and I can always just picture the sadness in the voice of the Lord Jesus when only one returned to give thanks and the Lord Jesus said were there not ten cleansed and where are the 9? Wouldn't the Lord Jesus have desired that all ten of those men returned to thank Him?
00:30:19
For what he, what had had been done in their lives. And brethren, when we think of what has been done in our lives, we've been brought from darkness and delight. We've been brought into a marvelous place of blessing. We ought to, again, we, as we've been saying we ought to be, have praise on our lips every moment of every day. But I would like to say this to parents, too. Bob has addressed young people, but I'd like to address parents for a moment. You know, I'm thankful that I grew up in a home.
Where we were taught to sing in the home, our parents taught us to sing, and in the evening we'd stand around the piano and sing a few hymns if somebody dropped in. If some brethren dropped in on Friday evening for a little visit, why, we always passed around the hymn books and sang. And I'm thankful for a wife, too, who when my children were younger and brethren, I didn't have the patience to do this. But thank God for a wife who in meeting when the children could read as soon as they could read.
She made them open the hymn book. They could draw during the reading meeting or whatever, have a little pad. But during the singing of hymns, my wife was exercised to open the hymn book in front of the child and to run her finger line by line as we sang to teach those children the importance of opening their mouths and singing. Brethren, we can't expect parents. We can't expect our young people all of a sudden at 12 or 13 years of age.
To decide it's time to start singing, we need to be exercised to teach them to sing in the home. You know, I'm saddened to find that the gathered Saints are not the singers we once were. We are not the singers we once were. And I believe we lose something. Brethren, if we would familiarize ourselves with these good scriptural hymns, we would find that they express truth, sometimes in a way that there's no better way to express something than has already been expressed in one of the good Christ exalting hymns.
That we have been given by brothers and sisters that wrote these hymns, penned these hymns, not by inspiration, of course, but no doubt guided by the Lord Jesus, by God and the Lord to put these things down in poetry for us. And we need to learn to value this heritage that we have. But I just want to say again to parents.
Let's teach our children in the home by example, to learn to sing, so that when that we come to the assembly there will be that suitable praise.
I'd rather Stan asked the original question about a holy priesthood and a royal priesthood. And if you look at the holy priesthood in verse four, it is talking about us. Ye also as lively or living stones. We are currently living stones, aren't we?
Our build up a spiritual house and a holy priesthood. Now stop and look back at chapter one and verse 15. But as he, he who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of life. When it comes to that word holy, that's sanctification.
We've been called out, haven't we? We've been set apart. And that is what the holy priesthood is. That is sanctification there stand when you get over into the other verse in verse 9, but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. This is what Brother was talking about, where Bob was talking about. We are all priests, aren't we? And that verse has four things in it there versus 9 and maybe part of 10 there. But it starts out with the chosen or elect. We're not part of Israel, are we? We are now all part of the true people of God.
And that's what it's speaking about there, the chosen generation, and it says a royal priesthood. That's because we are all priests. And when it gets to a holy nation that is a distinct nation, we are set apart, aren't we? And then when it gets to a peculiar people, that means his own private possession. We belong to him, we are his, a peculiar people. But we needed to look at the difference between a holy priesthood and a royal priesthood. One is sanctification and the other is showing us that we are all priests.
Like to bring out the.
Essential.
Foundation.
Of worship and praise.
Is life. That's the essential foundation that's being brought before us here. It's life.
00:35:04
In the previous chapter, he begins with verse 23 being born again.
And then in our chapter it's taken on to the Lord Jesus is presented before us as the living stone and then we become living stones. And as it says in verse 2, before that as newborn babes, the newborn babe has everything he needs to OfferUp spiritual sacrifices to God because he has life. And that's the essential thing that.
Is Peter is bringing out to them that they had everything they needed in order to offer that which was acceptable to God by Christ Jesus. Bob referred to Matthew 16. Thou art the Christ.
The Son of the living God God is brought out in connection with the church as the living God. God can't accept praise or worship. It doesn't come from that which is dead. It has to be something that is living. It has to be someone that is living. And when they are, where did they get the life?
They got it from God through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the word of God, by the power of the Spirit. But the source of it is God himself, the living God who brings man into a relationship with himself that he can, even as a newborn babe, OfferUp spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. I'd like to take a couple more minutes and get the, can I say the context of this chapter that Peter is bringing out.
Is really from Exodus chapter 19, and I believe we will understand what we have here a little more if we go back to Exodus 19 and see it. Peter was writing to Jews. He wasn't specifically writing to us who were Gentiles. And in fact he brings in the Gentile our country says to this, those to whom he was writing who were Jews of the dispersion who had put their trust in Christ.
And we're now part of the body of Christ. But he says your conversation before the Gentiles and what he's refers back to is Exodus chapter 19.
And verse one in the third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of Egypt.
And then it says, verse three. And Moses went up unto God, the Lord called him out of the mountain, and saying, Thus shalt thou say to the House of Jacob to tell the children of Israel, Verse 5 Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed, and keep my commandments. Now notice this is our chapter.
Pardon me.
My covenant. Now this is our chapter. Then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine. Ye shall be unto me a Kingdom of priests. That's our chapter, brethren. And in holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
That is what was being said to God's people at that time was if you're obedient to me, you will be to me a royal or a holy priesthood, a peculiar people.
Were they?
Were they? It's not specifically in our chapter talking about the difference between only the the Taos of Aaron could bring the offering of the sacrifices, but the whole nation had the privilege and the place to offer that to God, which was a pleasing to him.
But it was if it was based on man's responsibility to his offering to God in what he was in himself.
And the sad history of Israel and the history of every human being is there is nothing in the human heart, in the flesh which offers any praise or worship to God. Man is dead in trespasses and sins, and Israel proved it before God and they were not a holy peculiar people by behavior. And so it when it gets to later on in the prophets specifically.
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Micah, God had to say to them and he says it later. Peter refers to it a little bit later, alludes to it. He says you're not my people.
You're not my people.
There's nothing acceptable here for God. But God doesn't give up on man. And so he says he's the living God and he introduces Christ the living Stone who does a work that.
Now through life given by new birth, there can be to God.
A holy nation, that life is in its nature holy, and so it's a holy priesthood because they're those who have the life of Christ who can offer to God that which is pleasing to God and is acceptable by Christ Jesus. Without him there's nothing. And the sacrifice that is offered to God is that which brings before God.
What Christ is and has done in himself. And that's our sacrifice. Really. That's what our praise is centered in. That's what our worship flows from. It flows from the the new life overflowing with its object of Christ, which is offered to God as a sacrifice. I just want to make one more comment to get the thought. That's before Peter went to those to whom he was addressing.
He's saying ye, and in his case we properly include ourselves. But Peter's particular concern was really these who had put their trust in it in Christ became an remnant in Israel of Israelites who were now part of the church who were able to fulfill the desire of God that he had had in the Old Testament time. And he could look on and does look on here.
To that day, still future, when the royal priesthood of Christ.
Is seen manifested in the whole world.
And the whole nation of Israel comes into their place here as they too will satisfy the heart of God is a holy nation as a as holy priests and as royal priests as a whole nation and and will be able to manifest the royal priesthood of Christ. We act as royal priests.
When we display to this world.
His character in life, the.
The virtues of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Are displayed in us in our lives when we allow it and when we follow it. And the Lord Jesus, publicly and officially, will be seen in that way in His millennial glory.
But we now have that privilege to display before the world that character of life that will be seen, and it's more wonderful manifestation when all Israel and the Lord Jesus reign over the earth.
I'd like to add just a couple of thoughts in Hebrews 13.
Hebrews 13.
Verse 15.
By Him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. That's the praises that come from our lips.
That's our holy priesthood, I believe, But then we have the royal priesthood. But to do good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. So in in both cases, the priesthood is a giving, a giving of praise and a giving of substance for those in need. Is that right?
It is right. It is right. It's as it says.
In verse 9 ye should show forth the praises of Him who have called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. We give to the world in that sense when we present to it.
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Christ.
We present in our holy priesthood, we present Christ to God in our royal priesthood character. We present Christ to the world and we can present him. He went about doing good as an example. And so the display of the heart of Christ to the world can be seen in us when we, I don't want to say imitate because it's an expression of the same life, but when we do it, when we give to the world.
That which Christ gave to the world where we are serving in a royal priesthood character. So just to summarize it again, the offering of Christ to God is the is a holy is a holy priesthood service.
The presentation of Christ to the world is a royal priesthood service.
But if I don't have life, I can't present Christ to God. And if I don't have life, I can't present Christ to the world. That's essential. The life is the essential thing.
We have these two things combined in the first chapter of the Revelation, I think.
The end of verse five says unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and have made us king for a Kingdom of priests unto God and his Father. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.
Like to suggest the line of thought too that can be followed out. Maybe we don't have time to spend too much time, but the thought of the building here, the spiritual house.
It's interesting to look back in scripture and consider when buildings are mentioned first in the scripture. Or Noah built the ark. But besides that, the first building that's mentioned is the Tower of Babel in the 11Th chapter of Genesis, and the purpose of that tower is stated there. Let us make us a name.
Men likes to put up monuments and they make themselves a name. Sears Tower, Chicago Sears, that company has a name of the of the highest building in the United States. But that's what man strive for. And that ended in Babel in confusion. And it seems like even in Christian circles, men strive for honors.
For themselves even to be the most effectual preacher, the greatest orator, and they get a name for themselves.
When the Lord Jesus presented himself to the Jewish builders, he was that living stone. He did not come to glorify His own name, He came to glorify the name of His Father. And they said we don't have any place in our building for this stone, and they cast him out. Now God takes that stone that was cast out and he makes it the foundation of a completely new building.
And this new building, this spiritual house, is for the praise.
Of God, the living God. Oh brethren, to think that you and I are part of it. And to me it is so wonderful to consider that God uses stones. In the Tower of Babel, they baked themselves bricks. Bricks are always, generally speaking, the same size, same mold you want to belong to man's organizational structures you have to conform to.
Their mold and you can belong. But God doesn't use bricks, He is as stones. You'll never find one stone exactly like another, always different.
And to me, it is so wonderful to go from country to country and see all the stones that are being gathered in different kinds of stones from all strata of society, all nationalities, all colors. And yet he's fitting them into this building for his own praise. But it's far different than what man's building. And to me, brethren, it's a challenge.
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To my own soul, what I do for the Lord, what is it? What is the purpose in doing it? Is it to get a name for myself? If that's the purpose, it's going to end in Babel in confusion. And that happens off times we get focused in on. People thank God for gifts that God gives, but they're not to garner glory for themselves.
It's for the glory and praise of God, what He's doing in this world, the building that He is building for the praise of our God.
You say is a living stone in the Church of God. And I'd like to just go back to First Kings for a moment because I think you see it illustrated so very beautiful in the building of Solomons Temple or the temple under the direction of Solomon. And see some of the things that characterize the stones that were put into that building which have a spiritual application to the stones that we're Speaking of here. First Kings chapter 5.
And verse 17.
And the king commanded, and they brought. Now notice this great stones, costly stones, and hewn stones to lay the foundation of the house. First of all, these stones were great. As Bob said, every stone is a different shape and size.
And I have no doubt that in the building of the temple, there were different shapes and sizes of stones that were used, but every stone was great. No stone was insignificant in the building of the temple. And maybe there's someone here and you feel, well, I'm a pretty insignificant stone in the House of God. Don't think that for a moment you're just as great in the eyes of God or in the eyes of the Lord Jesus as this living stone that's sitting beside you. They were all referred to as great stones.
But then it says they were costly stones rather. Let's never forget the cost.
You and I are living stones in the Church of God. But there was a cost involved. The cost was that the Lord Jesus come into this world and give himself at Calvary Cross. He allowed wicked man to take him and to treat him so cruelly. He allowed them to nail him to a cross.
And not only that, but he bore our sins in his own body on the tree. He laid down his precious life and he shed his precious blood. That's the cost. You're a costly stone. And you know, you go to a Jewelers and there are stones displayed behind the glass on the counters and in the showcases. And all those stones have a different cost and value. But every living stone, he paid the same for every living stone. You're just as costly a stone as the next person.
The price that had to be paid for your salvation and blessing for you to be a living stone is the same cost that had to be paid for me to be a living stone, said They were costly, then they were hewn stones. That is it was the work of another.
Those stones had to be hewn out of the quarry and brought and placed in the in the temple. Those stones had no power to hew themselves out of those quarries. And so the psalmist said, He brought me up out also out of an horrible pit.
And so these stones, there was a work that went on, and aren't we thankful for that work of grace?
That work of grace in our souls, that imparted divine life to us, brought us out of that pit that we were in and placed us in that building. But now turn over to the 7th verse of the 6th chapter.
And the house when it was in building, was built of stone made ready before it was brought thither, so that there was neither hammer nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house while it was in building. That is, it was a silent work that went on as this house was. It was erected. And, brethren, there's a silent work that's going on in this world as one and another, by the grace of God, and a work of the Spirit.
Are being saved and placed as living stones. The world doesn't see it.
All the world sees its great edifices that Bob was talking about, and sometimes I've stopped and watched as builders have raised those great edifices, and it's something to see how they get those walls and whatever material they're using into place and so many stories up and so on. And you stand in awe. But there's a silent work that's going on that the world isn't aware of as the Spirit of God works and places one another in the House of God. But then I want to notice one other thing. It's in the 22nd verse of the 6th chapter.
00:55:30
And the whole house he overlaid with gold until he had finished the all the house. You know, when you looked at that building and its completion, you didn't see those stones. What you saw was the gold, that which speaks in so many, on so many occasions in Scripture of the righteousness of Christ. And brethren, isn't it wonderful that you and I as a living stone in the Church of God in this building that we've been Speaking of?
He looks down, he sees each stone, but what does he see? He sees us in Christ. We've been made the righteousness of God in him. What you saw when you looked at those buildings, that building was not the rough cut, chiseled stone that had been placed there. You saw that beautiful gold. God sees every one of us in Christ. That's the way we ought to see one another too. But I think it's so beautifully illustrated. And every one of us, this is every one of us, every child of God.
Is a living stone, and if the building is going to be completed, and when that building is completed the last stone is put in, then the Lord Jesus will come and take his church home.
How soon?
I hope this afternoon, thank you.
Similar, the boards were once getting their strength from the earth. They were cut down and they were covered with gold, and then they were placed on silver sockets. Redemption.
And all you could see was the gold. And we tend to think about the boards, but God looks at us as gold, not just wood underneath.
It's very practical, doesn't it? Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man.
It doesn't put us, it doesn't separate us from the responsibilities and earthly things, does it?
Wonderful to see the where it's already been alluded to, but what we have here in Peter is the same as in Ephesians chapter 2.
This is a work of God here. It's not building by human responsibility that we have in looking at the house in First Corinthians chapter 5, for example, but this chapter is corresponds to Ephesians chapter 2 and it says.
Verse 20 are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building.
Fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builded together for inhabitation of God through the Spirit. It's just wonderful to reflect on.
When you build a house for somebody to occupy.
Houses aren't generally built just for people to come and look at them, but they're built as a dwelling where someone is going to dwell, and God is pleased to build a spiritual house in which he himself will be pleased to dwell.
And you and I are going to be living parts of that house. We already are. We aren't going to be, but we already are living stones in that house, which is will be, as Jim said, when the church is complete, it will be perfectly finished as a habitation for God. And it is a.
Display of the glory of God's own person, that He would do such a thing. And so we will be forever of that which God has used to his own glory or His own glory. We are going to be that. And at the same time He gives us the privilege in eternal privilege now for us to forever as part of that house present to Him.
01:00:21
His beloved son and all the virtue of his person and of his work, but in contrast to that in our chapter as he goes on, that's our portion.
But we have the other side and it's a solemn side to it too. It says in verse eight and a stone of stumbling in a rock of offense even to them which stumble at the word being disobedient were unto also they were appointed. That is the Lord Jesus tests every man there is either that faith which accepts him and trusts him as Savior and becomes a living stone.
Or that same person, the Lord Jesus, which has been rejected by man when here.
He becomes the very one over which man himself, you might say, will stumble.
To his own loss, To his eternal loss, no man.
Can go into eternity without either being to the glory of God.
Or having.
Faced, if you will, the revelation of God, whatever it is, to his own soul, and in this case, the Lord Jesus Christ, and to those who are disobedient, it's an awful, awful end. The consequences are terrible for anybody who sits in this room among living stones.
Who is disobedient to the living Word of God and does not accept the Lord Jesus?
Just a couple of things lest we be there be confusion in our minds. It was mentioned at the beginning of the meeting the portion in Matthew on this rock I will build my church and the Lord Jesus has built his is built the I'm sorry, God is building his church on the Lord Jesus. That's the rock and Peter clarifies this in our chapter, but Don read the verse in Ephesians where the he builds upon the foundation which is the apostles and prophets.
Now you say, what is the coalition? Well, I believe it's just this, the the when he speaks of the apostles and prophets being the foundation, it is the foundation truths that they laid down by inspiration, particularly perhaps the Apostle Paul, but all the New Testament writers, they laid the foundation by giving us the truth concerning the Church of God. That's the foundation and nothing can change that. If the foundation be shaken, what can the righteous do?
But the foundation of God stands sure. Having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. And so.
That when he speaks about building on the foundation, it's the truth concerning the person and work of Christ that the apostles give the fruition, the unfolding of this precious truth of which the Lord Jesus sowed the seeds in Matthews Gospel. Interesting that Matthews Gospel is the gospel that's most Jewish in its character and yet it's the only gospel where he gives us twice in anticipation the truth concerning the church. The other thing I'd like to say is that.
In both Ephesians 2 and in our chapter here in the King James that talks about the chief.
Cornerstone. Mr. Darby leaves the word chief out in both portions, and I believe rightly so. If Bob was talking about the cornerstones in our lives, four cornerstones and very, very good presentation. And when we talk about this building, it's not that there are more than one cornerstone and a chief 1A chief. Something gives the thought that there are others, but it's the thought that the Lord Jesus is the cornerstone.
The cornerstone on this rock I will build my church. There is one cornerstone that the Lord that he builds his church on, and that's himself, the Lord Jesus. Yes, there's the foundation, the apostles and prophets, but he is not just the chief cornerstone, He is the cornerstone. Is that right, Don?
Him with what in chapter one?
Umm, verse 23 Being born again, not of corruptible seeds, but of the incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever.
01:05:00
That Word of God is that we hold in our hands as a revelation.
Is the growth given to us by the apostles and prophets? And so the apostles and prophets are those that were given of God that we have in the New Testament part of the Word. And it's on that foundation which in itself is part of the living Word of God.
That is the foundation on which the work is done, and it has to be on Christ, who is the living stone.
He was dead.
But He is alive forevermore, and as alive forevermore in His person. We have that one and only on which this word is used to bring life.
It's an incorruptible seed that was established for us through the human instruments that recorded it, inspired of God. It is beautiful to know that this morning.
The emblems we saw the smitten stone didn't we? That was that was nice to see. We have saw a smitten stone there and here we see the cornerstone in connection with the church. If you look at the stone of stumbling in a rock of offense at Christ first.
Coming he was A to the Jews, a stumbling stone in a rock of offense, wasn't he?
But it doesn't stop there. Christ is going to return a second time to the nation of Israel, and in Zachariah four and seven, it says that He will be the headstone of the corner. So He will again be a stone again only to that nation of Israel in His second coming. And then to the Gentile power it says that he is a stone that is cut without hands.
And that's found in Daniel. And so we see that in his second coming, when he sets up his Kingdom, he will again still remain as a stone, won't he? He'll remain as a stone to Israel in one sense, in the way that it tells us in Zechariah, the heads on other corner and under the Gentile powers, he will be one that is a smiting stone, a stone cut without hands.
Lord Jesus is the foundation, isn't He? It says in First Corinthians 3.
No other foundation can no man lay than that is laid which is Jesus Christ.
But it's called this foundation of the apostles and prophets because it's the apostles and New Testament prophets that laid out the teaching as to the person of the Lord Jesus upon which we are grounded, if we are real believers in the Lord Jesus. But I'd like to suggest another thought in connection with the cornerstone and that it is the reference point for everything in that building.
They used to set a large stone in the corner from where they were going to build, and how long is that building going to be, how wide, how high? All the measurements were made from that stone. That was the point of reference, and I think that's important to consider. Brethren, in assembly meetings, what is the point of reference? It's not what I think.
It's not what such and such brethren feel or believe.
It's Christ. It must be the reference point in everything in connection with this building. He is the cornerstone.
And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The Lord Jesus said, And I think rather than that's a great comfort, isn't it? The great edifices of this world come and go. The Twin towers came down on 9/11. I've had opportunity to, to tour some of the ruins of Europe and those great castles and buildings that were built. And some of it is still standing, but those they're in, they're in ruin. But the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And you know, sometimes we use an expression and I know what we mean when we use this expression.
But sometimes we say the church is in ruin. But brethren, that needs explanation because if we unequivocally say the church is in ruin, we're saying that God has failed, that the Lord Jesus has failed. It's the testimony that is in ruin because man has failed in his responsibility to, for instance, endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace and so on. So it's the testimony that's in ruin, but it's really not the church that is in ruin because that is in His hand.
01:10:16
And he is going to bring it to fruition. He's going to present it to himself. A glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
Now take me, I say, Amen. But in connection with part of what you said, First Corinthians 11/26 very plainly says, For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lords death.
Till he come.
Telecom.
That is going to continue until he comes on a scriptural ground. He wouldn't say till he come if he wasn't going to provide a scriptural ground on which to do it. Right now the exercise from my heart is Lord, keep me and my prayer for you is to be kept because it says you do show the Lord's death till he comes.
Encouragement.
I Salvation.
Progressing.
Gospel 2
Gospel—Phil Jennings
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Welcome all to the Gospel meeting this evening.
We trust that maybe there's some folks in from the neighborhood, maybe you've been invited by a friend or a relative, and we heartily welcome you to the gospel meeting. Maybe there's a child here.
Here today, if you've never been here before.
We want you to know how happy we are if you're here.
Not only are we happy.
God is happy.
God is so happy that you've come to the Gospel meeting to listen.
To the story of his love.
For lost sinners, not only his love, but the remedy that he has provided, in order for you, a lost Sinner, to be brought.
Into his home to ensure to share his company.
His fellowship for all eternity.
Well, I'd like to start this gospel meeting with a.
A hymn for the children.
Let's sing #42.
Some brothers start that please.
Child loves.
One of the sing that song just to give.
Your children, a sense of what God has done for you. You know, it would be a shame if we stood up here and we preached a message that couldn't be understood by children, but we don't, we don't preach a message that's difficult to understand.
We preach a message. That's simple. We preach a message about one person.
One person who has done our work that has satisfied God in connection with your sins. All you've got to do is know that one person in order to spend eternity with with God, with Christ.
And so, dear children, as we preach the gospel.
Tonight, we want you to realize that God's offer of salvation is extended.
To you, He holds the gift of eternal life out in his hand. To you children, let's sing.
Number six.
00:05:05
Was stronger than.
The glory I am Smiggle.
To the great thing you like.
Oh Lord, everyone of our grace shine, and from the same good for the Spanish.
Let's turn tonight. I want to turn to.
A verse and Job.
Chapter 25.
This verse asks a question.
And thankfully we can say.
When there's a question in Scripture, there's also an answer in Scripture.
God doesn't leave us with questions.
He allows questions so that there can be an answer.
And here we have a man whose name was Bill Dad.
And in verse four of Job 25 says how then can a man be justified with God?
I believe as the Spirit leads us through the book, the chapters that we're going to take up, I believe it will be abundantly clear how God answers that question. We won't answer it right now. We'll leave it to be answered a little bit later.
But I would say there is an answer.
And the answer.
Is a good one.
Let's turn to another scripture that I had on my heart.
Before we.
Go to the book I want to open.
John, Chapter 3.
I want to read from verse 33.
This might seem to be a little bit difficult of a verse to understand, especially for the children, but maybe as we go along maybe the Lord will help us to understand what this verse means. It says he that hath received his testimony has set to his seal that God.
00:10:11
Is true.
Let's turn to Romans chapter one.
It's my desire this evening to share the truth of the Gospel.
And I don't know of a better book to turn to when it comes to learning.
The truth of the Gospel.
God chose the Apostle Paul as a special servant.
He gave the Apostle Paul an understanding of the truth of the gospel.
And in Romans, the apostle Paul set that truth out plainly and simply for our blessing.
And so this evening, I don't know how far we'll get in Romans Trust. As the Spirit leads, there might be blessing because this book is a book that can lead souls into tremendous blessing.
We talked about Paul having been a chosen servant separated unto the gospel of God.
I'm going to go to verse 3 concerning his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh.
What is the Gospel of God?
Let's just break it down a little bit so that there's not any misunderstanding. Gospel means good news or glad tidings.
And dear friends.
God has good news for you tonight.
This wonderful news.
He has news can change your life.
Actually, it's news that will give you a new life.
It'll actually take care of the old life that you have.
That old sinful nature. The good news takes care of that.
And it gives you a new life.
But that news, that good news that God has for each individual in this room, you can each take it personally because, because God is offering it once again to you tonight.
That news is centered around one person, God's well beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, if it were not for God's Son.
There would be no good news.
Because of man's need. As we'll get into this chapter, we'll find that man had a serious need.
He needed someone who would step in and take his judgment.
And that someone was chosen to be God's well beloved Son.
So all blessing, dear friends, that God has for this earth.
Flows through one person.
Gods well beloved son, there is no blessing that will come to you apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Is that simple enough, children? Is that simple enough to understand that if you're going to get saved tonight, you're going to get saved through that blessed Lord Jesus Christ, God's well beloved Son, it can't be any simpler.
But it also can't be any more complicated.
You know, I believe God loves to be simple.
He loves you so much.
He provided a way for you to come in to blessing. He provided a way for your sins to be properly dealt with.
And in such a way.
That you would only have to believe. You would only have to put your trust in one who took your place in judgment.
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Well, we're going to get those those thoughts as we go through this chapter.
But it's beautiful.
Most of you children know the most favorite verse in the Bible, John 316, don't you?
Most of you know that verse by heart, and you know what the middle word in that verse is.
Its son.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish.
But have everlasting life there in that verse, which has brought blessing to so many boys and girls and older ones too, is found in the very center of that verse.
Son.
Verse four and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness.
By the resurrection from the dead.
I'm not going to pull any wool over anybody's eyes.
Too many dear brethren in this room who know this scripture better than I do.
And so I'm not sure that I know it exactly the way the Spirit of God intended it for it to be understood.
But I know that the that the resurrection.
That the cross and the resurrection from the dead.
Was the most powerful display of God's power.
There at the resurrection.
Sin.
Was defeated.
That was defeated.
The world.
That was it, which was an opposition to God was defeated.
And Satan was defeated.
Yes.
The cross is part of that.
But if the Lord Jesus hadn't risen from the grave, there wouldn't be any salvation.
Sin, death, Satan would have overcome him.
If he hadn't risen from the grave.
So I like to think of the resurrection.
As the greatest display of God's power, this world is ever known.
I stand to be corrected. I'll happily be corrected.
I just want to read part of verse 5. By whom we have received grace and apostleship for the obedience.
To the faith among all nations, for his name's sake.
Dear child.
Older one.
The gospel goes forth.
Tonight it's gone forth for 2000 years.
And it always says the same thing.
Obedience to the faith.
If you're going to come into blessing today.
Because of the value of the death of Christ, it's going to be because you were obedient.
To the face.
God commands all men.
Everywhere.
To repent.
This isn't an option.
God's not bargaining.
He's not. He's not letting you choose just which way you can get to heaven.
No, he.
Sat before you.
His son.
In the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And you're going to come into blessing.
By obeying.
That message?
That he has to offer.
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Well.
I just want to share verse 11 with you. It's been a comfort. It's been an encouragement to my soul.
For I long to see you.
That I may impart unto you some spiritual gift to the end, you may be established.
The Apostle Paul had a desire to come to the Romans. He had a love for them.
He desired their blessing and he wanted their growth, and he knew without without an understanding of the gospel, they would never really be established.
And so he thought.
I'd love to go to Rome and I can use my Apostolic power to possibly convey a gift that will help them to be established. But God had greater ideas.
He didn't allow him to go to Rome. Instead he wrote this book.
Instead, he wrote the book of Romans, which outlines clearly.
The truths and the value of the Gospel in the work of Christ.
Why? So that tonight you and I could be in the enjoyment.
Of all of the value of the work of Christ.
That we could understand why he gave up his life and what God did there at the cross.
We know he did two things.
The Lord Jesus died.
Under the penalty.
Of our sins.
And he also.
Died was condemned.
For sin.
God took care of the penalty of our sins at the cross.
God also took care of the power of sin at the cross.
I don't expect your children to understand that.
But that's what God wanted us to understand as to the value of the work of Christ. It didn't just save me from the flames of hell.
It delivered me from the power of sin.
Because they're at the cross the Lord Jesus bore.
In his body.
The penalty.
Of sin.
That was death, by the way.
Let's turn to.
Verse 16.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.
For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believeth.
To the Jew 1St and also.
To the Greek.
The Apostle Paul.
Had it instilled in his soul?
What the Gospel truly meant.
To God.
You know, those of us are here in this room her too often.
Of the story of creation where God spoke and this universe came into existence. But an awesome display of the power of God.
But you know what?
God was powerless.
To forgive your sins, He was powerless to bring you into his home in your with your sins upon you. He did not have the power to do that except that there be a remedy for them, except there be a just payment.
For your sins that he demanded, His Holiness and His righteousness abandoned.
A payment.
There was a requirement for sin to be forgiven.
There had to be bloodshed, it had to be a life given in order for God.
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To be able to wipe away, wipe your slate clean and bring you.
And the fellowship with himself.
It could create the world, but he couldn't just say, I just won't remember your sins anymore.
There was a need.
For a ransom to be paid.
And that's why the gospel is so powerful. The gospel consists, if we return to 1St Corinthians 15 of three things I received of the Lord. Also that which I have let me just read that.
How that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures?
And that he was buried and he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, that is basically.
The Gospel.
In a nutshell.
And that was necessary in order for God to have this, to be able to extend this offer that we're extending this this evening to anyone in this room who is lost. So.
The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone.
Everyone who believe it.
God doesn't kill favoritism.
For God so loved the world.
That he gave his only begotten Son.
And so it doesn't matter whether you're due, it doesn't matter whether you're Greek, doesn't matter whether you're.
Intelligent, educated, or whether.
You're not so intelligent or not so educated. God loves you.
And he wants to spend eternity with you. He wants you in his home for all eternity. Dear friend, I don't see how you can't take that personally.
And I trust that you will.
Well.
Not going to be able to spend a whole lot of time going through the darker side of this chapter that we have here. But you know what? I just want you to know that God is light. God doesn't brush over sin. He doesn't brush over a man's condition. No, He brings it out into the light and he exposes everything that is in opposition to himself. He exposes everything that displeases him.
And so we have here in this chapter.
The condition of man brought out.
And it's not very pleasant. Let's just read a little bit. We don't want to skip over verse 17 though. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written. The just shall live by faith.
The principle.
On which God will.
Bring man into a righteous standing before himself.
Is on the principle.
Of faith.
This is in contrast with what the law presented to man. The law was it was the principle of works, and if you were able to keep the law as God required you as he spelled it out.
You would gain righteousness on the ground of your own works.
But not so with the gospel.
There are no works in connection with the gospel. There was a work.
There was a work.
That work has been completed, and that work was the cross. That work was where God righteously dealt with sin.
And the blessing that flows from the cross.
Is received on the principle of faith. What is faith?
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I like to think about what caused man all the problems in the 1St place. They're in the Garden of Eden.
Adam and Eve really just decided that they were not going to believe God.
They would be happier if they didn't believe God, and we know that. We know the consequences of that decision. They dishonored God terribly, and they suck A.
Whole race of which you and I are part.
And to sin and separation from God.
God remedied that through the death of His Son, the Lord Jesus.
And now he says if you're going to come into the blessing.
That I have for you through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. You're going to come into that blessing on the same principle that you left my blessing. You're going to have to turn around to the spot where you got off.
You're going to have to believe me again.
You're going to have to take my word and you're going to have to believe it. That is what will honor and glorify me. I've provided the work for you. I've done everything that was necessary for my righteousness, My righteousness to be fully met.
The cross of Christ. Those were God's righteousness against sin.
Was completely met.
And now, dear friend, if you're going to come into the blessing of it.
You're going to have to come in on the same principle that you went out in the beginning. You're going to have to believe God.
And that's the reason why I read that verse in John's Gospel.
He that receiveth my testimony has said to his seal.
That God is true.
God is true.
Do you believe it?
Do you believe God is true? Do you believe that when God says I've provided a ransom?
For your need.
I have. I have provided the price at the cost of my only son, pouring out my judgment upon him.
I'm satisfied with that work, and all you have to do is put your trust in your faith in Him.
And you can be saved.
He that receiveth his testimony.
Has set to his seal, but God is true.
Dear friends, it's not hard. There could not be a simpler message.
In comparison with all the messages that are out there and man's, satan's, man made religions, not one compares.
With the message of the gospel.
Every other one puts men through all sorts of contortions that he's not able.
To meet in order to hopefully find some favor with a God he doesn't know and maybe doesn't know who doesn't want to know him.
But not so with God.
God loves you.
God sent his Son, God provided the price that your sins.
Demanded.
Now we turn to a darker side.
Of the story of man's God's dealings with man.
You know God is faithful.
He doesn't overlook sin.
And he's also righteous. He is able to judge situations.
With perfect divine light, he's able to see.
Write down exactly what is wrong with the situation.
And so it says for the wrath in verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness, because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, For God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.
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Even as eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
Because that when they knew God. I'm going to read that again.
Because that when they knew God.
They glorified him not as God.
That became neither were thankful, That became vain in their imagination, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.
And it goes on.
Here is a picture.
Of God revealing himself.
Making himself known.
The invisible things of God are clearly seen.
That means you understand who God is.
I would like to use an illustration and pardon me for using it because it's a personal illustration.
But I think it helps to.
Understand. Maybe help us to understand this passage.
What this passage is saying is God is seen in creation. God is even though he is invisible, he is clearly seen by the things that are made.
I spend my 8 hours a day at work making a lot of sawdust. I'm a I'm a Carpenter and build some cabinets and I work for a school district and so I'll be oftentimes.
Given a job to do, I'm supposed to go and I'm supposed to build a cabinet for a certain need in the district. And I go there and I begin to work with the the customer, the teacher, the principal, and I put together a design, hopefully it it is suitable to their needs. Go back to the shop, order material, begin fabricating it, put it together.
Go back to the school.
Hanging on the wall.
And let's say it's made out of a certain type of pretty wood.
I don't pretend to.
Say that it's done the way a real Craftsman would do it, but oftentimes, because of the nature of the wood that's used, oftentimes there's an appreciation for it.
Let's say I hang that cabin on the wall and I walk away and I go back to the shop and someone comes into that room and says.
Boy, that's a nice cabinet. Wonder how many millions of years it took to build that for that to form.
Wonder how many? Wonder how many millions of years it took for that to to to make itself?
But you say that's that's foolish. Obviously we know that if there's a cabinet on the wall, first of all, it had a designer, had a builder, had a maker and had an installer.
And that's just a feeble illustration.
Of what man is doing to God.
God has built.
The universe.
It may not be considered infinite to him.
But it's far beyond our ability to even appreciate.
And man.
Knowing full well.
That there's a creator because of the evidence.
That he's left behind turns away from that knowledge.
And says I want nothing to do with him.
I don't want a relationship with him. I see his handiwork but I'm just going to act.
As though he doesn't exist. God doesn't appreciate being treated like that, dear friend.
And if you're treating him like that, there's only one thing he can do.
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Eventually.
You will be banished from his presence for all eternity, we can say.
That this kind of treatment from man to God is something that makes him very angry.
We, I think we see it, we see evidence of this, of this, of this wrath on display at times in man's history. Maybe we could look back to the flood and we could see God destroying almost everything that he had created.
Don't you think that that was an expression of God's wrath?
His indignation for being treated.
So awfully.
Creatures.
Don't we remember that when God made Adam and Eve, he put him in a garden?
Of delight.
And then he went.
He walked with him in the cool of the day. He had fellowship with him.
And then when man sin.
Adam and Eve sinned.
Didn't God provide a remedy so that God could still walk with man?
Although he couldn't walk with him in the garden.
Yes, he did. He provided a remedy at the cost.
Of a life.
That's what he thinks of you and me. God was willing to substitute to provide a substitute.
Through one of his creatures, so that he could go on in fellowship with those who had been disobedient to Him.
God loves you, He loves me, and the ultimate price we know was the cross Calvary where the Lord Jesus gave up his life so that he could bring you and I.
Into eternal blessing.
What are you going to do?
With what God has done.
Are you going to say?
I don't care.
Are you going to turn your back?
On the price which he paid to bring you back into fellowship with himself.
You know those offerings in the Old Testament?
They weren't really of much value except to appease God for a short time.
Because they were a picture of the supreme sacrifice that God's Son was going to pay in order to satisfy God as to the sin question.
Now God has his ransom.
He has the payment which his righteousness.
Required for sin.
What are you going to do with it?
Are you going to set? Are you going to receive his testimony and set to set his sealed it God is true.
Are you going to receive it? You know that's fate. That's simple. That's simply what faith is.
It's receiving what God is offering. It's saying.
Yes, this is what I need.
So that I can be brought into blessing for all eternity.
Well, we have in this, this picture, this chapter, here we have those.
Who in their callous indifference towards God and His love?
So dishonor him.
They would rather worship.
One of God's creatures.
Rather than.
Their creator.
That's the that's the, that's the depravity of the heart of man.
Doesn't get much worse.
God being substituted.
For a bird.
4 footed beast.
Creeping things.
How dishonoring to God and so.
There is.
A penalty for that?
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And dear friends, if you go on rejecting the light and you have the, you have more than what we have in this chapter. In this chapter, we have the knowledge of a creator.
Seen through creation.
And the judgment that falls upon those may not receive that witness.
You have more.
You have the cross of Calvary.
The ultimate price that God was willing to pay.
The price for turning away from the light that was given to these heathen people was a reprobate mind.
A reprobate mind, I think, is one that loses its ability to judge that which is right and that which is wrong.
You know, that's a wonderful thing that God has given each one of us.
I believe it comes through the conscience.
And as the conscience is instructed by the word of God, it grows.
But when you turn away from the light.
You're left with darkness.
And there are many in this world.
Who are going on in the sins of this chapter?
And they don't think it's wrong.
They flaunted.
Because.
They've fallen under God's judgment.
God's taken away their ability.
To discern.
Right, simple, right and wrong.
We better get to answering the question.
If we were to carry on on into the next chapter, we would find that God takes up the question of those who may not be heathen.
They may be morally upright, and they may pretend that they can judge.
They can. They can be a judge.
To others.
They find God very quickly comes in.
And tells them.
That he's the judge, and as he judges, those who think they're morally upright.
He finds that there is guilty.
As the others.
And then God gets angry.
Why?
Because.
They hardened their hearts.
They despise the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering, and knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.
Reminds me of Cain.
Who?
Offered the wrong kind of sacrifice.
God and his grace says don't worry.
There's a there's the right kind of sacrifice. Go get it.
And offer it to me and I'll receive it.
Cain wouldn't have it. He wouldn't have the goodness of God that would lead him to repentance.
Then we have the Jew presented to us.
Who is the one who has the most privilege before God?
God took up a group of people on this earth, he said. He gave them every opportunity.
To bring forth fruit to him by their own power and their own will.
And he gave them the law, and he gave them privilege.
He gave them a knowledge of himself.
He gave them his presence.
And what did they do with it?
The end of all the privilege, the end of all the blessing and the love that God showed to that nation.
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Was the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ?
That.
Is the ultimate.
Act of man's.
Ruined fallen nature and wicked heart.
Man said at the cross, I don't want God, I don't want his Son.
I don't want.
His light.
And I don't want his love.
So man under such privileges that you becomes the most guilty.
And most responsible.
For that awful deed.
And so.
We're going to pass on to Romans chapter 3.
Verse 19 says, And now we know that whatsoever what things soever the law saith, it saith to them that were under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
You say, why is he bringing the world in here?
Thought we were talking about those who were under the law. I thought we were talking about those who had special privilege.
Well, they did have special privilege.
They were the segment of the human race that God chose out.
They were the sample batch that God tested to see whether their human race was capable of bringing it forth any fruit to Him.
And so when that sample batch.
Cast out the Lord Jesus.
God said the whole world's guilty.
There's not one single solitary soul in this world who can produce any fruit.
For me, there's not one single solitary soul in this world who can approach me by his own merit and receive.
Any favor from a holy God?
All of us, all of us are guilty. We're all guilty.
You know it took 4000 years for God to go through the process.
Of proving to man that he was absolutely worthless. You know, God is so patient. He's so patient. Here he was 4000 years. He knew full well that there wasn't a single solitary good thing in in the heart of man. He knew that he was ruined, he had a sinful nature and that there wasn't going to be any fruit for God that would come.
From man.
But he had to show man that.
He had to prove to you and I that we are fallen.
And that we are incurably fallen and that there is no hope for you and I.
And he was willing.
To test man for 4000 years.
He does things so thorough.
And at the end of those 4000 years, he says, OK, now I'm going to take everything, everything that has gone before.
And I'm just going to get rid of it.
Every effort that man has ever.
Exerted towards God proved to be a failure the law.
The Prophets.
They're all going to stand and they're going to witness.
I'm going to back up a little, verse 20 says.
It answers part of the question in Job 25. Part of the question.
There's really two parts to that question. Can a man be just justified?
Before God.
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Verse 20 says therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. So there's your answer.
There's your answer. No flesh. No flesh justified in God's sight.
Because of the condition of man's heart, he has not a chance to be justified. Justification is to be brought into a relationship with God in which God sees no guilt.
He sees no sin.
Upon the individual.
He looks at that individual. Not only does he say I can't find anything.
To pass judgment on that soul.
And I never will.
I never will find anything.
To pass judgment. There's no guilt there. Now I know there's there's those here who can explain it better, and that's good.
But man in the flesh.
Couldn't be brought.
Into a standing before a holy God and where God could say I can't find anything.
To condemn in that soul.
Because there was everything to condemn a natural man, Because all he was good for was sin. All man was good for was rebellion against God, enmity towards God.
Self will all we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned everyone to our own way.
It's the condition of man in the flesh.
And there's no justification.
Of such a man.
But.
God wants to justify the Sinner.
He wants to bring you and he wants and he has brought me into a relationship before himself in which he looks at me and he finds nothing to condemn whatsoever.
He finds nothing that I'm guilty of.
He looks at my slate. He says it's perfectly clean. There's not one single record of anything that this person has ever done.
Displeased me.
Is that the record?
That I created.
Is that the record that you created? Can you present to God a slate that is perfectly clean?
And we always will be.
No.
This is the record that God creates.
Therefore, excuse me verses 21.
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifest, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. You know I love this verse.
Because it has to do with going back into history.
And it sets the law up, and it sets the time of the prophets up. The prophets were to bring the people to the law. The law was to bring people to God. None of that worked. Law couldn't bring people to God, and the prophets couldn't bring people to the law because they were dealing with ball and man.
But now those two things are set up.
Before.
The way in which God has revealed His righteousness.
In the Lord Jesus Christ.
They're set up there to witness. They're set up there, as it were. Look.
At what Christ has done to the Sinner.
We couldn't do it. We were powerless.
We were just holy, good. We were God's servants who were given.
The responsibility to try to corral.
The wicked heart of man.
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But we couldn't do it.
But now there's been one sacrifice which has been made to the glory of God.
One sacrifice that has.
Satisfied a holy God for all eternity. And it's that sacrifice.
Which justifies the center.
A holy and a righteous God.
Can take you.
Once.
A worthless, rebellious.
Sinner who loved to sin.
And your your slate was, as my slate was, absolutely full of things that had brought offense to a holy God.
But now because of the work of Christ and faith in that work.
For were justified by faith and because of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Because we're justified by his blood.
God can answer the question.
Can any man be justified?
Before God, the answer is yes.
The answer is God is offering it.
And tonight?
You can be justified.
Before God on the principle of faith.
Faith is believing God.
He that receiveth his testimony has set to his seal.
That God.
Is true.
Maybe you might say, I don't understand why God could place so much value on the work of Christ. That's not the question. It's not the question what you think of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The question is, what does God think of it?
God is satisfied. God has been glorified.
God is well pleased.
1 Peter 2:11-25
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First Peter chapter 2 and verse 11. Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evil doers, they may by your good works.
Which they shall behold. Glorify God in the day of visitation. Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king is supreme, or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men, as free, and not using your liberty for a cloak of maliciousness.
But as the servants of God, honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king, servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the forward. For this is thank worthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what is it? What glory is it, if when ye be buffeted for your faults, you shall take it patiently?
But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even here unto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps, who did no sin.
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Neither was guile found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously, Who his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness. By whose stripes you were healed, For ye were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
That is so different from most of the rest of the world.
And Christians now have the attitude, Christians just about everywhere have the attitude that we're to get involved in the politics and voting and military and all these things that I belong to the world.
It says in verse 13, verse 11 First, dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, they have to remember that we don't belong here. We're not of the world. We belong to another world altogether. The Lord Jesus said if he were of the world, My servants would fight, but my Kingdom is not of this world. My servants would fight if it were. He belongs to another scene. He never.
He never was engaged with trying to set things right down here.
There's many other many instances in that. I'll just turn to one. In Acts chapter five, he was Peter, same wrong, same author of the of the epistle we're looking at.
It says in a second Acts 5.
Verse 25 Then came one, and told them, saying, Behold the men whom ye put in prison.
Are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Then went the captain with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people as they should be stoned. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying, Did not we straightly command you that ye should not teach in this name? And behold thee have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring.
This man's blood upon us. Now notice Peter's response. Then Peter and the other apostles. The other apostles with Peter answered and said we ought to obey God rather than men.
The authorities that we're to be subject to, as it says in verse 13 of our chapter, submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lords sake, whether it be to the King of Supreme and so on, as long as they do not.
Invade our territory. We're not of this world. We're here to present Christ to those that don't know Him and if the authorities command us or tell us.
To do that we have to obey God rather than men. It's our responsibility to God goes beyond that to men. Otherwise we should submit to the authorities as long as it doesn't infringe upon what the Lord has called us to where pilgrims and strangers here and we might say to someone that was trying to stop us. I remember stopping on the street one day with my PA system going.
And I was, I was preaching to the those in that neighborhood. And the policeman came along and said stop that. And.
I said, just a minute, I'm not quite through. And I kept going. And he said, I said stop it. And he was quite angry. He had been called by some of the neighborhood to tell me to stop. Well, I did stop at that time. But these are illustrations there are even in our country.
It's getting to the point where to pass out Christian literature or to preach the gospel is is going to even be more and more difficult now. A country like like Cuba, they stopped the brethren from meeting together.
00:10:19
I don't know what I would do. It is a difficult thing. We have to pray for them, but we ought to obey God rather than men. And where two or three are gathered together into my name, there am I in the midst of them. And that's what that's what we ought to do. We ought to gather around himself. If that brings persecution to us, so, so be it. We're strangers and pilgrims here. And the the attitude of most American.
Christians, I've said this. I said the real Christians, I find a lot of them in the nursing home where Laverne is, they're real Christians. Say there's, I'd say about 80 to 90% of the Americans who are real good. I'm talking about real believers. They really don't understand what Christianity is all about.
They really don't. They think that we're down here to set the world right. We know we can't do that. We're down here to vote the right man in and all that. The right, I always say. They ask me if I voted. I say yes, I voted once and my man's in and I'm waiting for him to come out. Now that's a good answer. That's a Christian position. But to vote, who are you going to vote for? They're all on some politician.
Well, to mix politics and all that kind of thing with true Christianity, it's not being done any longer, is it? Go ahead. You were going to interrupt me. I just wanted to make a comment that we, we have a Lord to please, don't we?
That's greater than what man has set up.
Really the spirit of the age, the spirit of really the children of Israel was reflects the flesh and that is that they wouldn't submit they wouldn't submit to the government of God. Even I was thinking of enjoyed myself and Jeremiah chapter 41 you know it says that I'll just read it in verse 16. Jeremiah 41 Then took Johann in the son of Korea and all the captains of the forces that were with him, all the remnant of the people.
Whom he had recovered from Ishmael, the son of Nathan Ayah from Mispa, after he had slain, get Eliyah the son of a high come even mighty men of war. And the women and children and the eunuchs whom he had brought again from Gibeon. And they departed and dwelt in the habitation of Chim Ham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt because of the Chaldeans. For they were afraid of them. And so they didn't want to submit. You know, the city of Jerusalem had been taken and.
In chapter 39 of Jeremiah and the Chaldeans, had the Babylonians had set up a king or had set up a governor in that city, and now there was a Gentile power, the Gentiles. The time of the Gentiles had begun and the Jews were going to have to submit to the Gentile power. And they didn't like to be the tale. They wanted to be the head and they wouldn't submit. They wouldn't submit. And there was, they were characterized as a nation of rebellion and insurrection.
But now Peter speaks to them and he says, you know, there's a little interval now, the Lord.
Has gone up into the glory. We're waiting for him, as it were, and we're strangers and pilgrims and there's going to be judgment come in second, Peter. It goes over that and says there's going to be an end of all this and the Lord Jesus will reign over all. But he says in the meantime, while we wait in the wilderness scene, the characteristic of the believer ought to be submission. We live in a world not characterized by submission. It's characterized by rebellion.
Subordination, civil disobedience. But the believer, as he walks through this scene and is characterized by the very life of Christ, he submits to the Gentile power and to the power, the authorities that are ordained of God, and he walks in quietness and obedience and submission. And he reflects the life of Christ during this interval just before the Lord Jesus is to come. And so as we read this, we see that he's instructing them in that way.
That they would not identify themselves with the character of the nation in rebellion, but with Christ himself.
00:15:06
Significance was here.
He didn't say anything about disobeying. He says we ought to obey a higher authority, but to obey God rather than men. So it might seem to them as though we're disobeying their rules. We are obeying a higher authority.
To a higher court. And that's why when they tried to stop the apostles from preaching in the Acts, they appealed to a higher authority because they had had a Commission from the Lord himself to go into all the world and preach the gospel. And no lower court, if I can put it that way, no lower authority could undermine what had been given to them by the Lord himself. But I want to just before we pass on notice this expression we began with.
Strangers and pilgrims turn to Hebrews. It's the other Hebrews. 11 is the other time when you get this expression, and I think we ought not to pass over it.
He's talking about the patriarchs here, and in verse 13 of Hebrews 11, he says these all died in faith, not having received the promises, but they but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country, and truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly. Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared for them a city. It's interesting that this expression is not pilgrims and strangers, but strangers and pilgrims.
God doesn't just list things haphazardly. There's a reason why on both occasions he put strangers before pilgrims because a stranger is one who doesn't belong. And brethren, the first thing we need to realize is has been brought out in these meetings previous. We do not belong to this world. We are a heavenly people. The only thing that connects us with this world is the fact that we're still here physically in this world.
But you and I are a heavenly people. Our citizenship, our Commonwealth is in heaven from whence we wait for the sake look for the Savior. And so the first thing we need to realize is that we are strangers here. We don't belong.
And if we can get a hold of that in our souls, it will give us the character of a Pilgrim or a sojourner, because a Pilgrim or a sojourner is one who's just passing through. Now, let me illustrate it this way as a Canadian citizen, when I stand at an immigration desk, a US immigration desk.
The first question they asked me is what's your citizenship? And I tell them I'm a Canadian. I'm immediately recognized as a stranger. And the next question they ask is how long are you going to be in the United States? Because recognizing that I'm a stranger here, they also recognize that I'm just passing through. And they want me to realize that I'm not welcome to live here under those conditions. I'm only welcome to travel through.
For a certain period of time. And so again, brethren, we need to realize first of all that we're strangers. We don't belong.
And if we realize that, it's going to give us the proper character of those who are just passing through. What would you think if I came into the United States as a Canadian citizen and tried to show up at a polling station on Election Day? Why they laugh at me. They say, why? You have no right. What if I tried to run for political office or even got involved in some of the lobbying and the wranglings of the United States of America and all those kinds of things? Why they run me out of the country. They say you have no business.
You're a Canadian citizen. But suppose I take up, I decide to take up Canadian American citizenship and I apply and I get the proper papers and in due process I become an American citizen. Well, when I show up at the immigration desk now and they see I'm an American citizen coming into the States, they don't ask me how long I'm going to stay because I'm a citizen now. I have the right to live here. And brethren, why is it so often we settle down?
In this world, and we become involved in things that we ought not to become involved in. I say again, it's because we don't realize that we're strangers. We've lost the sense of our heavenly citizenship and we lose the sense of being a Pilgrim.
00:20:04
Is the same word as foreigners. It's really the same thought. And so a foreigner, like you say, has no right in the politics of a particular country he may be passing through. I think it's good to realize, brethren, the reason why there has been such a swing in Christians to participate in politics is because of a very fundamental change in teaching.
Christian doctrine, sometimes it's been mentioned that it's what is called covenant theology. And in covenant theology, no distinction is made between Israel and the church. They will say that Israel in the Old Testament was the church in the in the New Testament, the church is Israel. And so as you go back to the Old Testament and see faithful men of God like Daniel and like Joseph, they were involved in high positions in.
In government, but it's under dispensational teaching that we distinguish that Israel was an earthly people connected with this world and very involved in what happened in warfare and all that went with it. But when we come to the New Testament, we find that the church is a heavenly people. And we down here, even though I carry an American passport.
Still, I am a citizen of another country, and as acting as a Christian, I pass through, I respect the laws of the land, and I submit myself. But there are times, as Chuck has pointed out, that there may be when the authorities demand something from me that I cannot obey in my submission to the higher authority, which is God. And that's where we have to.
Say we must obey God rather than men. And I agree with what's been said and I think I want to emphasize it, that the Christians position is always submission, never rebellion to authority. Daniels three friends were commended by the highest authority in the Babylonian authority to bow down to that image.
A higher authority had said.
Thou shalt not make any image. Thou shalt not bow down to it. And so they submitted to the higher authority and they took the consequences. They got thrown into the fiery furnace, and God came in and delivered them. But I think that's where we have to be clear in our position as we pass through this world. It's always one of submission, the idea of civil disobedience.
Is not scriptural. Thank God for the liberties we enjoy in this country. But let's keep clear before us our position as strangers and pilgrims. I really believe it's important to see many Christians today are doing what is consistent with the teaching they're getting and covenant theology in getting involved in politics. But it's not the right teaching. That's the point that we need to understand.
And that's not true Christianity. No, I'm just to read a couple verses in Deuteronomy 20. This is to Israel. Now when thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and see his horses and Chariots, and the people more than thou, be not afraid of them. For the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. How many Americans believe that the Lord is with?
Our soldiers.
And not the others.
That's, that's, that's a denial of Christianity. We're not here to kill anyone, unless of course, it's it's, it's it's really, it's a really under misunderstanding of the Bible, isn't it? It's this covenant theology that would say, well, there it is. It says the Lord says he'd be with them. But that's, that's a different dispensation and dispensational truth.
Is being rejected by people like that. And if you don't understand it, you'll miss apply scripture. Bill Prost has written a good little pamphlet. It's just available out there reading. And I think it's it's something that we need to be aware of because we get asked these questions and when they say when we say we don't get involved in politics, they really look down at us and we need to know why we don't get involved in politics. There is a reason why.
00:25:11
There is a very clear reason why. So you young people be clear in that, in your own soul. It's important. But we had in our in the open meeting, we had those passages where he says we are not of the world now. If we're not of this world, we we're not.
To set aside God's authority in order to obey man's authority.
And that connection you mentioned, how we have another country, we're of another world. And the portion I read earlier in the book of Hebrews, the reason that they confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims is because they had another world in view. They looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker was God. They looked for another country. That's why they didn't return to the country that they'd been called out of. They could have, but they looked for another country, a better country.
And brethren, I believe if we lose sight of the fact that we're on our way home to glory, we have a better country, we have a better calling and hope before us than just the betterment of things down here.
But the great difficulty is that the enemy has been successful in undermining the truth of the Lord's coming.
The truth and it's mixed with the rapture. The truth of the rapture has been mixed with the truth of the Lord's appearing and all this kind of thing.
And we lose sight of the fact that we're heading for a better country, brethren, perhaps this morning we're going to exchange this world, being physically in this world for that country where our citizenship is. I'm looking forward to getting on a flight tomorrow and flying back to Canada. Why? Because that's where my home is, that I'm a citizen of Canada. And that's where my wife and family is. And I'm looking forward to it. You say, why do you want to leave the States? Haven't you been comfortable here? We have been comfortable here. We've enjoyed this happy weekend.
But I'm a foreigner in the States. I'm just using that as an illustration. And brethren, and we could just realize that we're foreigners here. Thank God we have many mercies. Thank God we have liberty to meet here today without fear of harassment from the government. We've enjoyed many temporal mercies during this weekend, and we don't want to despise those mercies. But brethren, let's be careful that those things don't cloud the fact that we are looking for a better country.
What we've been seeing here is a passage that Peter has laid down a truth right before he changed his topic. In verse 13 he changes his topic and the topic is about the believers responsibility to other people.
And that topic continues all the way through chapter 4 before he changes his topic in chapter 5. The topic, the theme that the epistle is written about, is about the sufferings of Christians and the sufferings that we will go through while we are here on this scene here below.
And when he's going to show us a responsibility to other people, he wants to lay down the truth that we have the higher authorities that our brothers have been talking about. He wants to lay down the truth that we are from another world, not from here, and that we have another home. And there is one that is above the responsibility that we have to other peoples here on this earth. And if you turn over to chapter 4 where I read, I finished with verse 11.
Read the words in verse 12 together in chapter 4, verse 12. Beloved, think it not strange concerning fiery trials when it has come to tempt numbers to test you as though some strange thing happened unto you. He is saying we are all in the same boat. I'm a fisherman and I like to use examples of fishing and we are all in the same boat. Don't think it's strange when it happens to you. You're not going to say, Oh my Lord, why did this apartment see it happened? Nobody else.
Because I want to tell you there is elders and other ones that have gone through as many fiery trials have you had and I've had and there's going to be a lot more and we're going to go through them. And there's no strange thing. We're all in that same boat. So let's get it straight. We've got one that is higher, one that is above US1 That knows our our affirmities. And his teachings in this little epistle is about the sufferings. And he's trying to lay down this truth right before he switches the topic to our responsibility, other people to let us know.
That going into this other topic, we have one that is above all others and He is there for us through the sufferings. That's why he touches on little topics before he goes into the vicarious sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. And verse 21 Through the end of the chapter, it is about the Lord that suffered first. How else can we be taught if we cannot look at the sufferings of Christ first before He talks to us about our sufferings individually?
00:30:23
We have to remember that in those times, governments were Pagan. We live in a country where Christian principles has had a large influence and thankfully we have a lot of liberty in this country. But when there's Pagan governments, Sunday was not a special day to them and it's not in Muslim countries today either. So to meet on the Lord's Day.
They'd have to do it at night when they were free and so there comes times when there's going to be suffering, let's say.
Reality in the world that we live suffering and even Christ as you were mentioning.
Suffered for us, leaving us an example. We're going to have to suffer, brethren, This world is not our home. This place is under the power of the enemy. Satan is the God and Prince of this world and we're not going to go through unscathed. We're going to have to suffer. But I think it is really beautiful to see this question of submission. It runs through the epistle submission to.
Every ordinance of man, for the Lord's sake, even the Lord Jesus, showed that submission.
Was it just that Pilate condemned him to death? Absolutely. The worst travesty of justice that was ever committed.
Did he submit to that? Yes, he did. He did not open his mouth in his own defense.
What an example for us, brethren, and the blessing that resulted from him submitting.
Committing himself to him that judges righteously.
Things are going to happen in our lives that are not right. Are we going to be able to take it? That's the question. And if we submit and commit ourselves to him that judges righteously, the blessing is going to be tremendous, brethren. But just notice in a brief way, I'd like to mention it, brethren, in chapter three he goes on, he says verse one. Likewise, ye wives, being subjection to your own husbands.
There's the question of submission, verse 5. After this manner, in the old times, the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves being in subjection to their own husbands. There's God-given authority in the home sphere. Then towards the end of that chapter it speaks of the Lord Jesus and the end of verse 21.
Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God.
Angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. Not wonderful to realize that the Lord Jesus is there at God's right hand and behind the scenes He is there in every authority is subject to Him.
Then you go over to the fifth chapter and the talking about those who are elders in the assembly sphere, and he says to in verse 5. Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yeah, all of you be subject 1 to another. Have that spirit of submission to the authority that God has said in whatever sphere it may be.
I think it is beautiful to see it in this epistle.
Verse 11, where we started the 1St 2 words are dearly beloved. Those two words introduced the.
Exhortations of this letter prior to this verse we have in the first chapter up until chapter 2 and verse 10 we have the teaching that Peter is giving us and to connect it with what we had yesterday. Going back to chapter one and verse three, it says blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy have begotten us again unto a living.
00:35:02
Hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We were by the working of God.
Brought from the position that we had previously been in into a living relationship through, as we had yesterday, the working of the Word of God to produce new life in US and to the living stone, the Lord Jesus and ourselves being brought as living stones into that spiritual house.
The picture that Peter is presenting to us in the first chapter and up until this point.
In the Old Testament view of it is takes us from the Passover. We have in chapter one the precious blood that is shed and it takes the Passover and applies it. And then we have in picture form in Peter when he's bringing the stage, if you will, setting the picture for us. He brings us through the Red Sea and in the Red Sea we have the enemies.
Conquered, we have a deliverer who has delivered us from the power.
Of Satan, the world and the flesh. And the consequence then brings us into the wilderness.
With a bright and blessed, great and precious promises are given to us, as they were to Israel when it left Egypt and started on its journey to the land of promise. And Peter's epistle is the earthly side of truth, in contrast to Paul's which take up the heavenly side. And in Peter we see ourselves taking that journey to.
Enjoy and enter into the land of our promises. And so we're we're on the way.
And what we have now in the exhortations.
Is those things which we need to know and need to act on in order to make it safely across the desert to the land of our promise. One of the chief things we have to have is the what we see in this epistle concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. In all 5 chapters his sufferings are brought before us, and in this chapter later down in Mr. Darby's translation, he set before us as a model.
Or in King James it says example. The Lord Jesus is presented to us here as the perfect model for the path that we have to take. When the Lord Jesus came into this world, it was a desert to his soul, but he passed through it as a man.
And in Luke's gospel particularly, we see the Lord Jesus taking the journey.
That we're on now because of this being born again. We enter into that journey and the Lord Jesus is presented to us, particularly in Luke as the perfect model for the pathway through the journey. He didn't enter into Adams world or was in was in the world then, but he he didn't enter into the condition of things in which Adam was founded in innocence, but the Lord Jesus entered into a condition of things where sin reigns.
And where Satan had his power and he walked as a man should walk through it to the other end of such a journey. And the Lord Jesus, and I want to emphasize this, brethren, because we spent a lot of time talking about, and not wrongly so, submission.
But the bigger picture of it and Peter is this.
God makes us take this journey.
In his governmental ways with us. And the greatest point of submission for all of us is first and foremost submission to the government of God in our own personal lives. And all these examples that are given to us are based upon that as an underlying truth. Do I submit to government? Yes, but I submit to the higher authority even in that, and that is to God's authority.
Every chapter has to do with suffering and there was suffering for the children of Israel and just to take a moment to see the picture of it and connect it with the Lord Jesus. If you go back to Numbers chapter 14, I believe it is before they started on this, really got into the journey through the wilderness. They went up into the land of promise and they were there 40 days.
00:40:21
And they came back.
And the purposes of God, His desire for them was to go right into the land. And if you go to Hebrews 11 and you see the examples of faith given in the life of Moses, the desert, the wilderness, Peters epistle is totally missing with respect to Moses. They had the Passover and they enter in immediately in what's given there into Canaan.
But.
The spies went up and they were up there 40 days and they got a taste of the land. They got to see it, they got to see the promises of it, they got to enjoy it. Every one of us who belonged to the Lord Jesus here this morning have a taste of the land.
Some more, some less.
But then they went back, and in Caleb and Joshua's case, there was faith to interim immediately, but for the rest, there was a working still of unbelief in their hearts. And the Lord said to them, for every day that you got to see the land, you're going to spend a year in the wilderness.
And many of us are in our lives, in fact, all of us in some measure, I believe in our lives, have to pass through the wilderness experience.
That we might practically learn the truths instead of just saying, well, let's get right into the land. We are in the world, we're in the wilderness and we're in the land altogether really. But in the picture that Peter gives us, we're, we're in the wilderness part of the journey. And brethren, all of us in one sense or another are having to learn the government of God in our lives.
And we are learning the wilderness experience, even though we enjoy.
The land to take what's said here in this 11Th and 12Th verses, there's two things brought out initially and immediately. The 1St is what is it? It says in verse 11, abstain from freshly lost which war against the salt. All of us are going to leave this building sometime today. And the number one difficulty in the wilderness experience is not going to be government. It's not going to be our neighbor. It's not going to be our brethren.
It's going to be the right inside us.
We're going to walk out of this room with flesh in US, and it's the greatest enemy of our souls in the wilderness path through which we have to experience.
But the model, the example, the perfect pattern even in that we might say, well, the Lord Jesus, he didn't have the flesh in him, so he didn't have that.
Not that's not the point, brethren. The perfect example is to go back to the manna we need every day, and that is the Lord Jesus as that man passing through this world. He's the he's the manna. He's the food we have. Are you tempted? Yes, you're going to be. If not, when you leave this building, what is the answer to it? You go back to Luke's Gospel, chapter 4 and you read the temptations through which the Lord passed yesterday. We were talking about the Word of God.
In all three temptations, what did he use?
It is written. It is written. He's the perfect example of what is necessary to pass through temptation.
Just much more that could be said, but just this one more point and stop to give room for others and that is.
How can you ever deal with temptation?
Say this.
The foundation Peter's given you. You have the life of Christ.
And Satan has no entry point to that life.
And if I am walking in that life by the power of the Spirit, there is no point of entrance.
00:45:04
By Satan to draw one out of that path and to have a point to get at. It's the flesh, it's the old man, it's that which was to put aside. It is not understanding the truth of deliverance is given in Romans and so on that are hindrances. They're hindrances, yes, they're things to learn, yes, but the Lord Jesus is the perfect pattern and God says you have that life.
You have what you need to resist.
That old flesh that wars against the soul. And so we have to feed on the Lord as that manna. We have to just Brother Armstead Barry, Many, many years ago I was in a meeting like this when I was the same age as the young people that were here. And I was flabbergasted really, but appreciated. Ever since there was an old man. He'd been on the journey for 60 or 70 years in faith. And he said, brethren, I read the Gospels every day.
I read in the gospels every day.
I thought, oh, he'd be in Malachi or Micah or some fine point of Ezekiel at that point in his life. But no. Every one of us, whether we're 5 or 50 or 95, we have to have the man up.
And when he got into the Gospels, he was particularly feeding on the manna. You need whatever your age. I need that word, living word for my soul today. That is that which will preserve me from first of all, what's without, which is what's? What's was within which is given 1St, and then that which is without the conversation among the Gentiles.
I have to say this.
I'm going to get into trouble by saying it, but I have to say it. Kids were playing in the they were in the car and they said that daddy.
What we're supposed to do, what you tell us to do, Right. We're supposed to obey you, right? Yes. Yes.
Well.
Answer me this. I have trouble with this. That sign at the side of the road says 60 miles an hour.
And your speedometer reads 70.
Aren't you supposed to do what that sign says?
Answer the question.
Guilty.
It's a rhetorical question. The answer is obvious.
We're all sinners.
Never you never need a radar if you were more attentive to the speedometer. I recently retook because I'm older my exam for extension of my drivers license and I just I came to one point below what one more point against me and then she wouldn't have given me my driver's license and one of the reasons was because.
When I came to a stop sign I didn't stop completely and one time I was having my car fixed.
Is supposed to stop completely. By the way, I know a brother. He just coasts through the intersection. He never stops unless there's traffic. Anyway, I was sitting outside waiting for my car to get fixed and I said I'm going to look at this intersection and there were police cars and all kinds of not just regular cars, they would just come to the corner and then keep going.
Are you guilty?
Sure, we're guilty of doing those things so.
I, when I leave the nursing home, I, I don't even look at the car speedometer and I'm traveling and it's 70 miles an hour. And right away I, I reduce it and go down to 55, which is where I'm supposed to be. But I didn't do that on purpose. I just wasn't aware of how fast I was going. But there's, there's a lot of things of that nature.
In our lives and we are examples to our children.
And how? How are we doing?
Earlier during our meeting, the brother.
Read a short passage and prayed about some that are falling away. And in our teachings here today and in what we just got done here in a little bit ago is that we remain steadfast.
00:50:07
Steadfast through the times of suffering and through our scene here below through a journey remaining steadfast for our Lord.
And that is what is taught by Peter in the epistle, that we remain steadfast, but we have to have one thing.
That we can look unto. We have to have in view. And that is the hope that lies ahead. We have to be able to look at a resurrected.
Savior, a resurrected Redeemer, one that has purchased this and rose from the grave. And we have a hope that lies ahead, don't we? An eternal hope that maintains us and helps us to sustain through this journey. Here below, we have to be able to look up.
Faith always has an option and a hope before it, and in Hebrews Chapter 11 again we find that those who gave up present advantage, even to the point of suffering in various ways, did it because they had something better in view. When the children of Israel were very shortly in the wilderness, they began to murmur and complain because they looked at the present circumstance and they looked back toward Egypt. Thank God they never got back there. In their hearts they returned into Egypt.
But thank God, positionally, they never got back. But you and I, if we return into Egypt in our hearts, we're going to settle down. We're going to get discouraged. And what was the remedy in the 15th chapter of Exodus? Well, the Lord told Moses to tell the people to turn around. They were looking in the wrong direction. And when they turned around and looked out over the wilderness, what did they see? They saw the glory of the Lord in the cloud. And with that, before their souls, they could press on.
And brethren, if we lose sight of, as Bill said, of what is ahead, if we lose sight of the glory, we're going to get discouraged in this wilderness world. If we only look at present circumstances, we're going to murmur and complain. But the difficulty is, and I'm afraid there's a great deal of teaching afoot today, even in Christian circles, that would teach us to settle down here and look for ease and comfort and better things down here.
When Paul wrote to Timothy, he said all day that will live godly in Christ, Jesus shall suffer persecution. I just want to say a word about persecution. It's not that we go out and look for opportunities to suffer.
But in the measure in which you and I walk as strangers and pilgrims and in the heavenly character of a believer, and reflects something of Christ in our life, there will be plenty of opportunities to suffer. But you say, well, I've never had to suffer the way Paul did. Paul said in every city, bonds and afflictions. You say, I've never had to suffer like that. I've never had to suffer the way some of our brethren are suffering this very day.
In other countries. But could I just suggest that in the measure in which you and I.
Live for Christ and walk us heavenly citizens. There are two ways we will suffer. We may suffer physically. Many of our brethren even today, as I say, are suffering physically for their testimony for Christ. But if we're not called on to suffer physically, brethren, we will suffer in the measure of reproach.
Because this world still hates Christ. There's still a reproach connected with following not a popular Christ. Brethren, the heart of this world, and don't fool yourself with all the culture of this world, the heart of this world has not changed toward Christ. If Christ came back today in loneliness and grace the way He came the first time, they'd nail him to a cross again if they could. Thank God He isn't coming back in that way. He'll come back.
In power and glory, wearing many diadems and assert his rights. But the heart of this world toward the person of Christ has not changed. And the heart of this world toward a Christian who lives godly, you'll find hasn't changed. Either you will suffer, or maybe they won't take you in North America and throw you in prison. Maybe they won't beat you up or stone you or rough you up on the street for preaching the gospel or giving out a gospel track. But there will be a reproach. You'll feel a reproach connected with it. Now, brethren.
00:55:02
As a heavenly people, are we looking for acceptance in this world? The servant is not greater than his Lord.
If they've hated me, they will hate you also. They are not of this world, even as I am not of this world.
But are we trying to fit in, brethren? Are we trying to just slip through without the reproach and persecution, suffering that is promised to a true godly Christian? And that Christ suffered and left us an example. He left us an example that we should follow in his steps. And what's that example? That if we walk through this world in the proper character of a believer, of a follower of Christ, we are going to suffer no less than he did.
Like to connect the will of God with what we're talking about in chapter one and it's verse three, it says the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who have begotten us again unto a living hope. There's five who are kept by the power of God through faith. Those things we enjoy that we are called of God to a living hope that we are.
Kept by God to take us all the way safely to the end of the journey. But it's important in the matter of suffering to also recognize that it is also according to the will of God. Notice our chapter and it says in verse 13, I'm just going to get praises out of the verses. You can see where I'm at for the Lord's sake.
Verse 15 It is the will of God.
Verse 19 for conscience toward God.
Verse 21 For Christ also suffered.
The point, brethren, is that it is according to the governmental ways of God for our good, and all things are working for our good, that there be suffering.
In his ways with us, the Lord Jesus as a man suffered and he suffered according to the will of God. He suffered as a righteous man in an unrighteous world and a lot of the suffering in Peter is connected with that. Righteousness suffers today and consequently. And God also sees when there's a needs be due to unbelief in our hearts, that he brings suffering into our lives to teach us something that is good.
So while I may accept, if you will, suffering from fellow man.
But when I get sick, do I say thanks Lord?
It's according to the will of God that I do so if I see difficulty and it comes into the life of one of my children and their suffering connected with it.
Do I say it's according to the will of God and accept it in his hand?
Many of the greater trials of life are not from with situations from the world and without as much as that is there.
And as much as the world hates Christ, he also the world hates Christ displayed in US.
But the pattern is the Lord Jesus own life and how he dealt with suffering that he experienced personally.
And there's one more thing just to emphasize connected with it. When Peter's exhorting, he's he says brother and love one another, love one another with a pure heart, fervently one of the great helps we can be to one another.
In the journey through the wilderness is an unfeigned love for each other is a heart that goes out to one another and says, brother, we're on the journey together and I know you're suffering and my heart goes out to you. And Peter emphasizes that he he wants and the Lord Jesus valued it.
And showed it.
The disciples that he took the journey with in the last 3 1/2 years of his life, He valued their love as we can, as as it was, and they were lavished every day of their life with his love for them as they took. If you will, ye are they which have continued with me, he says to them. And if there's any one thing we can be to be a help to one another as we together.
01:00:16
You know you can't.
Thinking of it earlier, we talked about separations and all those things. Imagine if some of the children of Israel said, well, we'll go off and finish the journey by ourselves.
Yeah, that doesn't work.
That doesn't work. We need to stay together, to take the journey together and to show the love in a practical sense, one to the other that the Lord showed as part of our help to to take us to the end.
You mentioned it's Luke 2228, and I believe that it's emphasized to see what the new translation says, though I'm saying that from memory, ye are they which have persevered with me. Just think not, not just continued. You could say, well, they just kind of lagged behind, but ye are they which have persevered with me in my temptations.
What a statement from the blessed Lord.
Epistle to James James Road count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations chapter one verse two. He did not pen the words counted all joy if you fall into divers temptations. Did he have various trials that we have that goes back to the same thought about we're all in the same boat. Don't think it's strange and I know that the topics there are trials and different things, but here we have a passage, don't we, that we are all going to pass through.
Sufferings. But we have that beautiful hope that lies ahead of us to guide us through these sufferings on this scene here below.
I'd like to mention one first.
In the fourth chapter of Peter, First Peter.
13th verse.
But rejoice in as much as ye are partakers of Christ suffering.
That when His glory shall be revealed, he may be glad also with exceeding joy.
There's another thread that you might look at through this chapter. It's.
Good works. Notice that, brethren, in verse 12.
Whereas they speak against you as evil doers, they might by may, by your good works they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
That's first Peter 2.
And then verse 14 at the end says for the praise of them that do well.
Verse 15 Foresaw is the will of God, that with well doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.
Verse.
20 What glory is it when you be buffeted for your faults? You take it patiently, but if ye. But if when you do well and suffer for it, you shall take it patiently. This is acceptable unto God. So let's there might be suffering because of a refusal of.
Recognition of the Lord Jesus in our lives.
By people that we are passing amongst. But let's go a step further, brethren, and be occupied with, well doing. There's a lot to be occupied with and I just want to encourage the younger folks as well as we who are older to be occupied with doing good works. We're not saved by good works, but we are saved to work good works.
And it's what the way that people recognize believers in the Lord Jesus is by that means. So be occupied. If you think, well, what can I do? Ask the Lord. There's a lot of things that young people can do to be occupied with gospel work. I really want to encourage you to get involved in it because it's a blessing to your own soul not to be self-centered thinking of yourself.
01:05:00
Think of doing something for others. It'll be a blessing to you.
That's connected with and just go back to what comment that Brother Jeff made yesterday with respect to good works and verse nine. It says your chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people that you might show forth the praises or you can notice the new translation, the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness unto his marvelous light that is.
The Lord Jesus life here on earth as a man passing through the wilderness was characterized by going about doing good works, and now he's called a nation of people to himself who also are to reflect his character in the world.
And so when a Christian goes about doing good works and properly associates that with his identity as part of that peculiar people, the people of God, then it's a showing forth of the excellencies of the one who is the living stone. And consequently it is to his glory. If it's done in the right way, it is to his glory, and it is.
A Kingly.
Royal priesthood service for him to this world and it's a wonderful and blessed privilege. And so Peter then, as Bob shows these verses brings out the different examples of doing that showing forth in that way the excellencies of him Christ.
You've spoken of boils down to living in view of eternity, doesn't it View in view of another world. I'll just quickly tell this little story that I've enjoyed and I thought of it during this meeting as we spoke of these things. John Wesley, who gave up so much to serve the Lord and preach the gospel. He was passing one of the great Manor houses of England and he stopped to admire the grounds of that house and the gardener offered to show him through the grounds and some of the.
Parts of that beautiful home. And when the tour was over, he said to the gardener, he said I too have a liking for these things, but there is another world and brethren, there is another world. And whether it's our good works, whether it's suffering, whether it's submission, whatever it is, I believe what sets things in the proper perspective is to live in view of the fact that there is another world that you and I already belong to.
In Paul's ministry, we're already seated there.
In Peters ministry, we're in the wilderness on our way there. But brethren, if we lose view of that sight of that, we're not going to confess that we're strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
So.
Reading the Word of God
Address—Tim Roach
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Started please.
And.
Hey Cortana, how long do you want to know?
Like to start by reading a couple of verses as to the word of God.
One is in Proverbs chapter 30.
Proverbs, chapter 30.
And verse 5.
Every word of God is pure. He's a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. Think of the first part of it.
Every word of God is pure. Similar verse in Psalm 12.
And verse 6.
Psalm 12 verse 6.
The words of the Lord are pure words, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified 7 times the words of the Lord.
Now I've been.
Impressed by some. I don't know what you call them, statistics or not, but an earlier meeting someone was saying a certain percentage of people don't read their Bibles, and I'm amazed that it's such a big percentage. I don't know how accurate the figures are.
But it struck me that we really need to get the word of God for ourselves. It's nice to come to meetings and have someone else preach to us, or even a reading meeting and so on. But the important thing is for each of us in our own private lives to be reading the word of God. So let's just go to a verse a few verses in Exodus chapter 16.
And we get a little instruction here on something else that seems to me to fit.
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The subject of reading the Word of God. Exodus, chapter 16.
And we'll start.
Let's start at verse 15 or 14.
Exodus 16 verse 14. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as a hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, it is manna, or what is it?
For they wish not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread.
Which the Lord has given you to eat.
This is the thing which the Lord has commanded. Gather of it every man according to his eating, and Omer for every man according to the number of your persons. Take ye every man for them that are in his tents. And the children of Israel did so, and gathered some more, some less. And when they did meet it with an Omer, he that had gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack.
They gathered every man according to his eating.
And Moses said, Let no man leave of it until the morning.
Notwithstanding they hearken not unto Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and stank. And Moses was wroth with them. And they gathered it every morning, every man according to his eating, and noticed this When the sun waxed hot, it melted.
What do you get from that? You know, if someone slept in and waited too long and the sun was hot, they wouldn't get their manna for the day. They wouldn't have their food for the day.
And I'd like to relate this gathering of the manna to every individual of us reading a part of the word of God every morning.
And you know, you say, well, Yep, I have something else I have to do first. And that's something else. Takes up all your time and you don't get to read you the the manna has melted. You've lost it for the day.
And it's a very important thing for each one of us to recognize that we need to gather this for ourselves.
I have the privilege of being brought up in a Christian home.
Where Dad used to read the scriptures to us.
Breakfast time and supper time.
You always have a portion of the word.
And he wasn't brought up in a Christian home himself.
He was 12 years of age and he had gone to an outreach.
Sunday School of the Brooklyn Assembly.
And he heard St. preaching.
And the worst that exercised them about his sins, as 12 years of age was the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.
That was a verse that the man was preaching on.
And it was another preacher at another corner one time when he did get saved. And I don't know the verse that exercised him, but he did take his take the Lord as his savior, and he seemed to be, right from the start, a student of the word. And so we had a lot of good instruction at home. I'm not sure how much we valued at the time, but we were getting little by little, day by day.
The Word of God.
And I'm thankful for it.
It didn't be. It didn't seem ever. I don't recall ever being thinking it was a chore. Oh, we have to sit and read. No, it was part of our daily routine. I have to check that out with Jesse. See if she felt the same way.
Anyway, we had the word of God read to us on a daily basis, and still some of those verses are the ones I remember. You know, we got them early in life.
The point is here in this portion, if they waited too long, they missed it.
And we don't want to let anything interfere with the reading of the word. I notice it said. He that gathered much had nothing over. He that gathered little, had no lack. It might be on some occasion that.
00:10:06
You have to go out and shovel snow or clear the car or whatever. There's something that takes up a good bit of your time, and you only get to read a verse or two and that can nourish you for the day. If you have time, you want to read more.
So I just, I'm not. I hope I'm not coming across as whipping you, but encouraging you, each one young and old, to be reading the scriptures for yourself daily and try not to miss a day.
Well, I want to go over to Ezra.
Where there was a man of God, Ezra himself.
Ezra.
I can't find the first verse I want to look for. It was Ezra was a ready scribe in the word of God and then it says in the 10th verse of Ezra 7.
I guess the other was.
Anyway, we'll start at verse.
Where is it?
Verse 10 Yes, Ezra 7 Verse 10 Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. The first step was that he prepared his own heart.
And then it says and to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it.
He wanted to learn what it was so he could do it. He could practice what he read. And this is very important, not just to read it for head knowledge or to say okay, I got it done for this day. This is something that should be of interest to us. And Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and he was willing to do it, to do what it said.
And then to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.
You know, if you read up on some subject and you try to teach somebody what it is, if you haven't done it yourself, you really can't answer the questions. You must try it for yourself, no matter what it is.
Some machine or or whatever it is you you want, you must do it for yourself.
And then you have first hand knowledge. So Ezra not only wanted to fill his head, but he did. He acted on what he learned there. Now let's go over to Nehemiah and we'll see this put into practice. Nehemiah, chapter 8.
And verse one.
And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the Watergate. And they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel. And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation, both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding upon the first day of the 7th month.
And he read therein.
Before the street that was before the Watergate from the morning until midday.
Before the men and the women and those that could understand.
And the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.
And as were the scribes stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose.
And beside him stood various others will skip to verse 5. Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and when he opened it, all the people stood up.
And Ezra blessed the Lord the great God. And all the people answered Amen. Amen was lifting up their hands, and they bowed their heads and worshipped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
Now, Ezra.
He taught the people, he stood before the congregation and it, says the men.
00:15:02
And the women and those that could understand.
I wonder what he meant by that.
Suppose it was the children, the men and the women, and those that could understand.
And children can understand the word of God, and they may not understand as much as an adult. They may not understand everything that's said.
But there are verses that they've learned in Sunday school and those are the ones that stick with you for life and they can't understand that and they can even apply it. So it it was a wonderful thing that it was only the men and women. It was the children too. And it's been so happy here to see so many children and some real little toddlers that aren't maybe taken in a word, they don't understand what we're talking about.
But they're here, and it's going to be a familiar thing to them to be present when the word of God is read.
And so in time, they will begin to learn, and they will begin to take it in.
Now.
It says it was before the Watergate.
That's that's interesting, the Watergate, and we often think of the scriptures as water, the water of the word. And if we went back to Nehemiah chapter 3 where they were rebuilding the wall and repairing the gates, when you come to the Watergate you don't find any repairs needed.
There's no repairs needed for this.
But we have repairs for the Sheep Gate and Valley Gate and so on. They all needed repairs, but not for the Watergate. So the word of God is pure and it's perfect. We can't fix it up. We can't paraphrase it.
We'll lose it. We'll lose some part of it if we do that. So this was done before the Watergate. I noticed the respect of the people, that when Ezra opened the book, they all stood up.
And we don't seem to have that habit. We don't need to do that now, I don't think. But that was the respect that people had, whether they were sitting or it must have been sitting because they stood up when the book was opened in respect for the word of God.
Well, I hope that we have a good respect for the word of God. We never want to make jokes about it. It's a serious book, and it has a lot to do with our lives and understanding the Lord.
Ezra opened the book in The Sight of the People.
And again, it speaks about all those that could hear and understand.
Now verse 6.
All the people answered Amen, Amen.
I'm amazed that so little is heard of Amen, even when someone prays at a conference.
Went over there, went over there.
We're not in the habit, maybe even our home assembly. We don't hear about a lot of amens. Sometimes we do.
It means I understand an agreement. It stands for an agreement. I think it's actually the Hebrew word for truth.
It's like you're saying truth. I agree with what you said. It's true.
So it says all the people now there were men and women and children, and it says all the people.
Said Amen.
And I don't want to start any kind of a controversy, but I think it's interesting that in First Corinthians 14, the verse that says that the women are keep silence in the in the assembly not to teach, but it says as also Seth the law. Here's part of the law, the Old Testament and they were all saying Amen.
They all sing. They were men singers and women singers, and we're glad that the sisters are singing.
I don't see any reason why they shouldn't say Amen to.
It's not teaching, it's agreement.
Well, these are the things that.
Are so much of interest.
As to the word of God, and are keeping it.
Teaching it to our children.
And reading it regularly. That's that's the point I want to really make as to the regular reading of the word of God.
That we would all take it to heart.
00:20:06
No.
New Testament.
First Timothy.
Yeah, First Timothy, Chapter 4.
And verse 12.
Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in Word, and conversation, and charity, and spirit, and faith, and purity, till I come. Give attendance to reading, and to exhortation to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate.
Upon these things give thyself wholly to them thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine continue in them. For in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee. That's good advice, isn't it, For Timothy?
From Paul the age of Apostle.
Called Timothy, his son son in the face.
Let no man despise thy youth.
You might say. Well, that's beyond his control, isn't it?
I don't think it is, or it wouldn't say that.
You know, sometimes we get to carrying on and acting foolish.
I'm guilty of that myself.
And you could lose your respect.
Your respect of others.
If you're not careful.
So Timothy was to be careful in his life.
And he was to be.
An example of the believers in Word, in Word and conversation, the things that he spoke.
It's interesting when someone speaks in scripture terms, isn't it? We hear somebody saying something on scripture terms, even even a stranger. You hear somebody say something and say that sounds like scripture. It's interesting, You know, you look around and see who it is.
And then verse 13 it says till I come.
Give attendance to reading.
I've heard that that refers to the public reading of the word.
And so here we are, more or less of a public reading of the word. So we come to the reading meeting and we hear the word.
Even if we'd ever speak up, we hear the word someone's teaching us.
The Word of God.
And we are learning little by little here, little there, a little.
And then it says.
Well, Timothy had a special gift from God, verse 15. Meditate upon these things.
I think it was Gordon Hajo a number of times.
Said meditation is a lost art. It used to be, when traffic wasn't like it is today, that you could drive along and meditate.
But now you keep your wits about you and watch out.
For the bad drivers as well as the good ones.
But meditate.
So we don't just open our Bible and say read some verses and say, OK, that's it.
Think about what you've read.
Maybe read some ministry with it.
Or discuss it with your family, whoever is there.
We always enjoy that if we have visitors, Well, we read together, ourselves, my wife and I, and then we have visitors. Why? Maybe they contribute a little bit too, when we have a nice conversation over the scriptures that we've read. Much enjoyable. Meditate on these things. Give thyself wholly to them that they profiting may appear to all.
00:25:01
And it's not a question of I'm going to learn some things so people will respect me, but it would happen.
If if Timothy was to read the scriptures and meditate on them and people would be saying that Timothy is growing, I can see that he's learning. He's he's growing in his soul.
And you don't do it for that purpose. But it will happen unconscious to yourself. Others will notice. So it was a wonderful thing for Timothy to do what the apostle said, to read the Word regularly, to meditate on it, and to put it into practice in his life.
As it says, take heed to thyself.
Sometimes we want to put self. We should be putting self out of sight. But here it says take heed to yourself.
It's not like reading the scripture and say, well that would be good for so and so.
That's good for me. Take heed to thyself.
And to the doctrine continue in them. In doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee so. It would be an example to others. Be a shame. If we taught people something from the Scripture and didn't obey it ourselves, it would be empty.
But Timothy was not to do that. He was to continue.
On and what he would had learned and been assured of.
I think there's one on 2nd.
Two Timothy, Chapter 3.
And we'll start at verse 14.
I suppose we could go back a little bit.
To verse 12 because we were talking about it when we were reading in Peter about Peter.
Verse 12 Yeah, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Evil but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and has been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.
And is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness.
That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
Well.
Timothy had to endure some persecution too, no doubt.
And evil would be increasing around them. But in verse 14 the apostle says to him, but continue Val and the things.
In the holy sorry, continue thou the things that I was learned have been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them. That's quite a lesson in that verse. First of all, you know some object to those old English words, but.
In English, I heard common English. We don't know the difference between singular and plural. If I say you, it could be a whole bunch, it could be everybody here, it could be just you.
But when you say thou is Speaking of one person, the T words are singular, the Y words are plural. And so we have it here that Timothy was the one that's under surveillance. Here continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and has been assured of.
And then it says, Knowing of whom thou hast learned them.
Well, that's maybe a little bit broad, but we know that Timothy's grandmother and Timothy's mother were godly women.
And he probably learned a lot from his mother.
And grandma.
And maybe they sat down with them and talked to him about the Scriptures. We don't know those details, but he learned them from those who are godly people, and he learned more from the Apostle Paul.
Knowing of whom thou hast learned them, I think that's an important thing to recognize.
Those from whom we hear things and we learn, should be those that are walking in the truth.
00:30:06
That are growing, that are, that are following the truth themselves, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.
And Timothy had the privilege that many of us here did of growing up in a Christian home.
At least a godly home.
That from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures.
I'm going to stop there a bit.
I don't know how many still memorize verses. We don't have any small children in the assembly, so I don't have a Sunday school. But it's wonderful to hear those little guys stand up and say a verse. And they may not know many words, they may need help all the way through, but they're committing the word of God to memory.
That from a child that was known the holy Scriptures that are able to make thee wise unto salvation.
You know, and that can turn into salvation as they grow up and they learn that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, not just a short verse.
And then begin to realize, yes, Sinner, I'm a Sinner. Or they. They learn a verse in which the Lord Jesus is, is the Savior. He's the only Savior. The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanses us from all sin. And they begin to learn those things and it turns into faith and they believe.
And then it's very interesting, isn't it? All scripture. So the purpose of reading daily is because all scripture is given by inspiration of God. It was not what men wrote.
You know, I remember some while back this foolish thought that somebody was putting out was that the reason there is differences in the Gospels is that each of the four writers wrote what they could remember.
That's false, and it's very false in that if they had to write what, they would have remembered.
Matthew, Mark and Luke would not have been able to write about the Transfiguration because they weren't there. And John was, but he doesn't say anything about it. You know, this is, this is God's inspiration inspired word. And so three men write about the amount of transfiguration. They weren't even there.
To see it, but they were given the words from the Holy Spirit and John who was there doesn't say anything about it.
That's strange, isn't it? You think you forgot it? Oh, he never could have forgotten that.
But it wasn't in character, the character of his book, he's writing on one who was.
Continuously on the mount. There wasn't any special occasion. He's writing about the Son of God.
And so it would have been out of character for John to mention it.
And the only eyewitness that mentions it is Peter.
When we were with him on the Holy Mount.
But he didn't write a gospel. The other gospel writers got it from God by the Spirit of God.
Well, this all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine.
For reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness.
I picked up an old calendar leaf.
Very old. It was a different format than what we have them today and but it had this on this verse on it and it said.
Doctrine tells us what is right.
Reproof tells us what is not right.
Correction tells us how to get right.
And instruction in righteousness how to keep right A.
I think I got those straight. I don't have them written down. But it's interesting that the the word of God is profitable for all these things. It tells us what is right, and that's why we need to keep reading it so we know it's right. We also know what's wrong.
And then it tells us how to keep right, keep on. And then it says for instruction and righteousness, that's how we can keep right.
So this is important that we continue to read the word of God.
And it says in the last verse of that chapter that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. I'd like to see that think that that word man is kind of generic word. It's all people, everybody, men, women and children.
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That the person of God going on with God may be perfect.
Thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
Well, that's part of the the word of God.
It was one other thing I was going to speak of.
And as to the Word of God.
In the 4th chapter, Second Timothy.
And verse 13.
Paul says the cloak that I left at Trois with Carpus, when thou comest bring with thee.
And the books, and especially the parchments.
He left something behind back there.
I wonder if the parchments might have been some of the books of the Bible that he was writing.
I don't know.
But he missed the books.
And be ashamed if you came to the conference and you're halfway here and you said got to bring my Bible.
When when you feel out of place, even if you pick up a a meeting room Bible, it's not the same as you're all.
Well, he left something behind and he missed it. So we we want to be sure that we.
Keep her Bible close at hand and that we read it and that we meditate on it and we pay attention to it.
And that we'd be happy people.
Let's sing another hymn.
Thinking of the Journey #290.
And where it says in second, the second verse, though the shore we hope to land on only by report is known, yet we freely all abandoned, led by that report alone.
And with Jesus through the trackless, deep move on, none of us has seen heaven. We've got a report, we've got a faithful report, and it's so marvelous it can't give any details, just tells us where Jesus is and that it's a wonderful place. OK, someone could start that Please #290.
Why those serious behold?
I understand. That's why I'm glad that I saw information you need to do this little business. And then I went to the middle of the world and I was going to do love you.
I hope you don't mind if I tell you a little story about this verse. Jim would remember Lawson Richards from Pleasantville, Nova Scotia, and he used to go back to the days of the sailing vessels when they would be out in the Grand Banks fishing for two or three months. When they got their load of fish, they would come home.
And this one time they were on their way home and it was a bit stormy. And the wind was contrary and the tide was against them and they were trying to make headway. You know, the sailing boat, you just don't have the power to go straight ahead into the wind. So they have to attack back and forth. And so they went out 10 miles, turned and came back.
They're in the same place. I tried again. They weren't making any headway.
Finally, the captain says we're going to go into the port here.
And what you don't realize when you hear a story like that is all the time they're out there, they're pounding over waves and they're keeping their balance, you know, and it's wearing out for people. And so as soon as they went past the breakwater into that harbor, perfect calm. And Lawson said, just like reaching heaven at last, that was his kind.
Well, he's reached it by now. He looked at me 96 and he's with the Lord now.
Keep Thy Heart More Than Anything
Gospel
Open Mtg. 2
Open—C. Hendricks, J. Hyland, L. Smith
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Bernard of the World.
That fadeth away.
For not of the night, but children of day.
Change that once bound us by Jesus or riven were strangers on earth our home.
Is in heaven.
We're not all.
John's Gospel.
Chapter 15.
I don't have a lot to say.
Leave room for others. We'll start with verse 9.
As the Father hath loved me.
So have I loved you.
Continue ye and my love.
If you keep my commandments, she shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love.
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, that she loved one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, but a man lay down his life for his friends.
Ye are my friends if you do.
Whatsoever I command you.
Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth. But I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of my father I have made known unto me unto you.
You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you.
And ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit.
And that's your fruit should remain.
That whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name.
He may give it you.
These things I command you, that she loved one another. Now in these verses that I've read, he's talking to those he calls his friends, those that are, that are in a special place of nearness to himself.
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Those that should love one another.
Not the world.
And then he changes the subject in verse 18.
If the world hates you.
You know that it hated me before it hated you.
If he were of the world, the world would love his own.
But because you are not of the world.
But I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his Lord, if they have persecuted me.
They will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying they will keep yours also.
But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they had not had sin. But now they have no cloak for their sin.
He that hateth me.
Hated my father also.
If I had not done among them the works which none other man did.
They had not had sin, but now have they both seen and hated both me and my father.
That this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law.
They hated me.
Without a cause, there was a man in this world, a blessed Lord Himself.
That was indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
And he was led by the Spirit of God.
With the Father's directions.
He belonged to another world, not the one that we might want to please.
We don't belong to another world.
We don't belong to this world. Excuse me, We belong to another world.
That world is the one that hated and rejected, despised and cast out of this world.
If you're a friend of his, you will have love to those who are friends of his, but you're not here to please this world.
You're not here to make a name for yourself in this world.
You're not here to spend all your energies and education and every skill that you might have.
To make this world more desirable.
It hates Christ.
We can only get that across. We're not of this world that fadeth away. We're not of the night, but children of day.
We belong to the world that has nailed him to a cross of ignominy and shame and reproach and dishonor.
And said we will not have.
This plan to rule over us.
You belong to that world.
There's two worlds, the one that rejected Christ and the one that.
Belongs to him.
He said.
That.
If he were of this world, he, his servants, would fight.
But because I am not of this world, therefore the.
Let me read it.
Talking to Pilate.
Verse chapter 18 and verse 35. Pilate answered, Am IA Jew. I know nation, and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me. What has thou done?
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Jesus answered.
My Kingdom.
Is not of this world.
If My Kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews? But now is my Kingdom not from hence, Beloved, we belong to another Kingdom, we belong to another world.
The one that hated him wouldn't have him.
If you're true to him.
If you're one of his friends and shows all the offerings this world might give you the education you can get. So you make a name for yourself down here in this world, a world that hates Christ and won't have him.
You're not being true to him.
My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world and would my servants.
Fight. We're not here to fight. We're not here to get into the wars of this world.
If we do, we'll be fighting our own brethren sometimes.
How inconsistent that would be.
Turn to the 17th chapter.
Of John.
The Lord is speaking to his father.
And just a few verse or two.
Verse 4.
I have glorified Thee on the earth, Father. I have finished the work which Thou gave us me to do.
And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was.
I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gave us me out of the world, and they were, and thou gave us the may they have kept thy word.
Verse 11 He says, Now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee, Holy Father, keep through thy own name, that though that they may be one, those whom thou has given me, that they may be one as we are one. Well, I was with them in the world. I kept them in my name.
Those that thou gave us, me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of Perdition, that was Judas, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Now come I to thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I've given them thy word.
And the world hath hated them, just like it hated him.
Because they're not of the world.
Even as I'm not of the world.
If you learn anything in this conference, I hope you learn that you belong to a different world.
You belong to the the one that gave us all that he might have, you and me.
It's not this world. Don't spend your energies, young man and young woman.
Trying to make this a better world without Christ.
It can't be done.
I've given them thy word and the world that hated them, because they're not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Praying out that thou shouldst take them out of the world, but that thou should keep them from the evil. He's addressing His Father. They are not of the world.
Even as I'm not of the world, when you get up in the morning, remind yourself I'm not of this world.
I belong to another sphere altogether where he is, where he has gone, they wouldn't have him.
They still won't have him.
Do you want their applause? Are you trying to make a name for yourself and get somewhere down here in a world that has cast him out and hated him and it hates you too, the truer you are to him?
The more you will feel its hatred.
Turn to.
Philippians 3.
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Flip in street.
He says in verse 17, Brethren.
Be followers together of me, Mrs. Paul writing.
And mark them which walk so as you have us for an example.
Read the numbers of times he was persecuted because he loved the Lord Jesus.
The Lord said to Ananias, he said, I will show him what great things he hath.
What great things?
He had done such great things.
Against Christ, and now he's going to experience those same things against him because now he's on Christ side. Are you on Christ's side?
You will feel the world's hatred.
And contempt. And rejection.
We were praying for those in Cuba.
What the world thinks of those who are Christians.
Takes them, despises them.
Don't kid yourself because you're in the United States of America. The world hates Christians if they're really true to Him.
Verse 18 it says Paul says many walk of whom I've told you often, and I'll tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.
You mind earthly things. Is that your purpose for being here? To make a name for yourself in a world that hates and rejected Christ?
Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame? Who mind earthly things for our conversation, our citizenship, our sphere of living is in heaven.
From whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our body of humiliation, should read that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself.
We're his friends.
Where those that he gave his all to win.
We belong to the world that he's the head of.
And when he takes his power and reigns in this scene and subjects everything to him, will be with him then. That's not what we're here for now. We're here to take the reproach and the hatred of this world because it hasn't changed its attitude towards him.
Whose side are you on? Whose side am I on?
Are we here to represent him in a world that cast him up?
Well.
That's all I wanted to say.
They belong to another world.
Be true to him.
Who's the head of that world?
I'd like to re emphasize some of the things that were said in the reading meeting this morning. I'd like to do it by really connecting 3 portions of the word of God. The first one is in the book of Job, Job chapter 24.
I'm sorry, Job Chapter 23.
Job chapter 23 and verse 12.
Neither have I gone back from the commandment of His lips. I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. Just hold your finger here. We'll come right back but a couple of verses in the 119th Psalm.
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Psalm 119.
And verse 97.
Oh, how love I thy law.
It is my meditation all the day and then just back up in this same Psalm.
To verse 9. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto, according to thy word. Well, this this afternoon, at some length we spoke about the importance of God's Word. And we spoke of it particularly in connection with the importance of having God's Word before us every day as that which feeds and refreshes our souls. And brethren, I don't believe we can emphasize this enough.
We need the Word of God every day to feed and refresh our souls. Because as we were reminded, it's true. We have divine life. It's a perfect life. It's the very life of Christ. But it is a dependent life. It needs food. If we are going to grow and be healthy, happy, fruitful Christians, then we must feed the new life. And how do we feed the new life, brethren? We feed it with Christ. But we might ask ourselves.
How do we feed on Christ? Well, it's by opening this blessed book and reading it every day.
Because wherever we read in this blessed book, the Bible, God's Word, the subject is always Christ. Every line, every verse brings something before us concerning some aspect of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, it might be by type and shadow and illustration in the Old Testament.
It might be the life of the Lord Jesus brought before us in the four evangelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
It might be Christ brought before us as to our portion and blessings as a heavenly people in the Epistles. It might be the fruition of things brought before us in the Book of Revelation, and the full exaltation of Christ in a coming day. But the subject, I say, wherever we read in the Scriptures, is always Christ.
And it's a good exercise when we open this blessed book to seek by grace to get something of Christ from this book. And so we read here in the book of Job. Job said, I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. What an exercise. What a desire there was on the part of Joel. Is that truly the exercise and desire of your heart and mind? We were reminded today of how we take such good care to eat 3 good meals a day, sometimes something in between.
And you know, everybody's concerned with health and things that are grown organically and without chemicals and all this kind of thing. And we go to great cost and expense and time to eat healthy, especially in the day in which we live. But all I say again, what about the word of God? What about the sincere milk of the word?
What about the manna that we were Speaking of earlier? And just for a moment, without turning to it, I'd like to go back and fought to the 16th chapter of Exodus, where we find there the children of Israel in the wilderness. And there they were given by God's good hand, the manna to sustain life for every day of the wilderness journey. It's often been said, and rightly so, that a wilderness in Scripture denotes a place where there's nothing to sustain life.
And you and I are in a spiritual wilderness for the children of Israel. They were in a physical wilderness. And I never realized how apartment the illustration is until I had opportunity some months ago to travel across part of the Sinai desert, right where the children of Israel sojourned for some 40 years.
It is a barren place. There is nothing to sustain life and so they had to have physical food and water. But we're in a spiritual wilderness. There's nothing to sustain the new man here in this spiritual wilderness. There's plenty to feed our lusts, plenty to feed the flesh. Just seems you can hardly drive down the highway today or stand in the line at the checkout counter without seeing something to feed our loss.
But if we're going to feed the Newman brethren, we must feed on the bread of heaven, and God's Word leaves us in no doubt as to what the man atypifies. If we were to turn over to John's gospel, the Lord Jesus himself spoke of the bread and himself as that bread that came down from heaven and used that illustration of the manna that had been given to the children of Israel in the wilderness. But there's some very, very practical lessons to be learned from the gathering of the manna.
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And I'll just exit trust. But what I say will exercise your soul to go back and to glean some of those practical instructions. We'll just mention a few of them for this afternoon. First of all, we find that the manna was to be gathered every morning.
Because we need fresh food every day. Any of us who've had children know that we don't feed our children a big meal one day of the week and expect it to last them the rest of the week. No, we feed them on good, healthy food, and ourselves too, every day of the week. And So what God teaches us in the gathering of the manna is that we need new, fresh food for the divine life every day. And when were they to gather it? It wasn't in the heat of the day.
It wasn't in the cool of the evening that they were to gather it. No, it was first thing in the morning. In fact, I think it's in Numbers 11. There's a little detail given to us about the manna that we don't get in Exodus 16, and that is that the manna fell on the dew. It fell on the dew, and it's typical.
Of Christ's and the aspect of His separation and so on. But it fell on the dew, and when the dew melted, when the dew was gone, the manna was gone. In other words, they had to go out very early in the morning, and they had to gather it for themselves. Teaching us that before we go out into this spiritual wilderness and a world where there's everything offered for the flesh, we need to satisfy our hunger with the bread of heaven.
We need to satisfy our souls with Christ. Why is it I'm so vulnerable sometimes to the things that are offered to me on every hand? Oh, I say again, it's because I haven't satisfied my soul with Christ in the morning. And I know it takes diligence, it takes energy of faith to get up a little bit earlier in the morning. I know some of us have to be off to work and school very early in the morning. But all I want to encourage you read God's Word. We used to sing a little hymn when we were growing up.
Feed on God's Word in the morning, feed on God's Word at noon, feed on God's Word in the evening to keep your heart in tune. And it's interesting too, if you notice the details with where the manna fell. It didn't fall at their tent door. It says it fell round about the camp.
In other words, they had to go out and it took energy to go out and to gather the manna. God doesn't spoon feed us. God doesn't encourage laziness in any aspect of our lives. And so there they had to go outside the camp to gather it. And I say again, it does take energy and exercise, especially for some of us who aren't so much morning people. It takes energy, it takes discipline. Maybe it takes setting the alarm clock 15 minutes early.
But you say, Jim, I don't always have time to read a whole chapter or portion in the morning. You don't realize the pressures and how quickly I have to get out the door to catch my transit or to fight rush hour traffic. Well, there's a nice little detail added there in Exodus. It says he that gathered much had nothing over. In other words, if you have time in the morning to read a great deal, you'll never have anything over. We can't overeat when it comes to the things of God.
We need all we can get. If you have a time to read a chapter 2, thank God for it. But then it says and he that gathered little had no lack. I, I believe the Spirit of God added that for someone like myself, because I find it hard to get up in the morning, every minute of sleep before breakfast is precious. But it's not the amount they gathered that was important. It's what they did with it. They put it in their Omer and took it with them. And then it says he that gathered little had no lack.
Maybe you say I only have time to read 3 or 4 verses in the morning, but read those verses and take them with you in their your Omer and you'll find you'll be surprised. God knew just what you were going to need for the day. And I believe this brings us to the next verse that we read in the 119th Psalm where the Psalmist speaks of meditation, a love for the Word of God, and meditation. Do we really love His word? Do you love the Word of God?
Is it really your joy and your delight? Thy words were sweet to my taste. It says in another place, do we really have that desire and exercise that joy of reading the word of God? Maybe before I comment on this verse further, I might just say this too. We talked about an appetite this this afternoon and I believe we need to develop an appetite for the word of God. Maybe the first time you few times you set the alarm and get up and read some scripture.
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Maybe you have to admit, if you're honest, you really didn't have the appetite that you wished you had. But continue to discipline yourself to read orderly and consistently the Word of God, and you'll be surprised you'll develop an appetite for it. I've often told this little illustration, but I'll repeat it. When I was a boy growing up, my mother never forced me to eat anything at home that I really didn't like.
She always told me that when I was out, I had to eat what was put on my plate. And as I've had the opportunity and privilege of traveling amongst the Lord's people, I found that often they serve the plates. Sometimes there's no choice about what's on your plate to eat. And one thing I particularly abhorred when I was a boy was green peas. I did not like green peas, but I found that often the vegetable that the sister serve is green peas.
But I want to say this about green peas, and that is that having disciplined myself to eat them.
When they are served to me in somebody's home. Over the years I have not just developed an appetite for green peas, I thoroughly enjoy them and will take a second helping at their offered. Why? Because because of discipline and consistency. I've eaten them over the years and now I enjoy them. And you'll find that's the way it is with the Word of God. The more you read it, the more you prayerfully are exercised to get something of Christ out of the pages of this book. All you'll find you'll want more and more.
You'll find maybe you won't even have to set the alarm after a while, because you'll find that your joy is to get up and to read something of the word of God.
But I say it's not what we eat that does us any good. It's what we digest. And that's why I read this verse in the Psalms in connection with meditation, because David spoke of the word, of the psalmist, spoke of the word as his meditation all the day. Because it's not enough, brethren, to read a few verses in the morning, close the book, and never consider what we've read. That's not what's going to do us any good. You remember what I said, The children of Israel.
They not only went out and gathered the manna, but they put it into their Omer a certain measure, and they took it with them.
And they stopped during the day and dipped into their Omer and enjoyed what they had gathered in the morning.
That's meditation that's stopping during the day and considering thinking about what you have read, what you have gathered in the morning.
And I know this again takes discipline, especially in the lifestyle in which we're caught up in the Western world.
The moment you open that door in the morning, you're bombarded with every kind of thought and activity to keep you from considering what you've read from the Word of God.
Oh, maybe years ago a brother could work at his bench with his hands and have his Bible open and read and meditate. Maybe a farmer could go out and follow the plow and think about the scriptures he had read in the morning. But you can't run a computer like that. You can't drive down the freeway like that. It takes everything you've got to get through the work. A day world in which we found we find ourselves. But what is the answer? It's to discipline ourselves to stop during the day and dip into our Omer. To stop for a few moments and consider that verse or two.
Or that little portion that we read in the morning and that's when you're going to find that it will do you good.
That's when you're going to find it will strengthen and feed your soul. He that gathered much had nothing over. He that gathered little had no lack. And so do we stop and consider the word of God during the day. I suppose has been often said that meditation is a lost art today, that we just don't take time. You see people walking down the street, they can't even go out for a walk with something out, something plugged into their ears. It may not be something bad they're listening to.
But we've always got something going, something in the vehicle we're driving, something when we walk, something when we walk into the stores, playing over the intercom or in the office or wherever it is. And so I say more than ever, we need to take time to meditate on God's Word. How?
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Well, you'll be repaid a well. You'll find that it does feed and strengthen and encourage your soul. You want to really have something. You've got to not just read God's Word. You've got to meditate on the precious Word of God. And then I read earlier in this same Psalm.
Because here we have something else. We have the cleansing effect of the Word of God. The reason I connected these 3 verses is that I simply want to show how the Word of God, how we need the Word of God all day long, how we need it every day, all day. Not just in the morning, not just during the day. But this brings us to the evening. Because as a brother used to tell us who's with the Lord. Now I grew up in the assembly he was in and he used to tell us that when he came home from the office.
He needed a good wash, and he wasn't talking about soap and water. He was talking about the washing of water by the word because he felt that he came home from a world of defilement at the office. He had heard things and seen things that had defiled him. He felt dirty spiritually and he felt he needed a wash. And how did he get that wash? Well, it wasn't by going to the sink and turning on the tap and using some soap and water. No, it was by opening this book and letting it have its cleansing effect.
I say it's the washing of water by the word. So how shall a young man cleanse his way? And I know you young people particularly, you're defiled. You, you can't help it. You see and hear things every day at school and at work and just walking down the street. All you need to have the refreshment that comes in the evening. By opening this book and reading a portion again in the wilderness, we find there was the labor, and the labor speaks with the water speaks to us.
Of the Word of God and its cleansing effect. You know, it's interesting that the labor is the one piece of furniture that were not given, of larger furniture that were not given the dimensions of Why? Because you can't put dimensions on the Word of God. And there was water there, and that water was for the washing of the hands and feet of the priests. And that's why the Lord Jesus, before he returned to the glory, he gave the illustration of feet washing to his disciples.
He was leaving them in a world where they were going to pick up things every day that would not necessarily be sin, but that would chill the affections and dull the soul. And he said, you need to let me wash your feet and then you need to wash one anothers feet again. It's the washing of water by the word. We can't stress this enough. Let the Word of God have its cleansing effect on your life. And so I just have enjoyed these scriptures. I enjoyed what was taken up in the reading meeting, but these things are very practical.
These things are very real. It's wonderful to come to meetings like this and have the word of God before us and to be washed and to be strengthened and edified and built up and admonished and corrected and so on. But we needed every day. Are we going to be strong, healthy Christians? What made the young men that John wrote to strong?
Was it because they went and worked out at the gym twice a week? Nothing wrong with that, but that wasn't what he was talking about. No, he said he wrote to those young men and they were strong because they had the word of God abiding in them. That was the strength. That was their strength. That was their power. And so I just say again, let's go out every morning, gather something of Christ from this precious book. Let's meditate on it during the day and when we return after a day of being in a world that defiles.
Let's open this book and let it have its cleansing effect. Oh, we're going to enjoy this book for all eternity, but He's given it to us now to enjoy. Let's learn to feed on Christ every day of our Christian pathway through this wilderness world.
Turn with me, please, to Second Chronicles Chapter 29.
Second Chronicles, 29.
Since Hezekiah began to reign being 25 years old.
And he reigned 29 years in Jerusalem.
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And his mother's name was Abijah, the daughter of Zachariah. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.
According to all that David his father had done.
What is the setting of this verse?
Israel had turned.
To idolatry.
The nation that was.
Set up in this world to represent the true God.
Had begun to copy the nations around.
And to reverence their gods.
And Hezekiah's father.
Had introduced.
Some of that idolatry.
But here's a young man, 25 years of age, now takes the throne.
As I look upon a company like this, I think of you, dear young people.
And your potential?
Really, it's tremendous.
If you.
Walk in the ways of the Lord. It's a tremendous potential for blessing.
And if you copy the world around you.
Unfortunately, a potential for harm.
The Lord is jealous.
Of his people.
If you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, he is jealous.
Of your heart's affection.
Hezekiah did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. Verse three. He, in the first year of his reign, in the first month opened the doors of the House of the Lord and repaired them.
And he brought in the priest and the Levites.
I don't want to go into a lot of.
These next 2-3 chapters are really worth meditating on.
Verse six. For our fathers have trespassed, undone that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord our God, and have forsaken him, and have turned away their faces from the habitation of the Lord, and turned their backs.
Also they have shut up the doors of the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burned incense, nor offered burnt offerings in the holy place unto the God of Israel. Wherefore the wrath of the Lord was upon Judah and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them.
To trouble, to astonishment, and to hissing.
As you see with your eyes.
Below, our fathers have fallen by the sword.
And our sons and our daughters and our wives are in captivity for this.
Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the Lord God of Israel, that his fierce wrath may turn away from us.
My brother was struck by a word this morning. The word commitment.
Here you have covenant. I know they're technically different.
But I want to ask your heart this afternoon, is their purpose? Is their commitment?
That you want to please the Lord and do that which is right in His sight.
I want to ask you this too.
If the testimony to the Lord's name in the place where you attend.
We're left up to you and your ways.
What would become of the assembly?
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Are they ways that please the Lord?
I ask my own heart.
If it were left up to me, what would become of it?
Am I copying the world?
Is that what's going to establish?
A new generation in the ways of God.
Hezekiah rises at 25 years of age and it mentions his mother's name, Abijah.
I think that's daughter of JA.
What's job?
You get it in Jehovah, don't you?
I think it's the ever existing one.
Marvelous.
Her influence on this son, I think, is noted in that verse. Now in verse.
10.
We read that, I guess verse 11 my sons he's speaking to.
Levites.
Verse five My sons, be not now negligent, for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before him. Do you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior?
Think of that favor.
That he's chosen you.
To stand before him.
If you want some authority in your life.
How wonderful when it comes straight from the Lord.
I make this application.
To stand before him, to serve him, and that ye should minister unto him.
How is it in the local assembly?
Young brother.
Doesn't the Spirit of God bring a hymn before your heart from time to time?
Do you seek grace and boldness to give that out in obedience rather than just use a false humility that says, oh, I'm I'm just just a just a young brother.
Listen closely for the voice of the Spirit. Another verse.
I guess we have a little time yet.
Think of this, my sons, be not now negligent, for the Lord hath chosen you to stand before him, to serve Him, and that you should minister unto him, and burn incense.
Further down in the chapter.
They cleanse the house and so forth.
And they bring verse 21.
Notice in verse 20 we've had it mentioned rising early, then Hezekiah the king rose early.
And gathered the rulers of the city, and went up to the House of the Lord, and they brought 7 bullocks, and seven Rams, and seven lambs, and seven he goats.
For a sin offering for the Kingdom, and for the sanctuary, and for Judah.
See it embraced.
All, didn't it?
I'm still trying to find a verse. OK verse 24 And the priest killed them, and they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar to make an atonement for all Israel.
It's a wonderful thing to say to know in your heart you have authority from the word for what you are following.
In doctrine and in practice, it's very important.
Because you're going to be tested on it. All of us are tested on it.
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I love this verse because here is the king. He's a young king. They have the joy of knowing that God's altar is satisfied with the blood of these victims. And he says all Israel may not be here, but this offering is for all Israel.
You may have the privilege of saying yes, I know what it is to be gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
But to embrace the whole truth.
You have to realize that that blessing is for the entire Church of God.
When you look upon that loaf on the table on Lord's Day morning.
That it speaks of the entire body of Christ.
In its oneness.
I'd like to turn to the book of Daniel.
Chapter One.
We are all familiar with this book, I trust.
In verse 8.
Here is a captive.
He is no longer in Israel, he's in Babylon.
But it says Daniel purposed in his heart.
You know what?
Three friends followed.
What's my influence? What's your influence on other young people?
Must have been encouraging to see them follow.
And verse 17 says God gave them.
Knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom.
He's thankful. Let's look in Chapter 9.
The scene has changed now.
We can say Hezekiah's day has long since passed.
And.
Judah is in captivity in Babylon.
Here's in the early chapters, a teenager and his three friends.
Chapter 9 is an old man.
Daniel.
The three friends were tested without him in a fiery furnace.
Daniel was tested without them in a den of lions.
All their faith proven.
That they really had something.
Here Daniel, we've been speaking about reading the word of God. He's an old man and the verse two says in the first year of his reign that Darius.
I Daniel understood by the books.
The number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
He understood by the books.
How important to read the word of God?
In chapter one we had purpose. In verse three we get and I set my face.
Unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplication, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
I highly recommend.
Meditating on this portion.
We don't have time for its details at all, but.
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He set his face. Chapter 10.
We had part of a hymn this morning that said.
This afternoon.
Said.
Of him confirming his love to us.
And Daniel, though an old man.
Verse two In those days I, Daniel was mourning.
Three full weeks.
We had a little bit about angelic care.
Because of.
Incident this morning.
And here you get someone appearing to Daniel. We don't always see them.
In their care of us.
Verse 10 And behold, in hand touched me, which set me upon my knees, upon the palms of my hands, and he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved.
Understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright, for unto thee am I now sent.
And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling. Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day thou didst what?
Set thine heart to understand.
How committed am I?
How committed are you?
Are we going to set our heart, Lord? I'd like to understand.
I want to really know what's going on. I want God.
And my own soul.
To operate together.
The Lord knows what he's up to.
And he'd like for me to know it, for you to know it.
Here Daniel certainly learns it a little more, and he gets wonderful revelations as to prophecy.
But here it is verse 12 again. Thou did set thine heart.
So another verse further on.
Verse 19.
Verse 18 Then there came again, and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me, and said, Oh, man greatly beloved, fear not, peace be unto thee, be strong. Yeah, be strong.
A man of purpose.
I'd like to look at one other verse in Ezekiel.
Chapter 14.
Chapter 14 and verse 14.
Here again, Israel.
Is.
In an awfully bad state, but it's interesting how God brings this up.
Ezekiel 1414 Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness.
Saith the Lord.
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No one was a righteous man.
Job was a righteous man.
But let's look at verse 20.
Or reverse.
Verse 16 Though these three men were in it as I live, saith the Lord God, they shall neither deliver, neither sons nor daughters. They shall only be delivered. But they only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.
Or if I bring a sword upon that land, and say sword go through the land, so that I cut off man and beast from it, though these three men were in it as I live, saith the Lord God.
They shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves.
Or if I send a pestilence into that land, and pour out my fury upon it in blood, to cut off from it man and beast, though Noah, Daniel, and Job are in it as I live, saith the Lord, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter.
But they, they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness. How much thus saith the Lord God, How much more when I send my four sword judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast.
I was struck in meditating on this portion. Why put Daniel in there?
Though these three men, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters.
Daniel didn't have sons or daughters.
God puts him in this verse.
He sandwiches in between two men that had sons and daughters.
Do you have?
Purpose in your heart today.
I know if you know the Lord Jesus, His Spirit wants to stir up purpose in your heart. He wants you to set your face.
And his presence to understand.
He wants to say to you.
Dear fellow Christian.
Oh man, greatly beloved.
Oh, daughter, greatly beloved.
That's the kind of sons and daughters Daniel has.
Those of us.
Who've been encouraged by his life. You know, another little point about Daniel I just mentioned, and that is?
Though he was in captivity many years.
When it comes to understanding these things in his old age.
He's still on Jerusalem's clock.
He says came to pass.
About the time of the evening sacrifice.
That wasn't happening, but that's where his clock was.
May our time be regulated by God and His Word and our purpose and desire.
And the setting of our face be.
That we would seek the Lord with a whole heart so.
Salvation.
Captain and the guy.
Ezekiel Pt. 2
Ezekiel Pt. 1
The Lord Is Good - Trust Him, Fear Him, Seek Him
The Crown Did Not Endure to Every Generation