Pella Conference: 2014
Table of Contents
To Know the Lord Jesus Better
Address—Don Rule
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We'll begin by singing together #152 The 1St 2 verses, 1St 2 verses of 152 Thy name.
We love Lord Jesus will need a starter.
Let's turn miss me for just one verse in Philippians chapter 3.
Philippians chapter 3 and just the first part of verse 10.
That I might or may know him.
And the power of his resurrection.
My responsibility.
This afternoon.
Is to address you.
On the behalf.
Of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And on the behalf of the Lord Jesus Christ, I want to say welcome.
Thank you.
For coming here this weekend.
To be with me, the Lord Jesus.
It's important.
You know, we all came.
Perhaps with different reasons before us as to why we're here that day, why we're here this weekend.
If we're young, maybe it's for fun or because we don't have a choice because mom and Dad brought us.
If we're a little older, we might have more mature reasons.
For coming here and spending this weekend.
But also, and most important, the Lord Jesus.
Has his reasons.
And.
One of them is that he values appreciates.
Once companionship.
And he is owned to be with himself. Father, I will that those whom thou hast given me be with me.
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And that looks on where I am, as he now is in the glory.
But in another way, we have the wonderful privilege of spending this weekend with the Lord Jesus.
And as such, it is well for us that He have His place with us, not only when something is going on in this room.
But also in the hallway.
That he be part of our conversation.
And our activities, even at the dinner table, that the Lord Jesus, as it were in spirit have His place and His privilege of having us here with Himself.
All of us, at least that song it in truth said, sang thy name, we love Lord Jesus, there is put it by God in the heart of each one of us, a love for Him.
It might be so feeble that in comparison to his love for us.
We don't choose much to speak about it, but nonetheless given of God.
There is a.
Fact that we do love the Lord Jesus and everyone of us in this room that loves the Lord Jesus has within us the desire.
To know him better.
To know him better.
And as such.
It's the desire before my soul in this next little while that we look at a few things that are going to help us or hinder us to knowing better.
And to know him better.
Is certainly a worthwhile reason. In other words, when Monday or whenever for you comes and you leave.
He will appreciate and so will you if you leave this weekend and you know him better.
Then you knew him when you came.
With that as an introduction, turn with me to John chapter 15.
Very well known passage, but we're going to look at it with emphasis on things that are found here that will help us to know our Lord Jesus better.
As the Apostle Paul said that I might know him.
I meant everything to him and his life.
Every other thing in the life of the Apostle Paul was so secondary as to hardly count in comparison with his desire to have the Lord Jesus.
May we be more like him.
So here in John 15 and verse one, I am the true Vine. My father is the husbandman.
Here he speaks of my father. I think there are at least seven things in this chapter where he refers in that way as my something that he calls my.
And we'll look at some of them if I don't know if there's time to look at all of them, but we'll look at some of them. And as we look at them, we'll see in them that which will help us to know him better, or if we fail and to do it, that which will hinder us from knowing him.
My father.
If you want to know somebody, you're interested in that which is of interest to them.
When you meet someone and you talk to them for the first time, very often the exchange of conversation beyond the weather and where do you live and such things is to find out.
What's of interest to that person? What subject or what things they are interested in?
My father.
My father.
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Here's a man.
If you want to be interested, if you want to know him.
You need to know, I need to know how important his father is to him.
Sometimes when you meet somebody, you feel like maybe you know them a little bit to start with because you know somebody else in their family.
And by that family relationship, it gives you at least a start in learning to know someone if you're interested.
Here our Lord Jesus says my Father.
It's not something we don't know.
But to make it beneficial to us this afternoon, let's make sure that we keep the mind in our thoughts.
Yes, there's a place for saying the father.
There's a place for saying the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
But if we are going to know him better, we want to keep in our souls.
That very personal word, my father.
The Lord Jesus speaks with reverence, with dignity.
With honor, with delight.
On the subject so dear to his heart, my father.
If you want to know him better.
Be interested.
In what he feels, what he thinks, what he cares about his father.
Let it be something important to learn more about if you don't. We all, none of us know all that we would want to know, but we need to.
Want to know? And he tells us not just in this chapter, but as we go through His word, we get to see His interaction with his father.
And how he feels and acts in his life for his father.
He says I'm the true vine.
I'm the true Vine.
My father's the husbandman.
And then in verse two he talks about fruit.
His father, long before this, planted a vineyard in the earth.
His father is a husbandman.
And he took this earth, and he planted a vineyard in it.
To produce fruit. That's why your husbandman do you want fruit. And so his father planted a vineyard to have fruit.
He worked hard at it.
He eventually says what more could I have done in my vineyard that it had fruit?
That that vineyard, that vine was Israel.
And he had to eventually say no fruit.
No fruit.
The Lord Jesus came into the earth.
To live here as a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground.
That his father.
Might have a fruitful.
Result.
MMM, I'm the true Vine.
And you?
Are the branches.
You're the ranchers, I'm the vine, but you're the branches in my father's vineyard, and my father wants to produce fruit.
Do we know him?
That is the Lord Jesus the Vine.
Are we a branch that is going to be fruitful for him?
So he goes on the verses that follow, he says.
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He purchased the branches.
We call it sometimes discipline in our lives.
Do we want to say to the Lord, Lord, it's OK?
I know that you want.
Your father to have fruit and so when it's necessary, pruning.
You'll know him better.
If you embrace it.
And if you fight it?
So he says.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except ye abide in the vine, no more can ye.
There will be no fruit in your life.
There'll be no satisfying the purpose and desire of God in your life or my life.
Without.
Our relationship with the Lord Jesus and abiding in him and He abiding in US. And so it's good for us if we want to know Him, to recognize that which he explains.
That enables Him to abide in US and for us to abide in Him.
Because, as it says in verse five, He abides in me bears fruit.
But without me you can do nothing.
We talk about common interests, and so here we if we're going to know the Lord Jesus better as we want to know him.
It's important for us to know that he is.
Very interested, he works very hard.
His father works very hard.
To produce fruit.
And your part and I'm part of that work.
Verse 7.
If you abide in me and my words abide in you.
Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
He said he wants to abide in.
And we in him in order that there might be fruit for his father.
And so the second of the seven, and I don't know that we'll look at all of them, but he says my words, my words.
If you leave this weekend with his words, more of his words.
Not just in your head or my head, but abiding in.
We'll know him better.
We'll know him better. We'll go home and say I know my Lord.
Better.
My words abide in you.
It isn't an intellectual thing that's being talked about here, but it's that his, what he says, what his thoughts are, have a place in my heart and your heart and in my conscience and in your conscience.
Do I value what he wants to say to me this weekend?
Do I let it sink in?
You shall ask what she will.
And it shall be done. We like those words, but what do they mean here?
If his words abide in US.
They form the desires of our hearts.
And God will grant that.
If you ask God for something that is not for your good.
There's no real promise of scripture. You're going to get it.
If God is simply pardon the use of it, there's a tract outside called God is Not a Vending Machine.
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God is not somebody we go to and put a quarter prayer in.
And expect him to do something for us. That's not God, that's not the Father.
But if my words, the Lord Jesus says to us, if my words, brethren, abide in you, you ask what you will, and it will be done, because you will ask based on what those words are in you, and I'll be delighted.
To see my father do them.
And what comes from it? We said the Father wants fruit. Verse 8 Herein is my father glorified, that she bear much fruit.
When his words abide in US, the result will be fruit.
The result will be fruit.
Will the Lord Jesus be placed? He sure will, because He wants the Father glorified. He wants His Father honored. And if there's fruit from our lives, His Father receives honor and glory from it.
What hinders me from knowing him the other side?
I'm not real interested in his words.
They don't have a particular value. I came for fun. I came for social fellowship.
I came to meet my friends. We have other things to talk about. We don't get to see each other very often.
He wants us to see each other, He wants us to have good fellowship, but he wants to be part of it.
He wants to share in it.
He doesn't want us to sit in a formal sense like we are at the moment, and then have our own time and then we come back and we decide if we hear something that's gonna be of interest to our lives in some way. No, that's not my father, my words.
And so he says, my Father will be glorified, and they'll be much fruit if my words abide in you.
And then he says. And then this way you'll be another my my disciples, my followers.
Do you wanna know the Lord Jesus better?
Get up every morning and with a sense Lord, I'm your follower.
I'm your disciple.
Wherever you go, Lord.
That's where I want to be today.
When the Lord Jesus called this particular ones that he was addressing here in Mark's gospel, I think it is, He says to them that they might be with him and that he might send them forth.
They might be with him. They might be followers of him.
He said to Peter and John and so on, who were fishermen, Follow me, leave the Nets there and follow me. And they did.
And they had very fruitful lives too. And so one of the ways in which we.
Know him better.
Is worth for with him.
And we are habitually, or should be habitually with him as a a disciple.
The disciple was in the presence of the one he followed, and he observed what he did. In fact, he learned at times to do it for him, to go into the next village and speak on his behalf, and so on. But.
He was in his presence.
Verse 9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue, ye and my love.
I want to know him better.
I want to continue.
In his love.
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Tremendous love, isn't it?
He tells us the kind of love he has for us. He says, as My father hath loved me, if you don't have interest in the father, you probably don't have interest in the love between the father and the son. But he started with that, my father, and now he's talking about my love. But my love is enjoyed.
Between myself and my father.
And I want you and I to have that same relationship.
You know how my father loves me, and I love my father.
I love you that way and I want you to love me that way.
Is that a good way to know somebody and love them, that I might know him?
Again, I'm just giving emphasis a lot on the word my.
My love for you.
Some things are better felt than said. I don't know how to express.
To express the importance of something that to me, each one of us individually has to embrace.
And say I want to continue.
In the love.
That he has for me.
It's personal to him. Does he feel it? Sure he does. You ever love somebody and not felt loved the way you wanted in return? Do you feel it? Does it matter? Sure it does.
Lord Jesus says as my Father loved me and you have some sense of what that is, he says I love you.
Can we have a relationship that's the same and similar?
That he doesn't say love me more than you do. He says continue in my love. If you rejoice, if you value his love to you, there will be a proper response in you. So it isn't to focus on trying to love him more, no, but it's to continue in his love. It's to continue in the enjoyment of that love. And may I say on the other side.
Let us not.
Do anything that would hinder.
The enjoyment of it.
Can you continue in it with certain activities of life that you can think of and I can think of no.
There is an awful lot of ways to spend time every day that hinders us from knowing him better.
They're wasted many times. They don't contribute anything.
To the continuing in his love.
And there are many ways that we can spend that do enable us to knowing better.
If you don't know somebody's heart, you don't know them.
You don't know.
I don't know anything about the heart of the person that made this lectern. I couldn't make a lectern like this, wouldn't come out this way with the scrolling work and so on. But it doesn't tell me anything about the person's heart, tells me about their skill, their power in that sense. But Lord Jesus, to know him, to know the Father is to know his heart.
And there that which helps us to know His heart better. And there are those things that hinder us from knowing His heart.
Verse 10.
One more my here if ye keep my commandments.
Ye shall abide in my love.
He said in the very beginning, abide in my love, and my love abide in you.
Now he's giving us some very practical, explicit instruction as to how to abide in his love, to how to continue in his love, and consequently how to know him better.
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Keep my commandments.
You can't know the Lord Jesus, You can't know the Father, You can't know God the Father.
Unless you know their heart.
But you can't know their heart.
In the way they want you to unless you're in obedient.
Unless you keep His commandments, you can't grow the knowledge of God or the Lord Jesus without obedience.
It's essential to growth.
You can't abide in him.
Without obedience, keep my commandments.
He says elsewhere. My commandments aren't grievous. They're not hard. They're not difficult if you love me.
He kept his Father's commandments to the Lord Jesus find it difficult.
I delight to do my Father's will. I find my joy, my pleasure in doing my Father's will. I want you to know me by having the same attitude and spirit we share together. You share with me in that same way of thinking and that same heart, so that when you say.
I delight to do your will, Lord.
You shared something.
You know, you know people by shared experience very often, and so when you delight to do His will, you enter into what His heart delights in, and you know Him in that way.
But if you say no, I got my own ways, then you can't know him, you can't grow. You're hindered by not wanting enough to make action.
Of obedience.
Verse 11 we get another one. My joy.
My joy.
Did he have a choice?
Yes, he did.
Spoke about it a little bit. I delight to do thy will. O my God. Was a supreme joy of his life.
Do you know what? I want to know how he feels?
Do you wanna know him in that way? Find your joy in the same thing.
He says that's my joy.
I want your joy to be full, but how can my joy be full?
How can I have a full, happy, joyful life?
By having his joy and no other way.
There is absolutely no other way to have a happy, truly happy life the way he wants us to have it except the way he had a happy life.
Otherwise.
This world is full of lost people that spend a whole lifetime and never ever come to a fullness of joy. Pleasure, yes. Temporary, yes. Need more of it every month, every year to get the same level of satisfaction, yes.
But fullness of joy? No. No.
There's only one way.
And the Lord Jesus wants you, He loves you. He wants you to have a life that can be characterized as fullness of joy. And if you have it, you know him in it. You know him in it, you know him better because you're sharing in the same experience that enables you to know.
The apostle Paul in Philippians 3. When he wanted to know the Lord better, he went so far as to say.
If dying.
Enables me to go through the power of resurrection that he went through. If that means I get to know him better, it's OK. I don't mind dying.
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Because the result of dying will be that I will be go through the same experience of resurrection that he went through, and the end result is all knowing better because of that shared experience. If that's what it takes for me to know him.
He was, he looked, he was happy. It was actually a wish if it would produce that result in his life.
Verse 12 This is my commandment, that she loved one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, than a man lay down his life for his friends.
You're my friends if you do whatever I command you.
Do you wanna know him better?
I need to and I need just as much as you.
To love as he loves.
I need the law of as he loves.
Is that easy?
I tend to think in a practical sense that's one of the most difficult.
Exhortations in the whole of the New Testament.
But it's the way to know him better.
Let's put it in practical terms.
If I can speak for the Lord Jesus.
If you want to love and know me in that way as I love others.
Then I want you to love the brother or sister in the assembly where you are as I love them.
You take the most difficult situation in your life in terms of feeling love towards some other person, and you say you have an opportunity to know the Lord better. You learn to love that person as Jesus loves you.
Is that hard? I think that's a heavy expectation to put in true practice.
Some are easy to love by natural characteristics, some are hard.
But the Lord Jesus loves everyone of us equally and perfectly, and he says to us.
I have one commandment for you.
Talked about keeping his commandments, being obedient to him and he names one commandment.
I want you to love your brother as I love you.
If that commandment was truly carried out throughout the history of the church, I suspect there would be maybe no division in it today.
Sadly, it's not the case.
So he says.
You're my friends.
A friend is somebody who shares what's on their heart with somebody else.
Lord Jesus calls you friend because He wants to share with you His thoughts and His heart. He wants to spend time with you this weekend and share with you.
But you can hinder it.
You can hinder it. I'm busy, I have some things to take care of. I have some people to talk to and we have some things we have to say that sorry Lord, but it's not perhaps of interest to you. And uh, so we can hinder the Lord.
In communication of his as a friend.
Let's not. Mm-hmm.
Verse 16.
The end of the verse. Our times getting along, it says.
Whatever whatsoever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. We're going to connect that.
If I can find the verse I want.
Verse 21 For all these things will they do unto you, for my name's sake.
Because they know not him that sent me.
Briefly.
Talks about hatred In the prayer meeting this morning we talked about some of our brethren her persecuted.
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Mm-hmm. Yeah. Outwardly and very seriously, even to death. Why?
They're identified with his name.
It's his name.
And it's their identification with his name.
You live in a country, and I live in a country where it's generally not too difficult.
Dare I say it to deny his name?
By simply not standing for it.
At work.
In conversation.
But notice the two toys the name is used.
Ask the Father in my name.
We like that side of the name, don't we? We all, I hope, talk to the Father, at least today, more than once or so in His name.
In the end of our prayer, I hope it's not just words we say in the name of the Lord Jesus or something like that. Very most prayers.
And so we ask in his name.
He turns it around here too when it comes to hatred, and he is being hatred because of his name and because he was faithful to the Father.
And presenting the Father to the world.
Do you wanna know him?
In that way as well.
You know what it means to be identified with the persecution. They hated me without a 'cause, he said. Do I want to know? Do I truly want to know that side of him?
I can, I can, but I'll have to bear his name, to learn him in that way, to know him better.
I'll have to say, Lord help me.
To do all things in your name.
At school, at work, the grocery store.
In the assembly wherever, Lord help me to bear your name.
And if it brings some kind of reproach or rejection.
You'll know better what he felt when he said.
Reproach had broken my heart. You'll know his heart in a better way. It's worth it. We shy from it, many of us. But if we do it, we'll know him better. And we'll be forever grateful to God to encourage us to be that way.
1 John 1:1-4
Reading
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Face the wondrous thought, for who did it suggest #330?
1.
We are.
Going to fall in love with all the World War Day.
The given what we had before us the last meeting if we could.
Go to first, John.
Don't know how far we'll get, but in the 1St and 2nd chapters you have many of those things that were brought before us.
Would that be?
Suitable to my brethren.
Could read first John One for this meeting.
Let's see where the Lord leads us.
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First John chapter one. At which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life. For the life was manifested, and we have seen it. And bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us, at which we have seen and heard. Declare we unto you.
That you also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father.
And with his Son Jesus Christ, and these things right way unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son.
Cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in US.
Like to read a verse in John's Gospel chapter 8?
As kind of an introduction to this chapter.
John chapter 8 and verse 25.
Then said they unto him, They're speaking to the Lord Jesus.
Who art thou?
And Jesus saith unto them, Even the same that I said unto you from the beginning.
Now in verse one of our chapter, that which was from the beginning.
And it's helpful, brethren, to see we have several, We have three books, actually four books that start with the beginning.
Of course we know Genesis 11 in the beginning is the beginning of the creation, the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. But in first John, I should say in John's Gospel chapter, one is probably the beginning that goes back before any other beginning, when there was any beginning you want to speak of.
There was the Word in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, His individuality in the Godhead, and the Word was God his deity.
But here we have that which was from the beginning.
And this beginning is the beginning of the manifestation of eternal life.
In the person of the Lord Jesus in this world.
There in a real living person was manifested that eternal life. Notice verse 2 For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness and show unto you.
That eternal life which was with the Father.
And was manifested unto us.
So it's exceedingly precious, brethren, what we have in verse one here, that which was from the beginning. And then there's little phrases in which John speaks about him. Of course, he speaks in the plural because he wasn't the only witness. There were others who were witnesses as well. He says that which.
We have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon.
And our hands have handled of the word of life.
If you notice those little phrases, each one gets a little closer.
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The first one is heard. You can hear something at a distance, but to see it with your eyes it has to be a little closer.
To look upon it or to contemplate it, as it says in the new translation, it has to be closer yet, and to put your hands on it, it has to be even closer. So each one is closer. Just think.
Brethren, God so desired fellowship because that's the word that appears a number of times in this chapter.
He so desired fellowship.
The that we would enjoy fellowship with him like we've had in the last meeting, in those different ways that he came so close that the apostles could say we heard him, we've seen him with our eyes.
We've contemplated him and our hands have handled him. We're not talking about mere doctrines.
We're not talking about philosophies of life, we're talking about historical reality.
We heard him, we saw him, we looked upon him, we handled him. These are not cleverly devised fables, as Peter says.
These are realities, O brethren, this is where we have been brought to know this glorious person, the manifestation of eternal life in the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
She's given the name or title of the word.
Both in John's Gospel and here at the beginning of this epistle. And we might well raise the question why in connection with the full manifestation of God the Father.
Is he given this? Is he given this name? But if we think about what words do, it perhaps helps us to understand.
Because words convey concepts and ideas, they talk about word pictures. You pick up a book and you read about somebody and without seeing a picture of that person, an actual photograph or painting, you may in your mind, if the writer is a good writer, you will in your mind have a vision of you will be able to visualize exactly what that person looks like, who that person is a lot about that person.
Can be conveyed in simple words and the Lord Jesus in coming to reveal who the Father was.
He came as the eternal word, and at the end of his pathway he could say.
As the word he could say, Have I been so long time with you? He that hath seen me, and hast thou not known me?
He that hast seen me hath seen the Father, it says in the beginning of John's Gospel.
The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father.
Full of grace and truth, every attribute, every quality that makes up the person of God the Father was brought into full display and manifestation.
Through the Lord Jesus Christ, He came as the Word, and as the Word conveyed to us who God the Father was, so that ultimately, as Brother Bob has said, we could be brought in to fellowship.
With the father, with the son, and ultimately then as a result, with one another.
Notice a verse in.
UMM Titus, Chapter one in connection with our chapter.
Titus, Chapter one.
And verse two in hope of eternal life which God that cannot lie promise before the world began.
First, John is to communicate to us what eternal life is.
The first John's first epistle is an epistle about eternal life, the gift of God that we have now received, and that gift of God that enables us to have the closest of fellowship with Himself and with the Son. We've had the Word from all eternity and the Word coming into the world.
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In the due course of time and God's time to display itself to us.
But it's wonderful to me this verse that's just read in connection with this promise before the world began.
Was a promise to you? You weren't around to receive the promise. Was it promised to any of us before the world began? No, we weren't here. We didn't exist. But in the counsels of God.
Between the Father and the Son, it was determined to have creatures that it could have fellowship with them.
And so it was a council that was promised to be before the world ever was created and brought into its existence. And now God, in the greatness of his being with us, his creature.
Has given us to participate in something.
That is eternal.
Eternal life. Eternal life has no beginning.
Christ is our life, it says, and we participate in His life. We receive it as a gift to participate with Him in it, and it's something that connects us with the Father and the Son in the most innocent, intimate way. That was purposed by God before this world was ever created and before man ever existed. And now, in the proper time, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and displayed that.
Which is now been given to us to participate in. And so it's a wonderful epistle and that we want to enjoy.
That for which God purposed before anything existed.
And the reason?
I think we can say is because this was the counter Gnosticism, it was written perhaps in 90, uh, AD and that was a calculated, I believe, to take these things away from us. And so he says here, uh, or we have seen him are their eyes. We have looked upon him. Our hands have handled of the word of life. And I think the, the Gospel of John was written for the same reason.
Two, uh, counter Gnosticism, which said he couldn't have been a real man because flesh is evil, only the spirit is pure. Is that right? So in Colossians, the same way it was written to counter these things that Satan was bringing in to keep us from enjoying the person of Christ.
Dictionary one time looked it up in Webster's dictionary and at first it RA rather startled me.
It said incarnation, meaning Christ come in human form. Kind of startled me. That was a secular dictionary. And then I thought, what else could it be? No one else has ever come into this world in incarnation. But we want to guard very carefully when we speak of his coming into this world and partaking of manhood. We want to be very careful to guard the eternity of his person.
Because there's a great attack today, there's always been, but there seems to be a fresh attack today to to discredit the eternity of his person. Let me just give you a couple of Old Testament prophecies that confirm that eternity. It said when Isaiah prophesied of the coming of Christ, he said two things unto us. A child is born, thus his incarnation.
Unto us the Son is not born, but is given. God is the eternity of His Person.
And it's interesting and significant that when you go through the Word of God, you never read of the sun being born.
He's always sent or given because in order to send or give something, you already have to be in possession of it. And the the Lord Jesus was not just daily the delight of the Father when he walked here on earth, It's true heaven opened up and this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased and so on. That's true. But when it says prophetically of him in the book of Proverbs chapter 8, I was daily his delight.
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That wasn't just daily in his pathway here, that was from a past eternity. The sun was daily the delight of the Father.
Before he was sent into this world, before he took on him human form.
Before he was born a man, a baby in Bethlehem, before He, the dove lighted upon him at his baptism, and heaven opened up. The Father became audible, the Son was tangible, the Spirit became momentarily visible. But He was daily the delight of the Father before that. And it is so very, very important. And John guards this in a very, very precious way. And over and over again, God so loved the world that He gave.
I don't have any sons. I have daughters, but I don't have any sons. I could not send a son to you. I could not send a son to help you because I don't have a son. But God had a son, having one son, I'll send him. And so again, as far as his manhood, his incarnation, He was born into this world, born of a virgin. But as far as his eternal sonship, as far as him being the eternal Word, he was sent and given.
And those little distinctions, I believe, are important for us to get a hold of justice. Say this to her. But in comparison to Paul's ministry and John's ministry, Paul unfolds to us the counsels of God. And when Paul unfolds to us the councils of God as far as our relationship to the Father, he sent forth the Spirit into our hearts, crying the spirit of adoption, crying ABBA father in Paul's ministry.
Were sons by adoption.
Were adopted into the family of God and the dignity that goes with that position.
But John unfolds to us not so much the counsels of God, but the nature of God.
John gets right to the heart of the matter and in John's ministry.
We're not so much sons by adoption, but we are children by birth.
We have now the very nature of God, the very life of Christ, and it's not just everlasting life, it's eternal life.
It's the very nature and life of God and of Christ.
50 F 5652 years ago, 53 years ago, my parents went to an adoption agency and chose me. They adopted me. Wonderful thing. I'm so thankful for it. But they were never able to give me the, the, the their life. I have not one drop of Highland blood in me. They could not do both, but God has been able to do both. I'm a son of God by adoption. That's Paul's ministry, but in John's ministry.
I'm a child of God by I've been given the very nature and life of God. Tremendous to think about.
To uh.
In considering John's Gospel and the Epistle of John.
To see that in John's gospel we have eternal life in the person of the Lord Jesus.
And in John's epistle we have eternal life, that same eternal life in the believers in the Lord Jesus. So what we have in John's epistle is.
Nature and character.
If you look at chapter two, I think it's it's been helpful to me to see this rather than notice in verses 7 and eight of chapter 2, Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had noticed from the beginning. Whenever you have that from the beginning, it goes right back to the verse one of this chapter, chapter one.
The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.
That's eternal life in the person of the Lord Jesus that we have in John's Gospel.
Verse eight again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him, that's in the Lord Jesus and in you, so that that eternal life that was manifested in him is now manifested in the believer in the Lord Jesus who's born into God's family, because the darkness is passing in the true light now shineth so the old commandment.
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As eternal life manifested in the person of the Lord Jesus when He was here in this world.
And the new commandment is that same eternal life now manifested in the believer, in the Lord Jesus. Oh brother, these things are so real and I want it to be.
Something that grabs our souls, especially the younger people. But for all of us, brethren, do we enjoy this like the apostles? I mean, we're talking about John and Peter, men who had no formal education. They were fishermen, uneducated men. They were ones who lived at the level of this world. And so don't think that we're talking about highfalutin things here.
This is something practical for each one of us. Notice in verse one that which we have heard. Have you heard Him? Have you taken time to hear Him, to open this book and to read the verses of Scripture and listen to Him? They heard Him. Have you and I heard Him? We can, if we.
Open this book to listen. Then it says that which we have.
Seen with our eyes, seeing goes a little bit further than hearing.
Have we seen him, brethren? Have you seen Jesus?
It says in Hebrews chapter 2.
We see Jesus, who has made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor, not with these eyes, these physical eyes, but faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. So that when we read about him sitting at God's right hand in highest glory, it becomes surreal to our souls. It's like we're seeing him there.
Do you enjoy seeing him?
Let's make it real. This is something individual that has to be individual. But it goes on from there, and the next little phrase is that which we have looked upon or contemplated. What's the difference between?
Seeing and looking on. Looking on is more detained. It's more detail and brethren, when we get into the Gospels.
To contemplate the perfection in that glorious person.
Never could they find a flaw in him. The lawyers got around him and tried to trip him up.
But you can't trip up a perfect man every time they went away completely confounded. Reverend, this is our life. This is the eternal life that we now enjoy.
And we can contemplate it. Oh, the preciousness of it. I I just love to go through the Gospels in that way and think of.
The Lord Jesus when they brought that woman taken in adultery, what a serious sin. What a shameful thing to be dragged right into the temple there before the Lord Jesus.
But if the Lord Jesus was going to condemn that woman, he would have to condemn those other Jewish men because.
Their their marriage laws were such that they were all in adultery. He would have to condemn them all, and he had not come to condemn. What did he do? He Stoops down and writes on the ground. They keep asking him, and he gets up and says, let him that is without sin among you, cast the first stone at her, and then he Stoops down to ride on the ground, and they all go out.
Because they realized that they were convicted too of that same sin that they were accusing that woman of. When he finally gets up again, he says, woman, where are thine accusers, as no man condemned thee. And she says, no man Lord, but wait a minute, there is one there without sin. He yes, he could pick up a stone to cast at her, but he had not come for that purpose.
What a precious thing it is to contemplate that perfection. And he says to her, Neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. We can look at that. We can contemplate it and meditate on it. This is our life, brethren. This is that eternal life which was with the Father, and now that is ours in Christ.
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What a precious thing it is. But there's one more phrase, and the Apostle John says our hands have handled.
They were more that was closer than even looking upon. And the Apostle John we know was close enough that he leaned on Jesus bosom at the Last Supper. Oh what a precious thing it is.
Become so real that we actually feel them in our hearts and our souls. This is what the Lord wants, brethren, because we're talking in this chapter, verse three, about fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ.
And this is what God wants with us. But we need to cultivate fellowship. We need to take time to hear Him, to see Him, to look upon him, to feel the reality of his presence with us.
The ears and eyes of faith, isn't it? I was thinking about how Isaiah prophesied of the Lord Jesus.
And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. And there were many in this world when the Lord Jesus was here, who saw him just as another man.
Perhaps as a prophet, perhaps as a Goodman, whatever it might have been. But they didn't see beyond that.
But for John and others who walked with the Lord, those whose spiritual ears and eyes were open.
They saw far, far more than just a man walking in this world. And I was thinking of what you said, Bob, of how.
When the bride in the Song of Solomon she goes over, she contemplates her bridegroom.
Piece by piece, part by part, so to speak. Not just a casual thought or glance toward the bridegroom, but as she goes over those various aspects.
Of the bridegroom and his qualities and his beauties and his glories, his attributes. What does she say at the end? He's altogether lovely. And that's the way we need to take up the person of Christ as revealed to us. And we have it here in the Word, to read the Word and to see Christ in the in the word of God. And you don't have to read very far on the pages of Scripture, whether it's the Old Testament, the New Testament, to see that the subject is Christ.
Some aspect of his person and work, and to read it slowly and prayerfully and with exercise.
And as Bob said, to make it real, to contemplate, to meditate, You know, sometimes we get a photograph in the mail. Someone will send us a photograph in the mail, and my wife will open it, and she'll say to me, look at this photograph. And I give it a casual glance. And she said, you didn't look at it at all. I saw it. I saw it, but I didn't look at it. And So what she wants me to do and what the person who sent it evidently wants me to do is to get it out and contemplate it.
And so I get out that photo, I take that photograph back and I say make some comments about the person or persons that are in the photograph, notice they're a little older than the one we received last year or what, whatever it might be. But to really study it, to contemplate, we can look at something, we can scan something, we can look at the word of God, We can, we can look at the person of Christ. We can read a chapter in the morning and that's wonderful. But what about really contemplating going over in our souls every day. And I, I speak to my own soul brother to go over in our souls every day the beauties and attributes of Christ.
The Word that was made flesh and dwelt among us, the life that we're reading about here that is ours now to stop every day and discipline ourselves, to take time to go over this. This is what is going to feed the new man. It's what's going to encourage us. It's go what's going to refresh us. There's nothing else, brethren. There's nothing else in this world that'll do it. But it is contemplation. I was thinking of this expression handle.
Because somebody might say, well, how can we handle the word of life today? Yes, I can see how we can hear and see and meditate, contemplate, but what about handling? Well, you've brought out some expressions, but I I've thought about the sense of so being so in the enjoyment of his presence every day that we feel his hand in ours, that we feel those everlasting arms about us.
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You know, David said, Thou hast holding me by thy right hand. David never knew the Lord physically, but he had such a sense of who he was and His presence with him that he felt his hand in his.
And I really believe, brethren, that's the sense of what you have in Philippians where it says the Lord is at hand.
That's not the Lord's coming. That is to have a sense, the handle of the word of life, to have a sense of His hand in ours every day, His arms about us, to brush His shoulder as we walk in the path of faith. That's the handle of who? The word of life. No greater privilege on the face of the earth.
And uh.
We might think, well, that's something that was to.
2000 years ago, but these things are very real today, and the application of them, as has been brought out, is very real in the day in which we live. There's been a renewed interest in Gnosticism. Maybe it's not called that by name, but there are books that have been written that have become extremely popular best sellers #1 best sellers. And then on the other side of things that Jim spoke about, the, uh, the, uh.
The eternal character of the Lord is again something that's under attack. So just recently in the, within the last month, there was a manuscript that was found that referred to Jesus wife. And uh, next day there was a rebuttal of it that said that it was a forgery. And then the next day said, no, it was real. But you know, none of these things should have any effect upon us. If I don't know someone very well and someone says concerning that person, did you know that someone so did such and such.
I might say really I OK, I guess, wow. But if I knew that person really well, would it matter what anyone said to disparage that individual? So tomorrow, let's say the headlines say they found the bones of the Lord Jesus, what effect would that have on you? Any any.
You know, as I said, these things are.
A real and practical for the day that we live in. The same attacks that were made against Christianity in the days of the apostle John are being still made today. And your faith, the strength of your faith, is going to rest upon your communion with the Lord Jesus, with and and with the Father.
Another thing with John's Gospel, uh, John's Epistle 2 is frequently described as being written in the abstract, which generally doesn't mean anything to anybody. But the thing to learn is the thing to understand is it's not about our experience. It's not about our experience. So at the end of John's epistle in the 13th verse of the last chapter, it says these things have I written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that she have eternal life, that same life that was in the Lord Jesus, the same life that the apostles witnessed, the same life we now share in Christ.
And it doesn't say that you may learn that you have eternal life.
In fact, the word for no in this verse is not the word no associated with learning, but rather the conscious knowledge of it.
That's what God would have us to have, the conscious knowledge of that life, that we might walk in the good of it.
Sense of importance. The fellowship here is helps me in this way when I think about it.
I don't have the nature of an Ant.
And I don't understand ants, how they think or feel.
And I dare say nobody else in the room does either. You can observe ants and you can learn a lot about them, but your feelings and their feelings are never gonna cross and be the same. In that way, you'll never have fellowship with an aunt.
Because it does not have the capacity to have fellowship with you, because it does not share your life and nature.
God has Adam did not know God in the garden as we do.
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He knew God, he had a measure of fellowship with God, but he was at that time.
Before send what we call innocent.
If you said if God had said.
Adam, let's have a conversation about Holiness.
Adam would have no capacity to understand God.
The conversation would have been meaningless to Adam because he didn't know. He didn't have a nature that was holy.
God has chosen because of His desire to have fellowship with us.
To give us the capacity to have fellowship with him.
And he has done so by giving us eternal life, the family, the life that the life of the Lord Jesus is now our life. And because of that we are enabled when we contemplate the Lord Jesus and His life, having received eternal life, were enabled to enter into his feelings.
And his thoughts, and what it meant to him to minister as he did to the woman at the well, and the woman taken in adultery, and when Nicodemus came to his house and had a conversation with him, and so on. But why can we? Because we have eternal life. Without it our knowledge would be very limited by comparison, and it would not have satisfied the heart of God.
And the purpose of God. And so, brethren, we can't, we can underestimate, but we can't overestimate the importance of the gift of eternal life.
Eternal life was not impossible, was not possible, until the Lord rose from the dead and he brought us into a relationship with Himself. The Old Testament Saints don't have this privilege.
They couldn't look up and call God our Father.
Solely believers, they were born again and they did have a nature but and could speak to Jehovah, but they did not know God as their Father. These are privileges that only believers in this dispensation have, which is so important that we learn how to rightly divide the word of truth. He told Nicodemus. You must be born again to see the Kingdom of God, but that's earthly truth.
When Christ died on the cross, that was something that happened within him.
But Christ dying on the cross was something that happened outside of us and has brought us into our relationship that none other has and none other will. Even the millennial Saints will not have this privilege and these things that were lost for years, brother. But God in his mercy to the church has recovered many of these truths that we're remembering and enjoying the smart this this afternoon and.
Do we have a heart for it? That's it. This is a wonderful privilege. This is something that was lost for 1000 years, and yet here we can enjoy these things.
Are you, I'm sorry, when you go to Revelations One and eight you read I will umm, Revelation 18I am Alpha and Amiga, the beginning and the ending saith the Lord who is and who was and who is to come and the Almighty and we have. We started out with the Eternal One. You go to Revelations 21 and six.
And uh, you read. And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Amiga, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him. That is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life. Freely. You go to Revelations 22 and 13 and you read I'm Alpha and Amiga, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. We have the divine Speaker there, don't we?
We have the the the power of the spirit and the speaker there, but it's different when you go to the churches in chapter 2 of Revelations and you look at verse 17 of chapter one. Let's break on that one first.
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet dead. John that jumped in the bosom when he, Mary, had Jesus in her womb.
John that laid his head on the breast of Christ.
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John that saw him coming down, and he says, behold, that's what Bob was Speaking of. Don't just look at him. Behold him, meditate, feast upon him, behold.
The one that taketh away the sin of the world. And now what does it say? I am the 1St and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am life forevermore. Chapter 2, verse 8 Unto the Angel of the church in Samaria, Right these things, saith the 1St and the last, who was dead and is alive. These verses omit.
His birth.
Those verses omit.
3334 years of his life. Those verses omit Calvary and the first is dead.
I am, I am, I am the first begotten of the dead.
Sorry, Jim, uh, go ahead.
Going to go back to what Vern said because it's important to understand in the Old Testament they had life but it's not referred to as eternal life and that's why the Lord Jesus when he was here, He said in John 10 verse 10.
I am come that they might have life, They had life in the Old Testament, but then he adds to it and that they might have it more abundantly because eternal life has to do with the quality and relationship that we are brought into now in Christianity. So it was life, but it's not referred to in that way. As Brother Vern said, we have now been brought into a position of relationship and fellowship.
That none other enjoyed in the up until the till Christianity. It's true in the Old Testament there was a sense in which they knew God as their father. Wilt thou not at this time crying to me, my father? Thou art the guide of my youth. Malachi is there not one God and Father and so on but it was father in the sense of what it says in Acts 17 he's.
We are all the offspring of God. They were hit. They understood that they if they had faith.
That God was their Father in the sense of coming forth from his hand in creation.
But not in the sense of having that very life that we've been Speaking of and not in the closeness of relationship. Now we cry ABBA father, we're brought into the closest place of relationship that is possible. And you know, it's interesting that the Lord Jesus used that expression of a father only in Mark's gospel because in Marquis and he never addresses the the father in Mark's Gospel.
Till the path of service is done, and in his greatest hour of need, he turns in the garden.
And in the intimacy of ABBA father, he turns to his father.
In, in light of his the hour of Calvary approaching. And brethren, that's the relationship we have now. We can come in the very intimacy of ABBA Father, the very intimacy in which the Lord Jesus enjoys. Now the Lord will be the only begotten of the Father for eternity. No other child of God will ever take that place. But nevertheless, this is the intimacy in which we have been brought into in Christianity as the possessors of divine life. Yes, but it's also eternal life. That's the quality of the life that we have now.
Where it says here.
Verse four according as he has chosen us in him before the foundations of the world and in verse 5, having predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ is what is that relationship as to what you were Speaking of what I said earlier in Paul's ministry where we have the councils of God unfolded. We are sons by adoption and and sonship brings us into a dignity of position and has having been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Just like when there's an adoption takes place today, parents go and they choose a child and they bring that child home and there's a dignity in a position that goes now with giving that child, bringing that child into the family, giving them the family name and the title of of son. But that's not what John is bringing before us. In John, it's the nature of God. And in John, we're not so much sons by adoption. We're children by new birth because we've been brought. We have been given the very life.
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Of of Christ Himself, of God himself.
This illustration has been helped to me in connection with what we're talking about, and that is, if you had an orphan and you brought him into a room of people, that child would have the desires in his soul.
So love.
Without.
However, a father to love, but if you found if he were to come into the room and find out that a person in the room was his father, he would immediately have the feelings of the relationship.
Some weakness in the illustration, I think, but the point of it is in order to have our true.
Nature relationship with the Father. We have to have the conscious knowledge of the relationship and it enhances its life abundance. There can't be a better life than to have the consciousness that we are, that God is our Father. We have the capacity.
By the life we have, but also that life gives us as well the understanding of the relationship.
Of ABBA as Father. And yet on those two things is the richness of our relationship with God that He wants us to have. Likewise, you can have a man and a woman.
And they both might have the desire of what we would call a marriage relationship.
But they're not going to enjoy it in its character unless they're married and the Lord Jesus and wanting to have with us the closest, and the Father wanting us to have with him, Son, the closest possible of all relationships and all the affections.
That are suited to them purpose before the world began that we would be the bride of Christ and it's because we are the bride. We have feelings of relationship that no other person has. John the Baptist is going to be in heaven and he's going to be perfectly satisfied beyond our imagination at the moment, but he won't have bridal relationships with the Lord Jesus.
As we do because we are the most favored class, if you will, of all creatures that have ever been created is to have that relationship with the Lord Jesus as his bride and none other but those of our era that are part of the church are ever going to have it. And so John could say speak of himself and no greater than born of a woman. It's not a matter of worthiness or anything else.
It's a matter of sovereign love that we were chosen to be part of the Bride of Christ and get to enjoy for eternity the the the love and the bonds that can only be enjoyed in that relationship.
With an illustration, I think in the Jewish family, one is born into the family and he's a child until he's about 12 years old and then he's raised the status of a son. You never see a truck going down the street that says Smith and children. It's Smith and sons because he brings the sun into intelligence of that business. God has brought us into the whole intelligence.
Of his counsels. So there's things that go along with being a son that you don't have as a child. So it's a it's a raising to a different place. And so you might find in being a son there's dignity. Yeah. You know, somebody gave that little illustration of the one of the Princess who have to in the British Navy and he had to spend so much time. And so they were down on the equator and it was just burning hot. There wasn't anything.
1000 miles around. So they went in it, they went swimming. But you know, there was nothing but men on the boat. But when he got back to England, he was told it's all right to them to go swimming. It's it's skinny dipping, but it's not right for you. You're next in the throne. There's a dignity that goes along with that. And so we have dignity for being a son. We have intelligence of being a son. We have an inheritance of being a son. These are all things that we have by having eternal life and being sons of God.
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Isn't it? And there's other things that go along. There's affection. You have affection for your son that you don't have for the neighbor. You have privileges. The son can just come right into your room. Somebody give you an illustration if, uh, John F Kennedy and these dignities standing in a, in a foyer and, and if they try to go through that, that door, they, they shot. But here the doors open in goes this person. He dives under the desk. Each drops right up on his lap.
He had privileges that that the others don't have because he's a son. So we're sons of God. These are just some things that we have.
Being in this dispensation, what I think sometimes of God that created this universe.
He's my father. Are you putting me on?
It's true.
And this is doing as well. Let's look at it from the other, from God's perspective for a moment. We think of what we have and how wonderful it is for us to be brought into this place of blessing and relationship and standing and so on. But it was all in the heart of God. This is what God needed. This was what God wanted. God wanted children. And how was God going to have children? There was no other way except He come in the person of the Son.
God manifest in the flesh. There was number other way that God could have children to enjoy and to lavish his love on for eternity. No other way that Christ could could have a bride.
And when we think about that, it's tremendous. I remember when my first child was born, I walked into that hospital.
With a husband's heart. But I walked out with a father's heart. I didn't know what a father's heart was till I had children. And the moment that child was born, I knew what a father's heart was. And God's heart was not satisfied. All through the Old Testament he had fellowship with Adam and Innocence. He was the friend of God. Abraham was the friend of God. Moses was a friend of God. God enjoyed the fellowship to a certain degree of his people in the Old Testament.
But he wanted more than that. He wanted a family. He wanted children, those that would be the very partakers of the divine nature.
And so he says, I'll come in the person of the Son. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us so that the Lord Jesus could go to Calvary, so that the Godhead could know what a Father's heart really was and to have children for eternity. And the wonderful thing about the Lord Jesus is not only did he come, I want to back up, but I think it's important to understand now they don't need any come as a man, a real man, flesh.
He took upon him humanity.
Sinless humanity, yes, but humanity came in flesh. But in resurrection He did not just rise in spirit as some have taught. He rose as a man said, Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bone as ye see Me have. And as a man he ascended. And as a man he's at the right hand of God, living forth, and as a man he's coming back for us. And as a man he's going to enjoy His bride and the heavenly company for all eternity, and God himself is going to view heaven.
With sons and daughters, with and like his beloved Son. Yes, the Son will remain the only begotten of the Father. But we're not going to be just with Christ in the coming day. We're going to be like Him. And God's heart will be completely satisfied with children. Heaven full of children.
Based on historical fact, would you say that Jesus came, he was born, he lived, he taught, he died, he rose again, he ascended God's right hand? Those are historical facts. And I think it's important, especially for young people to realize that Christianity is basically objective. In other words, that which is outside of ourselves, that we lay hold of this is.
What was taught? And that's what it says in verse two of our chapter here. The life was manifested and we have seen it and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested into us. Because sometimes in speaking about Christianity, people start to reflect inward. Do you feel that this is right or this is true?
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We're not talking about feelings here, we're talking about historical fact.
And to get that straight and to lay hold of it, whether I feel good or not inside of me, this is true. And that's what will help you in your life. If you're going to reflect on inward looking, I don't know if I'm there yet, if I've developed to that point. Don't look inside you. Look out. Look to these historical facts.
God came in the person of the Lord Jesus into this world.
He lived, he died, he rose again, he ascended the God's right hand.
Those are historical facts and we base our fellowship on that.
Those are incontrovertible. They cannot be changed. This has been proven.
And there are many witnesses to this. So it's not a matter of looking in. Yes, there is the part of Christianity that is subjective. In other words, looking in. In our chapter, for example, we have in verse six, if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not do not the truth that is looking in.
There's a test, yes, there's that, but it's based majorly on what is outside of ourselves. It's objective. Christianity is mainly objective, and the Lord help you because you won't get peace by looking in, You'll get peace by looking at God in the person of the Lord Jesus.
The word of God and I studied the Gospel of John. It got and I got saved. I got through the door on the other side of the threshold. I was on the inside of the door when I opened up the pistol to John. It was like, come on in, sit down at the table, have a cup of coffee. You're part of the family now let's learn. And all of a sudden you start reading all these passages and you see that at the the the fellowship here was made possible by my Savior. That fellowship wasn't made possible before.
But it was always there from the beginning, and all the mysteries were there from the beginning, even the mystery of the church at the end of Romans. And now it's been divinely revealed, hasn't it? And so when we look down through here, what we have that Bob's touching upon now is there are 6 passages because he wanted chapter one and chapter 2 in chapter one, verse four, if we say verse 6, excuse me, verse six first, if we say, uh, verse eight if we say, and verse 10, if we say, Now when you go to chapter 2, you look at verse 4.
He that saith still Speaking of yourself, verse six of chapter two, he that saith and verse nine of chapter two, he that saith. These are 6 tests of true spirituality. And in other words, you take a look at the first one. Uh, if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. It's a test of where do we walk? You go to verse 8.
It's a method of how we judge ourselves.
It's a test if you go down to verse 10, uh, is his message got a place in my heart? You see, you can change those words where it says if we say, if we profess or if we claim whatever it takes to understand, but you have a test of true spirituality in both chapters. So there are things will be covered in here that are beautiful that way. But it's nice to know that it's more than just getting through the door on the other side, two sides to the door. But I get to come on into the, and God says, come on in here. Let's have fellowship together.
Sure, you'll agree with me that it's more than a cup of coffee. It's the fatted calf.
Fast quite a number of times in his writings and I think it's it's nice to see it because literally it means to clearly show and God has clearly shown us in the person of the Lord Jesus eternal life hit later on. It's his love that is is manifest to us in this epistle, but it's just to clearly show because all Christian truth begins with the revelation of Jesus Christ come in flesh.
01:05:07
That's the basis for everything. We wouldn't have Christian truth. We wouldn't have the understanding and the enjoyment of the relationship without the word being manifest, being manifested. It's interesting, perhaps a little aside, but I think it's important to see that the two Satan has always been busy from the beginning of time to bring into question the Word of God. And it's interesting that the first recorded words of Satan in the Old Testament.
Are half, God said.
Satan trying to bring into the mind of Adam and Eve. Was what God said really the truth, The spoken word of God?
Half, God said, and the first recorded words of Satan are in the New Testament are.
If thou be the Son of God, when the living Word came, Satan immediately trying to raise a doubt in the mind of the Lord Jesus. Was he really who he said he was?
Was he really the eternal Son of God? And I believe, brethren, that those two things are whispered on every hand. Well, maybe not so much whispered, but they're propagated on every hand today. And it's been said perhaps more and more.
Satan has accelerated his effort to bring into question the written Word of God for us like he did with the spoken Word of God for Adam and a question as to the living Word, the Lord Jesus.
Revealed to us in flesh. Let's be very careful that we don't listen to those voices because John in bringing out this manifestation is clearly showing of these things. Remember, all Christian truth and blessing is based on the full revelation, the full clear manifestation of the living word. That that's the basis. That's the beginning. And if we lose sight of that, we've lost a foundation.
That puts us on very shaky ground.
Son in verse three to say that which we have seen.
And heard declare we unto you, that ye also.
They have fellowship with us. That's the Apostles fellowship that we were talking about that was read this morning in in Acts 242.
They continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship. There's, that's what you have here, that which we have seen and heard declaring to you, that's the apostles doctrine.
That ye may also have fellowship with us so they.
Apostles Fellowship is based on the Apostles doctrine.
We can't get together and say we're going to have fellowship and this is the conditions of the fellowship we're going to have. No, it's already set down. The apostles have set it down. And upon that groundwork there is fellowship. And then he goes on to develop that. And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. Oh brethren, this is so amazingly wonderful.
That we can have fellowship with God and with the Lord Jesus. God is Father and with the Lord Jesus. And uh, Jim mentioned it earlier, but you have fellowship also in verse, uh, seven fellowship one with another. But notice brethren, that is not first. And sometimes I think we make a mistake.
In our Christian lives by putting fellowship one with another.
1St.
That cannot be. It won't work that way. Fellowship with the father and with his son is the first thing that's presented in this chapter.
On the basis of the apostles, the apostles doctrine and fellowship. But then it's fellowship one with another. And in the measure that you are walking in fellowship with the Father and the Son, and I'm walking in that same fellowship, we meet together.
And we'll find that we have fellowship one with another as well, but it is the result.
And so may the Lord help us to keep this focus right, because we can come together in meetings.
And sometimes the brother on the other side of the room, we really don't feel very much towards him like we should because we're making the focus our fellowship between us. That's not first, brethren. What's first is fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
01:10:26
And then just to before we close verse four, brethren, these things right we unto you that your joy.
May be 4.
Don spoke about the Lord Jesus speaking about my joy.
Now we have your joy.
How can it be full?
By walking in the fellowship the Father and his Son Jesus Christ.
Hymn #9 hymn #9.
Nsnoise.
Yes.
Doctrine
Address—Nick Simon
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Begin by singing hymn #174 And I would ask someone to stop that opation. Spotless one, how hot and meekness train to bear thy yoke and learn of thee, that we may rest obtain.
I'd just like to begin by reading a verse in Titus chapter one. Incidentally, this is only a 45 minute meeting and.
As my custom is, I will be turning to many verses and we'll be moving along, Lord willing, quite swiftly. If you can't keep up and would much rather just write the verses down, I would encourage you to do that.
I'm not 1/4, I do not quote Scripture very well without butchering it, so I'd much rather read it. But we begin with Titus one and verse 9, holding fast. The faithful word is he has been taught that he may be able by sound doctrine both exhort and to convince the gainsayers. Recently I read something that seems to indicate that when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and we can read that in 2nd Corinthians 5 if we want to.
That God won't ask us about a religious background or our doctrinal views.
And that rather struck me, I thought, Really.
Umm. Incidentally, I don't think it's going to be a quiz of knowledge by any means.
But I, I, I pondered that. Certainly if you look at 2nd Corinthians 5, it says concern. It says, uh, we'll, uh, receive according to those things that have been done in the body seems to speak of the things done.
But nevertheless, I couldn't dismiss this concern that I had that this writer seemed to be making a doctrine of little significance.
And this is my meeting this afternoon. Essentially, what does Scripture have to say concerning doctrine? Is it important or is it not?
And I haven't exercised about it.
And what first question is, What is doctrine? Well, we had it in that verse in Titus that we just read. It says, Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine first to exhort and convince the gain says, doctrine is merely that which is taught in English. Taught and doctrine don't look like the same word at all. But if you will look in Greek, you would find that they were exactly the same word. 1A noun, one of a closely related.
So if when we think of doctrine, you can substitute the word teaching in there if you wish. But doctrine is simply teaching.
Christendom, I would say, as a whole has a bad view of doctrine. They say, oh, doctrines divisive. Let's see what Scripture has to say and I will ask the question, is that anything new? Let's look in John chapter 10 out of earth.
00:05:00
John chapter 10 and verse 19 says there was a division therefore again among the Jews for these.
Sayings Yes, doctrine has been dividing since there was.
Truth and falsehood doctrine, you see, is that line between that which is true and that which is false.
Another verse in Luke chapter 12.
And verse 51, Why read verse 50? Because it connects Luke 12, verse 50 But I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straightened to let it be accomplished? Suppose you then I'm come to give peace on earth. I tell you nay, but rather division. You see, we cannot be both for Christ and against Christ. You cannot be both for the truth and against the truth.
And so it is.
True, that doctrine does divide, but I would ask the question, is doctrine to blame? Let's look at a verse in Romans Chapter 7.
You don't need to turn to this one. I just use it by way of example in Romans 7 at the end of the verse it says.
For I had not known lust, except the law has said, Thou shalt not covet.
And the beginning of the verse says, is the law sin? And so when law came in, law has that effect on us not only of telling us what is right and what is wrong, but it also has that effect of provoking the flesh to do that which is wrong. And so does the fault therefore lie with the law. And so doctrine has this effect of dividing. Is the fault therefore with doctrine? Well, the beginning of verse seven in Romans 7, I mean.
I'm sorry, in the middle of that verse says what should we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid or far be the thought far be the thought. And so to blame doctrine and to say, well, we shouldn't discuss doctrine because it's divisive is to completely miss the point. The problem you see doesn't didn't lie with the law. It lay with us. The problem you see, doesn't lie with doctrine, it lies with us. But let me just make this one comment. If you're thinking that I'm standing here advocating division, I'm not.
And the Lord Jesus never caused division for the sake of division.
And unfortunately, we cannot say that that has been true of the handling of doctrine and Christendom over the years. It has not been true. And I trust, if time permitting, will have a little chance to speak something concerning the handling of doctrine before this meeting is over.
You know the 1St, but I just want to touch on one thing. The first wholesale division in Christendom was over an individual cut areas and it's something called the Aryan controversy. Arias preached that the Lord Jesus was a lesser person of the Godhead, that he was a created being.
This was utterly false, and a man by the a man by the name of Athanasius stood against it, and those that stood with him we can be thankful for. And yet it resulted in the first wholesale division in Christian Christianity. There are still those that preach this false Aryan doctrine amongst them of the Jehovah's Witnesses. But if we were to give up the person of Christ, we undermine the entire foundation of Christianity. There are truths worth standing for.
And there are truths worth knowing. No, we already spoke of John 11 and said in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God.
And the word was God. Now let's turn to John 8. And there are some verses in here I'd like to look at. You know, people like to do 2 Things. They like to either separate the Lord Jesus from His words or separate the words from the Lord Jesus.
In John chapter 8 and verse 25, we've already read this verse.
It says at the end of that verse, uh, well, I read the whole verse. Then said They unto him, Who art thou? And Jesus said unto him, even the same that I said unto you from the beginning. I'm going to read that in the new translation.
They asked him who are there, and Jesus said to him altogether, which I say to you.
The Lord was truly who He said He was, but not only that, the things that He said were entirely reflective of who He was.
We cannot separate the Lord from his words. You know, that what else I read there in Luke that I have not, uh, I, I can't even quote it, having just read it. But he mentioned how he, that division with result as of, because of his coming, you know, that's not a popular verse. And so people would say, I, we don't want to hear that verse. We want the Lord Jesus, you know, he was a kind, loving person. He showed kindness to the poor, but they want to separate the person from his words. Well, the other way is to separate the words from the person.
00:10:15
And so in this chapter 8.
Umm, let's just begin in verse 31. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him. If ye continue in my words, then ye are my disciples indeed, and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. See, people like that, the truth shall make you free. You know, that's taught in all of our universities. The truth is going to set you free. But let's read what it says a little bit further down, verse 36. If the sun therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. You see, you cannot have the truth.
Without having Christ, you cannot have the truth except in Jesus. You cannot take the truth of the Word of God and separate it from the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you cannot take the Lord Jesus and separate it from His words.
So as we talk about doctrine, and because this is a meeting on a particular subject, it may seem rather one sided, Doctrine is not going to keep us. I would not even say that doctrine was an important part of Christianity. You see, doctrine is an intrinsic part of Christianity. You cannot have Christ without the truth. You cannot have Christ without what he taught. And so we could turn to Psalms and we could find out there that.
Jehovah has said his word above his name. Just one comment. We've already talked about a little bit about the scriptures.
But for for this world, the scriptures have always been fair game.
To pull it apart, to undermine it, to question it, whatever it is my case may be.
We don't approach the scriptures from a human standpoint. We receive them as being the Word of God.
Let's move on now, having established the fact that as we speak of doctrine.
Let's have before us the Lord Jesus Christ in our minds, not to separate the two, but as we talk about, uh, let's see what Scripture now has to say about the importance of doctrine. And there's so many scriptures we could turn to. Let's begin with a verse already read Acts 2 and verse 42. These first early Christians, what did they do? Acts 242, They continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine.
And fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers. The apostles doctrine is what had this list and what was the apostles doctrine what we've been having it in first John, but it spoke of the Lord Jesus Christ, his incarnation. Those things, no doubt that he taught the disciples as he walked this earth, his death, his resurrection and his ascension into glory to the right hand of the Father. This is the apostles doctrine.
And our fellowship is built on the apostles doctrine. We cannot have fellowship one with another outside of the apostles doctrine. You know, it's very common in Christendom to refer to, to, to not use the word fellowship. It's considered old fashioned. And the word community will be substituted. Let me tell you, we can have a community of Christians without having the apostles doctrine. But you cannot. If we're going to have fellowship one with another, Christ is going to be the center of that fellowship.
And it's going to be founded on the apostles doctrine at the end of Ephesians that talks about Ephesians.
Umm, I forget which chapter it is now it talks about Christ being the cornerstone, the apostles being the foundation. OK, let's turn to First Timothy.
And chapter 4.
There was a young man, and in some respects I speak to the young people, but we are all young people and we all need these things. So first Timothy chapter 4, Let's begin with verse six. If they'll put the brethren remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine. Verse 13 till I come give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.
Verses 15 and 16 Meditate on these things. Give thyself wholly to them, that 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. Let's go on to Second Timothy. In Second Timothy, the day that Second Timothy was written, we know that all in Asia turned away from him. It wasn't Paul's gospel, Paul's doctrine were no longer, if they ever were popular, but they certainly weren't popular in the day in which the apostle Paul wrote his second letter to this young man called Timothy.
00:15:21
But in that day when things were already being given up, the apostle Paul, like emphasizes and he says in the second chapter.
In verse two, and the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also remember, teach and doctrine one and the same. Just keep that in your mind when we come across the word teach or doctor. And you can substitute either word in there, of course, having to, uh, you know, put it in the appropriate form of word. But then look at uh, umm, Second Timothy 2:15.
Study to show thyselves approved unto God, a Workman that needn't not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Let's turn to the third chapter.
And we're just going to read from.
Verse fif. We'll begin with verse 14, but continue thou in the things where thou has learned and has been assured of knowing of whom thou has learned them that from a child that has 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 to God is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, a correction in for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God.
May be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. And then while we are here, let's look at.
The next chapter in verse 3. For the time will come when thou will not endure a sound doctrine. But after their own lust they shall reap heap to themselves, teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away the ears from the truth, and we shall return unto fables. So based on the verses that I have read, and they are far from exhaustive, What is God's answer to that question? Doctrine. Is it important? Absolutely, it is important, you know it. It ended there, that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. Which of you would hire a tradesman, a plumber for example, to come and fix your house, knowing that he has no license?
That he had never studied the trade.
Would you invite him into your home to do your plumbing?
And so you and I, as Christians, how can we expect to walk if we're not instructed in the truth? How can we be expected to to do His commandments if we don't even know what he has commanded us? How do we expect to know anything about the Lord Jesus if we've never read what God has written to us in his Word? We cannot, we cannot know any of these things, you see.
Doctrine shapes our behavior.
And so when it says we will stand before the judgment seat of Christ will receive those things that have been done in the body, the things that we do.
A result of those things that we believe and history is littered with individuals.
Sincere believers and in many cases, men who we can be thankful for what they taught and what they did, but nevertheless, their lives have ended in one way or another because of something that they have done as a result of the doctrine that they held. Let me give you an example, the one I always use, and I probably have used it here before, but Ulrich Vingley, and I'm sure I butcher his name, was one of the men of the Reformation in the 1500s.
And in some respects, he saw things far clearer or somewhat clearer than Martin Luther. Not the Martin Luther King that they always have to qualify this, this day, these days, but the Martin Luther that lived back in the 1500s and the times of the Reformation. But anyways, Vingley saw things clearer than Martin Luther. He saw that the remembrance of the Lord was just that, a memorial, and that the bread was just bread and the wine was just wine. And Luther never got clear of what's called.
Consubstantiation.
Which is not far removed from transubstantiation, but servingly what happens is of English. Well, he did not understand.
That God's Kingdom was not of this world. And the Lord says in John that if his Kingdom were of this world, then his servants would fight.
Was the Vingley took up the sword and thought and he died on the battlefield. This faithful man who stood against Roman Catholicism died on the battlefield because he did not understand the truth of the fact that his the church is heavenly. He did not understand that our battles are not physical in this world with swords and politics. You know, the Protestant movement is called Protestant because it's derived from the word protest. Well, that would pro that the the thing the protest that it's referring to was a document.
00:20:20
That was signed. Who was it signed by? It was signed by the German Princess. It was not signed by a single ecclesiastic individual. It was signed by the Princess. In many respects, the Reformation became a political movement, and those that hold a doctrine called covenant theology still believe essentially the same thing and do not recognize that the Church's calling is heavenly. These doctrines that we hold shape our behavior.
They shape our behavior. We have a scriptural example of this in First Corinthians and chapter 15. There were those that did not believe the doctrine, the teaching that Christ rose bodily from the dead, and it shaped their behavior. Because as the apostle points out, if there's no resurrection, then this is it. We might as well, as it says in First Corinthians 15, verse 32, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
Live it up, because this is it.
Your doctrine, whether you unders believe it or not, accept it or not, your doctrine will shape your behavior.
It will shape the way you view the assembly. It will shape whether you are here to remember the Lord or not.
There's a couple of interesting references.
In this regard, uh, so I'll just read in first Timothy chapter.
6IN verse one, first Timothy 6/1 is one, and then in Titus chapter 2 is the other. But it says, let as many servants are under the yoke, count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. And then over a few pages in Titus chapter 2 verse 10, by the way, both these verses talk about servants working for their masters, talks about our secular jobs. It talks about the job that you were probably doing yesterday before or the day before before you left to come here.
It's talking about our secular work. But Titus 2 verse 10 says not purloining. That is stealing from your boss.
But showing all good fidelity that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things, you and I would probably have not put that word doctrine in there.
But God has chosen to do so. The way we live should adorn the doctrine that we hold. The doctrine was more than the doctrine that we hold, but we certainly should hold it. But the doctrine of God our Savior. You see, the doctrine we hold expresses itself in the things we do in the life we live. It shapes our world view. It shapes our view of this world. The doctrine that we hold, the teaching.
That we hold.
Let's consider a little now for the moment about.
Standing for the truth.
It wasn't brother Jim just said this to me and I'm not going to say it as eloquently as he did to me just now, but the seeds of era were present in the times of the apostles so that they might be addressed in his word. So when we say in first John that the apostle was writing to counter this, this false doctrine called Gnosticism, if you want to be technical about it, Gnosticism didn't actually come into existence to about 100 or so years later or so I understand, but that's a complete.
Technicality, and besides the point, because the roots of it were certainly present when the apostle John wrote his first epistle. And so in the days of the apostle Paul as well, bad doctrine was coming in, and so in First Timothy.
What was one of the reasons that the apostle was writing to Timothy was to address bad doctrine. So First Timothy 13 says.
I besought the divide still at Ephesus when I went into Macedonia, that that might have charged some that they teach no other doctrine.
You know, and this has already been mentioned. It's funny that when, uh, funny or whatever you wanna call it, but when you have a subject on your mind and you've, uh.
And I, and I was asked a few days ago to take this meeting. And so I've been thinking about it. And the subject of doctrine is one that I've been thinking about. In fact, my brethren from Denver know that not so long ago I spoke on it in an open meeting. But it's interesting to sit in meeting how the very verses that are on your heart that you want to use get already referred to. And so if you don't know what you believe, then Satan has liberty to tell you what you should believe.
00:25:18
Yeah, hath God said. Now if you know what God hath said, why then it's simple matter to say, well, that's absolute nonsense. You know the day that they find the Lord's bones in a.
A box somewhere in Israel will not matter the least to you.
If your faith is resting on the Word of God, it will have no impact on you once whatsoever.
Because Satan's lies will have no place to gain a foothold. But if you're not sure what God has said, then Satan can tell you what he has said. You know there's a saying as well, that if you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.
Ephesians chapter 6.
The Armor of God What is the first component of the Armor of God?
Verse 14 of Ephesians 6 stand. Therefore having your loins gird about with truth. Loins, loins, loins got about with truth. That's the first component of the armor. And what did the what did that girdle of truth do? What did that girdle do? Well, it did two things. Number one, it kept the tunic in. You know, they wore a tunic more like a dress than what we are acquainted with. Perhaps in Egypt they may still wear.
Gametes similar to that to this day that Paul was writing, but they wore a tunic more like a dress. And you know, I have never worn a dress, but I watched girls trying to run in a dress and it looks most inelegant. And so if you want to run, you have to hoist it up. And that's what the girdle did. It kept it in so you could move about in battle. That reminds me of a verse that we have back a little bit in Ephesians.
In the fourth chapter where it talks about in the 14th verse of that 4th chapter, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness wherein they lie in wait to deceive. You know we don't have that girl of truth. Al Tunic just flaps about anywhere. Any wind gust that comes along can move in whatever direction it likes. That's what it's like to not have that girdle of truth. The other thing that girdle of truth did, that girdle was that's where the sword hung.
I, I'm, I'm, I'm no expert on Roman armor, but typically speaking, the sword hung from the girdle. And it says later in that, uh, 6th chapter, it says the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. That's the 17th verse of Ephesians 6. So the girdle of truth is our first line of defense in the armor of God. It's important that we have that truth, that we're grounded in that truth, that we know it so that Satan can't tell us what the truth is or pretend to tell us what the truth is.
Uh, let's just go back to First Timothy again.
You know a lot of effort and time is wasted.
In trying to discern what our gift is.
And number one in Christendom, and I don't want to speak of that as if we're not a part of Christendom, we are, but there is a confounding of ability and gift. Let me just be clear, ability is not gift. Don't look at your abilities and say, well, they are the gifts that God has given me. Now certainly God gives gift according to ability, that's Matthew 25. He gives gift according to our ability. But if we reason the other way, we can look at our abilities and think.
Oh well, God wants me to be this, and we can be LED quite astray. But the other thing is, is gift is never to be a focus in itself. Never. Gift is for a purpose, it's for a reason. And in first Timothy 6 verse 20, it says, Oh Timothy, keep that which I have committed to thy trust. Avoid profane and vain babblings in opposition of science, falsely so-called. And I read in the new translation, Otimotheus, keep the entrusted.
Deposit. So you and I have a deposit entrusted to us. That is the word of truth, and that's what we're called upon to keep. And any gift that we might have, the focus is not on the gift itself, but on what we're doing with it. Are we keeping that deposit that has been entrusted to us? What are you doing without a deposit? Do you even know what that deposit is? Do you even know it? Do you know why we're gathered the way we are?
00:30:11
Again, these are things that.
Our. Our.
Very real. They're under attack and Satan is saying, yeah, hath God said.
And people were listening.
So how do we come by the truth? How do we acquire the truth?
I'm going to turn back to verses I've already read in Second Timothy because I think.
It covers the two ways we come by the truth BY. There's also a verse in Scripture that says by the truth and sell it not it has to be come at a price, a price we have to make it good to ourselves. We don't just come buy it. Umm, naturally we don't just infuse it by osmosis, but those verses in the end of Second Timothy chapter 3.
It says first of all, but continue thou in the things which thou has learned and has been assured of knowing of them whom thou hast learned them, and that from a child that has known the Holy Scriptures which are able to make thee wise and to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. So the 1St way we come by the truth, and I'm going to reverse it the way it's given here in Scripture. It's not that I think it's given wrong by any means.
But it just is the way Paul is bringing it out. The 1St way we come by the truth is by the scriptures. We have to read the scriptures. We have to read them and make them good to ourselves.
The Scriptures have to be our first source. I just saw a statistic the other day. I believe it was a survey done by the American Bible Society and it was done, I believe in 2014. So just this year it says from 2011 to 2013 there has been.
Well they the question that was asked was, is the Bible just another book of teachings written by men that contains stories and advice?
In 2011, 10% of Americans believed that wholeheartedly. By 2013, in two years, that had jumped to 20 percent. 20% A doubling of the number of Americans who believe the Word of God is just a book written by men. A doubling.
But the Word of God is not just a book written by men. It's in the Hebrews that says it's quick and powerful. That word quick means living. It's living. It's a living word. And if you ever want to doubt the veracity of that, I suggest you take this book and carry it under your arm through a college campus.
And then try the southeast. I'm not suggesting you do this, incidentally, but try the same thing with the book with the Quran and see whether it has the same effect.
See whether it has the same effect. The word of God is living, you know first, Peter.
A lot of a lot of people struggle with the word of God. They say it's too hard. I just don't understand it. Let's look at first Peter chapter two. First Peter chapter 2 Says in verse two, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby. If you turn back a couple of books into Hebrews, the 4th chapter.
It says.
At the end of verse 12 Hebrews 4 verse 12 and a knot becomes such as have need a milk and not of strong meat for everyone that uses milk is skillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe, but strong meat belong with them in the full growing even those who by reason of use have their sense exercised discern both good and evil. Well, the first point I want to make let me just clarify where I'm coming from. The first point I want to make is this is spiritual milk.
Don't ever say the Word of God is too hard for me to understand. It is milk. What is the best thing to feed babies? Well, men have come a long way with formula, but still there are efforts in many countries, particularly Western countries, to urge mothers to feed their babies milk. Because that's the way God designed us. That's how we grow, if you want to grow. Now I read those verses in Hebrews to point out that the Word of God does contain strong meat as well.
But how do we go from milk to?
To meet well, we start by consuming the milk. And then if you have, if you had a baby, you know that you go from milk and you introduce them slowly to various foods and you build them up until they're eating meat. But you cannot ever digest that meat until you first digested the sincere milk of the word. You know, I, I was thinking about this other day and it just struck me that the word of God is not hard to understand.
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Calculus is hard to understand.
My son just did electromagnetics and physics and it was hard to understand.
Understanding DNA is difficult and I could and knowing even all the kings of and Queens of England is difficult to remember and then explain who they are. These are difficult things to understand. The Word of God is not difficult to understand from that standpoint. We are dull of hearing and as I said, there are those things in the Word of God that may be strong meat that we have to grow into understanding. I will grant you that.
I will grant you that, but don't ever think that the Word of God is too hard to understand. It is true as we have in First Corinthians chapter 2.
Verse 14 says The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for their foolishness unto them, neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. So there has to be an appropriate state of soul for the things of the word of God to be made good to us.
They are spiritually disowned.
In connection with the Spirit of God guiding us into all truth, I could read a verse from John 16 that says.
As John 16 verse 13 don't have to turn there, it says, albeit when He the Spirit of truth has come, He will guide you into all truth.
And then going back to what I said earlier, the word of God, it cannot be separated from the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. So in John 5 verse 39 it says.
Search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.
So our first means then of acquiring an understanding of the teaching of Scripture. The doctrine of Scripture is by reading the Word of God itself. And I just want to read a verse from first John.
There's a lot of people. There are those on one hand that say the word of God is too difficult. Incidentally, 88% of American households have a Bible. Less than 20% of American households read it four times a week. And actually I was impressed with that 20%.
Because I think if you go to Australia, the percentage might be 2%, I don't know, 5%. I, I, I mean, I, I find that actually quite surprising. But so on the one hand you have those that say all the word of God is too hot. I can't understand it. Just remember, it's milk, it's what you need. But then there's the other side that says, well, I only need to read the word of God. That's all I need. I don't need meetings, I don't need ministry.
And they might quote this verse from first John.
That says.
It's umm chapter 2 verse 27. But the anointing that is the Spirit of God which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you. And there they stop. See it tells me I just need the Spirit of God and I don't need any man to teach me. Well this is where you really need to understand where the apostle John is coming from. You see when he speaks of the anointing, the unction in verse 20.
The Holy Spirit is spoken of one, in fact, he says in verse 20 of this chapter, But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
Well, there are plenty of things I don't know.
And I'm not boasting, but I believe I have the unction from the Holy One.
The indwelling of the Spirit of God. In fact, it says in Romans 8 that if you don't have the Spirit of God, you are none of His.
So everyone here that is a true believer, a Christian, has the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Now, do you know all things? You see, this is where you really need to understand where John's epistle is coming from.
The Holy Spirit spoken of here is gives us the ability to discern between that which is right and that which is wrong. So what do we have in chapter 4 verse one beloved believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether of God. So we do have the ability to discern when we're confronted with that which is false and that which which is true we have the Spirit of God within us. But in no way does that verse in first John suggest that we don't need ministry because that was the other thing that.
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The apostle Paul mentioned to Timothy, he said.
Umm, continue that on the things which thou has learned, and being assured of knowing of whom thou hast loaned them, and that from a child that has known the Holy Scriptures. We need ministry, we need to be instructed, we need to come to meetings to hear the Word of God. I regret that this is what I call a meta meeting. You know, a meta language is a language that describes another language. It would probably be more profitable for me to stand here and outline some of the doctrines rather than be Speaking of the importance of doctrine. But sometimes it's necessary to remind ourselves of the importance of these things.
And so we have to be instructed, but we need to know who is instructing us. And I'm rather afraid that.
We are turning to the popular religious books that are being published today, rather than those writers that are true and tried and that we know.
Taught the truth. Was there no error in it? Did they never say anything that wasn't quite right? That's not what I mean. But when I began this meeting, I mentioned something that I had read and in that that person had written and said that when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, we're not going to be asked about a doctrinal views. We're not going to be asked about our religious background.
That same book says in it.
Except for a very few instances.
Where Scripture uses the Church of God to refer refer to all believers in the history of man, the Church of God refers to the local church. That is a false statement. Number one. It's not a very few times that the Word of God refers to the church as being the one body. That occurs many times. And furthermore, when it does, it is not referring to the believers of the Old Testament as referring to the believers of his present dispensation.
That book has a lot of that book I'm referring to. There's a lot of good things in it, a lot of good things, things I can say Amen to.
Umm, I fear, however. Oh well, let me put it this way, there's a lot of things in there that I found very challenging.
But you know, I rather fear that the flesh likes challenges. We don't need ministry so much that challenges us like that. And I let me qualify that. I think we do need to be challenged by ministry, but it's more important that we read ministry that speaks to the conscience that speaks to the conscience.
It won't make us feel so good. So many of the popular Christian books of this day are popular because they preach a feel good Christianity. That death does indeed challenge you and me.
But I'm afraid that there's an underlying.
Doctrinal foundation that so many of those writers are coming from, that's false and it's hidden in their writings and we need to be guarded against it.
We could, we're running out of time here, but I read those verses. In fact, we have, if you still got the page open to us now, we know that the time will come when people will not endure sound doctrine. We're living in that day. Acts 20. The apostle Paul has has to warn about those coming in as grievous wolves.
Uh, I just, uh.
Wrap up my thoughts here.
In connection once again with those whose mini Oh I I, I did want to bring out some.
Just just bear with me a a couple more minutes. But you know, I mentioned that we need ministry, but I didn't give any verses on that. And I think that's important. We have verses. So we in Ephesians 4 it says when he's in Ephesians 4, verse eight, it says when he ascended up on high, he let captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. Verse 11, he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some apostles and teachers.
You see, to say that all you need is the Word of God and the Spirit of God, and you don't need ministry is to reject.
The fact that God has given gifts to man, spiritual gifts to men, so that the church might be edified, the church might be edified. And so we have the early writings which form a part of the Canon of Scripture, the apostle Paul, the apostle John, and so on. These men were instructed of God to write for our benefit. And we can be thankful for those who certainly were not apostles, but whose ministry we can read and know that it sounds and be confident in that it sound.
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And while I would just say this that not all modern ministry is evil.
They took what the early brethren wrote, and they.
There's a couple of things that they did with it that I that I don't like.
Number one, they systematized it and made it a system. I don't, I don't like that. Number two, they carefully trimmed from it anything that condemned the positions that they held. So we have men like Schofield who wrote.
Many sound things. We have men like Schaeffer who wrote Louis Perry Schaefer who wrote sound things, but they took what they learnt from brethren.
You know, the further you remove from the source of something, the more it gets changed.
If you really want to understand something, you need to go back to the source of it. And so why read what Schaefer understood by reading Macintosh? Why not go back and read Macintosh himself? Well, I know why we don't like to read Macintosh.
His writing is old fashioned. There's many excuses we can come up with.
But you know, of all the writers, Macintosh speaks to the conscience. We don't like what he has to say.
Gospel 1
Gospel—Bob Thonney
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Like to start by reading the verse?
This evening from God's Word.
Without.
Shedding of blood.
There is no remission. Remission means forgiveness of sins.
You're gonna have your sins forgiven. It has to be on the basis of.
Shed blood.
Let's sing #34 on our hymn sheet.
Precious, precious blood of Jesus.
Shed on Calvary, shed for rebels.
And for sinners shed for me.
Nsnoise Home Nsnoise.
Red Hot Garage and the laughing out loud radiation and radiation.
All of those radiation made you do the best.
And for me.
Like to sing another hymn #14 on the hymn sheet?
Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power?
Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?
Have you been?
I do watch in the water all the time.
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Let's turn to First Peter, chapter one.
And we'll start reading with verse 18.
For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things.
As silver and gold from your vain conversation, received by tradition from your Father's, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish.
And without spot, who verily, was foreordained.
Before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.
Who by him do believe in God that raised him up from the dead?
And gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God.
Senior, purified your souls in 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 men as the flower of grass.
The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away.
But the word of the Lord endureth forever.
And this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you.
Well, in this portion we've read there are two parts.
Verse 18 down to verse 21, we have the work of God for us.
And verse 23 to the end of the chapter, we have the work of God in us. Both are necessary, but we want to speak first of all of the work of God for us.
Because even if there was number one saved, God had to be vindicated as to the question of sin.
And he has been by the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross.
Tremendously important to understand how serious sin is in the sight of God. Sin puts a question mark on God.
Didn't he create us? And we got ourselves into such a terrible mess. God had to be vindicated as to the question of sin. And so the Lord Jesus came into this world.
And he accomplished redemption. We are not redeemed, it says herewith.
Corruptible things as silver and gold. We don't think of silver and gold as corruptible, but according to its comparative value to the blood of Christ, it's corruptible. And the blood of Christ has value that is eternal.
Tremendous to get a hold of it. How much importance people put on silver and gold. Don't know if you've heard the story, but.
I love to tell it of what took place several centuries ago in South America.
When the Spanish invaded Peru, they took captive the.
Headman of the Inca Empire at the Walpa was his name, and they knew that he was in control of a lot of silver and gold because those metals abound in the Andes mountain range.
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And so.
Finally, when they had him captive.
He made an offer to the Spanish.
That he would fill a room, and he was a fairly tall man, according to the way they tell the story. He said in this room, I think it was a fairly narrow room. I don't know how big it was exactly, but he says, I'll reach up on the wall and I'll fill this room twice with silver and once with gold if you'll give me my liberty. And so the Spanish, of course, were quite interesting.
And so they accepted and gave the order, and Ottawa gave the order to his people to fill that room twice with silver and once with gold. Of course they were glad to get all that, but after it had been paid and put into the hands of the Spanish, they strangled him to death. They didn't honor their promise.
Silver.
And gold was not enough. And you know it's not enough for anyone here.
There's only one thing that God will respect. If you want the forgiveness of your sins, it has to be.
On the basis of shed blood, and not just any shed blood.
Shed blood of an acceptable sacrifice. Remember when I was working at the hospital in downtown Chicago?
A fellow workmate and I were kinda talking about the Lord and he said, you know what? I've converted to Judaism. I used to be a Christian, now I'm a Jew.
I said, well, if you know your Jewish scriptures, you know that it says very clearly in the book of Leviticus.
That it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul. In other words, atonement is a word that means a covering.
The only thing that will cover sin from the eyes of God.
Your sin is blood, and blood of an acceptable sacrifice.
Where is your blood for your sins?
So wow, I really haven't given that any thought.
I said, well, it's pretty important that you give it some thought.
It is, friend, it is right from the beginning of time the question of blood has been very important. The first ones that sinned, of course, were Adam and Eve, and in the garden they were thrust out, and God clothed them with the skins of an animal.
So that blood had to be shed so they could be covered from their nakedness. And if you are not covered with the blood of Jesus.
You are naked in the sight of God. He can see every one of those sins you've ever committed, even those you've forgotten about. I look back at my life and I have to say most of the sins I've committed I've forgotten completely about.
God doesn't have the problem of forgetfulness. He remembers everyone and everyone must meet. It's just penalty from the hand of God. There is no way to escape that, Absolutely no way.
And so as you go down through the history of the Old Testament, you find bloodshed.
In different places. One of the times we have in the book of Exodus, when the children of Israel were captive slaves in the land of Egypt, and God was sending one plague after another so that Pharaoh would let God's people go and finally came.
The plague of the death of the first born throughout the whole land of Egypt, and since death is the wages of sin.
God could not make an exception for the children of Israel. There had to be death in their.
Homes just as well as in the Egyptian zones. But God did make a provision.
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That instead of the death of the first born, they could take a lamb on the 10th day of the first month. They took that lamb and they kept it to the 14th day. For four days that lamb was being observed. As to whether it had any defect, it was important that it be without any blemish. You know a day with God is as 1000 years and for 4000 years from.
Adam to Christ, God was observing the human race, and there was #1.
That didn't corrupt his way. Everyone was found lacking.
All were sinners, until one day.
John the Baptist was standing at a certain place and he saw Jesus coming towards him and he said, behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. There was the Lamb that could deal with the question of sin well in the land of Egypt, to go back to our story there.
On the 14th day of the month, they killed that lamb.
And caught its blood in a basin, but it wasn't enough.
That that blood be shed from that lamb and caught in the basin.
It had to be applied the blood of Christ.
Is what God is satisfied with as to the question of sin?
But it's not enough that it's been shed. It must be applied. This is what really concerns me about a a group of people like we have here today is because.
I really wonder if everyone here has really gotten the question settled on an individual basis. You must deal with this question of sin. There is no way to avoid it. You must apply.
By faith in Christ, that precious blood to your own soul, or there will be no mercy for you. That's the only grounds upon which God can forgive your sins. Absolutely no other way. And so in each household, the man of the house took that basin of blood and went outside the door and painted it on the two side post and the upper door post.
And then it says that the destroying Angel passed through the land of Egypt that night, and the only thing he was looking for was the blood on the door. When there was the blood on the door, he passed over that house. That's why it's called the Passover.
If there wasn't the blood on the door, then he went to kill the first born.
He didn't ask as he came to each house. Is this kind of nice people that live here, or are they kind of bad people? He didn't ask that question, didn't even enter his thoughts. Only one question. Is there blood on the door?
And as God looks down into this room tonight, he says, is there blood on that soul?
Has that been applied by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? That's the only grounds upon which God can show mercy to you. There is no other way to be saved but through that shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Tremendous, because there was blood. There was shed blood in every household of Egypt that night. In some households, it was the blood of the Lamb that sheltered that household.
From the judgment of God in other cases where they didn't believe what God had said.
It was the first born throughout the whole land of Egypt. It didn't matter whether it was the king on the throne or they captive in the dungeon. God doesn't make exceptions for your position socially. Absolutely not. You must meet God and deal with him. As to the question of sin really concerns me.
I look at young people growing up and I know you've been instructed.
In the scriptures.
But a number that have grown up in Christian homes today that I know of have turned atheist. They profess to be atheist today.
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My only conclusion is if it's true that they truly are and have no faith in God, it means that they never had any faith in God. They just pretended. Is there some pretenders out there? I don't want to point the finger at you, I don't know. But God looks down and he knows exactly where you stand and I say for your own good.
Don't be a pretender.
Be real with God. If you have doubts, we're glad to be able to talk to you. Be frank, be open. There's answers that God gives in his word, but don't be a pretender, don't fake it. Be real.
Too many are going down the broad road to destruction.
Amongst the 12 apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, one was a fake.
Nobody suspected Judas Iscariot. When Jesus said one of you will betray me, they looked at each other and said is it I? They had no clue it was Judas. He did a pretty good cover up job, but it wasn't a cover up job with God and he manifested himself.
He loved money more than he loved Jesus, and he went to his own end.
There's one of the apostles of the Lord Jesus.
In Hell tonight, in torment.
Isn't that awful to think about? And I say please.
Think seriously about this matter. Don't shove it off into the corner of your mind.
So the children of Israel were redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, the blood of the blood of the Lamb.
The Passover lamb. They weren't only redeemed by the blood of the lamb.
That was the price of redemption. But there is redemption by power too. And after they had been re protected from the judgment of God on the land of Egypt, why God took them out of that country completely out to the Red Sea and out of the Red Sea. There they were standing in front of the Red Sea, and behind them here comes Pharaoh and his hosts. On either side was the mountain.
And they were terribly afraid and they cried. If you would ask them right then, are you saved? Of course they would have said no. Look at he's coming to get us again.
Yes, they were saved from the judgment of God, but when God does the work of salvation, He does it completely. And so Moses, instructed by the Lord, lifted up his rod and over the Red Sea, and the Red Sea hearted.
And they went over on dry land to the other side, and Pharaoh and his hosts went in right after them. They thought they could get through as well.
But in the midst of the Red Sea, Moses stretched out his rod from the other side, and the waters covered them up. Pharaoh and his hosts were completely defeated, and the people were completely redeemed. Redeemed by price, redeemed by power. That's the position that you and I occupy if we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only.
Save from the judgment of God, but save from this world system we no longer form.
A part of this world system. Well, as we go through the Old Testament, we have a lot of other illustrations of the importance of the blood. Remember at the time of the dedication of the Temple, Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings to the Lord. 120,000 sheep and 22,000 bullocks.
Imagine the quantity of blood that flowed. Was that blood sufficient to satisfy God's holy character about the question of sin? I say, friend, it was a magnificent offering, but it was not sufficient. There was still a price to be paid. And when the Lord Jesus was here in this world.
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You know, he came and he was, as it says here, without blemish and without spot. It's wonderful to consider him because when he came into this world, he was not born.
By means of a human father, his mother being a virgin, conceived by the Holy Ghost, and through that means he was born into this world. He did not have a sin nature.
When the Angel announced to the Virgin Mary that she was going to be the mother of the Son of God, he said, That holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called.
The Son of God, he was holy at his birth. He could not sin.
He was completely free from that question and that was important because if he was going to be a sacrifice for our sins.
It was incredibly important that He be completely free from sin himself, since He had no sin. Since He never sinned, there was no need for Him to die, because the wages of sin is death. But He chose to die in His love for us. And as He comes to the end of His 33 1/2 years, He goes toward that cross. We see Him in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Praying, O my Father, if thou be willing remove this cup from me. And he sweat, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground. The question of sin and contact with sin was so abhorrent, abhor abhorrent to his holy character that He shrunk from it. Everything within him shrunk from that.
But in the perfection of his subjection to the will of God.
He said not my will but thine be done, and he went to the cross.
And there you know the story, the terrible story, the treatment of mankind toward the Lord Jesus. The religious people, the ones you would think that have some fear of God in them, were the ones that went up to him and spit in his face. They crowned him with thorns. They took him outside the city of Jerusalem. They nailed him to a cross.
And there the Lord Jesus hung between heaven and earth from 9:00 in the morning till 3:00 in the afternoon.
And the scripture tells us that at 12 noon.
The sun was darkened and in those three hours from 12 noon to three in the afternoon was when God dealt with Jesus about the question of sin. God had to be satisfied if He was going to extend forgiveness to you and me. There was no other way it could happen.
And Jesus bore our sins in his own body on the tree.
The full weight of divine wrath fell on him in all its fury.
For three solid hours, the waves and billows of God's judgment rolled over Jesus.
Just stop and think of it. It's way too hard for me to comprehend the.
Awfulness. The abject awfulness of those three hours of darkness.
And at the end he cried, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? God forsook him so he wouldn't have to forsake you and me in a last eternity forever. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
You're sitting there without repentance in your heart. You are lost. You're going towards a lost eternity in hell. And I plead with you to get serious about the question of sin. We're getting down to the end of this world's history, at least this present age.
And the judgment that the Lord Jesus spoke about that's coming on this world.
Is the most powerful judgment this world has ever seen or ever will see.
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You know what impresses me as I travel around?
That I really believe that after the Rapture, the most awful places to have to live will be the United States of America.
Because people are pretty well armed and.
When things start going bad, they're gonna go bad. Seriously, I've often thought of it. I'd far rather be down in the jungles of South America.
Then be up here in the United States. You are here without Christ. That's what's before you. Think about it, do something about it. There's salvation tonight through the blood of Jesus that you have to make a decision.
You have to repent of your sins and trust in the Lord Jesus yourself. It's not good enough that your mom, your dad are believers. Your brother, your sister has to be you. That has to make this decision. Tremendous, tremendous. Jesus died.
John's Gospel is the only one that tells us what took place after he died.
Soldier came to make sure those three that were crucified that day, the Lord Jesus and the two thieves on either side, they were completely dead. And so the soldier came to the one thief, broke his legs, and he died and went to the other thief and broke his legs and he died. And then he came to Jesus and he saw that he was already dead.
And he takes his spear and plunged it into his side, and out floored blood and water. You know Jesus had many wounds in his body, the awful treatment he got from the soldiers.
Many ones. But scripture never speaks of the blood that came out of those wounds. It was only the blood that came out of his side that scripture speaks about. Why is that?
Because that blood showed that there was number life left in that human body. He was dead. The creator of the universe, the Lamb of God was dead on that cross. We are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ.
You know, as I see that blood flowing out to the ground.
Think of the awfulness of the cost of our redemption.
Lord help us, we who are believers, to never forget the cost. Sometimes we forget and we use these bodies in ways that are not proper as a believer.
No, and that's why these scriptures are written, that we would remember that we have not been redeemed with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. You know, it says from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers. Perhaps that's a reference to the Old Testament.
When the people were numbered, each person had to give 1/2 shekel of silver and that was called the redemption money.
Well, that was so in the Old Testament, but now there is only one thing that can free you from the judgment of God upon your sins. The precious, precious blood of Christ. Jesus died. He shed his blood.
We know he was buried and the third day he rose again. God was satisfied with the payment that Jesus made.
And he was raised again the third day, and now Jesus.
Is a living Savior at God's right hand, powerful to save all that coming to God by him, wonderful salvation, wonderful Savior.
But you know, all this was a wonderful work of redemption. But there is another part. There is the work of God in us too. And that's what we are going to talk about a little bit now towards the end of this chapter from verse 23 on.
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Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth.
Innoviteth forever.
Born again.
Because by nature we are dead. Not physically dead, but dead in trespasses and sins. What we need is life, life from God. How can we have that? Life from God says in John 525. The hour is coming, and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. God uses his word to impart.
Life to dead souls. And I ask you tonight, are you hearing? Can you hear him? I'm not talking about my voice necessarily in the measure that I speak the word of God. Do you hear it? That is what is so tremendously important.
That's the way God imparts life, through the hearing of His precious Word. You know I could.
I could holler at a dead man, it wouldn't have any effect on him, but when the Lord Jesus as the Son of God speaks the dead here and they that here will live. Wonderful to see it happen sometimes, you know.
People that are listening to the gospel, all of a sudden something clicks.
And you can tell God has worked how he does it.
We don't know when He does it. We don't understand. The Lord Jesus said to Nicodemus, The wind blows where it went, Lister, and thou Hearst the sound thereof, but canst not tell from whence it cometh comes, and where it goes. So is everyone that is born of the Spirit. Where did that start? I have no clue. Where did it end? Where will it end? God knows that too. The point is, is that His Word is what affects the change.
In persons that listen to his word, are you listening? Oh how important it is to have a hearing ears. So many times the Lord Jesus said in his ministry down here, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
And it's born again, not of corruptible seed the first time I was born.
I was born of corruptible seed. That's why I have Gray hair now. That's why my knee bothers me sometimes. Corruptible seed.
But when we're born again, we're born of incorruptible seed by the Word of God that lives and abides forever. You know what impresses me? To talk to people who have been born again and to see that they don't get old.
In that life they have in Christ, the body gets old, but the life that we have in Christ gets younger and younger as we go on. Tremendous.
So remember an old brother down in Florida, his name was Mr. Jackson. Got to meet him before the Lord took him home. The time I went to visit him in his home, there he was sitting in an easy chair. He was so weak he couldn't get up out of that chair by himself. He greeted us and then he started talking to us about the Lord's coming and he got so excited that he started waving his arms.
And his body was leaning forward in the chair and all of a sudden flop back in the chair. He forgot that his body was getting old. His spirit was too young for his body. That really impressed me as a young man. You know, you young people.
Got a lot of things to be thankful for. Health and strength. Young sisters, Beauty. It's beautiful to see you. How long is that gonna last?
That health and strength and beauty.
Well, it says here all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, the flower thereof falleth away. Scripture says time is short.
00:40:13
It doesn't last very long. You young people, you'll turn around and you'll be old.
That's the way I feel it is in my own case. It seems like yesterday I was a young man.
My wife has irises in her garden.
I think she told me she counted over 300 yesterday morning irises in her garden.
Beautiful, those flowers that God has made, how long they last?
Well, I think I heard her say somebody to somebody, maybe three days. Is that all? Such a beautiful thing. Just three days, that's all.
And you say you're gonna be.
Full of strength, young man. Full of beauty, young lady. How long is that gonna last? Add another 80 years. How do you think you'll look in 80 years? The flower of the field sage and the grass Withers. Many of us are experimenting the withering, but there's something that lasts forever. The word.
Of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Wonderful, wonderful. So the work has been accomplished on the cross. 2000 years ago God was satisfied with what Jesus did, but now God is working in human hearts, sending out his word. I'm amazed that the word sometimes.
That God uses to impart life to dead souls. Sometimes verses that are not even used for the gospel. But it penetrates. That's the Word of God. It's penetrating.
And if there are ears that hear, God in that way imparts life to dead souls.
Before we finish, I want to go over to the Book of Revelation.
To give a final warning if you have not accepted the Lord Jesus as your Savior.
I want to read what relates to the manifestation or we could say the revelation of Jesus Christ. You know when Jesus came the first time, he came in meekness and lawliness.
But when he comes again, he will not be with meekness and lowliness. It will be the same person that will be as a mighty warrior to make war in this world.
You know, there's so much evil going on. I I just marvel at God's patience. When you see what's going on over in Syria, in other parts of the world, I'm sure we don't hear the half of it.
Mothers and children being slaughtered and terrible, terrible, terrible. What's going on? God is not going to let evil run forever.
He is going to intervene.
Evil comes to its full developed state and then God.
Will step in and this is when he steps in by the Lord Jesus coming back to reign supreme in this world. Revelation chapter 19 and verse 11.
And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a White Horse, he that set upon him, sat upon him, was called.
Faithful and true and in righteousness.
He does judge and make war.
And that's something.
You imagine Jesus making war. That's what it's telling us here. He's going to in righteousness, judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood.
00:45:15
And his name is called the word of God.
No question about who we're talking about here. It's the Lord Jesus, and the armies which are in heaven followed him upon white horses clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations.
And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vestion upon his thigh a name written.
King of Kings and Lord of Lords, this is what is in front of you. If you do not accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you will have to meet with Jesus. There is no way you can escape it. This is what is called the judgment of the living when He comes back to meet people and it says later on in this chapter.
Verse 19 That the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies were gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army.
That's Western Europe.
Europe is apostate today.
Incredible times I've gone over to Europe and Spain.
They say that 50% of the people are atheists.
The rest that are nominally Roman Catholic despise that religious system.
Europe is apostate and when Jesus comes back, it's that.
That will go with all their armies to eradicate Jesus when they see him coming.
So Jesus comes out of heaven to judge and to make war.
And he's going to make war and he's going to put his enemies under his feet.
His garments are gonna be stained with blood. Not his own blood, but the blood of his enemies, the one that refused to deal with the question of sin. They will have to meet him at that time.
There are others who die. They will have to meet with Jesus later at the Great White Throne. But there is no way that you can escape coming face to face with Jesus on his judgment throne. Whether it's the judgment of the living or whether it's the judgment of the dead, you must meet him. You cannot escape it. And that's why we're here tonight to plead with you in the name of the Lord Jesus to repent of your sins.
To come in saving faith to the Lord Jesus.
There is any questions or any doubts that you have, we're willing to talk to you, not only myself, but there are others that you can speak to to get those questions answered. It's so terribly important that you get it straight. Get it straight as soon as possible because Jesus is coming again and when He comes, the door of salvation will be shut. Now is the accepted time now.
Is the day of salvation.
Made in His Likeness and Image
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.
Morning Want to welcome the adults to the children's meeting and I bet if we start singing we'll get some more children in here, so if someone has a number from the hymn sheet that would be nice.
Thank you #40.
Jesus loves me.
But he is strong, yes. He is not love me. Yes. James Hunt lungs me.
Nsnoise.
Alright, very nice. You know I see 3 little Erlinson kids here that would just love to have some company.
So if any of you kids would like to come up front where you can see better and even participate, that would be very nice. So any of you children that would like to come up front, there's lots of seats here in front of Lemoyne and, uh, some more over here. All right. Anybody else, one of your kids? Do you have a song that you'd like to sing?
22 all right.
#22 Let's sing the 1St and the last of this one.
Somebody could start it please.
Can I understand different radiation and you're on the line on Skype on the computer. I haven't any written North Carolina for some Pride cruise line.
OK, I'd like to give out one if that's OK. Let's just sing the last verse, verse #3 of #17 in the chorus. So #17 just verse 3.
OK, umm, we're looking for children to come up front. We've got a few up here already and so if you'd like to come up front, there's lots of seats here. Don't be shy, just come on up front and uh, you'll be able to see better and hear better. OK, And while you're coming, we'll sing the third verse of #17.
00:05:55
OK. I think we have time for one or two more. So let's see, how about do you have one over here?
There's some on the back that you might know a little bit better. Clear on the back. You see one there.
How about this one? Do you know this one? Glad TI oops.
Glad TIDINGS. Do you know that one? The spelling one? Let's sing that 1 #46.
Gladys.
I'm still doing well, I'm quite fun. You're doing good and you've finished.
And you've called and you call the call here. I'm our dollar. I have been on all the big Hawaiian us too.
OK, there's still room up front, children, we'd be glad to have you up front. And while you're coming, we'll have another one here, maybe from a girl up here who would like to give out one. OK, do you have one?
15 OK 45 sorry you know what mine says that the song is not been included in this one. Does anyone know what 45 was?
Brother Don.
Two little eyes. OK, some of our hem sheets may not have it, but I think we know it. So let's, uh, go ahead and sing that one.
OK.
Is that in here? OK, well, let's sing it. I'm so happy.
To start my birthday and all the way.
I'm so glad to meet you at the moment and in the face of the Mother can give me peace, but I have been.
Laughing at the end of the day. And that's the reason. The reason why I am the reason why.
Jesus took my burden all the way. Thank you for giving that one out. That's a nice one. OK, I think we'll sing one more and then we're going to have a little word of prayer. And then if any of you kids would like to share a verse with us, might have been from the Sunday school paper or something, just enjoy or have learned before, that'd be nice if you'd like to share it with us. So let's go ahead and sing one more. How about down here, one of you boys have one?
OK.
The wise man. All right, Not sure that's in here either.
Well, let's go ahead and sing that one, the wise man.
590 S upon the rocks, the wise guys go there, pounced upon the rock and the rain day, and come pulling down.
Nsnoise.
I remember many years ago when one of the first times we had come from the mainland to Newfoundland, where my parents lived for many years, my mother still living there. In the little town of I, uh, Portabass, there's a house and actually many houses and Jim could.
Attest to this too. There's many houses that are built on a rock but I remember visiting someone in this one house and it just struck me that the house was built on a rock and they had taken the sighting of the house and probably the foundation and they had built it. It was all jagged and curved and to form to the shape of the rock and it was built right there on a big rock and I thought that was so neat it kind of made that hit little him come to life for me to build on the rock which we know is.
The Lord Jesus Christ, he could say that he is well, we know that he was that rock that that followed the children of Israel through the wilderness. It says in in Corinthians that that rock was Christ. Well, let's just go ahead and pray boys and girls, OK, who would like to share a verse with us?
Alright.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only God Son.
That whosoever, whosoever shall call on the believeth in him, believeth in him, shall be saved, shall not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3. John 316. Good. Thank you. Would you like to share one? OK.
Call name large shall be saved. Room is 10/13. Thank you.
Would you like to share first, OK.
How about you?
All are sinned and come short of the glorious God. Romans 323. Thank you. OK.
I have for.
I have forgiven their inequities and I will remember their sins no more.
OK.
I don't remember exactly where that is either.
All right, how about you?
Have forgiven.
My iniquities, you remember my things no more.
Someone know where it's found?
3134 All right, How about you? Do you want to share a purse?
You know you can't think of one right now, OK?
How about you?
No. All right. Well, thank you very much, kids. So nice to commit these verses of Scripture to memory so that we can share them. We might be able to share them with others too. The Lord might give us an opportunity to share them with a friend, a school friend, or wherever you might be. And it's nice to have them stored up in our hearts. Well, you know, I've been thinking a little bit about a long kind of along the same lines of what we've been having in these.
00:15:04
These meetings that we had yesterday and that is that, umm, we were created for a purpose. God has put you and I in this world for a purpose, you know, and I was thinking a little bit about that because we know that God created other things. He created angels and angels are, uh, very interesting creatures to, uh, talk about and think about. And, uh, we think of them as, as creatures that are very powerful.
And very intelligent. But you know, umm, God wasn't, umm, God's heart of love wanted to go out further than just creating angels. And so I was thinking of what we have early on in the word of God in Genesis and Genesis chapter 2 and verse 26. God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness. And umm, let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fall of the air and over the cattle and over the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he, Him male and female created he them.
And so on. Well, I was just thinking of this expression that God said, the Godhead said, let us make man in our image and in our likeness. Now image here, the way it's used is a little different than what we typically think of. Sometimes we look at a picture of a little boy or something and we say, you know, he's the spitting image of his father. But that's not really so much the thought of image here. It's more a representation. God put you and I in this world to represent him.
And, you know, I was thinking about that and the responsibility of that. And that's, that's, uh, something to think about. But it does say that he also made us in his likeness. And likeness is more the thought of what we think about, umm, and that is resemblances or, uh, we might say characteristics that are similar. And so God has given man, for example, I'll give you a little example. God has given you a heart that can love, you know, you love your daddy and your mommy.
And your sisters and God has given you the capacity to love each of you, boys and girls, When God created you in His image and in His likeness, He gave you a heart that can love others. And He gave you a heart of compassion. He gave you the ability to care about someone else. Umm, those are things that God gave us. And so God wanted creatures that would be like Him.
And so he made them in his image and in his likeness. Well, if you just turn a few chapters over in Genesis, not very long after something awful happened. Uh, Adam and Eve were created and umm, God had communion with them and he, he enjoyed fellowship with them. We talked a little about yesterday about fellowship and how God wants to have fellowship with us. And so he created them for that purpose to have.
A creature that he could have fellowship with.
And sin came in, Satan caused Eve to sin and Adam sinned to and it spoiled that. And so when we get to the fifth chapter, it says in verse three that Adam lived in 130 years and begat a son in his own likeness after his image and called his name Seth. Isn't that interesting that now it doesn't say so much that Seth is in the image and likeness of God, but Adam says in his own likeness or it says of Adam that self was created in his own likeness after his image that is.
Seth became a Sinner just like Adam was or Seth was born. You might say he was born a Sinner. He was born with the same characteristics and likeness that Adam had. Adam had sinned and now when his offspring were sinners because he had sinned and so how quickly what God had intended that man would not only be a representative for him, but would also be, umm, have.
Display his characters, his heart of love and so on. Well, so we know that, uh, God introduced a law to umm, to man for man to live under. And the very first commandment that he gave them is this. And uh, Exodus chapter 20, Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth.
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them, for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the 3rd and 4th generation of them that hate me. I thought it was instructive here that God's very first commandment to his creature when he introduced this law for man to live under. He says, I don't want you to make anything that has the image and likeness of anything that would take displace me in your heart.
00:20:29
That's what God was saying. He's saying I'm a jealous guy. That means, umm, he loves us and he wants us for himself and he didn't want something else to come between US and him. And so he said, don't make anything that's in the likeness of something else other than me. And uh, we know that, umm, the man did that right away. He began to make idols and so on. And, and this whole, our, our whole testament is full of example after example of how man.
Got away from God in His own likeness and image, in the way He was created. Well, I have a question for you children, OK?
I talked about God giving you the capacity to love, to love your parents, to love one another. And I was just thinking, if you were to give something to your parents, what would be something that you could give them? What would you give your parents that they would like? Let's say you're going to give your dad or your mom something for their birthday. What would you give them? What do you think they would like?
You're not sure?
OK, how about you? My mom would like a dishwasher. A dishwasher, OK.
What would you give your mom or your dad?
Kinda hard, huh?
You know, it's, it's a lot easier for them to give us something. We look forward to that, but it's sometimes harder to think of something to give to them. How about you, you think of something, a card, a card. OK, you write something in the card. All right, good. Well, there's lots of things. I'm sure if you weren't, uh, nervous that you could probably think of that you would give your dad and your mom. Now, let me ask you another question.
Remember we talked about how God wanted to have fellowship with us. So what is something, what is, let's, let's put it this way, what is the most precious thing, the most valuable thing that you could give to God? If you're going to give something to God that he would really want and desire, what do you think that might be from you?
What would you give?
Play.
What was that?
OK, I'm not sure anybody else. What would you give to God that He would value, that He would like that you think would make him happy?
Doing what you're told.
What was that?
OK. OK. Anybody else?
You know what I think God would like the most? What would you give him? Be kind to others. Very good. Yeah. That he, that would make him happy, too. I'm going to read you a verse that I think answers that question, and we'll talk just a little bit about it here. It's in Proverbs chapter 23. And we read this verse as we are traveling to Pella on Friday.
And verse 26 my son, give me thine.
What does it say, my son? Give me thine.
Heart very good, unless thine eyes observe all my ways. My son, give me thine heart. You know boys and girls.
God wants to have fellowship with you and I. We heard about that yesterday. And for that to take place, for that to happen, the first thing that we need to do is to give him our heart. Now maybe that sounds a little bit hard to understand, but I'll just read you a verse in Romans chapter 10 which will help us. So in Romans chapter 10, it says.
If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. So God wants us first of all to give him his heart. My son, give me thine heart. He wants us to accept the gift that he has given, which is the Lord Jesus. For God so loved the world. One of you gave that verse to us. You did, uh. 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. So God.
00:25:06
Gave us His Son, and He wants us to accept that. And in that way we are giving him our hearts. My son, give me thine heart, but all thy eyes observe my ways. And so it's with the heart, with the mouth confessions made unto salvation, with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. I hope you boys and girls have done that. I hope each of you have done that. Now we talked about what God wants. That's what He really wants, because that's what's necessary to have fellowship with us.
And if that doesn't take place, then as we heard, we can't really have fellowship with God. You know, a man that is still in his sins is at a distance from God and he doesn't even like to be in God's presence, you might say. Because to be in the presence of God with sin on our conscience and upon our hearts, that that's not comfortable. Umm, if you were guilty of a crime, you wouldn't want to have lunch with the judge.
Would you, you wouldn't feel comfortable with any judge, uh, if you were guilty of a crime and no one knew about it and you carry that on your conscience and you, you knew someone that was a judge and he wanted to have lunch with you. I think you would be a little uncomfortable in his presence. Maybe very uncomfortable because you've got this on your conscience. Well, God is very holy and righteous, much, much more than any judge on this earth and God.
Cannot it says he is of two pure eyes and to behold iniquity. God cannot, umm does not look lightly on sin, boys and girls, and he wants us to have those sins washed away in the precious bloods of Christ so that he can have communion with us. You know what happened with his people is even though he gave them this law and all this is what they were doing. We have a a little picture to us in the book of Malachi.
And it says here in Malachi chapter one.
It says in verse six, and the Lord was using this prophet Malachi to bring this word to his people to try and umm, exercise them about what they were going on with because God wanted fellowship with them. He wanted to be able to communicate with them freely and enjoy fellowship together. And it says here a son on earth, his father, and a servant his master.
If then I be a father, where is mine honor? And if I be a master, where is my fear? Saith the Lord of hosts unto you?
O priests that despise my name, and ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar, And ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible. Now this verse 2IN in particular. And if he offered the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if he offered the layman sick, is it not evil? Offer it now unto thy governor, will he be pleased with thee, or except thy person, saith the Lord of hosts.
So here's boys and girls, here's what was happening. The Lord under their system, they would bring sacrifices to the Lord, and that was a little picture of a coming sacrifice, which was the Lord Jesus Christ. But until then, they would bring these sacrifices to umm, the priests, and the priests would offer them to Jehovah their God, and he would be pleased because the little animal would die. But there were certain requirements. They were to bring animals that weren't blind and weren't lame and didn't have blemishes on them.
They weren't to be bringing the, the ones that, well, you know, this one here. I'm probably gonna have to let it go anyway. So I'll take that to offer to the Lord. That's what they were doing. And that was offensive to the Lord. They were giving gifts that were blemished. They were giving these sacrifices, I should say, that were blemished. And the Lord was using Malachi to exercise their conscience about this. Well, I want to illustrate this this morning, so.
I'm going to just randomly pick a girl, maybe you and then, uh, maybe this young fellow over here and I want to give you both something, OK. And I want to try and illustrate what it is that was going on here in Israel. And then we're going to talk a little bit about what the Lord really wants. Now, remember, the very first and important thing is that we give him our heart because nothing else will be right. You know, umm, you might say, well, I'm going to do great things for the Lord.
Well, what the Lord really wants is communion. He wants fellowship with you. That's what's the most pleasing to him is fellowship. And he doesn't want just you to use your energies and talents that he might have given you for him that that could come later. He wants your fellowship. He wants your heart. You know, when we talk about our hearts, we're talking about that place where we love, where we have affection. Umm.
00:30:16
Affections can flow out, that flows out from our hearts. That's what God wants. Do we have affection for Him? Have you boys and girls accepted the Lord as their Savior? And if you have, I hope you have umm. Do you have affection for the Lord? Does He mean something to you? He wants fellowship with you. And that's what we're talking about this morning. And so I would like to give umm, this young lady a gift.
Here.
First of all, I should ask you, umm, do do you like flowers? Do you? OK, Do you like roses? All right. Have you ever had anyone give you roses? No. OK, well, I'm going to give you some roses.
So I got some for you.
Uh, excuse me. Sorry about the condition here. There. I'm gonna let you have those. Aren't they lovely?
So I don't know if everyone was able to see them, but I brought, whoops, I brought some, uh, some roses for this young lady here and uh, I'm not sure if she's pleased or not Umm, anyway.
And then, uh, let me ask this young man here, Do you, uh, do you by any chance, chance like balls?
Like footballs or anything like that. Do you like those?
Do you? OK, Good. I'm glad you do. Alright, I have to find another boy.
It's well, I can see where he, you know, if he's looking at those roses and he's thinking, you know, what am I going to get for a a ball here? Well, umm, here's a football I'd like to give you. I'm sorry, it's a little bit, uh, well, it's well used. Let's say I, I'm sorry I didn't have time to patch it all up and clean it up, but I'd sure like to give it to you.
So, you know, uh, I don't know if everyone is able to see this football here, but, uh, what was your name?
What?
L Ellie.
Elia OK, well, I I want you to have that football. And what was your name?
Hope, OK. And I'd like for Hope to have those nice roses there.
Well, boys and girls, I don't know if they're pleased or not. Do you think they're pleased with their their gifts?
Umm, you know, I can make lots of excuses. I could say, well, you know, I was busy trying to get to conference here and I, I wish I could have got some nicer roses for you, but uh, I saw those laying around and uh, you know, I grabbed them and stuff them in that jar. I'm sorry, it's not a very nice vase, but umm, I just didn't have very much time.
Umm, you know, umm, I didn't want to go out and spend a lot of money. We're going to take this trip and all I could think of more excuses, umm.
You know, I'm sorry, I didn't have time to clean this football up and patch it up and see if it would hold some air and be a little nicer gift. Umm, you know, and I got to thinking about that and I thought, whoa, I wonder if I ever, uh, treat my savior that way. I say, you know.
I've got a lot to do today. I don't know if I have time to have fellowship with him. I better get going on all these things I got to get done today.
Umm, maybe tomorrow I'll have a little more time.
Comes evening time and I say, you know, boy, I'm really tired. I sure wish I didn't feel so tired. I, I know I need to read a few verses. I I should kneel and pray. I feel really tired tonight, you know, I'll do it in the morning, first thing in the morning, you know, boys and girls.
That's what happens when we think like that is we end up, as it were, presenting to the Lord.
Something like this? Kind of like umm.
What they were doing in Malachi's day, they were bringing the six sheep and the lame sheep and the blind, and they were saying, well, this is good enough for Jehovah.
00:35:00
And umm, you know, as I thought about that, I thought, that's sad. That's sad that we treat the Lord that way and when He wants so much to have fellowship with us and umm, we deny him and we deny ourselves the blessing that would result from spending a little more time with him.
He's not asking a lot from us.
He just wants, uh, whatever we can give in sincerity. And I would just encourage you boys and girls that I know you're young, some of you maybe are just learning to read and all, but I think all of you know how to pray. I would encourage you to start early on in your lives to have a little bit of time with the Lord, Umm, if you can in the morning and in the evening. Doesn't have to be a long time just to kneel and talk to him. Oh, he loves to hear our voice.
You know, we have that little phrase in the Song of Solomon. Let me hear thy voice. That's the bridegroom there talking to the bride and saying, let me hear thy voice. Well, you know, you might feel like I'm kind of directing this at you, but I'm really directing it right back at myself and perhaps to each of us here. We get so busy. We get careless, don't we? We get like they were here in Malachi's day, where we forget.
Who it is that has wants to have fellowship and communion with us and wants our company. You know, there's umm, some other verses that I want to read in Matthew's Gospel Chapter 7.
And it says, umm, verse seven, ask and it shall be given to you, seek, and ye shall find knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth in him that knocketh, it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you whom if his son asked bread, will he give him a stone? You know, uh, here the Lord is talking about things that they would understand in their day. You know, when they bake their bread in that day, they umm, use kind of like umm, pancake shaped.
Piece of dough and then when they baked it and it rose a little bit, it would be maybe Oval shaped around or might be irregular, not quite round and it would look a lot like some of the stones did. So that's why the Lord says umm.
Umm what man? Is there a view if if his son asked spread will give him a stone? Do you think umm do you think if you ask for a piece of bread your mom would give you a stone?
Would that be nice? No, that's not what you want. No. And, and, and the Lord goes on to say, uh, or if you ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? You know, if they ate a lot of fish, they live near the sea and they, they ate fish. And do you think that a father or a mother that love their children would if they ask for a fish for dinner or whatever, they would give them a serpent, something that could harm them. No, that's not the heart of a, a father or a mother. And then the Lord goes on to say to them, if he being evil.
Know how to give good gifts unto your children. How much more shall your father, which is in heaven, give good things to them that ask him? You know, a human father. The Lord is saying like as as much as saying, you know a human father, he wouldn't give these gifts to his children, even though he has a sinful nature. That's what the Lord means. Even though this father or mother has a sinful nature, they wouldn't give those kind of gifts because they've been given the capacity from God, some of his likeness to be kind, to be loving to their children.
And they would give good gifts to their children, but what were they were the way they were treating the Lord. They were treating the Lord like this. And sometimes I feel like boys and girls that we can be guilty of that. We can treat the Lord like they were treating him and not really caring about his needs, not really caring about him. He was there in person and they were too blind to see that they were dealing with the very Son of God who in love.
Had come and he had come with the purpose of providing a way so that they could have communion and fellowship with him. You know your boys and girls, your parents love you and they wouldn't do things like this if we love the Lord Jesus.
How are we treating him?
How are we treating him? You know, we talked a little bit about our talents and all these things that we think that we might be, might be able to do for the Lord. It's interesting. I'm going to read a verse to you in First Corinthians chapter 13.
And umm, the apostle Paul is speaking in this chapter and he's saying, and though I bestow all my goods to feed the full the poor, that sounds like a good thing to do. Take all your, umm, your resources and.
00:40:09
Go buy food and feed the poor. That sounds like a wonderful thing to do and then even goes to on to say and if I give my body to be burned if I suffer like a martyr and I die at the stake and I'm burned. Why that must be the the the thing that the Lord wants the most for me to give my life for him. And then he goes on to say and have not love it profiteth me nothing. You see what God wants.
Is He wants your heart to be drawn to His heart?
So that you and him can enjoy fellowship together just like we have in the the Book of Revelation where it says to the overcomer and to the Church of Laodicea, it says, if behold, I stand at the door and it should read him knocking.
This picture of the Lord standing at the door knocking, and it says, if any man hear my voice, I will come into him and will Sup with him, and he with me. And So what the Lord wants, boys and girls, what He really wants from our hearts is our love towards Him. He wants communion with him. Now I just jotted down a few things that came to mind as what kind of a God we have? What kind of a giving God do we have? Well, we know that He's a perfect giver.
And we have that verse in James that says, every good and every perfect gift cometh down from above, from the Father of lights, with whom is no variable enough, neither shadow of turning. So we have a God that is a perfect giver.
He's also an abundant giver. It says in John chapter 10 and verse 10, I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. We had that yesterday.
He wants to give you abundant life. He's an abundant giver. That means not just giving a little bit, not just giving, not giving roses like that, but giving something nice. God wants you to give your heart to Him. He wants your affection. That's what He really wants. He's also a cheerful giver. It says in Second Corinthians. I'm going to read this passage in 2nd Corinthians 9.
Umm, and starting at verse six, I just read this recently in the, the periodical called the Christian that God loves a cheerful giver. It says here because he is a cheerful giver himself. So 2nd Corinthians 9 and verse six, it says, umm, he which soweth sparingly shall also reap, reap also sparingly. You know what that means children, if you're stingy, if you say I'm going to just give him a little bit, I'm not going to give him very much. I'm going to just give this young lady these roses because I don't want to go out and buy a nice bouquet of roses. I'm just going to give him that old football that was.
Well, kind of worn out because I don't want to, you know, go out and get a nice one. Umm, he that so a sparingly shall reap also sparingly. And he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Umm, every man according as he purposeth in his heart. So let him give not grudgingly or of necessity. For God loveth a cheerful giver. Boys and girls, we have a God that is a, umm, perfect giver. He's an abundant giver.
He's a cheerful giver. I'm sure there's more that we could, could discover in his word as to God's giving. And all he wants from us is he wants a response from. If someone loves you, they just want a response from you. That's what God wants most of all. Well, you know, I feel really bad about leaving these kids with such awful looking gifts and I don't want them to go away feeling like, wow, that's all.
That I could, he could give me was this thing. So I'm going to offer, umm, hope something nicer. And I'm going to take that ugly bouquet of flowers and I'll tell you what I'm going to do with them. I'm going to throw them away. Does that sound like a good idea?
OK, Hope said that's so let me have them Hope and we'll just get rid of them. OK. All right, Because they're not very pretty anymore. And instead I, I was a my, my wife Carmen picked up this nice Lily for you, this Asian Lily. So I'm going to let you have that. So instead of that, umm, ugly. Is that a little better? All right, Yeah, That's, uh, that's, that's more like a gift that God would like from us. He wants a little bit.
From our hearts, something that maybe costs us a little something. He wants that from our hearts and, uh, over here on this side. Why don't I just take this from you? Should we just throw this away too, or do you think it's worth keeping? We'll just throw it away too and we'll give you another football that, uh, maybe will be more useful to you. All right.
00:45:22
I can tell by his smile that he agrees with me. So here's the bag to put it in and umm, I want to just tell you hope if that's going to be too much of a problem, you can talk to your parents to get home. If you want to give to someone else, that's fine. I I understand. We just brought it for an illustration. I'd love for you to have it if it works out, but I know you came from a long distance away so.
What Is the Will of God for You?
1 John 1:4-10
Reading
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Thou Holy One and true our hearts and Thee confide, and in the circle of Thy love as brethren we abide. Hymn #22 in the appendix.
This is down in our chapter, but I'd like to suggest we could read from the first just to get the context better and maybe down the 1St 6 verses of chapter 2.
First John, chapter one.
That eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us, that which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you, that you may also have fellowship with us. And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
These things right way unto you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all, if we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness.
We lie and do not the truth, but if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sins. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar.
And his word is not in US. Chapter 2 my little children, these things right eye unto you that you send not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
And He is a propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. Here by we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith I know Him and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in Him.
But whosoever keepeth His word, in Him barely is the love of God perfected thereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith, He abideth in Him ought also Himself to walk, even as He walked.
That and it's helpful that John and his writings speaks about the family of God, Paul and his writings speaks about the Church of God and Peter speaks about the Kingdom of God. And so as we read these.
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Chapters.
Keep in mind that we're talking about the family of God.
And one thing that is normal in a family is fellowship.
But his fellows what his fellowship?
Our like word is communion.
Sometimes people have said fellowship is fellows on the same ship, but sometimes shipmates fight, so it's not exactly the right definition.
But is having common thoughts, having the same interests, fellowship. And it's based on the revelation, as we were saying the other day, of what we have been given by the apostles in the Scriptures, that which we have seen and heard, declaring unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. Wonderful.
Fellowship rather than that's normal.
But fellowship is a thing that is extremely delicate.
You can't lose salvation if you truly have it.
But fellowship you can lose at a moment's notice.
I'm walking in fellowship with my Lord.
And I tell a lie.
The Lord still beside me, but is there fellowship?
Can't happen.
It isn't so. So fellowship is something that is very delicate and that's why we need to have sensitive consciences.
I love the Apostle Paul in the book of the Acts. Who says herein.
Do I exercise myself always to have a conscience?
Void of offense toward God and toward men.
He doesn't say I always have a good conscience. No, he says, I exercise myself. And brethren, that is a daily, constant exercise. We need to be sensitive in our consciences. I liked, uh, an illustration a brother gave at a conference, uh, some time ago.
And he likened it to driving down the highway. You're driving down the highway, you got your hand on the steering wheel.
Constant corrections in the steering might be just small, but it's important to make sure you stay on course. You'll have to constantly be correcting, and that's the way it is in our life if you want to live in fellowship with the Lord and fellowship with one another too. Brethren, may the Lord gives us sensitivity in our consciences that we might walk in fellowship.
With the Lord Himself, with God as Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then as a result, with one another, the Lord help us.
In cultivating fellowship, it's not easy. It takes time, takes reading the Word, it takes prayer, and we need to be deliberate about those things. In reading the Word. He speaks to us in prayer, we speak to Him, and that is important in fellowship. You can't neglect it and continue in fellowship doesn't work.
And I see so many that neglect the Scriptures. They don't read on a consistent basis, the word of God. How can you maintain fellowship? It's a tough time. It's we're passing through a tough world.
And we need that constant correction.
In walking with the Lord to make sure we are in line in fellowship with Him.
We've had the fact that in previous reading meetings that having eternal life gives us the capacity to share thoughts with God as he thinks and feels and might also say, I don't think it was mentioned before, it gives us a desire as well. It gives us the wish and the wants to have that fellowship and interaction with God that were made capable of doing.
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But there is a condition that's laid out here immediately following that fact. That is the basis on which we can have that fellowship. And so John immediately brings it up. He said this is the message that we have heard of him and declare to you that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all if we say we have fellowship with Him.
God cannot have fellowship with anything that is inconsistent.
With himself and so we're told and brought out immediately.
God is light, and the only condition in which we may have fellowship with God is an absolute light.
Nothing hidden, nothing inconsistent with himself. And as Bob said, that you can lose it instantly if the flesh works. Because when I tell a lie, is that consistent or inconsistent with God?
We know it's inconsistent with his nature. It's an offense to him.
And as such, it immediately breaks the condition in which we can have fellowship together.
And so, as in the last meeting, it was mentioned the importance of purity.
And purity in particular areas were emphasized, but in truth, that purity has to extend to everything that is exposed to light, and everything is with God out in the light. There's no way around it. God desires it, but He can only have it with us, consistent with what He is Himself.
And that's why it's brought out immediately. Here we say we have fellowship and walk in darkness. We lie.
We lie because it's impossible to have true fellowship with God.
And walk in darkness. The two are incompatible because God is separated the light from the darkness, and he calls the light good. And it's in that that we may have fellowship with God. And so we have the revelation to our souls in the person of the Lord Jesus, the display to us in that of what's light. And to know him, to enter in to what is revealed to us in the person of the Lord Jesus.
Gives us that which is pleasing to God, and that which brings fullness of joy to us if we walk in it.
Bring out the subject of what is consistent with the nature of God, and that was the apostle John. The apostle John was the one who was known for his intimate fellowship with the Lord Jesus. And so because of that nearness that he has to the Lord Jesus, he could best describe to us the nature of God.
As he had seen in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so this relates to us in this very same way, that if we walk in fellowship with the Lord Jesus, we will become familiar with His nature.
And as we become familiar with his nature, we will be changed into his image. And that new life that we have will delight in the same things that, uh, God delights in. Uh, it is the, the, the, the new life that we have has appetites, It has desires. And if we walk in fellowship.
With the Lord Jesus we will come to to know and understand, as the Apostle John did, what light is, what this holiness in the presence of God is.
And that will have an effect upon our we are in the light positionally, every one of us who know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we are in the light. And in Ephesians 5, it tells us that those of us who were once in darkness, now are ye light in the Lord. Then it says, after confirming our position, it says, now walk as children of light.
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And so our position and our condition may be two very different things, but we are in the light and that's what's brought out here. We we are in the light. We are brought into a place of fellowship with divine persons and as a result, with one another. And the blood of Jesus Christ is the basis for it. But as we've been saying, the practical application of this in our lives may be, may be very different. And I think it's important.
Too in John's ministry to realize that we have a series of tests.
As to whether we are real or not, and we have one of them just mentioned here later on, he says we know we've passed from death unto life. Why? Because we love the brethren. And as you go through the epistle, there are these series of tests.
Are we real? Are we really? Do we really have the nature of God? Are we, have we really been brought into the light? Are our sins taken care of in the blood of Christ? Now here's a series of tests to show whether we're real or not. And if we fail the tests, we may well question in our own soul whether there's really been a work of God in US and in US, and whether we really have been partakers of the divine nature, whether we really have been.
Have eternal life, whether we really have been brought in into the light. But I I just say this too about fellowship in connection with what Bob said. Fellowship really too is joint participation with himself. And fellowship is the enjoyment. I'm speaking in a practical way now. Fellowship is the enjoyment, first of all, in our own souls of the person and work of Christ in the measure in which we enjoy fellowship with himself.
In the measure in which we enjoy fellowship with God as to the person and work of Christ.
In that measure, then, we can enjoy practical fellowship one with another.
And let's be very careful, brethren, that we don't confound 2 words that we often use.
Interchangeably. But they are different. One is activity and the other is fellowship. Now, don't misunderstand me. Activity is good. Tomorrow, Lord willing, if we're left here, we're gonna have an activity. After these meetings, we're gonna go out to the park and we're gonna have a picnic and the young people are gonna play some ball. That's wonderful. I I'm all for activity and especially activity with our fellow believers, but activity in itself is not fellowship.
It may be active, good activity, it may be wonderful to be together, but that in itself is not fellowship. Now we can have fellowship around activities. We get together, we have a ball game, we have a picnic, we get together in our home on a Saturday night and we have some activities. Great.
But let's remember that true fellowship is our enjoyment first of all of Christ in our own souls and then sharing Christ with with one another. And when we have activity, let's be exercised that we have some fellowship with that activity. Now sometimes, and I have to hang my own head. I've come away from activity an evening together with fellow Christians and I've had to say, you know, there really wasn't true much true fellowship. Nice to be together wonderful.
But why isn't there often the sharing of Christ one with another like there ought to be? Well, it's because we haven't enjoyed Christ in our own souls if we enjoy Christ in our own souls. If we're enjoying fellowship with the Father and the Son, we can't help but enjoy the fellowship, the fellowship of the Father and the Son with one another. We can't help but share Christ with one another if Christ is the enjoyment of our own souls.
When we come to meetings like this, we often speak meetings. I think that rather misses the point. Even though this is Paul's doctrine rather than John's, we gave expression. The first and foremost expression of our Christian fellowship was expressed this morning in the remembrance of the Lord.
John here is speaking more of that fellowship that we can enjoy together as children in the family of faith. It would be very strange indeed to meet another Christian.
That have absolutely no interest in Speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn't mean to say that when we meet other Christians that there has to be the sole content of our conversation, but if it came up about the Lord it would be extremely strange if the other Christian didn't want to have anything to say.
00:20:09
On that subject, that would be an odd thing indeed, because the basis of our fellowship has spoken of here is that life that we possess, that life that is now in common.
And and just wanna disconnected thought, but it it it was I found it helpful in these verses to recognize that it says, but if we walk in the light, it could have been written. But if we should say that we walk in the light, it's not a question. This verse of walking according to the light, it's of walking in the light. And so, as Jim said, it's a test primarily. And because the apostle John here was countering encountering error, he was encountering those that said that they had new light.
And, uh, that they had something to offer. And so there's these practical tests that these ones that were saying that they had light, Well, how did they walk? They weren't walking in light at all. They were walking in darkness. And so it really reflected their position.
So in verse five, if we're going to have fellowship with God, brethren, it has to be in the light. It can be in no other way. And I enjoy the definition that the Scriptures themselves give of light. In Ephesians 5, Jim mentioned the verse there, but I want to read another verse in that chapter. It's verse 13.
It says but all things Ephesians 513.
Are reproved that are reproved, are made manifest by the light, for whatever whatsoever doth make manifest is light. There is a definition, a scriptural definition of light, that which makes everything manifest. So if you want to have fellowship with God, brethren, there can be.
No hidden pockets in your life. It's all out in the light. And I have been amazed brother, and how that gives liberty when we are willing to come clean and not be hiding things. That only hinders fellowship to hide things. You know the Samaritan woman has been mentioned and how she came to see the Lord Jesus.
And how he so graciously LED her along and spoke of the living water and then she asked for it. And then he said, go call thy husband and come hit her. And she was a little bit perhaps uncomfortable and just said hoping that it would cover over the reality of the situation. I have no husband.
And the Lord graciously says.
Thou hast well said, I have no husband, for thou hast had five husbands.
And he whom thou now hast is not thy husband, in that, since thou truly.
All of a sudden she realized here was somebody that knew every detail of her life, that nothing was hidden, it was all out in the light. And little later she leaves her water pot and goes into the city. And what does she say?
To the men of the city, come see a man that told me all things that ever I did. Did he tell her everything she had ever done? No, but she felt she was so in the light that everything was exposed to the point that she could say told me everything I ever did. To me that is most wonderful brother, and I say that is the secret of walking in fellowship.
As walking in the light you cannot enjoy fellowship with God, since God is light.
There can be no hidden parts of our lives. May the Lord help us in that, dear brethren, because sometimes you see that outwardly it appears that they're in fellowship, but there is an underlying current. Why is that?
Everything is not out in the open, brethren. It doesn't mean that we have to drag everything out in into the open, but it means that we can't be hiding things in our lives. May the Lord help us in that brethren, is so important. Then in verse six, it says, if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. It's true. We are in the light.
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But why does it say we walk in darkness here? This is what Nick was saying the other day.
Is an illustration of the abstract truth that we have.
In the epistle of John, he's talking of what is characteristic. Perhaps that's a better word.
Rather than abstract. Abstract is unapplied, but what is characteristic. If you are in darkness, you really aren't a believer at all.
And so it's a searching thing. Brethren, do we accommodate a little lie in our life? Do you? Come on now, let's get it out into the light. God knows all about it. It's you that's hiding it. And that little detail that you're hiding is hindering the full fellowship with the Father and His Son, and it is robbing you of the joy.
That you could have. Oh brethren, may the Lord help us to walk in the full enjoyment of that place that is ours, truly ours in the Lord Jesus, in the family of God. Then he says, if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.
If I walk in the light, you walk in the light. We meet together and we find that there's fellowship one with another. And then, as you said, Brother Jim, the end of verse 7 is a verse we use many times in the gospel, but it's not written really to unbelievers. It's written to believers. And there's another illustration of abstract truth, the blood.
Of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanses us from all sin. It's a statement of fact.
That which hinders fellowship, how can it be dealt with?
The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanses us from all sin. That's characteristic of the blood of Christ.
So that which hinders fellowship has been dealt with by God.
To take it completely out of the way so that we can enjoy fellowship with God.
Now, if you and I don't enjoy fellowship, who's at fault? Is it God's fault? No, brethren.
May the Lord help us to walk in fellowship with Him.
That God has brought out in Scripture from the very beginning, and that is that fellowship is based on the death and the shedding of blood of an innocent victim.
When Adam sinned in the garden, the measure of communion that he enjoyed with his Creator was immediately broken.
But God immediately came in and clothed out him and Eve with coats of skin.
Which necessitated the death of an innocent victim or victim we find with.
Later on when Abraham enjoyed fellowship with his Lord and the other two men that came to him in the tent door.
They the calf was killed and they ate of it together, showing that again fellowship with based on the death and the shedding of blood of an innocent victim.
And that's what those sacrifices all through the Old Testament portrayed.
To the heart of God, because how could God enjoy a measure of nearness? I know it was never like in Christianity.
But a measure of nearness and fellowship with his people. The animal had to be killed, the sacrifice had to be killed, the blood had to be shed. But I was thinking of it particularly in connection with the Prodigal son.
Because when the prodigal son returned in repentance to the father's house.
They sat down in fellowship together in a way they had never enjoyed previously.
They sat down at the Father's table to enjoy fellowship, but there had to be the fatted calf.
Again, the death of an innocent victim. And they enjoyed the feast there as the fat. They enjoyed the fatted calf. The fatted calf speaks.
Of the death of Christ And what is the basis for our fellowship? How is it that God has been able to bring us?
Into a fellowship, a communion, a circle of blessing and nearness that was never known before.
It's because of the blood of Jesus Christ the sacrifice has been made.
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The blood has been shed and I I used to wonder as I learned this verse as a boy in school, the last part of this seventh verse and then got a little older. I used to think this verse is a little out of place, just seems out of context. But as you say, Bob, it's the basis for everything, isn't it? And brethren, we don't want to ever forget it. This this is something for our hearts really. You know, this morning we had a cup on the table given separate from the loaf as it was instituted by the Lord Jesus, the separation.
Of the blood from the body was the proof of death, and we never want to forget the value of the blood of Christ.
It's going to be our eternal theme in a coming day. We're gonna sing of it for all eternity. Does it mean something to your heart and mind? Now, in the measure in which we enjoy the value and appreciation of the blood of Christ, I suggest we'll enjoy more practical fellowship with Himself, with the Father, and with the Son, and then as a result, with one another. But what a blessed thing to go back and never forget. That's why we needed the remembrance this morning. That's why we need to go back every day of our lives to the work of Calvary and the blood of Christ.
It says it's never lost its luster and value to God. You know when it says the precious blood of Christ?
That's not my estimation. That's not your value. That's God's value.
Aren't you thankful that our fellowship, our communion, isn't based on our appreciation of the blood of Christ?
My appreciation of the blood of Christ is feeble at best, but it does depend on God's value, God's appreciation. He says it's precious. He says it cleanses from all sin and and so on. What a wonderful theme it is to just stop for a moment and meditate on the blood of Christ, the basis of it all.
Possible for people. In fact, it's common for people to have fellowship.
That's not of God.
God doesn't participate in it.
Umm 2 men that decide to rob a bank. They've got fellowship.
They have common interest, common intention, common behavior, common action, perhaps even common motive, and their fellowship in it. And so they do what they do and.
It's possible for us in this room, maybe not robbing a bank, I hope we wouldn't. But it's easy for us in this room to sit down and have a fellowship with each other in which God doesn't participate.
It's not along the interest of God. It may not be in the light, but we can have it. We have a nature, not the new nature, but we have it. We're born with a nature in which we can have fellowship, and in spiritual things, that's true as well. We can choose something that we're going to join together in what we call a spiritual matter.
But it may not be fellowship with God in it. It may be, we might claim it to be, but if it's not according to the truth of God, it's not a fellowship connected with God. And so in the seventh verse it says, if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. John is bringing it before us here into the character of the only fellowship that the believer really ought to want.
We ought not to want any foundation of personal fellowship.
Or group fellowship that is inconsistent with that fellowship that we can have with God in it. And so it's very important. And a little comment on the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. A practical application. When I was a boy at the table, my mother had a pretty strong rule that we were to come to the table only after we washed our hands.
That was just the way it was in our house and my mother was strong in it. And sometimes when we would get to the table, mom would say, have you washed your hands?
And uh, we were to answer. I lost some fellowship with my mother that she didn't know a few times when under my breath that she couldn't hear. I said yes yesterday and, and that was a dishonesty, but it immediately brought within me a guilt feeling. Even though the sin was against my mother as well as God, it brought a guilt feeling which spoiled the meal sometimes for me.
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Because I didn't want to confess it afterwards, but I couldn't be happy in her presence.
After having said that under my breath. But it's a wonderful thing that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanse us.
So that we can have fellowship with God without something immoral, impure, or inconsistent with God that holds us from it. And so that's a the blood of Jesus Christ, we know is the blood of atonement, and it has its atoning character, but in a practical sense as well the application of it in our souls.
Is that which we can say thank God he cleanses us.
From all sin. Otherwise we would never feel comfortable to be in his presence, even if we knew that we had common interest with God. And so we are made 5th. As Bob said, we're fit for fellowship, and the foundation of which we're fit for it is the work of Christ and the shedding of His precious blood. But it's important for us to realize that in a practical sense as well.
In these verses three times, if we say it's easy to talk, brethren, but sometimes the reality is not what we're saying, it's different. And so there's tests here. Verse 6, verse 8, verse 10, if we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth, He paints it.
In black and white, no Shades of Grey. With John, he puts it out there and you have to determine where you stand in relation to what he's saying. That's abstract in that sense. Notice verse 8. Now if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in US.
Notice the comparison with verse 10. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in US. Those two verses are somewhat similar.
But there's a difference, and I think it is an important difference to recognize. Verse 8 says if we have no sin, and it's talking about the sin nature.
Verse 10 says if we have, if we say that we have not sinned.
That's the act of sin, and so God addresses both those things.
The act and the root that produced that sin.
And we have. If we wanna be restored when we lose fellowship, there should be the recognition not only that we've done wrong, but why we did wrong was because we allowed that sinful nature to act.
And if we don't recognize it, it's a hindrance to us. It's important, brethren, in the question of restoration because I think these last three verses deal with how to get back into fellowship with the Lord when we have lost that fellowship. And as we mentioned previously, it is something that is so very delicate and we need to learn to keep short accounts with the Lord.
If we would judge ourselves in the small things, we wouldn't have to judge big matters. But the enemy is subtle and he gets us off in a very small little thing. He puts in the wedge. You know, the wedge goes in where it's very thin and that's the way the wedge gets in and then it starts opening the breach and then.
The serious things fit in, so the Lord help us to judge not only that we have done wrong, but why did we do wrong. Sometimes we're very fast in blaming somebody else. Yeah, I recognize I did something wrong, but it was because that brother provoked me.
00:40:02
Yeah, that might be true. He provoked me, but I sinned because I gave place to my flesh. And I have to recognize that if I really want to be restored fully to the Lord.
And then comes verse 9, which our brother spoke about in the previous meeting. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
What do we do?
Confess.
What's the difference between confession?
And asking for forgiveness.
So often I hear people say all you have to do is ask God to forgive you.
It's interesting in the New Testament, if you look carefully, brethren, you never have after the Lord died and paid the price of our redemption, anywhere that says that we are to ask for forgiveness.
It does say that through the Lord Jesus we can have.
Forgiveness of sins by the riches of His grace.
And it's God is offering it as a free gift.
And you don't have to ask for it. All you have to do is accept it. He's offering it to you. It's a wonderful thing to get a hold of.
But confession is different, a little different than asking for forgiveness.
Give an illustration. My brother Bruce over there. Maybe I do something bad to him.
And I look at him, he's kind of not very friendly toward me, and I'd rather he would be friendly toward me. So I say, Bruce, forgive me when I say that I'm not thinking of the bad thing I did. I'm thinking that he's not very friendly toward me. I'd prefer he would be. So I when I say forgive me, I'm asking for his disposition to be changed toward me. Rather we don't have to ask God to be.
Supposed to forgive us, He already is on the grounds of what Jesus did on the cross.
But confession is a different focus. If I confess, I think of the bad thing that I did and say so. I say, Brother Bruce, what I did I recognized was wrong. And that's what God wants is not asking for forgiveness, but confession. Whatever you did, if it's a lie or if you got angry, tell him.
Tell it all out. He knows it, but He wants you to tell Him. That's confession, and that's the part that we have in verse nine. If we confess, the rest of the verse is what He does. He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I think that's such an important point, brother.
To not only forgive us, and that is not, I should point out, that is not judicial forgiveness.
Because that's what we have. Judicial forgiveness of all our sins is what we have when we accept the Lord as our Savior once and for all.
What we have here is governmental forgiveness.
And that is important. It's conditional. It's conditioned upon my confession, recognition and confession of what I've done wrong.
Sometimes give the illustration if I tell my son who lives at home.
Don't you go out tonight.
And he understands me, but he goes right out that door in disobedience.
And a little later he comes back in again and he sees that I'm not happy with him.
And so he comes up to me and he says, Dad, if I did anything wrong, forgive me.
You think that's gonna satisfy me? No.
What he needs to do is say, Dad, you told me not to go out tonight and I did. I disobeyed you. I'm sorry. That's confession, and that's what's necessary to get back into fellowship with the Lord. I've seen so many young people, older ones too, that are away from the Lord in their fellowship for a long time because they don't understand.
00:45:27
What we're talking about here, the importance of fellowship, of confession to restore fellowship. It's when my son confesses what he's done wrong that there is the basis to have fellowship again. That is what is called governmental for forgiveness, and that is something that is in the family of God. Important points to think about.
In the ninth verse is as well to cleanse.
From all unrighteousness. In other words, there's two things here that are connected with the F. The first one Bob has been speaking about to forgive, and the second one is to cleanse. If there is unconfessed sin in my life.
It will lead to other things to avoid.
Detection.
Or righteous behavior.
Anybody ever told a lie and then your behavior after the lie was conditioned by?
Cover up unrighteousness.
And and and that character of not walking openly and righteously with God someone.
Does something and you hear about it, but your reaction and your behavior connected with it is maybe inconsistent because you've done it and it's not known that you've done it, and so you support something that's unrighteous.
Because it's still connected with the fact that there is something in your life that is unconfessed with God and dealt with. But confession and having things out with God, you might say, clears the matter with God to clean you, to cleanse you from those other things that are unrighteous in their character but are consequences of trying to manage.
That matter which is not open and out with God and at times with man and so it's important for us. The confession of sin to God is also something that is the condition placed upon God saying and I'll cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
I'd like to just to illustrate that this has nothing to do with the security that we have in Christ as far as our sins being forgiven and we being on our way to heaven.
We are the possessors of eternal life. The gifts and calling of God are without repentance or irrevocable. We have eternal life as we as we as John brings out so beautifully, we are in the light and so on. But it has and so it has nothing to do with our eternal security, as we often say. And what was an illustration that was helpful to me when I was younger was given by my uncle.
Who was overseas in the Army in the days before wireless communication was as prevalent as it is today? We're so used to.
Picking up a cell phone today being on the Internet wireless communication now we at 500 miles an hour over the.
United States, we can pick up Wi-Fi on some planes and so on. But this was quite a few years ago when these things were not as as prevalent as they are today. And he used to tell the story when they were overseas. He was on board a Navy ship and they would pull into various ports and when they would pull into port, there were ropes came out from the side of that ship that secured that ship to the Wharf. And those were ropes. Ropes were great ropes and strong and.
They secured the ship and that's like our salvation. It's securing Christ. Nothing can change that.
But then he said there was a communication cabin on the ship and there would be a wire run from the communication cabin on the ship to somewhere on the shore so that ship to shore communication could be established. But some quite often that ship to shore communication would be broken and it didn't always take much to break it. The ship moved a little bit didn't mean it came united from the Wharf. It was secured to the Wharf, but it would move a little bit with the movement of the water.
00:50:28
Sometimes there's something as simple as a bird landing on that wire would cause the wire to come loose on one end or the other.
Something would bump that wire, maybe a strong wind. It didn't always take much for the communication to be broken, and that's really what we're talking about, isn't it? It's that communication or fellowship, and it doesn't take much sometimes for it to be broken.
There are things that come into our lives that are not, as we've been saying, in keeping with the holy character of God.
There are things that dull our affections and chill our souls, and those are the things that break that fellowship and communion.
And so my uncle told me they would. As soon as that happened, there would be an immediate effort to reattach that wire where it had come loose.
So that the communication could be re established. And when I was growing up I used to hear the older brethren say.
We need to keep short accounts with God. What did they mean? When we allow something in our lives that breaks that fellowship or communion, get into the presence of the Lord and as Brother Bob has said, confess it. Not ask for forgiveness, but confess it. And that's what David did when his sin was brought before him in the Old Testament. And I like to just say a word or two about that, if you'll bear with me, because I believe, brethren, that the great.
Tendency today.
Perhaps it's always been, but even more so today is that we get desensitized or used to sin.
We don't even realize what sin is. It's it's in our face every day almost seems like you can hardly drive down the highway or stand in the checkout line at the store to see something that defiles something that corrupts the mind. It goes through the eye, it goes through the ear, it defiles. And if we don't keep in the presence of God, if we don't maintain fellowship with the Lord Jesus.
With the Father and with the Son we become desensitized to sin.
Can I be very frank, brethren?
We sit in front of the Internet, we sit in front of a television. You know what desensitizes us to sin? And it's interesting what David said in the 51St Psalm and read it carefully, where you have David's confession. When his sin is brought before him, he immediately gets into the presence of God. And one of the statements he makes is in verse 11. If you notice in Mr. Darby's translation, he says.
Take not the spirit of holiness from me. What is he saying? Lord, don't let me get used to sin. Don't let me get desensitized to sin. And I believe that's a good prayer for all of us, for myself. We see, we hear things. They're so commonplace in the world today. We're they're all about us. We need to pray. Lord, don't let me get used to sin. But you know what if we don't get into the presence of a holy God.
If we don't get into the presence of the Lord Jesus and confess those little things that have been allowed in our lives, we're going to get desensitized. We're going to get used to sin. Another thing that David mentions there, and we've we've alluded to it, he says wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. He says create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me. You know, when we sin, we don't have to, as we've been saying, ask for the forgiveness of sins. And it's not that in a judicial way. The blood of Jesus has to wash our sins away. My sins are gone as far as the east is from the West.
He's blotted out my transgressions from me, and so on. They're gone, and they're gone forever in the blood of Christ.
But what was David talking about the cleansing that we have here in these verses that that follow. There's a cleansing that needs to take effect when we allow those things that defile in in our lives. And David desired that. I know we use that little expression. What can wash away my sins and and oh precious is the flow that washes white as snow. And that's fine. That's a that's a wonderful application. But in its true context, it's a cleansing effect that comes from getting into the presence of God, into the presence of the Lord Jesus.
00:55:20
And confessing as believers those sins in our lives and in our verses here, he says not only does he cleanse when we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Can I make it very simple, brethren, if we can put it this simple, and to keep us from going any further in that path, you know, if we don't confess the little things, they're gonna add up to big things.
One thing has been brought out in the meetings today. It leads to another. And what started out smaller as the thin edge of the wedge becomes the thick edge of the wedge. But when we get into his presence and confess it, he's able to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, from going in the in an unrighteous way, in a wrong way, and to put us on back on the path of righteousness so that we will walk in a path of practical righteousness.
According to his holy standard.
M19 in connection with what's just been said, it's.
The progression that's been mentioned several times.
Umm, Psalm 19 describes it.
David is speaking in the Psalm and he says in Psalm 19 verse 12. Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse thou me from secret faults.
Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins.
Let them not have dominion over me, Then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
So he starts with seek his errors.
The first thing, we're not always conscious that we're not, that something in our life is not according to the light. Who of us is is conscious completely that every detail of our life is consistent with the light. None of us are. And so David had this desire. And what is it that makes us aware of it? It's the light, the word. And so he's saying, who can understand his errors?
Maybe others see it before we do, but the point is there is that need to be in the presence of God under this His Word and its application to our souls to make us at times aware of that which is an error in us, inside of us. And then the next, if you will step in it is secret faults. There may be things going on in our soul and in our heart that haven't broken out in actions.
But we're aware of it.
It's secret because nobody else sees it, at least they don't see it directly, but it's going on in US. And when we're not in the under the presence of the Word of God and in a daily, hourly sense of seeking his mind and will, then the secret things develop in the inside of us. But what happens if they're not judged? Well, he then says verse 13.
Keep from presumptuous sins, that is, they become.
Actions that are external.
And, uh, they become action that is of the direct character, not called a, a fault, but what scripture, the deed done in the body and, uh, that which, what happens next? If that's not dealt with properly, then he says, uh, let them not have dominion over me.
Unjudged sin and its action, if it is not dealt with before the Lord, gradually takes control of the life and it it it dominates the soul and the life of the person. And then he says of that, then I shall be upright. That is, if he followed these steps, but if he didn't, there was the danger of the great transgression.
And so there can be those things that are characterized here as a great transgression.
01:00:02
Something that in this life, can never.
Be properly taken care of completely, it has its effect upon the rest of the life.
Umm, me. And I say that I immediately think of people that I interact with in prison and some of them are in prison for life and they're guilty of a great transgression. And in this life they'll never be able to make it right among men. And uh, one told me more than once.
He said. And it's an interesting statement. It's worth pondering without making quick judgments about it, he said. I know concerning.
Transgression, murder. I know that God has forgiven me.
But I don't think I will ever be able to forgive myself in this life.
That was the effect. I'm not saying it's a right or wrong effect necessarily, but it is a statement of where the great transgression can bring the soul in its own personal life with having to deal with something that in a certain serious way can never be made right.
And so God is saying to us, let those errors be the the stopping point, if you will, and let the Word of God have its cleansing effect upon us as we read it and heed it, that God is able to cleanse us from things that were not even aware.
Are inconsistent.
We thank God for that. Go ahead.
There was there was an error in David's soul and a restlessness and he was up wandering around on the roof of his of his house and not out to battle, which would have been appropriate for him at that time. And so there was errors and wasn't brought to his attention. And then you know, not to to prolong it. It went from one thing to another. And as you say, Don in a few minutes ago.
Sin doesn't always travel solo. It goes in couplets or triplets because it it perpetuates itself and.
So he, he sins in the matter of, of, of taking Uriah's wife. And then what happens? He tries to cover it up and it gets even worse. And he has Uriah the Hittite basically murdered. And so it's, it's wonderful that in, despite David's hardness, the Lord loved him and the Lord sent Nathan the prophet to, to, to penetrate his heart. And you know this, he put that analogy before him and it ends with thou art command and.
And and David woke up and any, any confessed, he confessed his sin. I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan graciously communicates that that God has forgiven your sin. Thou shalt not die. But then he goes through this process, a process that went for a for a few days or a period of time. And so it's helpful to see that confession isn't the end of something and nor is forgiveness necessarily the end of the matter.
It's wonderful to be forgiven as, as you outline, but there's a process of repentance in our soul that can go on for a long time, decades, and it should, and a process of restoration in our soul, depending on what the matter is. And so with Jacob in his life and, and all the, the failures that characterize his early days, I'm sure Jacob had many, many years to ponder those things. And it, it, it brought a sweetness, uh, a sweetness so, so nice that it was worship as he leaned upon the top of his staff at the end of his life.
And so it's not just that we confess things and we experience and receive forgiveness, but we need to get the benefit of these things. And the Lord will work with us and lead us through this process of repentance and restore us into a place that is far better than we were before. But it's sobering to think Mr. Lundin, when he was with us, used to say, you can never set a moral sin, right.
Can't do it. It's like water spilled on the ground. And he also said to us when we were younger, you always lose through sin. I, I, I think of those two comments that he made in sobering. And so in David's life, as the parable illustrated, he had to pay a terrible penalty, penalty for that, even though he was forgiven in the loss of those sons in his life.
01:05:11
That in David's life, in that situation, when Nathan comes to David.
David.
Says he has to restore 4 fold.
And the Lord in his proper government in David's life, he lost four sons as a result of it. And he had taken someone else's son, if you will, by his sin. And then he was told, he pronounces is really the government of God upon himself. And he says that he he should restore 4 fold. And David loses four sons and the fourth son is on even after David has died.
And so the effect of it was not only for David for the rest of his life, but it went on into the next generation that was affected by what David had done in that specific situation. And he still speaks about it in his last address when he says, even though my house be not so with God, It is a reference to that in David's life and the consequences of it upon him.
That he felt, even though, as we say, he was repentant, he was restored he and continued and happy fellowship with God, but there was a terrible consequences in the government of God upon him in the great transgression of his life.
In the next chapter, and not to skip anything here that connects with what we've been saying, says if any man sitting, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
UMM and others can speak on this.
But I just passed this comment that sometimes we view the advocacy of Christ as if he's our lawyer that we invoke to set everything right with God. We don't invoke the advocacy of Christ.
It's the Father here, notice that begins my little children, these things I run into you. The Father has an interest in his children. And Christ will be our advocate, not to set things right with God, but to bring us to repentance. And so we see that beautifully in Peter's life. And it began when the Lord looked at Peter.
Looked at Peter, it's not to smooth things over, it's to bring us to a place of repentance and repent. When we brought through a place of repentance, at that point we're ready to accept the consequence of our sin. Not to say, oh, I don't want the consequences, but when we really repent of something, then we're ready to accept the consequences of them.
Advocate with the Father and I, I just say this on a practical note that sometimes I know sometimes our young people here at school and at work well from their Christian friends. Well, if we sin, we lose our salvation. Well, if it said we had an advocate with God, we might well wonder our high priestly, his high priestly work is in connection with God. You get that in Hebrews because that's power to preserve us in the past and to keep us from from falling. But his advocacy is not with God, it's with the Father.
Showing that when I sin, in no way is the family relationship broken. When one of my children went against me, it wasn't that they were brought up to the judge or that my, our family relationship was severed, but they did have to do with me as a, as a father. And I've sometimes said to those who try to promote the uh, that you can lose your salvation or whatever. I sometimes said to me, this is one of the clearest verses on eternal security when I sin.
I have to do with my father because the relationship is not severed.
So I just say that if someone comes along and says, well, if you're sin or you backslide, you're going to lose your salvation. You're not no longer a child of God, Turn them to this verse and say, oh, I have an advocate with my Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
Into the second, uh, chapter and our dwelling tomorrow we'll have a chance to get into it more fully. So times about gone, but I'd like to just make a comment that helps to understand this chapter. It's if you look in Mr. Darby's translation, the beginning, it says my in the King James, my little children. But in Mr. Darby's translations, it's my children.
01:10:03
And he's in that expression addressing the whole family of God. It's repeated in verse 12 when he says I write to you children. It's repeated again in verse 28. And now children, each of those three times when he uses the word children, he's embracing the whole family of God.
Later on in this chapter we have the different steps of or measures of growth in the family of God. You have fathers, you have young men, and you have little children. There it is addressing different measures of spiritual development in the family of God, and it's quite helpful, but I think it is helpful to see in verse one and verse 12.
And verse 28 he says children and it embraces.
The whole family of God.
#275 the 1St 2 verses.
Sound a little strange and #277 the whole hidden.
Uh, thank you, Sir.
Uh, OK, so on your.
Pray for life, for our good life, every small.
Light generator.
Gospel 2
Gospel—Jim Hyland
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Let's begin the Gospel meeting this evening with hymn #10. On the Gospel hymn sheet. There is a Savior on high in the glory, a Savior who suffered on Calvary's tree. A Savior is willing to save. Now, as ever, His arm is almighty, His love great and free. Let's stand and sing hymn #10 and if someone will please start it.
0393.
Oh 09, 231 I don't hear from all the incidents and have their small tonight and get the sound in life.
1/8 3001.
00:05:12
Like to read a couple of portions from God's Word at the beginning of the meeting.
The first one is in Proverbs chapter 8.
Proverbs, Chapter 8.
And we'll begin at verse 23. I was set up from Everlasting and from the beginning or ever the earth was.
When there were no depths, I was brought forth, When there were no fountains abounding with water.
Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth. Well. As yet He had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When He prepared the heavens, I was there.
When he set up, set a compass upon the face of the depth when he established the clouds above.
When he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea his decree that the water should not pass his commandment, when he appointed the fountains of the earth, then I was by him as one brought up with him.
And I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth. And my delights were with the sons of men. And then I want to read a verse or two in John's Gospel, chapter one.
John's Gospel chapter one and verse one.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
The same within the beginning with God. I have it on my heart this evening. And seeking to present the gospel message to bring before our consciences and our hearts to bring before our souls some essentials as to the gospel, some essential facts, some essential truths concerning the gospel as it is brought before us in the living word of God, Because this has already been brought out in these meetings.
Christianity is based on fact. We don't have philosophy to present tonight. We don't have some vague ideas to present tonight. We have realities to present, and these realities are based on the truth of God's word. And I'm thankful that we can turn to the living word of God tonight and we can trust it beyond a shadow of a doubt. How many times we turn to some book for some information.
And we say, well, I hope it's accurate. I hope it's correct. How many of us have gone to Wikipedia online to check some information and found out later on? It wasn't quite accurate that that entry that was put there wasn't quite the way it was. The facts were misconstrued or misrepresented or perhaps even totally wrong. But tonight we have the living word of God.
And before we bring out these essential truths that I want to see from God's living word.
I want, at the beginning of this gospel meeting, to give a solemn warning.
I was told just before this Gospel meeting that the weather radar is very red in this area tonight.
And there are severe thunderstorms predicted to break at any time.
And we may have to shorten this Gospel meeting if the Lord leaves us here that long.
And so, at the beginning of this Gospel meeting, I want to give a solemn warning. I don't want to wait.
Till 7:50 or 8:00 because this Gospel meeting may never end.
There are some solemn things going to take place in this world one of these days, and it's going to begin with what we often refer to as the Rapture of the Second Coming of Christ.
Because the second coming of Christ, the rapture, the time when the Lord Jesus is going to come in the air and give a shout.
Is going to bring a close to what we call the Day of Grace.
It's going to close the door of salvation for any who have heard.
The Gospel.
For any who have had a warning as to their eternal destiny, for any who have heard that they are sinners and that Christ is the Savior, it's going to close that door because it tells us when once the Master of the house has risen up and to shut to the door, then they're going to come and they're going to knock and there's going to be souls in earnest.
00:10:22
But that door will never be opened again from the other side of that door to ring in their ears for eternity.
Will come a voice that says depart from me. I never knew you.
But at 711 on the clock tonight, the invitation is still going out. Come unto me at 8:11, or in a few moments it might be depart from me solemn to consider, isn't it? Dwight L Moody was preaching in the city of Hartford, CT, one night many years ago, and a young man came to him concerned about his soul after the gospel meeting.
And Dwight L Moody talked to him at some length and then he said going to give you a challenge.
I want you to go home and think about it and come back tomorrow.
That man left that gospel hall that night.
He boarded a train to return to his home, and there was a serious train wreck. That man entered eternity.
How solemn?
Dwight L Moody said it was a good lesson for him never to let a soul go that was striving for salvation until the work was complete. Never to tell someone to go home and consider it. Never to tell someone that they had time.
Because now is the day of salvation. Remember now Thy Creator.
In the days of thy youth, flee from the wrath to come. There is always an urgency.
In connection with the Gospel message.
And so as this gospel begins to unfold, and we look at a number of scriptures that bring before us the facts of the gospel.
All I want to tell you if there's someone here that's not saved, someone that's lost and in their sins, do not wait until this gospel meeting ends. There are many in hell tonight, not because they rejected, but because they neglected because they put it off. I often wonder if there aren't won't be more neglectors in a lost eternity than out and out rejecters.
How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? But having said that, I want to now seek by the grace of God in the simplest possible fashion to present this Savior of sinners. And I read these verses to begin with, because we want to impress upon our souls at the beginning the eternity of His person. We're not talking just about some other man tonight.
We are talking about the eternal Son of God, the One who was from a past eternity.
The one who was there when the foundations of the earth were laid, by whom also he made the worlds, it says.
The one who was the daily the delight of God the Father.
Not just in his pathway here, but from a past eternity, and yet the one.
That the Father could send the one who came in love and obedience to his Father.
It was mentioned earlier in these meetings.
That it never speaks of the Lord Jesus as the Son being born into this world.
As the Son, He was sent or given the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
It's illustrated by type in the Old Testament, and I suppose the two most beautiful types of the Father and the son are Israel sending Joseph to his brethren, and Jesse sending David to his brethren in the camp of Israel as they faced the Philistines.
And I have thought of those beautiful types, those beautiful illustrations, because when Israel sent his son.
To see how his brethren were faring who were feeding the flock some distance away.
If Israel had had any idea of the treatment of his son, whom he loves so very much.
00:15:02
The son that he had marked with favor and given a coat of many colors, would he have sent him that day?
I often wonder if he would have sent him knowing that the rest of his sons were going to take him.
Treat him so badly, Throw him into a pit, bring him up. Eventually sell him to the Ishmaelites that he would go down into Egypt.
And that he wouldn't see his son for many, many years, considering that he was dead, thinking that he was dead.
Would Joseph have been so willing to go on that occasion if he had known what would befall him and that he wouldn't see his father?
For so many years and the treatment that he would receive not only from his brothers.
But in Egypt, to be thrown in prison and so on, Would he have been so willing? I've sometimes wondered.
But oh, in the past, the Council's eternal councils of God.
It was determined that the father would send the son, a son who never did one thing to displease his father.
Well, a Son who was daily the joy and delight of the Father, and yet this is the Son that was sent.
When Jesse sent David with those provisions to his his children, his sons, who were facing the Philistines and their champion Goliath, if Jesse had had any idea of what was going to happen that day, would he have sent him? If he knew that Eliab, his oldest son, was going to even judge the motive of David's heart for coming down?
And speak against him, and that David shortly thereafter.
With just five stones in his shepherd's bag and a sling in his hand, was gonna go down and meet.
In the Valley, the champion of the Philistines.
Would you have been so willing to send him, and if David had known what was going to happen after that, that he would flee as a bird to the mountain, that he would have to live in The Cave of Adela, that he would fear from his life, from King Saul for so many years?
Would he have been so willing?
Those types fall are beautiful, but they fall far short because God the Father.
In saying Whom shall I send and who shall go for me, he knew who would respond and what the cost would be.
When we have the words of the Lord Jesus prophetically lo, I come in the volume of the book, it is written of Maine to do thy will, Oh my God.
He knew what that would cost. He knew where that will lead him. He knew that it would lead him to Calvary's cross. But I say again, before we pass on, we want to establish the fact that the Lord Jesus did not become a Son when He was born into this world. He was the eternal Son of God. We wanted to tenaciously hold on to the truth of His Deity and the eternity of His person.
But let's read a further verse in John's Gospel, chapter one.
And verse 14. And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.
Full of grace and truth, I'm going to quote again a verse that was quoted earlier in these meetings.
And that is Isaiah's prophecy in connection with the Lord Jesus coming into this world.
Because he said two important and essential things unto us the Son is given, we've spoken of that.
But then he said unto us, Before he said, that he said unto us a child.
Is born. That's his incarnation. That's his manhood. That's the Word made flesh and dwelt among us. And what a wonderful truth it is. And this is fact. This is not theory. This is not something that is conjured up from man's imagination or thoughts or some from some vague statements in the Bible. This is fact. This is true.
That the Lord Jesus came into this world as a man.
He took part in humanity. Sinless humanity, yes. Holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners. But a real man, in fact.
Came into this world was born in Bethlehem's Manger, the creator of the universe.
Accepting certain limitations by being born a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes for the angels to look down and see for the first time for the shepherds to come by invitation of those angels later on. The wise men came later on as a 12 year old boy brought by his parents into the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors.
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As a man standing on the banks of Jordan.
And coming to John the Baptist for baptism, coming out of the waters of baptism and the Spirit of God.
In the bodily form of a dove lighting upon him to mark him out, lest there be any doubt in the minds of those that looked on.
That this was the Lord's anointed. The Spirit of God was upon him because he had been anointed to preach the gospel to the poor.
Up and down the dusty streets of Palestine, weary and thirsty with his journey, sitting on Samaria as well.
Catching a few moments.
Of I daresay much needed sleep on a borrowed pillow in the back of a boat.
Sitting on the mountain side, down by the seashore, speaking to the masses, stepping aside with the with individuals like the blind man the woman brought to him, caught in adultery and so many others.
The Lord Jesus came as a man. Why did he come as a man?
Because man needed to be reconciled to God.
Sin had separated, and I want to impress upon our souls, just for a moment, that very truth.
I hope that there's no one here who doesn't realize.
That they are a Sinner.
Born in sin and conceived in iniquity.
Sinners by birth, sinners by practice, and sin separates. Your iniquities have separated.
From you and your God, sin separated in the Garden of Eden.
Sin separated in the wilderness.
But the work of the Lord Jesus was to bring man back.
Into the presence of God, not on the ground of compromise.
But on the whole, how with a righteous holy basis, so that man could be brought back?
Into the presence of God so he could be comfortable in the presence of God.
I know we're not going to develop it, but I'm thankful that tonight I'm more than just a forgiven Sinner. I'm justified by the blood of Christ. I stand before God in all the perfection of Christ accepted in the beloved. I can sit down perfectly, comfortable in the light.
You know, we've had first John before us, and I suppose there are three great things that are brought out in connection with God himself.
That God is that He's life. That He's light.
And that he's love. Life and light and love. That's those tremendous things to think about. But I can sit down in the presence of God in the light now because I'm not afraid of one charge of sin being brought up against me, because it's all been taken care of through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We'll speak of that again in a few moments, but let's go now to First Peter Chapter 2.
We've spoken of the eternity of His person. We've spoken of His incarnation.
Now I want to speak of something else in First Peter chapter 2.
And verse 21.
I just want to read 4 words about or five words about the middle of the verse.
First Peter 2, the middle of verse 21. Christ also suffered for us.
I want to speak now of the sufferings of Christ, how essential they are.
To the gospel, to its message, and to its ultimate blessing for the Sinner.
Christ also suffered for us.
You know, as we go back to the Gospels, we read in the four Gospels.
Various aspects of the suffering of Christ.
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Surrounding his trial, surrounding that which man heaped upon him.
We go back to the Psalms and we read the feelings of the Lord Jesus as he passed through those sufferings.
Reproach hath broken my heart. In the Psalms we get feelings and expressions that we don't have in the Gospels.
In the Gospels, we have the facts concerning the sufferings of Christ. In Psalms we have the feelings and there's nothing.
Like going back and reading those feelings, The 22nd Psalm, the 69th Psalm, the 40th Psalm, the the 102nd Psalm, all those. There's nothing we'll tug at our heartstrings like that. I suppose that's why when we're together on Lord's Day morning, to remember the Lord Jesus in the breaking of bread, so often those psalms are read and it's very important. It's good for our souls and it's good for our souls too, to go over the physical sufferings of Christ.
Again what he suffered at the hand of man.
The scourging.
The mockery, the slopping of his face.
They plucked the hairs of my cheek. That's the most tender part of the beard, the cheek. They not only put a crown of thorns on his blessed head, but they beat it into his head.
One thing after another, hour after hour after hour.
But as awful as those sufferings were, they never atoned for one sin.
And when we consider the sufferings of Christ, I want to stress for a moment those atoning sufferings.
Because after they had.
Mocked and scourged and beaten.
And abuse the Lord Jesus. They led him out to Calvary's cross.
There, they nailed him to that cross. They pierced my hands and my feet, it says.
They lifted that cross and let them hang there at that crossroads as a spectacle for men and angels.
They gave him vinegar to drink. They that passed by reviled him, they said.
Himself, he couldn't. He saved others. Himself he cannot save.
And all of a sudden, God said that's enough.
And at high noon the sun was darkened.
In those hours of darkness, I believe.
I believe with all my heart that He bore my sins in his own body on the tree.
In those hours of darkness, he suffered in a way.
That no other could suffer.
So awful was it that God shrouded the scene in darkness to the extent that I don't believe any human eye could penetrate.
And I suggest, without being dogmatic, that when it says prophetically in Isaiah.
His face was so marred more than any man.
That it was in those hours of darkness when he bore the punishment for my sins.
And if there's someone here and we're, as we speak, of the sufferings of Christ.
And your heart isn't touched. I don't know what goes on within your heart.
And where is the heart so hardened? And who is so vile as he?
Let's see if the Savior suffer. And Seth, it is nothing to me.
The prophet Jeremiah said. Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by?
Behold, and see, if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto me from above, hath he sent fire into my bones. Those are the sufferings from above. At the hand of God from above I be sent fire into my bones, and it hath prevailed against me. We read of that suffering again in another way.
Deep call us under the deep at the noise of thy water spouts all thy ways, and my billows have gone over me.
We read of it the coals of fire, coals of fire that has the most vehement flame.
Does that touch your heart? And could you come up with me here tonight with me and stand beside me?
And could you say with me that he bore our sins in his own body on the tree?
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Oh, it's easy to say Christ died for all, but what about you tonight?
Have you made it real and personal in your life? Is this a reality with you?
I'm reminded of the story of Adonar M Judson.
Who was for some 40 years a missionary?
To Burma, one of the pioneer missionaries, when Burma was a dark heathen country.
And he suffered much for his testimony.
And he was thrown in prison.
Shackled with heavy chains, beaten, abused to wonder his body could stand all the abuse that he took in that Burmese prison.
He was finally released.
And as they unshackled him and let him out of that prison, his body was scarred almost from head to toe.
With all kinds of scars as the result of chains as the result.
Of beatings and scourgings and all kinds of abuse.
But a donor, M Judson, had a burning desire for the blessing.
Of the Burmese people, An undaunted he asked for permission.
To go to another province.
In that country.
And the leader of that province refused his request.
And he said these words in his refusal, he said the people of my province.
Are not foolish enough to listen to the words of a missionary.
But they might be melted by his scars and as a result, believe the message of the gospel.
Maybe your heart's not melted by what I say tonight, or the scriptures that we read in quote.
But the Lord Jesus stands tonight as the Savior of sinners with the marks of atonement in his body.
Those marks that He showed to His disciples on more than one occasion when He rose from the dead.
Those wounds in his hands, in his feet, in his side.
When the disciples saw the Lord Jesus and he showed them those wounds, it says. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord? But what about you tonight?
What about you?
When we think of what the Lord Jesus suffered, when we think of the cost to God the Father in sending the Son.
When we think about the cost to the Lord Jesus to go to Calvary's cross.
If that doesn't touch your heart tonight, I don't know what goes on within your heart.
But we're going to move on to something else now. Romans Chapter 6.
Romans chapter 6.
And verse 23. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life thru Jesus Christ our Lord.
I'm just going to quote we won't turn to it. But in Corinthians we read that one of the facts of the gospel is that Christ died.
And I want to stress for a few moments the death of Christ, because the wages of sin is death.
But you know I will never have to die for my sins all the day may come.
When this body draws its last breaths and I'm laid in the tomb, but I will never have to die for my sins because the Lord Jesus died for me.
It was stressed already in these meetings that in Egypt long ago.
The night the Destroyer passed through Egypt, the night of the Passover.
There was death in every home. Yes, there was. It was either the death of the FIR of the first born.
For the death of the Passover lamb and that Passover lamb was just a pale reflection.
Just a feeble foreshadow of what was really in the mind and heart of God.
When the Lamb of God would come into this world, go to Calvary's cross, and there lay down his life.
Because the Lord Jesus could say of his life, no man taketh it from me.
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I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
I know how important it is to realize that the Lord Jesus as a man.
Died on Calvary's cross after he had suffered at the hands of man.
After he had exhausted the atoning sufferings at the hand of God.
He laid his head on his bosom. He said, Father, into thy hand. I commend my spirit.
And he gave up the ghost. And I rejoice, I am thankful to be able to stand before you tonight and say he died for me.
Yes, he did. He died for me. He's my precious savior because he died on Calvary's cross.
I rejoiced to tell you that he died for me.
But can you say he died for you?
Have you availed yourself of the death of Christ?
After he died, something else took place.
First John chapter one where we read earlier today. I'll read it again. First John chapter one and verse 7. Just the last part of the verse.
The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
If we were to go back to the Gospel of John, we would find that there John, and he's the only one of the four gospel writers.
He's the only one of the four evangelists that records the event John there records.
That a soldier with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.
And John further confirms in this epistle the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us.
From all sin we sang, I believe, last night, that question.
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? I am. I am thankful that I am washed in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that that blood has cleansed me from every stain of sin. And that, having had my sins washed away, it says, Thy sins and iniquities I will remember no more.
As far as the east is from the West, so far as he removed our transgressions from us.
I have the forgiveness of sins through his blood. I'm redeemed with the precious blood of Christ.
I'm going to be among the number in the coming day, gathered around the Lord Jesus, a Lamb as it had been slain there in the Father's house. And I'm going to sing Worthy is the Lamb.
Why? Because he's redeemed out of every kindred and tongue and people.
And nation.
I am so very thankful tonight for the value of the blood of Christ. And I'm thankful tonight that as we said in these meetings, God's estimation of the blood of Christ tonight is that it's so precious blood of Christ.
But again, we want to stress that the blood of Christ avails no one who doesn't apply it personally.
Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Now let's read in First Corinthians chapter 15.
First Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 3.
For I delivered unto you, first of all that which also I received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures.
And that he was buried and that he rose again the 3rd day according to the scriptures.
We've spoken of the eternity of his person. We've spoken of his manhood, his incarnation.
We've spoken of his sufferings, we've spoken of his death, we've spoken of his blood.
But we want to stress, and it is essential, it is absolutely vital that we stress this, the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus. He rose again the 3rd day according to the scriptures. You know this is a truth that the enemy has sought to discredit from the very day it happened, in fact, when they came to the Lord, to the authorities.
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On the first day of the week and said that the stone was rolled away and his body was gone. They were paid money. Go and propagate a story that his disciples came and stole him away by night.
And that has been the work of the enemy ever since, I say, to discredit the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
And I want to stress that the Lord Jesus did not simply rise in spirit.
He rose boldly from the dead. He said to his disciples, Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bone, as ye see me hath.
Going to repeat a little story that I think illustrates this very, very well. Sometimes told a story about two missionaries that were working in India.
One of the busy cities in India spreading the gospel. And one day they were on one of those busy streets in India.
And they were startled by a procession coming down the road and they made inquiries as to what was taking place.
And they were told that supposedly a bone of Buddha was found.
And the followers of Buddha were rejoicing as these Buddhist priests were carrying this ornate box down the road with this bone in it that was supposedly a bone of Buddha.
The missionaries watched this for a time and when they retired to their quarters and talked over the matter.
They were struck by that and, as they said, the contrast in Christianity.
Because they concluded that if a bone of the Lord Jesus were supposedly 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 bodily risen from the dead.
But thank God there will never be a bone of the Lord Jesus found in this world.
He rose from the dead and confirmed to his own on a number of occasions.
Even appearing to about 500 brethren at one time that he had bodily risen from the dead.
Because if Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain and ye are still in your sins.
But thank God he was raised again for our justification. But there's a solemn side to this.
Because if we acknowledge the bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus.
Then we must acknowledge that we are responsible.
To acknowledge that not only we are sinners.
But that if we do not receive His offer of salvation through that work, through his death, the shedding of his blood and his resurrection.
We are very responsible. We are responsible tonight to a living person. We are responsible tonight to God, and we are responsible to the Lord. Jesus man wants to deny his responsibility. He wants to put it off, he said. Oh, it's just fable. It's just fiction. It's just legend. As soon as we recognize that it's reality that these are facts, we must recognize that we are responsible to respond.
In a proper way, his bodily resurrection. But now let's turn to Luke's Gospel, chapter 24.
Or something else?
Luke's Gospel, chapter 24.
And verse 50. And he led them out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed them.
And it came to pass. While he blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up.
Into heaven there is another essential truth we want to.
Stress. And that is not only did the Lord Jesus bodily rise from the dead.
But as a man, there came a point where, having led his own out on the Mount of Olives as far as Bethany, and having lifted up his hands and blessed them, his feet left them out of olives, and he ascended back to the right hand of God. It's important to understand this because.
See, not only the resurrection but the ascension and glorification of Christ are God's. Amen to the work of Calvary.
I am so thankful that I can look up by faith tonight and I don't have to wonder if God is satisfied.
With the work that his son accomplished here on planet Earth.
At a spot called Golgotha, all I have to do is look up and see where the Lord Jesus is now.
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God has raised him from the dead and seated him at his own right hand. Do you want proof that God is satisfied?
Just look up tonight. But all I want to encourage you if you're not saved tonight.
We were singing that beautiful gospel hymn I Love. There is a Savior on high in the glory.
A savior who suffered on Calvary's tree. A savior as willing to save now as ever.
His arm is almighty, his love great and free.
There he is. You know, I've sometimes said near the end of a gospel meeting. It's just as if the Lord Jesus is bending low from heaven tonight.
To hear one soul in their heart come as a repentant Sinner and receive the Lord Jesus.
As their savior, the faintest whisper of faith, The faintest sigh of the youngest.
Is all that it takes.
It's not complicated. Tonight, these facts that we have noticed that we have gone over from the word of God, are they really complicated or there are the deep things of God? It's true, but oh, tonight, there's really nothing complicated about salvation.
I still remember. I know I told this before, but it touches my heart every time I think of it.
I still remember some years ago at some tent meetings in Novus, Truro, NS.
There was a little girl came. She was about five years of age. She came to the morning Bible hour.
She was the Lord's. She knew the Lord Jesus as her savior and 1:00 morning.
She brought a little friend with her same age.
And I'll never forget after the morning Bible hour.
That little friend that had come for the first time, She didn't want to leave that tent until she knew she was saved. 5-6 years of age. Not very old, was it?
And I'll never forget.
As those two little girls.
Left that tent, one having known the Lord Jesus for some time, one just having known the Lord Jesus for a few moments.
And the one who had brought her friend as they went out the door. I'll never forget the simplicity of it, preciousness of it.
15 year old turned to the other and said.
Now you can say Jesus died for you.
That's all it is, my friend, just to be able to leave these doors in a few moments, with the knowledge in your soul, with the confirmation in your heart that Jesus died for you.
But I want to turn to one more portion before we close, one more fact that we want to stress at the end of this meeting.
In Revelation chapter 22.
Revelation chapter 22 and verse 12. Behold, I come quickly.
And my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be.
I'm going to take this first a little bit out of its context, but I want to stress on our souls as we get up out of these seats.
And leave this room, that there is an event that's going to take place. We mentioned it briefly at the beginning of this meeting and 50 minutes later it hasn't taken place yet. And that is the coming of the Lord Jesus.
And do you realize I can't tell you when the Lord Jesus is coming, but one thing I know we're 50 minutes closer to the coming of Christ than we were when this gospel meeting began.
That's very solemn to consider. That's real. That's a fact.
And again when the Lord Jesus comes.
There are myriads that are going to leave planet Earth, some that are going to be raised from the dead.
Others that are going to be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
But suppose this event takes place. It says behold, I come quickly. Suppose it takes place.
Before I have opportunity to pray and say Amen.
Will you be one that looks around and sees perhaps every other seat empty? This is not fiction. This is not a fable. This is reality.
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You know, I look into the faces of boys and girls and young people and some who are not so young.
Most of which I recognize. I maybe can't put a name on everybody, but I think pretty much everyone here I recognize.
It's searching to me to end the Gospel meeting in the face of an audience like this.
Because back in the Old Testament, where this is illustrated, you remember when Elijah was raptured to heaven, caught away in a whirlwind and a chariot of fire.
It wasn't the general populace in Israel that missed Elijah.
It was the sons of the Prophets that wondered where he'd gone.
And I sometimes wonder if the Lord comes during a gospel meeting such as this.
If it won't be the sons and daughters of Christian parents and grandparents who look around and know what happened.
How solemn. How searching will you be? One of those? I'm going to pray now. If you don't know the Lord Jesus as your savior. It's as simple as this. Well, I pray you can just talk to him in your heart. He'll hear you even if you don't say one word aloud. Confess that you're a Sinner.
But receive his salvation, his gift of eternal life.
Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved, and that doesn't mean out loud.
That means just in your heart. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
He is indeed the Savior of sinners. He is waiting to bless you tonight. Come, come to the Lord Jesus, he says. Come unto me, all ye that labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
1 John 2
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Stanza, the hymn that we're just saying.
John 17 and verse 11.
Now I am no more in the world but.
These are in the world.
And I come to thee, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the Son of Perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
Now come I to Thee, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Thy word, and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. I pray that Thou shouldst take them out of the world without should keep them from the evil.
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them to thy truth. Thy word is truth.
If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous, and He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
He that said he abideth in him ought also himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
Brother and I write no new commandment unto you, but a old commandment which you have from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you.
Because the darkness is past, and the true light now is shining, He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother is in darkness even unto now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
He that hated his brothers in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whether he goeth, because that darkness has blinded his eyes. I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.
I write into you, fathers, because you have known Him, that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I ran unto you, little children, because you have known the Father.
I have written unto you Father's, because you have known him, that is from the beginning.
I have written unto you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and you have overcome the wicked one. Love not the world, neither those things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. The world passes away in the lust thereof. He that doeth the will of God abideeth forever.
No, the children, it is the last time, as you have heard, that the Antichrist shall come. Even now are there many antichrists, whereby we know that it is the last time they went out from us, but they were not of of us.
Or if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out, and they they might be made, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. But you have an unction from the Holy One, and you know all things.
I have not written unto you because you know not the truth, but because you know and that no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ. He is the Antichrist that denies the Father and the Son.
Whosoever denies the Son the same has not the Father.
But he that acknowledges the Son has the Father also. Let not therefore, abiding you which you have heard from the beginning, if that which you have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, He also shall continue in the sun and in the Father.
And this is the promise that He has promised us, even eternal life. These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which you have received of Him abided in you, and you did not that any man teach you.
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It has the same anointing that you all think, and is truth, and is no lie. Even as it has caught you, you shall abide in it. Now, little children, abide in Him, that when He shall affair, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of Him.
And he pointed out in the last meeting. But I think if they're repeating that, it's not so much the thought of little children here.
Mr. Darby leaves the word out and has a footnote regarding it, but it's written to all believers, all the children of God, irregardless of spiritual growth or development. And isn't that wonderful, brethren, to consider?
That every child of God, no matter whether they've just been saved.
No matter whether they have a great understanding of divine things or whether they're young in the faith, whether they've just begun to read the Scriptures, or whether they've studied it for many years, every child of God, every member of the family has this resource, has this the Lord Jesus living for them, interceding for them as their advocate. It's been pointed out too, that in Hebrews where he takes up the high priestly work of the Lord Jesus.
It's to preserve us in the path of faith and service, but when it's his advocacy, it's for restoration.
And you'll notice here in this verse we begin with that it's Jesus Christ the righteous.
Back in the ninth verse of the previous chapter, it says he is faithful and justice. Again, a little contrast with that and what we have in Hebrews when it's his high priestly work. He's a faithful and merciful high priest.
But when it's a question of those things that come into our lives that break communion sin and that which is not according to his holy standard, it it we find he's faithful and just and he's righteous. He's that we have a righteous advocate, not a sympathizing advocate, but a righteous advocate. I'm gonna use a little illustration because restoration is never on the basis of compromise, you know, sometimes in the family circle.
As I look back on raising children, I have to say that there was often compromise. Sometimes I wasn't always righteous in my dealings with my children. Sometimes I wasn't always faithful and and just.
But let's illustrate it this way. Suppose I go against society and I'm brought up to the judge.
And the judge listens to my case, He might let me go. If I'm a fast talker and I have a good lawyer, he might let me off.
But if I'm really guilty, he's not a righteous judge. But we'll suppose the judge listens to my case.
And he says to me now, Jim, I know you're guilty and the penalty is thus and so.
And I'm going to take my robes off and come down and pay the penalty for you. I'm going to meet the claims of society for you. Now he's a righteous judge because the claims of society have been met. And when I sin, it's just as if in the presence of the Father, the Lord Jesus says I've paid for that sin. That's how he can be a he can be faithful and just. That's how he can be a righteous advocate.
Because my sins were all taken care of at the cross, every sin has been paid for, every sin has been forgiven. All I have to come now, do now is come and confess those sins. And I have a righteous advocate. And again, as we said yesterday, it's not an advocate with God, it's an advocate with the Father and showing that in no way is the family relationship severed. But when I sin, I do have to do with God as my Father.
That's why it says in verse 2, officiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. In other words, propitiation is what is towards God. It's that part of the work of Christ that was necessary so that God's holy character would not be compromised when He came out to forgive the guilty Sinner and even us as believers when we sin.
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He's not compromised in this holy character.
When the Lord Jesus acts as a faithful or is a righteous advocate to restore us to God, and I think that's so important to see God, the work of Christ.
Has vindicated God's holy character in such a way that he is not compromised when he.
Forgives and when he acts to restore and it's it's wonderful to see that but I don't wanna pass over the first statement of the chapter says these things right we unto you that ye sin not.
Is there ever any excuse for sin?
But I, I'm feeble. I'm I'm, I've got a lot of flesh in me.
Isn't there any excuse on that basis?
I think that's so precious to see, brethren. He doesn't want sin in the picture because it breaks fellowship within. He feels it, and we ought to feel it too. And so the statement is, I write these things to you, the children, that ye sin not. And so Peter and his second epistle says he's given unto us all things.
That pertain to life and godliness.
Brethren, let's remember that there's never any excuse for sin. We all confess that we sin, brethren.
It's there, but there's never a valid excuse for sin.
Brother Bob, because the Lord said to Peter, he said, Satan hath desired to have thee, that he might sift the his weight.
But I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. And if Peter had only availed himself of that resource.
He never would have denied the Lord three times with oath and curses. And why is it that so often I allow sin in my life? It's because I am not availing myself of the resource that I have in Christ. And as we said, the resource is available to every believer. The resource you have in Christ is the same resource that I have. And so that's why, as you say, there's no excuse for it, but there is provision. Thank God.
Much more effective it is when we're communicating the mind of God that we do it in the spirit of of a father. John was truly as we see as we go through his ministry and he he was the one who had spent time enjoying fellowship with the Lord and that time of enjoying fellowship with the Lord had.
Uh, communicated to his soul a spirit of affection and desire for the blessing of those that he was seeking. And so we can't pass over the, the way in which he addresses the Saints, the children of God.
Emphasize.
The diminutive and when do we use the diminutive When we express affection. So perhaps we could say my dear children, and that that really confirms that you say so it it gives the character of this ministry. He was concerned for those that were seducing them. But he writes as a father, it's really God the Father who has an interest in his children. The apostle John the Elder 90 AD has an interest in the children. He writes my dear.
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The very same thing when he was talking to to Timothy, he said my my beloved son in the faith and how effective our help will be to those that were seeking to be a blessing too, if we have that affection for them.
Hereby we do know that it is you children and I and as a spiritual father, we and very often when we're trying to communicate something, the extent to which we can include one another commonly and that which of which we speak. It's good and what he's saying in that verse. We know if we that we know him if we keep his commandments, he's including himself. He's he's addressing them as real.
There's not a question. I don't believe in John's heart in this epistle that the ones he addresses are not. They are the family and they're addressed as the family and it's dear children in the family that are addressed. But then he says something that says we know him if we keep his commandments because.
In the flesh, in man, he doesn't keep God's commandments.
OK, the natural man is lost and he he has no real true interest in keeping the commandments or the words of God. They are something that's contrary to his wish and will. But when we have received the life about which this epistle is speaking, that eternal life.
The very characteristic of that life is the desire to be dependent.
And obedient, that's the characteristic of it, the life in US. And so when we keep his commandments, we're giving evidence to the very life that we have. And, uh, not, uh, it's not for the one who has eternal life to do the will of God is a pleasure, not a restriction. Very often, like under the law, under the first man, the law was something that was a restriction on him that he didn't want.
If he wanted to steal, he wanted to steal, and if he wanted to covet, you want to covet. That's what man is in nature.
But it's wonderful that we have a life now that truly desires to do the will of God. It's the very character of our life. And it's not onerous to us. It's not a conflict to that life. And it's, it's expressed here in this verse. Uh, we have the conscious sense that we're his as those who want to do his will and are obedient in keeping his commandments.
A bit more about the advocacy and, uh, I think it's been explained probably sufficiently that the Lord Jesus.
Intercedes for us.
In two ways. One, as our great High Priest that we had read to us this morning in Hebrews Chapter 7, he ever liveth to make intercession for us.
As our great High Priest is for our weakness, weakness in itself is not sin.
Sometimes we.
I'll allow our weakness to be an excuse to sin.
The Lord is there to help us in our weakness and He sees when we're getting into difficult circumstances and He's pleading for us, just like he pled for Peter. He realized Peter was going in a direction that was going to end up serious, and so he gave him quite a few words of caution and Peter didn't have the ear to hear it.
But when we fail, the Lord Jesus acts as our advocate. You remember when Israel came out of Egypt and the first enemy they met was Amalek, which is the figure of Satan's efforts on the flesh in US. And Moses tells Joshua to go down and fight Amalek in the plains below, and he stands on the mount above.
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And his hands were heavy, but on one side Aaron and then the other side her held up his hands. And as they were held up, Joshua won the battle down below.
Aaron is figure of the Lord Jesus is our great high priest and her was of the legal side or the I think he was of the tribe of Judah. He was the advocate a figure of the advocacy of Christ and it was because of Moses hands being up that Joshua won the battle below. You know sometimes we think it's maybe our strategies that.
We are prospered and go forward. Brethren, if there is any measure that I go forward in the things of God, it's because of that man and the glory.
I'm weak, so it wasn't for him. I wouldn't make it. None of us would. And we fail. And then he comes into his advocacy. It should encourage his brother to go on in spite of the fact we're living in days of weakness and failure. We can go on because of that man at God's right hand. Wonderful, wonderful truth to to enjoy our soul spread.
It's a good thing also to recognize that the love of the Father, the Son, is what the world would call proactive. It's not passive. It's not after the fact.
Uh, a lot of times in human relationships when something is done wrong and there's a break in the human fellowship as a result of it.
One side of it, if you will, will sometimes say, well, I'm just going to wait and see if they.
Straighten out, repent and change and get the thought right and come back and say they're sorry and so on. And so we're passive in that sense. Uh, it's their, they've got to make the first step and so on with God, with the Lord Jesus work. It's not so, uh, the Lord Jesus sees where we're headed and our weakness, even if we're not conscious of it.
He's at the right hand of God, interceding to undertake for us in a weakness that perhaps we're not even aware of. Our place is to recognize it and seek His help, if you will, His intercession in that way. But in advocacy it's the same. Uh, God works to restore our souls. He doesn't just wait and say, well, I'll wait and see till they wake up and realize what they've done and they're wrong and so on.
God works.
Actively to bring us to recognize if necessary to judge as needed that there might be the restoration of our fellowship and if there's long it's not a it's it's a major thing then often true restoration is more than a momentary I'm sorry in what I did go out. It's a process that God goes through with us to bring us back to where we need to be, but he's active in it.
And we thank God for that. That's a ought to be a real comfort to our souls that the love of God and the.
The purpose of God to get us to the goal line safely is such that.
He doesn't wait, but He works, and He works whatever the condition and need is, whether it's to sustain us in fellowship or if the fellowship is broken, to do the work to restore us to it that we might enjoy now, not just in heaven. His a walk with God.
And again, we see that with Peter, don't we? Because we find with Peter that after he had denied the Lord, the Lord looked on Peter. But it didn't end there. There was a real work that went on a private interview later on a public interview and God completed the Lord completed the work of restoration that had that needed to be done. So he prayed for Peter that his faith failed. Not Peter didn't avail himself of that resource.
He failed, but the Lord didn't leave Peter out in the cold, so to speak.
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And so David, when he sinned, we find he confessed his sin. As we mentioned yesterday, we have it in the 51St Psalm.
But then we find that there was a work with David of full restoration. There were consequences, but there was full restoration. And David could pen the words. He restoreth my soul.
Israel had is looked at as having departed and gone to.
Idols and so forth. But it's interesting in versus 14.
Through.
The end of the chapter how many times you get.
I will.
The uh.
14 Verse Therefore behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. I will give her her vineyard from fence in the valley of Acor. 4 Door of Hope, and she shall sing there as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt.
And so forth. But how many times you get I will God acting from his side?
Even with Israel.
You were speaking, Don and verse three about keeping his commandments and that is what is characteristic of that eternal life that we have in Christ, that we it is the joy, it is the delight of our hearts to do it, to keep his commandments. And verse four goes on with that. He says he that saith I know him and keepeth not his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.
Again, I say John speaks in black and white, no shades of Gray.
You can't.
Not keep his commandments and say that you know him.
It's not what's characteristic of that new life, but we come down to verse five and we have something further.
Whoso keepeth his word.
In Him, verily, is the love of God perfected. Hereby know we that we are in Him.
And there's a difference, I believe, between His commandments and His Word. We have commandments of the Lord Jesus in the New Testament.
Sometimes people talk about things that we're talking about. The 10 commandments, no.
10 Commandments were given to man in the flesh in the Old Testament. But when the Lord Jesus speaks about his commandments, he's talking about what is directed to the new man, the man in Christ, the man that has eternal life. And we as the children of God have that eternal life, so keeping his commandments.
Is doing those things he tells us to do. There's things he tells us to do. There's things he tells us not to do.
Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. That's a commandment very clearly stated, and the New Testament is full of the commandments.
Young people, if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus, you have a nature that wants to do those things.
Yes, you might be tempted to listen a little bit to your old nature that has something else to say, but remember, if you've really been born of God, you have a nature that wants to do His commandments. But when we speak about during His Word, it is to me a fuller thing. His Word is the complete revelation of His thoughts and minds.
And I often give the illustration supposing someone has two sons and.
One is obedient. Whenever his father gives him a command, he always does it, but he now doesn't really stick around his father that much to understand and to converse with his father, to understand his father's thoughts about things. Second one he is obedient to, but he is one that likes to be in his father's company, listening to his father's conversation, understanding his father's thoughts.
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In him is the love of God perfected.
And so, brother. And it's not only keeping his commandments, it's keeping his word.
If you go back to John chapter 14, you'll notice the same distinction made and I think it is wonderful to enjoy it. Brethren, the Lord help us. One thing is to be obedient to the commandments we have, but it's another thing to keep His word. In John chapter 14, He says in verse.
21.
He that hath my commandments and keepeth them.
It is that loveth me. He that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and will manifest myself to him.
Judas death unto him not as scary yet, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man loved me, he will keep my words.
And my father will love him, and we will come unto him.
And make our abode with Him. So there it is, something beyond commandments. May the Lord give us the desire, brethren, to not only be obedient, but to enjoy His thoughts about everything. In that way the love of God is perfected in.
US.
Said he was writing to a part of There wasn't a accurate reflection of what was found in the word of God. You couldn't base what you see, what Christianity was by your experience.
And the same is true of the day in which we live. And we're going to look around us and decide that's how we're going to determine what Christianity really is. We're going to be misguided. We need absolute truth. You know, a common statement I hear is, well, others have the truth as well. And my response is in my heart is to that statement always is what truth, their truth, our truth. No truth is an absolute thing we don't have.
The truth is not our truth, but truth is an absolute thing. And that's what the apostle John is doing here. He takes them back to the beginning as we've enjoyed. He presents these truths in absolute ways, not based on experience, not based on what we see around us. And if you're going to to to try to understand things, whether it be the love of God, whether it be what the truth is, whether what it is the ground of gathering by looking at things around you, you're going to be misguided. We always must go back to the absolute truth is found in the word of God and let our reasoning come from there, even if it condemns us.
You know, we need to go back to the beginning. That's right. Or we might say we need to go back to the source.
It's very significant, really. We all have individual lives in this room.
But when it comes to eternal life, there's really only one life.
The life of Christ, that is the one and only eternal life. We participate in it and so it says we have it in Colossians, it says Christ, who is our life.
These are life. He's the source, and there is no other.
Same is true of love. The love that is being described to us in John is the love of God, and it has only one source, God himself. And if I see the love of God in your life, I see it because it's a reflection of what is in you, placed there by God as a vessel that flows out from you. But it's one and only sources, God himself. God is the one and only source of good.
And he, we, by the sovereign will of God, have been brought into a relationship with God. We've been brought to be his children, as we said. We have been brought to share in that which is divine and eternal in the life that we have. We have been made vessels in which the love of God can flow. And if we keep His word, it's perfected in US.
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That is, there's nothing in us that hinders the flow of it from its true source, which is God himself. And I'll make one other comment. It's not the subject of John, but in my own soul, it's perhaps the very highest character of what we share with God.
That and that is the glory. The glory if you go to Revelation just to have a verse to think about later maybe.
Uh, Revelation chapter one.
And, uh, or sorry, Revelation chapter 21.
Revelation chapter 21 and uh.
Verse 10 and 11 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God.
God has chosen something that I think is beyond human comprehension and beyond any thought that man would ever have, that God has a glory that's not shared.
The Lord Jesus has many glories that are not shareable. They're intrinsic to his own being and character. But there are things of God that God can and does share.
And He has chosen to make us not only have the life, not only to have the love as in us, but also to participate in that glory. And so we, as the Church of God, are the greatest participants in the glory of God.
This Revelation 21 is the manifestation of the Holy Jerusalem, which is the bride of Christ.
And she's a participant. She's a display of the glory of God, but she displays it as participating in it. And I don't believe rather, and there is a higher privilege of a creature than that. It's the ultimate.
Choice of God that we actually would participate as being the display and the manifestation of the fullness of Him that filleth All in all, and it's connected with His glory.
Well, that we don't have an independently, that's what you're trying to say it's.
Not in US, independently of its source, nor is the love of God, nor is that in which we participate in the glory. They are not ever, ever separated from their source. And so the God abides in US. We abide in God. We participate in some of these things Where?
We have the divine nature in us, but it's never separated from its source. It is the extent to which God has chosen to go to bring us near to Himself, to have fellowship with himself forever.
But we only have it communicated, never independently.
So what we have in these verses are what is characteristic of that life. I think we mentioned yesterday or the day before and verse seven and eight when it speaks about the old commandment and then the new commandment in verse eight. That is what we're talking about. If you go back to John's Gospel chapter 12, I'd just like to read a verse there.
It's right at the end of the Lord's public ministry he makes this.
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Statement.
Verse.
50 of Chapter 12.
I know.
That His commandment is life, everlasting, eternal life, whatsoever I speak. Therefore, even as the Father hath said unto me, so I speak.
His commandment is eternal life. Now if you look at verses 7 and eight, it helps you to understand that.
Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. You'll notice that expression a number of times, especially in this chapter, and every time you see that from the beginning, it takes you back to the very first verse of this epistle.
That which was from the beginning, the Lord Jesus was that eternal life that was with the Father.
And was manifested to us, and so the old commandment is eternal life.
In the manifested in the person of the Lord Jesus and here in this world.
When we have the new commandment in verse eight, that is the that same eternal life now manifested in the believers in the Lord Jesus, and that's why it says at the end of verse 8 which thing is true in him and in you.
Because the true darkness is passing, and the true light now shineth.
So he goes on and he's like to kind of move on here, brother. And if we can to certain extent, but giving characteristics of that eternal life. Verse 9 says he that it saith he is in the light and hateth his brother is in darkness. Even until now there's another abstract statement.
He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
Isn't that beautiful verse?
That's the love of God, and if that's the love that you are enjoying because you are in the family of God and share that eternal life, you have a life that loves your brother.
Despite what he might be towards you and and there's no occasion of stumbling in him. I think that's so beautiful brother. And sometimes we stumble each other.
Brethren, think about that. There is none occasion of stumbling in him. If there is that true love operative in US, it's so beautiful. I remember sister in South America that there was a problem in a certain assembly and she made the statement. I just hate that sister.
And it's kind of a shocking statement to hear from a sister, but I guess she was saying it like she felt it. But her brother I felt properly said sister, if you are truly.
A child in God's family, you have the capacity to love that sister.
And that's the truth of the matter, brethren. That's the characteristic of that eternal life.
That we have of God.
Absolute sometimes, uh, we wonder what you're really saying by that, but because we all know that we've had bad feelings against our brother, but that's the modify it what John is saying. He's saying cork floats. Well, you can tie a sinker on it and you can modify it so it doesn't float. But that's not what John is talking about. You cut the sinker off. He's telling you this is the characteristic of this life.
Now we do fail, but that doesn't change the life. So it's good that because otherwise you might think, well, I, I don't like that brother. I might not even be saved. I don't have this life. That's not the that's not the point. The point is that this life causes you to love your brother.
And those who don't have this life don't love the brethren.
The love of God is love that loves because of the source and not because of the object. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. Was there anything lovable in this world? No. Characteristic of that love is love that loves because of what the source is. And if you ever find it difficult to love someone?
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Go back to the cross and look at the Lord Jesus. There you have the display of it as in no other place.
That's the love that you and I now have because we have been born into God's family.
That's not dependent on it. And sometimes we say, well, it's hard to love that brother or sister, or I can't love that brother or sister because they don't respond to my love. I've tried to do something to things towards them, but there's just no response. But again, when did the Lord Jesus love us? When did God love us? When there was a response in our hearts? Not only were we sinners, not only was there nothing lovable, as Bob has said.
But there was no response. We were at enmity with God, and there would have been no response to that love apart from a work of God in our, in our, in our souls.
And so that helps us again in our interactions with one another. Maybe it's not just that you don't see something lovable in that brother or sister, But you say, I've tried, but there's just no response. Now again, divine Love delights in a response. We had the verse before us yesterday. My son, give me thine heart. That's what he wants. He wants our hearts. He wants the response of our hearts. But does he love us any less when there isn't the response of our hearts?
No, He loves us consistently with that divine, eternal love. And so if we can enter more into that love, enjoy more that of that love in our soul, our own souls, then that love will be shed abroad in our hearts to others.
One more comment yet, but I guess it's probably because many of us have struggled with it in our lives. In this word, absolute and characteristic and so on.
The life we have never fails.
It never fails and what John brings out is that which is that life.
When we have trouble and loving and things like that, it's not that life that's at work. That life never fails. It is perfect, it is eternally perfect. Its source is God himself, and God in his love never fails under any circumstance at any time. What Weeks would say modifies it is not a modification of the life or the activity of the life. It's some other source.
That is at work. And so the difficulty in us is because we have two lives. We have that divine life at work in US, but we also have our natural lives that we were born with, which are sinful in character. And sometimes the source of what's coming out of us is the display of the divine life, which never fails. It's cork floats.
But on the other hand, what we would say modifies it sometimes is not a modification of the life itself, it's the modification is the fact that something is coming out of us from a different source, and that source is the flesh.
Of the fact that we have sin in our body and it is still at work and it's allowed to work. So you see in, for example, in the case of Peter in Matthew 16.
Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? He asked the disciples the question, and Peter responds, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And the Lord says flesh and blood didn't say that to you. The source of what he said came from God.
But a few verses later, he makes another statement, Oh, Lord, you're not gonna go no far be it from you to go to the cross. And, uh, what does the Lord say to him in that case? Saint Peter? Same dialogue, few minutes or few seconds, I don't know, later. And the Lord says to Peter, get thee behind me, Satan.
Where did that come from?
He just said one of a tremendous statement that came from life, that came from God. The next statement came from Peter and Peter as.
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A sinful man in which the work of Satan had a chance to put thoughts in his mind that were against the purpose and character of God. And so it is with us sometimes.
We're we do the same and sometimes we're confused because of that.
But John's epistle is that which gives us that which is perfect and pure, and then gives us evidence of whether it's at work or not, whether it's being seen, or whether something else is going on which is not that, but it is something of the flesh of the old man.
A good scripture probably is.
5th chapter and the third verse which explains from the word of God what's being said. The third verse. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and his commandments are not grievous, are not grievous to the new man. They're grievous to the old man. They're really grievous the old man, but they're not grievous to the new man. He delights.
To walk in verse 11 or that other influence like Don was mentioning, he that hated his brother is in darkness. This is what's characteristic if you're going to allow the old nature to act. He walks in darkness and knows not whither he goeth because the darkness is blinded his eyes.
That doesn't sound like a Christian at all.
It isn't characteristic of a Christian.
Not at all.
But if we allow these our old nature to act, brethren, that's why it's important to, as we have another scriptures to reckon it dead. It's not only dead, but it's buried. It's gone from sight. Don't give it a place.
But this is what happens, this is what's characteristic if we do.
Pretty serious.
This is no middle ground. You're either got the light or you don't. You got the light or you don't. And that's what this is saying. This is absolute.
Young man that I knew quite well, and he had professed for some time to be a believer, but I saw no fruit in his life. I saw no desire to please the Lord. I saw really no response to others of the church, to the family of God.
And I finally said to him, I said, George, if there's no desire in your heart to please the Lord, then I question whether you were ever saved or not, because there will be to some degree at least, these characteristics come out. It cannot, it cannot help but come out. We see a child and they may not be, as we say, the spitting image of their parents, but there's going to be some characteristics come out and there's going to be some response at least.
To a father or a mother, maybe not what it should be, perhaps, but there will be something that will indicate that they are the family. But in Christianity, as the children of God, these things ought to be right there on the surface. These things ought to be a reality in our lives. Do we love other believers? We know we've passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. Is there a desire to walk in obedience to the Word of God to please the Lord?
And as you say, if the motive is really love, then.
I would say that a command, a request, has the power of a command when there's love.
You know, you don't have to plead with somebody to do something for you if there's a real response of love, if they know you love them and there's a response in their hearts. Why, I was thinking of David when you were speaking earlier, Brother Bob. He was the commander of his mighty men. And there were, I know, I have no doubt there were commands that were given and there was no question as to their obedience to those commands. But then one time he just breathed the word, all that one would give me to drink.
Of the water of the well of Bethlehem. That was not a command, that was just the breathing of the desire.
Of his heart and three of his men took up that such was their response for their commander in chief.
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That they risked their lives and how David valued it and how our God values. How the Lord values.
When there's a response, maybe it isn't a direct command, but something that we know is the desire of his heart, and there's that response of love. And so his commandments are not grievous. His word is easily kept when there is that response. And not only is there the capacity, the life now, but there's the motive. There's the motive. We have in John's ministry here three things. We've already mentioned that we have life.
We have light and we have love, and love is the motive for that life, isn't it?
Verse 12, we have the statement again, children, and like brother Nick explained, it's really the diminutive, but it's what embraces the whole family of God and what is characteristic is our sins are forgiveness for His name's sake.
That's why we don't have to ask for the forgiveness of sins, because they are forgiven.
But then he goes on in the next verses to address the three different groups in the family of God, fathers, young men and children. He does it once in verse 13, and then he addresses the fathers again in verse 14. At the beginning and at the middle of the verse he starts with the young men and that goes down through.
Uh, uh, verse uh.
17 And then he addresses the little children again. Now that's not the same word. It's the one that addresses the, or is the group that is the, the one that we all fit into brethren, the child, uh, little children, those that know the father, they have known the father. And it's beautiful to see a little child even in its youth.
Knows the Father.
But then there is growth and.
Trust that there is growth to those that are young men who are strong.
And then there are the fathers, the ones that are of full growth, and what is characteristic of them is simply repeated. Notice in the verse 13 I write unto you, Fathers, because you have known him, that is from the beginning.
And then at the beginning of verse 14, he addresses them again. I have written unto you, Fathers, because you have known him, that is, from the beginning.
The very same.
Because there is, brethren, no development beyond knowing Him. That is from the beginning that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us. In fact, in Second John he warns the elect Lady and her children of those who would go beyond that.
That is serious. So to know Him, that is from the beginning. Isn't it wonderful, brethren, to know Him, that is from the beginning? But the fathers are those that that is everything to them.
Still remember a story that was told about some. I don't know where this took place, but there was a problem in a certain meeting.
And the one of the brothers seemed to be the object of a lot of criticism.
And what was said? Things were directed directly at him, but he did not respond.
He only listened and at the end, uh, a brother said to him, Don't you have anything to say, brother, about all this?
His response was They haven't said anything about my Lord. No, I really don't have anything to say.
That's having him, that is from the beginning. That's the only thing that's important. Brethren, do I need to vindicate myself?
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Oh, brother. And that shows lack of spiritual growth if that's the case.
That's right. As we talked about at the beginning, you know, we're, we're just like the Athenians. We like to hear some new things. And it's going on today, the day in which we live. And it never ceased to go on where there's always some novelty, some new thing that's come out and it catches the attention of people. Just beware. I mean, the apostle John is writing, as we have said to the children, the family of God.
He's concerned for them. He's concerned that they're going to be seduced by false spirits, but he keeps telling us we have all the resources we need. There isn't an advancement of the truth and anything that's new is going to be dangerous. And then just in connection with what you said, when we talk about the one that's from the beginning, the Lord Jesus Christ, just keep in mind as as, as I tried to bring out the meeting, that we can't separate his doctrine from his person. We can't separate the person from the doctrine and we talk about.
For me to live is Christ includes everything we have in the New Testament. It's not as if we can just isolate the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and show love and affection to him. And we don't need the rest of Paul's doctrine. We don't need the rest of Scripture and so on. It's it's all one, isn't it? We can't separate them. But that's again a tendency we've seen christen them today. All all this doctrine is is just too divisive. It's we just need Jesus. Beware.
Beware.
I'm, I'm not suggesting in any way that you're buying that Bob. I just wanted to to bring out the fullness of.
Are attracted to charismatic movements, are young Christians who've been tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine because they do not know the Scripture. And there's a danger. Even the Thessalonians, they were going on very well. You read it in the first chapter.
They were giving out witness of the Lord. Their witness went everywhere, but they were in danger, they were young. So in the second uh, epistle you get them deceived because they think the day of the Lord is upon them. And so.
It dresses the young man and their strength and stability and overcoming the wicked one and those things that are propagated that are not according to the truth that has been revealed. And why are they strong here? Because they went and worked out at the gym twice a week. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but it's not physical strength he's talking about here. It's spiritual strength and an inner energy.
Because they have the Word of God, and not only did they have the word of God, but it was abiding in them. They had taken in the Word of God. They had digested it not to full growth. They weren't the fathers, but there was that reading and taking in of the Word of God and that was their strength. You know, it says in the end of Isaiah 40, even the youth shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall. As you say, there's a lot of young men, a lot of young people giving up today, a lot of young people.
Being deceived today and turning to things that are propagated as new revelation and enlightenment, well, be careful.
But where is our strength going to be? What's going to keep us from every wind of doctrine?
Going and delving into those things, looking things up as to the teachings of those doctrines.
I'm not saying there isn't times we need to have some awareness of what is out there and so on, but what preserve the young men that John was writing to was that they had, they were reading the word of God, they were taking in the word of God. We often use the illustration of the teller at the bank. How does the teller at the bank detect that which is false or counterfeit? By handling counterfeit money. Why no, they lose their job if they did.
But they handle that real money from day-to-day and when something that's counterfeit is passed to them, hopefully they immediately detect it because it doesn't have the feel of the real money. Tell you just I know our times gone a little story that you know our brethren in the West Indies. Sometimes they very simple and and con concerning the truth of God and so on. And there were some things that were letters that were written to them and I saw some of those letters.
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Back a few years ago, and there were many things in those letters that were not true. They were not right and they were not according to the word of God.
And those brethren perhaps couldn't have turned you to chapter and verse and said, well, This is why we reject this, and so on.
But they brought those letters to me and they said, Jim, this doesn't sound like the Lord.
This doesn't sound like God, I thought. Amen. There. There were brethren who were preserved, not because they knew all all the false doctrine about something, not even because they knew their Bibles, perhaps from cover to cover, but because they were those who knew the Father. And that's the children, isn't it? They know the Father. You know, when my children were little, they didn't know a lot about me and what, what, what I was doing and my purposes and plans when I was in business.
My children were little. I didn't tell them all the insurance and outs of running my business and so on, but they knew me. When I came home from work, they ran toward me and threw their arms around me. I was content with that. When they got older, I wasn't content with just that. I wanted other things. I wanted there to be a development and I could sit down and discuss other things with them. But so he's got these three groups, the father we've had.
That that ministered on the on their them the full maturity, that which understanding that which was from the beginning.
We have the young men preserved because of the Word of God. That's their strength. We have the children preserved not because they know a lot of things, but they know the person. And that really brings us back to the beginning again, doesn't it? That's where we started, brethren. We started with the beginning, God the Father, the source. And if we go back to the beginning, we can't lose there. We won't go wrong there if we know not just about the Father, but if we know the Father personally.
And there's been a.
Possible.
Gravity and when I saw you turn around.
Nsnoise.
Hannah Learning to Turn to the Source of Comfort in Time of Trouble
Going the Place the Lord Had Chosen in Spike of All Failure
WWW - Waiting, Working, Watching
Hannah
Open—V. Redman, N. Simon, J. Hyland
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.
Just have a little bit of.
Portion from God's Word that I've been enjoying. We've taken this up in our own reading meeting and I've been thinking quite a bit about it lately. It's in First Samuel chapter one. We're all familiar with this portion of Hannah.
And there's just a few verses that I just wanted to go on that has touched my heart very much.
They are familiar with this story.
And on the surface, it's just about a family. It's a family difficulty, family problem. And I'm sure there's not a household in this room that hasn't had some type of family problem one way or the other.
With a father or son or mother or daughter, sibling problems or even between husband and wife. And, uh, so I just wanna talk about just really what's on the surface here? There was a problem with the family.
This man had two wives.
I can't imagine why he had two wives, one is more than enough.
It's well, it's taken my wife 50 years to get me pointed in the right direction. So. But anyway, this this man had two wives and we know the story. One of them had a lot of kids.
And Hannah, she didn't have any. And she was a godly woman. She wanted children to raise before the Lord.
But here in.
In verse 10 it says, And she was in bitterness of soul, and prayed unto the Lord, and wept sore.
So this thing really bothered her and even her husband tried to console her but to novel she was just all consumed with.
The fact that she was barren and you know, beloved.
In our lives we can be overcome with bitterness. A soul we can be.
Overcome with the difficulties and the problems that we have in our family lives because some things are just out of our control. We just don't have any control of it.
And we forget that.
To go to the God of all comfort, you know, he's the God of all comfort and He's the God of all resources. But if we don't go to him, then they can be little comfort and no resource. And that's what I wanted to point out here.
That Hannah. Hannah was so consumed and so occupied.
With this problem that she had that she didn't go to the source right away as the only one that could really help her and really give her comfort. She wasn't really living in the good of what her name means. Hannah means grace. So she wasn't really in the good of that because she wasn't walking by faith. She was just all consumed with within.
Instead of going to the source. And we can too, can't we?
We can get to a point where our problems seem to be so overwhelming and, uh, unsolvable and a lot of times they are. Sometimes we have kids or we have problems in our, in our family life that just seems to be totally out of our control and there are no workable solutions. Or maybe we have health problems or financial problems. I've been there. Uh.
No job, no income, and you don't see anything on the horizon.
So we can be too much taken up with ourselves, and that's not good. We lose the sense of the grace of God when we're not walking by faith, don't we?
Well, here Hannah, I don't know how long she, she was in this state, this condition and, and she doesn't, uh.
Doesn't say if this was the first time she went to the temple. And the ninth verse it says so Hannah rose up after that had eaten in Shiloh, and after that had drunk. And now Eli the priest sat upon his seat by a post of the temple of the Lord. And here she prays.
Verse 11 She vowed to vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou will indeed look on my affliction and thy handmaid, Remember Me, and not forget thy handmaid.
But will give unto thy handmaid a man's child, and I'll give him unto the Lord all the days of his life. And no, and no, uh, and there shall no razor uh, come upon his head. Then it came to pass, as she continued praying before the Lord.
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That Eli marked her mouth, and now Hannah, she spoke in her heart, and only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard, and therefore either. I thought she had been drunken. Well, here she not only had.
Persecution and trouble from the other wife. She wouldn't take solance from her husband, comfort from him. Now she goes to the temple to pray before the Lord. She's doing the right thing now.
She's gone to the only real resource before her.
She didn't go to the priest. She wondered, well, why didn't she go to the priest? Well, she knew that Israel was in ruin. The testimony.
Was not good. The priesthood had failed.
There was problems all around.
And we see that today.
There there's we're, we're in a day of the last days. We see the ruin around us and we don't know what to turn to. We don't know where to get the help. But here she goes before the Lord, privately before herself. I like that, you know, sometimes it's good to bring in our brothers and sisters and ask for prayer.
There's nothing wrong with that. We need one another. We need one another's prayer.
I do, but sometimes it's good just to get before the Lord ourselves, privately, in person. Get in that closet and pour your heart out. This is what Hannah did. The priest was there pretty close by. She saw her lips moving and even he didn't have the proper discernment. Sad to say, later on he did a little bit later. But uh, she just poured her heart out.
Privately before the Lord.
And sometimes, brothers and sisters, this is what we need to do. This is what I need to do. I just need to go before the Lord and pour my heart out. The Lord. Lord, I leave it in your hands. It says by and everything by prayer and supplication. Let your requests be made known unto God.
Casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you. Whether we have confidence in our God? Do we have confidence in the Lord to take these things? Well, we were. We're just talking about earlier.
That we have a great high priest who's ever there making intercession for us. Well, intercession is A2 way St. We need to confide in the Lord. We need to go into His presence. And sometimes we may not know how to pray exactly as we should, but the Spirit of God will will make intercession for us. And how wonderful it is that we can come boldly into the throne of grace to find help in time of need.
We have full access if we are a believer in Christ and all how he delights the heart of God and how he delights how he delights the Lord Jesus. To have our private communion before the Lord to go their independence and weakness, unable to to to take care of the problem ourselves and just say Lord, it's too big for me. So Hannah does this.
The priest here thinks she's been drinking.
Then she says, Oh no, I'm just.
She says here.
First of 15 and Hannah Anthony said no my Lord, I'm a woman, a sorrowful spirit. I have not drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. Well now he understands that she's just was pouring her heart out before the Lord.
And notice this one thing here.
That struck me that the priest says, will you go your way, and the Lord grant unto you your request? He didn't know what she prayed for, but he had the sermon now that to grant her what she was in bitterness, but he didn't know that.
And so notice the difference between verse 10 and verse 18. And this is really what I had on my heart to talk about in verse 18. And she said, Let thy handmade find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. What transpired between verse 10 and verse 18?
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She came under the the goodness and the resource of the grace of God and this is what we need. Our brother Jim always prays that that we need fresh grace every day and that's what we need. We need to draw on that fresh grace because the pathway our journey is too difficult for us. We need to feed on the Word of God and let the Word of God dwell in our hearts.
And absorb ourselves with that, the word we need to be on our knees every morning. Let's not just run out. Let's just have get on our knees and say, Lord, the journey is too great for me. I, I, I need your grace and we have sufficient grace. Paul says that his grace is sufficient. The Lord said, my grace is sufficient for thee.
And how do we do that? Where we walk by faith. That's how we come under the good of the grace of God.
She came in on the good of that because she believed the Eli, she believed the priest, and she walked, She started to come under the good of the grace of God by faith. That's the channel. How we can draw on that grace is by faith. And what did that produce in her heart worship. We see that later on, she rose up early in the morning and washed it before the Lord. You know, dear young people and all of us, this is what produces real worship, is when we're walking in the good of the grace of God and it's by faith. Without faith, it's impossible to please God.
And so Hannah, her whole continents changed.
Her whole attitude, she believed God. She hadn't received a son yet. She still was without a son, but she believed God. And we can do great things for the testimony of the Lord Jesus when we just believe God by faith and walk and that goodness of that grace. So I would encourage us that if there's a problem that's overwhelming us and that's a daily thing, things that are out of our control, let's just get before the Lord.
Let's draw on that grace, which is more than sufficient for our needs, and let's continue to trust the Lord and have confidence in Him and walk by faith that He can bless us in every pathway, every step of our way. That's how we're going to be kept. That's how we're going to be true worshippers if we're walking in the good of the grace of God.
I too have drawn encouragement from this portion in First Samuel, and I trust, without detracting from anything that's been said, I would like to take it up in a collective way the other side of it. And so we had before us the personal side.
The family difficulty, but there is a collective side to this story as well.
And so we might liken what happens in this first chapter to what happened to many of you and I about two days ago. We got into our cars or planes and we went on a journey and we were heading to a conference. And so this little family, they're on a journey to go up to Jerusalem to to Shiloh, where the Tabernacle of the Lord was to be found.
And they were going in effect for a conference, if you allow me to use that very loosely.
A feast of Jehovah. What was it like at Shiloh? Well, let's look at the 2nd chapter. And our brother already brought out some of the characteristics of what it was like in Shiloh.
And.
Let's just read in the second chapter in the 12Th verse. Now the sons of Eli were the sons of Billio. They knew, not the Lord.
Let's look at verse 16.
So they were profane.
Verse 16, or verse 15 we'll read. And before they burn the fat, the priest servant came and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to rose for the priest, for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but roar. And of any man said unto him, Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as they so desire. Then he would answer him, Nay, but thou shalt give it me now, and if not, I'll take it by force.
They were greedy. They had no sensitivity as to the fat, which was Jehovah's. That was sacrilegious, and if they people didn't do what they told, they would take it by force. Then let's read in verse 22. Now Eli was very old and heard all that his sons had done to Israel and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the Tabernacle of the congregation. Not only that, they were immoral. Just picture for a moment that scene.
00:15:22
Put yourself there, you know, it's very easy to read about these things and umm.
Not them, really, Not let them really have their full force of effect upon us. Think of where Elkanah and his two wives were headed. Why bother? Why bother?
Because let's look at Deuteronomy 12.
12 and verse five. But under the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name.
There, even unto his habitation ye shall seek, and thither thou shalt come. There was one place in Israel where the Lord had put His name, and it was to that place that this little family went up. With all the declension, with all the falling away, with all that was going on, there, this faithful family still went up to that one place.
Where the Lord had put his name.
The brother said he didn't know why Al Qaeda had two wives and I I enjoyed his explanation, but I have often wondered if he didn't have two wives because Hannah was barren.
And so he had another wife who had children. He had that which would carry on the name that would get the inheritance.
But you know Hannah, there was that personal grief with Hannah, but there was also a spirit with Hannah that is just extraordinary.
What does Hannah do?
Does Hannah say I'm thankful I don't have children that have to grow up?
In the confusion that's going on around us.
No, Hannah's solution to the problem is to ask the Lord for a child.
To ask the Lord for a child. And so in verse 11 she vowed a vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid and Remember Me, I will not forget thy handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life. Her solution to the problem was, Give me a child that I can give back to thee.
And in the family aspect of it.
We can apply that very personally, the children that are ours.
Is that our desire to give them back to the Lord?
You know, we look around us and we can get very discouraged so easily.
And we can give up and not want to go on. And, you know, at the Hannah went up to this conference. You know, sometimes there are individuals at a conference which, umm, we've had conflict within our life and it can make things awkward. Well, Hannah took her adversary with her.
It wasn't the shoes of it going to meet her there. She came along with her.
But none of this mattered to Hannah because she wasn't looking to these things, as has already been brought out.
But.
Another thing I just want to point out in verse 11, she prays and says O Lord of hosts.
This is the first time that we have this reference, this title in the Scriptures, the first time, the first time it's ever used. It's used by a woman, the Lord of hosts. And what does the Lord of hosts mean? Where we can look at Psalm 24?
And verse 10.
So I'm 24 and verse 10 it says who is the King of glory, the Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. So the one to whom she prayed was the King of glory, the one who had everything in control.
You know, sometimes we don't think God has things in control.
00:20:03
And sometimes we don't see the hand of God in things.
And that's very normal.
And I, I was just struck this morning and who could not be struck in the last couple of days? This family that lost their little boy. You know, that's something now that is permanently a part of their family, permanently a part of their family. It can't be undone. Sometimes you wish you could roll back time and change things. You can't. And sometimes it's, it's often being pointed out, the tapestry. We don't understand the design or the pattern that God is weaving into it.
But one day we'll see the other side of it, and we'll see everything that God has allowed in our lives, that's of him woven in there to produce what He.
Wanted to produce in our lives. So sometimes we don't understand the circumstances in our lives. And Hannah prays to the one, the Lord of hosts, the Lord of glory, King of glory. He is the Lord of hosts. You know, I often think of if I haven't. If you want to know what the Lord of hosts means literally, I suppose you could say it means he's the general of his army.
In Second Kings is a little picture of that.
The second Kings in chapter 6.
We have a the story of Elisha.
And a servant of the man of God. So we'll just read 2 Kings 6. And again of verse 15. When the servant of the man of God was risen early, had gone forth, behold, and host compassed the city, both with horses and with Chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master, how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not, for they that be with us, and more than they that be with them. And Elijah prayed and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see.
And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and Chariots of fire round about Elisha.
There we have, I believe, a little picture of the Lord of hosts. And so there is one.
Who is in control?
And it's to him that Hannah prays, and she asks for this child.
And in verse 22 we find we could read the whole thing, but I won't for the sake of time that the Lord grants Hannah her request and she takes and, and and again, what does Hannah do? Verse 22 But Hannah went not up. She didn't go up initially. She said until the child be weaned and then I'll bring him that he may appear before.
The Lord and there abide forever. In verse 24, when she had weaned him, she took him with her, and three bullocks, and 1E for a flower and a bottle of wine, and brought him into the House of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young, and they slew a Bullock, and brought the child to Eli. And she said, Oh my Lord, as thy soul liveth, my Lord, I am the woman that stood before thee, praying unto the Lord. For this child I prayed, and the Lord hath given me the petition which I asked of him. Therefore also I have I lent him to the Lord.
As long as he liveth, he may be lent to the Lord, and he what she and he worshipped the Lord there and then. In the next chapter we have Hannah's prayer of Thanksgiving, which is truly a remarkable prayer.
Because it ends well with just a couple of things to take from it.
First of all, she doesn't describe anything to her own self. She gives her rejoicing rests on the fact that God is her salvation and end of verse one. Because I rejoice in thy salvation. There is none holy as the Lord.
In verse three again we find the Lord is the God of knowledge and by him actions away.
We can let things rest with him, but it ends with the adversary of the Lord.
In verse 10 shall be broken to pieces, and out of heaven shall he Thunder upon them. The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth, and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed. And that word anointed in Hebrew is.
Literally his Messiah, his Messiah. So I just share those few thoughts the the collective side of this and how to we can be encouraged no matter the day in which we live.
00:25:11
To to go on in faithful obedience to the Word of God.
Not in our own strength, not in our own strength, but as He gives us grace and strength to do so.
I'd like to go to a New Testament portion in a moment. Let me just say in connection with what has been said, we won't turn back to Samuel that it's striking and I'd like to follow this through with a New Testament scripture. But it is striking to find as you go on in the story of Samuel, Hannah and Samuel, that eventually God gave her a child, a man child, and in keeping with the promise she made in her prayer.
She brought him up to the temple and dedicated him to the Lord and to His service.
And it's interesting, you can trace it out, but you'll find that three times it says of Samuel as a child that he ministered before the Lord. You say, could that be the lamp of God was going out, The sacrifices were abhorred, the priesthood was defiled, things were in utter ruin and weakness. There was immorality as has been brought before us. But I think it's so encouraging that Samuel as a young child, not as an old man, it's true.
But later on we read his life. He went on and served the Lord very faithfully as a judge in Israel his whole life.
But it is remarkable that even as a young child, three times, I say trace it out. It's beautiful, demonstrated before the Lord. And the Lord gave Samuel special revelation even as a young boy the night he spoke to him and called his name, Samuel. Samuel. But now with that in mind, I'd like to go to a portion in Luke's gospel.
Luke's Gospel, chapter 12.
Luke's Gospel chapter 12 and verse 35.
Let your loins be gird about, and your lights burning, and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord.
When he will return from the wedding, that when he cometh and knocketh he may.
They may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching.
Verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meet.
And will come forth and serve them. I suppose most of us, if not all of us, are familiar with the.
Little expression WWW. We know that it stands for World Wide Web and most of us use it perhaps every day for business or other purposes. But I'd like to speak of three things in these verses that we have read that start with www.and it really ties up a great deal of what has been said in these meetings and in this meeting, this particular meeting to previously.
Because we find here we have three things waiting.
Working and watching and I'd like to just mention them very briefly, but before we do that, it's very interesting. And this will take us back to what our brother Nick brought out in his address earlier this weekend.
He says in verse 35, Let your loins be gird about, and your lights burning, and ye yourself like unto men that wait for their Lord. You know what we had before us the need to be established in the truth, the fundamental doctrines of Christianity, that which was laid down, that foundation laid down by the New Testament writers. Paul himself being the wise master builder. And he says here let your loins be gird about. Now if we were to go to Ephesians chapter 6.
We would read there in connection with the armor of God, that we're to have our loins gird about with truth.
So that's our strength. We had it in the previous reading meeting in connection with the young men. What is our strength in standing in the evil day? How are we going to go on and be preserved? It is to be, I say, well grounded in the truth of God. Not just to read it, not just to take it up in meetings like this, but to take it in and it becomes a very part of us. And so we're to have our loins gird. And you'll notice this is the first thing.
Because this is what is going to give stability to everything else that follows.
00:30:03
I'm thankful for Christians who love the Lord. I know many of them. I throw my arms around many of them every time I see them.
But what you find is that there is often instability in different parts of their lives.
Both in a practical way and spiritually, because they're not well grounded in the truth of God.
This is the foundation. This is what's going to keep us from drifting.
With every wind of doctrine and I want to encourage each of our hearts to take up the Word of God.
Search the scriptures, the Lord Jesus said. And so we need to not just casually read the word of God.
We need to search it, we need to compare it, we need to take it in, we need to feed on it, Job said. I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. And the enemy is busy, perhaps like never before, to undermine the truth of God and subvert the souls of the Saints. That's why and I, I, I just challenge you to sometime go through the two epistles to Timothy and find how often we had some of it before us in these meetings. But how often?
He stresses the need for sound doctrine or teaching, and it is always that which is which heads a list of two or more things. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. And what's the first thing?
For doctrine because we cannot have proper correction.
An instruction in righteousness and so on if it isn't based on sound teaching.
Paul said, thou hast fully known my doctrine, and that was the basis for his manner of life and his purpose and the other things that he lists there. And so we need to have first of all our loins gird about.
And then it says, and your light's burning. Because if our loins are gird about with truth.
If we're seeking to stand and walk in the truth of God as it has been revealed to us by divine inspiration, then there's going to be proper testimony. Then we are going to be bright lights in this world, and God has left us here for that purpose. That you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as light in this world. Are we going to leave these meetings and shine as lights in this world?
We can only properly shine as lights in this world in the measure in which that which has been before our souls these days has become a reality, that we take it in that we walk in it. And Jude, when he wrote of appalling days of apostasy, giving up of the truth, he said, When I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me that I write unto you, and exhort you that she earnestly contend for the truth.
We need to earnestly contend for the truth that we might be bright lights shining in a Dark World.
And then he says, and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord. You know, I have again, I know many dear believers, dear children of God, they're part of the family of God. We, I love them dearly. We have partakers of the divine nature. We're going to spend eternity together. But you know, I find often there is instability in many Christian lives because they do not understand and appreciate the truth of the Lord's coming.
The enemy has been busy in recent years to bring in a lot of confusion as to the Lord's coming, His coming for his Saints, His coming with his Saints, the rapture versus the Kingdom, and.
You've heard it all, and I believe if we're going to have stability in our Christian lives, we must open this book and read and take in as God has given it to us, the truth of the second coming of Christ. It needs to be established in our souls. I say this is what is going to give us ballast and stability, and it is what is going to give us the proper character of those who are left here.
As a testimony in this world, as those who wait for their Lord. We sang at the beginning of this meeting and it's really what brought this portion to my soul. What will it be to dwell above? And brethren, what will it be to dwell above? We think of what will it? What was it to be here? Wonderful privilege to have this little sanctuary, but we often referred to as a little Elam or Oasis along the wilderness journey. And if it was wonderful and refreshing to be here.
00:35:01
What will it be to dwell above? Are we as those that wait for their Lord?
Do we have this truth before our souls on a day-to-day basis? Because when he speaks of it in John's epistle, he says everyone that hath this hope in him purifiers himself even as he is pure. The appreciation in our souls and the waiting for the Lord Jesus to come has a purifying practical effect. And so that's the first W.
But there's another W here that's perhaps not quite as obvious. And that's working. You say, How do you get that? Because he addresses servants. Blessed are those servants. And when we think of servants, we think of service. We think of working. And while we wait for the Lord Jesus to come, he has a work for each one of us to do, just as he had for Samuel, as difficult and dark as the days were in Israel.
He had a ministry for Samuel and everyone of us here as we wait for the Lord Jesus to come.
And as we leave this room in a few moments, let's remember he has a little work for you and he has a little work for me. He has servants. You know, one of the things that the Queen of Sheba noted when she came to the court of Solomon were his servants. She noticed the sitting of his servants. That's the privilege we've had today of sitting in the presence of our Solomon this weekend, to listen to his voice, to remember him in the breaking of bread, to be occupied with his qualities.
With his beauties, with his glories. But then she noticed something else in that portion.
She noticed when they went out, she saw his servants standing. Happy are thy servants that stand continually before thee. They went out standing ready to do the work and service the bidding of their, of their master, of their King Solomon. And as they stood there ready to serve, they were happy servants. And that's what He wants from each one of us. He's given us that little ministry to fulfill, no matter how young or how old we are, And He wants us to serve with joy.
And if we are truly enjoying the truth of God, if we're.
Seeking to be a bright testimony in this world if our hearts go out to the person of Christ.
Then there's going to be joy in our service, not just mundane humdrum tasks that we fulfill from day-to-day.
But like Solomon's servants, standing with a joy and a happiness in service.
But then there's something else in that 37th verse. Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find.
Not waiting, but watching. You know, there's a difference between waiting and watching. I'm going to repeat a little illustration that I've sometimes used in this regard because when we were children growing up, we had a home. My parents had a home on a busy highway just outside the town of Smiths Falls. ON and facing the highway was a big plate glass window in my parents front room and on a day when we were expecting guests.
Particularly guests that we as children enjoyed having in the home. We weren't just waiting for those guests to arrive, we were watching. In fact, we would ask my mother or my father which direction are they going to come from? Are they going to come from Smiths Falls direction? Are they going to come from Perth from the West or from from the east? From the West, I'm sorry. And we would be told, well, they're going to come a certain direction. And every once in a while you would find us children at the window.
And what were we doing? We were watching. Sometimes we count a few cars as they came over the hill and around the bend, and then we'd go back to whatever we were doing and maybe mom would have some chores for us to do in preparation. But it wouldn't be long until we had a few moments and we were back at the front window. And I often think, are we watching for the return of our bridegroom like that? Are we watching for the Lord Jesus? Yes, we need to be waiting. Yes, we need to be working, but we need to be watching.
And wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if the Lord Jesus came and you were in the midst of really watching, maybe saying in your heart, Even so come Lord Jesus, and all of a sudden he came. Don't you think there might be just a little special understanding between his heart and yours, a little extra thrill or joy when you meet him on the cloud that you were looking up, so to speak, that you were watching for him? And so I say we have three WS here.
00:40:01
Not World Wide Web, but something that really takes us out of this world, brethren.
To be waiting, to be working and to be watching. He's going to come at any moment.
He's promised three times on the last page of His word. Behold, I come quickly. May the response at the end of these meetings be Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus.
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Y.P. Address 7
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