Address—Jim Hyland
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Like to start this afternoon with hymn #13 in the appendix?
Child of God by Christ, salvation rise or sin and fear and care joy to find in every station something still to do or bear. Think what spirit dwells within thee. Think what Father smiles are thine think that Jesus died to win thee. Child of God, wilt thou repine 13 in the appendix if someone complete started.
Let's ask God's help and blessing our blessed God and Father. How thankful we are to know that we're just at the end of the pathway, that soon we are going to hear that shout and be safe home in the Father's house. Our Pilgrim days as strangers and pilgrims here in this world will be over.
But we thank thee too, that in the meantime thou hast a path of faith and service for each one of us. We're thankful for the resources that we have to walk through this world as a testimony for thee and for the Lord Jesus, and to live for his glory while we're left here and now, as this meeting is upon us, we think of it.
As having been scheduled as a young people's meeting, we pray that there might be something that would be particularly for those who are younger, that they might be encouraged in the path of faith and service, but for each one to how we need encouragement, how we need the exhortations that thou hast given us, and how we need to be spurred on in our pathway here. So we look to thee for help and blessing. We ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and for his glory.
Amen. By way of introduction to the subject on my heart this afternoon. Like to read a portion in First Timothy? First Timothy, Chapter 4?
First Timothy chapter 4.
And I'm going to start with the middle of verse 7.
Exercise thyself unto godliness, for bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that is, that now is, and of that which is to come. We're going to look at some scriptures this afternoon, and we're going to speak, because this meeting is particularly for the young people. We're going to speak to the young people, but these exhortations and things that we're going to look at from the word of God this afternoon.
I suggest they're good for all of us, no matter where we are in our Christian pathway. And if we could put a heading on our talk this afternoon, I'd like to call it routine Christianity. Not that Christianity should be a routine thing in the way that we normally think of something being routine. You know, often we do things simply out of habit or routine. We think very little about it. But that's not what I'm talking about this afternoon.
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I want to look at some things, and it's certainly not an exhaustive list, but a few things that ought to be part of our daily routine as we go about our Christian pathway waiting for the Lord Jesus to come.
I saw a little sign above the check-in over at Dreyer Hall last night and it said this getting out of your routine to experience God. But I'd like to reward word it a little bit for us this afternoon. And that is experiencing God in the daily routine of life because Christianity is a daily thing. You can look at some of the scriptures up sometime, but I was impressed one time in looking up the word daily in the word of God. And we're going to look at one or two of those scriptures. But there are quite a number of scriptures that bring before us things.
That ought to be part of the daily routine of our lives. And so, as I say, I'd like to look at the a few of these things, but I began with this portion in First Timothy. Tim Paul was writing to a young man named Timothy, and Paul was seeking to encourage Timothy to go on in the daily grind and routine of life. Because it is a daily grind and there's a daily routine to life, and it's important that we take up those things.
Natural things, family things, and so on. But with those things, there ought to be godly exercise. I know some of you young people have a regular exercise routine, and that's good. It's good to have an irregular exercise routine, especially if you are sitting in class most of the day. Some of you sit in an office, some of you don't get a lot of exercise in your daily work, and so it's good to have a regular exercise routine.
And Paul wasn't condemning bodily exercise. He says it profits for a little time. It profits for this life. And we don't want to let our bodies go naturally speaking. It's a very poor testimony to let ourselves go. God has given us these bodies to take care of. They're not our own. We need to take care of care of them in a proper way. And it says, no man yet hated this flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as Christ the Church.
But amidst all that, there are things that ought to exercise us as to godliness or piety. And that's what I want to focus in on this afternoon, those things that ought to be part of our of our spiritual exercise routine every day. We need to go into this, if I can put it this way, Not into the natural exercise room, the physical exercise room, but there's a spiritual exercise room too, where we need to work out.
You go to the exercise room at the gym and you workout on different pieces of equipment. You don't always use the same equipment. Well, if I can put it this way, God has different pieces of equipment too. God has different routines for us as well. And I think it's important that we carry on these things if we're going to have power and strength and fruit in our Christian pathway and our testimony for Christ. Again, this is not an exhaustive list. We're going to look at these things very quickly.
And you can add to it in your private meditation. Let's go first of all to Psalm 34.
Psalm 34 You'll notice the title of this Psalm. It's a Psalm of David and verse. One says I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. We won't turn to it. I'll quote a familiar verse that corresponds to this verse in the New Testament in Hebrews chapter 13. I think it's verse 15. It says by him. Therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually.
That is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. And so I want to speak first of all as to the exercise of praise and Thanksgiving in your life and mine after we're saved. That ought to really be the first thing. We often mention how that the 10 lepers after they were cleansed in the days when the Lord Jesus walked upon earth, that one of them, when he realized what had taken place, he returned to give thanks.
And you know, if someone has done a great deal for you, you're an ingrate indeed. If you don't return to give them thanks, the Lord valued the response of that man's heart. And he said, were there not ten cleansed, and where are the 9? How he would have loved to have had the response of every one of those ten men, but he certainly valued the response of that one person, that one man. And you know, if someone has done a great deal for you, not only do you thank them once initially.
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But maybe every time you see that person you say, oh, I'll never forget what you did for me. I appreciate it so much. You thank them time and time again. And so he doesn't want the praise of your heart and mind just once in a while. He doesn't want it just on a special occasion or on Lord's Day morning when we're together to collectively pour out our hearts in praise and Thanksgiving. No, David said, I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall.
Continually be in my mouth.
He wants the sacrifice of praise to God continually, not just even first thing in the morning and never again during the day, not just on the first day of the week and not through the week. He wants it over and over again. And young people, when we think of what He's done for us, we ought to be the most thankful people on the face of the earth. When we think of what He has saved us from and the fact that he reached out to us in our need, allowed us to perhaps be born into a family that where we heard the gospel.
And if not a family where we heard the gospel, at least on a continent, in a country and a part of the world where we heard the gospel and we got saved, we think of the work of the Spirit of God in opening our eyes to see beauty in himself. We think of the fact that He's brought us to His table, gathered us to his His name, all that he does for us individually, and then all that is ahead in that day of glory. I say we ought to be the most thankful people on earth, and I want to encourage you to cultivate the habit of praise and Thanksgiving in your life.
I know it's easy to get under the circumstances. I know it's easy to be critical. It's easy to grumble and complain. I do it a lot myself. But, you know, God doesn't want us to grumble and complain. It's OK to groan. At a conference recently this summer, we were speaking about the children of Israel and how they often groaned. And you know, when they groaned in Egypt, God heard their groanings and he came down to deliver them. But when they complained in the wilderness, he didn't look lightly on that.
He came in in his governmental ways and dealt with them, and so it's all right to groan the Lord Jesus. He groaned in spirit and was troubled. But don't don't get under the circumstances. Cultivate the habit of praise and Thanksgiving in your life. We don't just have a lot to be thankful for, We have everything to be thankful for. And so I began with this. This is perhaps the first thing in our Christian life, and that is to exercise ourselves.
As to the spirit of praise and Thanksgiving. But now let's go over to the book of the Acts, Acts, chapter 17.
You know, as we turn to these scriptures, it helps us keep awake as well. We turn to a scripture every few minutes. It brings us back. I know afternoon meetings are very difficult sometimes. In that regard, Acts Chapter 17.
And verse 10. And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night under Berea, who coming thither, went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those of Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and search the scriptures daily. Whether those things were so well, We've spoken of the daily exercise of prayer and Thanksgiving, but now I want to encourage us as to the daily exercise.
Of opening this blessed book and reading it. You know it's wonderful to come to a conference like this.
But we don't get opportunities like this every day, or even every week. It's not something we can do on a daily, or perhaps for some even on a regular basis. And it's wonderful when we can avail ourselves of opportunities like this. But what about on a daily basis? You know the Bereans, they had the Apostle Paul with them, but they he was only there for a short time. But it was the habit of the Bereans to open the scriptures daily.
And it wasn't just casual reading of the word of God. They searched the scriptures. And I'm not going to ask you this afternoon if you open this book and just read casually a few verses in the morning, close the book and hurry off to work or school and never think about it again. That's not what I want to bring to bear on our heart and conscience this afternoon. But do you really, on a daily basis, search the scriptures? To casually read a few verses? Only takes a few moments.
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Or a few minutes at best. But to search the scriptures takes energy of faith. It takes discipline, and it takes a little time to do that. But the Bereans were more noble than those of Thessalonica. Now it isn't that the Brethren at Thessalonica weren't noble. They were noble, but the Bereans were more noble. The Thessalonians they listened to the Apostle Paul. They were thankful for the truth that was presented to them, but that wasn't enough for the Bereans.
You know, the Bereans listened to Paul minister the truth orally. And then what did they do? They went home and they got out whatever parts of the written word they would have had at their disposal at this time. And they wanted to make sure that the things that the apostle Paul was telling them were true were so to search whether these things were so. What things? The things they had heard from Paul, you say, Well, if anybody's word for it, couldn't they have taken the apostle Paul's word for it?
No, they wanted to make sure that the truth that Paul was giving them was according to the word of God that they had available at their time. And I want to encourage us all, but particularly you young people too, to get into the exercise of doing this. It's wonderful again to come to a conference like this, but are you going to go home and take the portions that were presented at these meetings and search them out? Say, is that really true, what the brothers were telling us from the word of God?
Is what we heard in the reading meetings and the ministry meetings really, does it really correspond to the truth that we have been given? When you do that, you'll really have it. That's why I'm always encouraged when I see young people with a notebook and a pen in hand jot down a few things. Maybe you won't take things down word for word. Maybe you won't make a lot of notes. But jot down the some of the scriptures that are turned to jot down a few key points and headings that were referred to and then when you go home, it'll jog your memory.
Oh yes, I'd like to look that up and see just how that is developed in the word of God. You'll be, you'll be noble. You'll be more noble than the other young people who just listen to the word of God and accepted it at face value. You want to be more noble. You've got to search the scriptures daily to see if these things are so. And you'll never have power in your Christian life. If you don't search the word of God daily, you know that we, the Apostle John and his epistle refers to young men.
And it tells us that young men are the glory of young men is their strength. I'm thankful for that. You know, I've had young men who've traveled with me to other countries, and I'm to the point in life. I'm glad to leave that suitcase of Bibles for a young man to carry. I'm glad to leave that load for the young men who are willing to lift it into the back of the vehicle as we travel from village to village. The glory of young men is their strength. But John says that the young men in his day.
That he was writing to were strong too. But they were strong not because they went to the gym and worked out twice a week. They were strong because the word of God was abiding in them. That's what gave them strength, because it tells us in Isaiah 40 even the youth shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall. Natural strength, even of youth, is not enough to meet the situations of life today, you know, sad to say, there's a lot of young people.
Are giving up today. A lot of people, young people, are just saying I can't make it in the path of faith. It's just too great. But you'll never make it in the path of faith and service for Christ if you don't open the word of God and exercise yourself in reading the word of God. And again, not just once a week. Don't just open the word of God when you have a little opportunity. Maybe on Lord's Day Morning or Lord's Day Afternoon. Open it daily and search the scriptures to see if these things were so. The scriptures are guidance and direction for our pathway.
Their food for our soul, their light for these dark times in which we live. And you'll be surprised as you read the word of God. You'll find that even without realizing it, your spiritual muscles will be strengthened so that you can go on in the path of of faith. But there's something else that goes with the reading, daily reading of the word of God. And to speak of that, I'd like to go back to the book of Daniel.
Daniel, Chapter 6.
Daniel chapter 6 and verse 10. Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem. He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did a four time. Well, we often sing that little chorus. Daniel was a man of prayer, and certainly he was a man of prayer.
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Believe it was the resource and power of Daniel's whole life. We find Daniel at the beginning of his life as a young man. He has the power and strength to stand and not compromise the truth, even in Babylon in a difficult circumstance. And now we find Daniel as an old man. You know, I used to sit as a young person in meetings like this, and I used to hear the older brethren get up and minister the truth and talk about going on for the Lord and so on. And I used to think, well, how can we ever do it?
They tell us things are getting worse and worse, things are getting more apostate and darker all the time, and how can we ever face the difficulties of life as we come a generation behind them? But you know, as I look back, I've proved, at least in some measure that the Lord is sufficient. And we find as we go through the word of God, that the young people and men and women who had power in their lives throughout their whole lives, from their youth to their old age.
Where men and women and young people whose lives were characterized by prayer. Prayer is the power of our of our Christian pathway. We read sometimes to the stories of the missionaries of past eras, George Mueller and all those missionaries. They had tremendous faith and experienced wonderful things in their lives. But when you read their biographies carefully, you find they were men and women of prayer. Martin Luther said, I have so much work to do for the Lord.
I dare not spend less than three hours a day in prayer. No wonder he was a man used so mightily during the Reformation. He got up early so he could spend 3 hours in prayer. We find that there are individuals in scripture who prayed all night like Samuel. When there was difficulty amongst the people of God, he cried to the Lord all night. I have to confess I've never been that burdened for the people of God or some condition amongst the Saints that I would pray all night.
The Lord is the perfect example. Before He chose his disciples, he spent all night in prayer. And so again, if you want power in the exercise of godly piety in your life, you're going to have to spend time in prayer. The more prayer time in prayer you spend, the more power and blessing there's going to be in your Christian life. And we find with Daniel, Daniel was a man who had a very busy life, you know, under all the kings he had been promoted.
And in fact, we find here under Darius that what invoked jealousy amongst his coworkers was that he had been promoted, He'd been raised, as it were, right to the top, and did invoke jealousy amongst his coworkers. But it's beautiful that we find that when the writing was signed that no one was to pray to someone other than the king for a certain amount of time. It never affected the routine of Daniel's life. That's why I say this is routine Christianity.
Because Daniel just went on with his life the way it had been. You know, if the government in this country rose up and decided to persecute Christians or some real difficulty arose in our personal lives, would it change our normal routine, or would we be able to go on with the normal routine of life in spite of what takes place? Daniel was able to do that. The reason I say that there's really two indications in the verse we read.
One is he went into his room and he prayed. And I want you to notice this, it says, his windows being open toward Jerusalem. Now Daniel realized from Solomons prayer at the dedication of the tempo that when the people of God were in difficulty, if they prayed toward Jerusalem, God's house and God's center, God would hear them. But you'll notice here it says his windows. I want you to notice this particular being open.
If Daniel had opened his windows on this occasion, he would have been courting persecution. If he had closed them, he would have been a coward. He did neither. He didn't have to open them. He didn't have to close them. It was the habit of Daniels life. Even when there wasn't a real problem affecting himself. It was the habit and routine of his life to keep his windows open toward Jerusalem as they'd been instructed, and to pray three times a day.
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Because if you notice it says he prayed three times a day as he did a four time. He didn't pray anymore or any less beforehand. He didn't pray any less when he got into trouble when he things were going well. He didn't pray anymore when he got into trouble. I covet this for my own soul. This is I say, the normal routine of Christianity, the the believers life, because prayer is the very breath of the divine nature.
When Saul of Tarsus was saved on the Damascus road and Ananias was told to go and to see him, you can just imagine why Ananias held back. Well, Lord, I've. I've heard about this man and he's a persecutor of the Christians, and you want me to go and search him out? He's searching for us.
To persecute us. And now you want me to go and search him out? But what did the Lord say as a confirmation to Ananias? He told him that he would find him in a certain place. And he said, and behold, he prayeth. Ananias really didn't need any more confirmation than that. When Ananias realized that that Saul of Tarsus was in the attitude of prayer, he realized there had been a work of God in the soul. Because as I say, it's the very breath of the divine life. And so I want to encourage you first of all to discipline yourself, to find time for personal prayer every day.
Daniel had a quiet spot in his room where he could slip away three times a day and he could commune with his his God. And then when the difficulty came, he knew where to turn. But you know, you don't have to always be in a particular place, or even alone. It's beautiful to realize that there's never any position or place that a Christian has to be to pray. In fact, it's the one resource that a Christian always has, as long as they're conscious.
A conscious Christian may not be able to do anything else. He may not be able to speak audibly. He may not be able to see, He may not be able to hear. He may be handicapped in many ways, maybe not not able to move a muscle. But a conscious Christian can always pray. What a wonderful resource God has given us to help us through this pathway. I'll just mention I've often mentioned it before, but you know, there was another man in the presence of the king too later on.
His name was Nehemiah. You know, Nehemiah didn't have a chance like Daniel to go to his room and spread the matter before the Lord, because Nehemiah was in the presence of the king. You can read about it in Nehemiah chapter 2. And Nehemiah, as the King's cup bearer one day, was so burdened that he was sad in the presence of the king, and the King's cup bearer was not to be said in the presence of the king. And the king recognized that there was something bothering Nehemiah, and he asked him what it was.
And I can just imagine Nehemiah was trembling because Nehemiah knew that that king had the power of life and death. Those kings in those days whom they would, they slew and whom they would, they kept alive. And Nehemiah didn't have time to slip away and go to his room and pray about it. He didn't have time to gather his three friends together like Daniel had earlier in the book of Daniel, when they had a prayer meeting about another problem, about the King's dream. No, he had to give an immediate answer.
But we've often, I'm sure, have enjoyed what Nehemiah did. It says I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said unto the King, and I know you've experienced it, You young people, you're driving your car and something's pressing on you. You know when you get to school or work, you're going to have a hard decision to make. And you're just saying, Lord, help me, give me wisdom in this. The boss says something to you. And you know, if you say the wrong thing, you might lose your job or maybe not get that promotion you were looking for.
And you just send up a swift little prayer. Maybe it was just Lord help. And it says, if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not. But again, before we pass on, I want to just say this in connection with our theme this afternoon. And that is, you'll never be able to turn to the Lord in the difficulties and emergencies of life if you haven't cultivated the habit of prayer when things are going well. Daniel prayed as he did a four time.
It was the habit of his prayer of his life to pray even when things were going well, even when there were promotions and and life was going on, he still communed with his God three times a day. And then when the problem came, he knew where to turn. Maybe you have a friend like that. You have those happy times with your friend. And then when a problem comes, you say, I can go to that friend. I know where to turn because we've communed. And that friend understands my heart that under that friend knows me. You don't mind going to a friend like that.
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And I just say this, too. When you have a friend and you've always gone to them and something comes between you, then you just feel like you can't go to that friend. You say something's come between us and I just don't feel free. Is that the way it is with your friend, the Lord Jesus? You say something's been allowed in my life and I just don't feel as free to go to him as I once did. Get before him and confess it. So you go to that friend and you have it out. And the next time there's a problem, you say, oh, I can go to that friend again. We've had it out. We have an understanding.
There's been forgiveness, and you don't mind going to that friend after that. Oh, I say, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness so that that communion is restored. And he wants to be that friend that sticks closer than a brother. He wants to be a very present help in time of trouble, but not just in the trouble. I say this ought to be, like Daniel, the daily routine and exercise of your life and mine.
Now I'd like to go to Hebrews chapter 3.
Hebrews Chapter 3.
And verse 13.
But exhort one another daily, or if you notice Mr. Darby's translation, encourage yourselves. Just hold your finger here. I want to read a verse in the Book of Malachi as well.
Malachi chapter 3 and verse 16. Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened and heard it in a book of remembrance, was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name. Well, I want to encourage you in two aspects of this. First of all, we read in Hebrews, Encourage yourselves daily. You know, there's so much to discourage today. We don't have to look for things to discourage, and sometimes I hear young people.
And sad to say, some of us who are not so young say, well, I'm just too discouraged. I just can't go on. There's so much to discourage. Yes, there is much to discourage, but discouragement doesn't come from the Lord. If you're discouraged this afternoon, you didn't get that from the Lord. You got that somewhere else. The devil is the the one who discourages and he wants to discourage you. He wants you to get so burdened and cast down that you just say, I can't go on.
But I want to encourage you to encourage yourself in the Lord. You know, David did that on an occasion. You remember when Ziklag was taken and burned with fire and there was so much to discourage. Their wives were gone and so on. It just seemed like the enemy had the upper hand. But David encouraged himself in the Lord. Oh, get into the Lord's presence. If you're simply looking at circumstance, if you're simply looking at others, yes, you're going to get discouraged, the Psalmist said. I've seen an end of all perfection.
And if we're looking for perfection down here, we're going to see an end of it. We're always going to find something that will eventually discourage. But you won't find it in the Lord. You won't find it in the God of all comfort and encouragement. And so let's learn to encourage ourselves. How can we encourage ourselves? Again, it's opening this book, reading it each day. It speaks of the comfort or encouragement of the scriptures. How much have you found encouragement in the scriptures recently?
That's where you're going to find it. You won't find it in the newspaper. You won't find it in a newscast. Don't get me wrong. I I want to keep my finger on the pulse of what's going on in the world. And as we travel around, we need to know what's going on. And we see it in the light of Scripture and and and so on it. We're not isolationists, but that's not what's going to encourage us if we're just occupied with the front page of the newspaper. And that's all it takes. It doesn't take the whole newspaper, just the front page.
We're going to be occupied with that. We're going to get discouraged pretty quick. But we need to go to the word of God and find the encouragement of the Scriptures. And then what do we do? We need to encourage one another in the Lord too. With David, he first encouraged himself in the Lord, that was first, and then he went down and encouraged the men that were with him. And there was a great victory in Israel because David encouraged himself 1St and then those that were with him. And I believe that's really the way it works, because.
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You and I can't encourage one another if we don't encourage ourselves in the Lord.
We can only share the encouragement of the scriptures if we have that encouragement for our for ourselves. Why is it sometimes, and I'll speak to all of us, why is it sometimes we get together and we enjoy some good times together. We enjoy some chit chat and some natural things. Nothing wrong with that. But we come away and we say, well, we didn't really speak much of the things of Christ. We didn't really encourage one another much in the Lord.
Why is it? Well, if we haven't encouraged ourselves, we can't encourage one another. We can only share with our brothers and sisters what we have enjoyed in our own souls. And if we were to read the context in Malachi, it was a pretty dark day. Things were pretty discouraging, not just in the world, so to speak, but amongst the people of God, and it seemed like there were very few seeking to go on for the Lord and really for his glory.
Keeping his word and so on. But there were a few. But notice they weren't going on alone. They were going on together. They were seeking to encourage one another to speak often again, not just on an occasion like this. Wonderful that we can share things between the meetings and during the meals and in the evening as we mingle together. That's wonderful, and I'm thrilled when I see young brothers and sisters who are together and sharing things together.
But what about when we go home? I want to speak specifically to the young people for a moment because, you know, there's nothing more encouraging when a young person seeks to encourage their local brethren. Nothing more encouraging when a young person shares something with an older brother or sister in Christ. I'm always thrilled when I'm with a young person and they say, you know, Mr. Highland, I I enjoyed this recently and I had this scripture before me or I read this in my mind, but you don't realize how much that encourages.
Your older brethren. And so I want to encourage you to speak often, often one to another. And as you interact together as young people, what's going to build up your generation and edify the generation coming behind? Some of us? Oh, it's going to be to share what you have enjoyed of Christ. I know it takes courage sometimes. I was a young person once, and it takes courage to share something. No courage to share the baseball score.
No courage to share the last time you were out at the beach or something like that. And nothing wrong with that. Again, don't misunderstand me, but it takes real courage to share something from the scriptures. But you know what you'll find, young person that once you share something that you've enjoyed in your own soul, it'll clinch it for your soul. You'll really have it. Someone has said, and I think there's a lot of truth to it. You really don't have something till you share it with someone else. It'll confirm it to your own soul and you'll find that the person you share it with will have something often to share with you.
They'll add to what you've enjoyed or they'll they'll bring out something. Well, you know, I enjoyed something too.
And this way we'll be edified and we'll be encouraged to go on. We need the exercise then daily of sharing something of Christ and speaking often one to another. Now I want to go to 1St Corinthians, Chapter 11.
First Corinthians Chapter 11 and verse 26.
For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. Well, I realize this is a verse that we often focus on in a meeting like this, but I want to just bring out something very practical. I realize that most of us here, if not all, understand the significance of what we call the Lord's Supper. If we were to go back to the previous chapter, we have the Lord's table brought before us.
And the significance of the loaf and the cup in that regard. There the loaf is mentioned. The cup is mentioned first because the cup speaks to us of the blood of Christ. That's our basis. That's our the ground of our acceptance. At the Lord's table, the blood of the Lord Jesus. And then the loaf is mentioned 2nd and there the loaf more particularly signifies the body of Christ, made-up of all believers alive on the face of the earth.
And we, being many, are one bread and one body. But here in this chapter we have the subject of the Lord's Supper. We get that from the end of verse 20. And here we have the low 1St, and then the cup. That's the way the Lord Jesus instituted it in the upper room in Luke 22. And that is the way that we always celebrate it. And the loaf broken in the in the 11Th chapter speaks to us of the Lord's body given in death for us.
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And then the blood of the cup, the blood that was shed on Calvary's cross for our redemption. But I want to make this very practical because sometimes I hear people say, well, you know, I can remember the Lord Jesus in my heart. Well, we should remember the Lord Jesus in our hearts, and not just on Lord's day, but every day of our lives. Do you and I stop every day and consider something of the work of Calvary?
Do we go in our thoughts back to the cross? Do we read a little bit, perhaps from the Gospels, of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus, so that we never forget the cost of our redemption? But we need then to carry out what the Lord said here, because this is not simply remembering the Lord in our hearts. This is eating and drinking. I know the young people have heard me say this before, but I often have wished that the word eat and drink.
Wearing capital letters in our Bible to eat and drink is something that takes physical energy. It takes exercise. Yes, it's not enough simply to eat and drink without any, without the heart affected, but nevertheless, he has asked us to do something physically to express what's in our hearts. You know, God always gives us a way that we can give expression to what is in our hearts.
And that's why it says when we eat and drink, we show forth the Lord's death. We give testimony in this world. I can't tell what's in your heart. You might sit young person and those who are not so young on Lords Day morning and you might pass the loaf and the cup by and you might say I.
I respond in my heart. I remember the Lord in my heart, but neither I nor anybody else knows what's in your heart. Only God does that, and He does appreciate what's in our hearts. All of our hearts should be affected when we're together on Lords Day morning for the purpose of breaking bread. But he's asked us to do something, to give expression to what is in our hearts. He's asked us to eat and to drink, and I know it's a little bit out of context, but I often think of the.
Question raised by Naman servants so long ago in connection with washing in the river Jordan. They said to him, if he had asked thee to do some hard thing, wouldst thou not have done it? Has he asked us to do some hard thing? Has he asked us to do something that's difficult? No. How simple. A loaf and a cup and this do in remembrance of me. And it's very interesting that you can go almost anywhere in the world today.
And you can still obtain at very little cost, and in some form may not always be like we think of it, but in some form a loaf of bread and in some form fruit of the vine he has, he chose emblems that are very simple emblems that are not costly.
Emblems that are for the most part universal, so that we would have this privilege all down through the ages. And how long till he come? And he wouldn't say till he come if he wasn't going to provide a scriptural basis on which to do it. People say today, well, it doesn't matter. Things are in such ruin and disarray. And Christendom, but it does matter. I say again, he wouldn't ask us to do anything if he wasn't going to provide a scriptural basis on which to do it. He will maintain that place.
So that there will be the privilege of not only remembering the Lord not only breaking bread, but partaking of the Lord's Supper at the Lords table until he come. And I just say again in passing that the privilege of remembering the Lord Jesus of eating and drinking of the loaf in the cup is a privilege that's only given to us for this life. If the Lord Jesus comes this afternoon, we'll never have or need that privilege again.
We won't need it in heaven. We're going to see a Lamb as it had been slain. We're going to see those wounds in his hands, in his feet, and in his side as fresh reminders of the work of Calvary. But until then, we need this reminder, and we need it often. Let's exercise ourselves to.
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Be at the Lord's table and to eat and drink in the way he's asked us to do until he comes. Let's go to Matthews Gospel, Chapter 18.
Matthew's Gospel, chapter 18 and verse 21. Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me? And I forgive him? Till seven times. Jesus said unto him, I say not unto thee until seven times, but until 70 * 7. Well, here we have something else that ought to be the daily routine exercise of your life and mine, and that is forgiveness.
Now, we're not talking here about things that are ongoing. We're not talking about sins that need to be dealt with, perhaps even sometimes by the Assembly. He's already taken up that subject previously in this chapter, But that didn't content. Peter. Peter wanted some further advice. How?
Off Shall my brother offend me? And I forgive him seven times. Peter probably thought that was a big number.
Probably thought that would be great if you if he forgave his brother seven times in a day, the Lord said no 70 * 7. What the Lord really was saying is it's to be unlimited. There's no limit. This is a very very simple and mundane thought, but I enjoyed it as a young person. One time we were taking up this portion in the local assembly in Smiths Falls and we came to this verse and the question was raised. What is the significance of it being 70 * 7?
And there was a long pause and an older brother who didn't speak up much. He said, well, perhaps it's because by the time you'd count that high, you'd lose count and have to start over. And, you know, I think there's a lot of truth to that. That's really what the Lord was saying. It has to be it. It it's to be limitless. And so Peter learned that when there were these things. And again, I'm not talking about things that have to be dealt with for the Lord's glory in that way, but personal offenses that come in, little things that Irkas.
And so on. How often are we to forgive, even in the course of a day? Oh, I say every hour of every day. And I believe that if we don't, it will stunt our Christian growth. Because as we find in Peters Epistle that when there's malice and those other things that are listed there in our hearts, what happens? Why, we're not going to grow. But when those things are judged and then we desire the sincere milk of the word, they'll be growth. But there are things that hinder growth, just like.
In a on a farm or in a garden, there are things that come up that have to be pulled and removed. Are they or they will hinder the growth of the vegetables and the crops that the farmer, the gardener wants to come up. And so I just say we want to, we need to exercise the spirit of forgiveness.
In our interactions and our daily exercise with one with one another. Now I want to go to let's go to 1St Corinthians.
First Corinthians chapter 15.
First Corinthians chapter 15.
And verse 31.
I protest by your rejoicing that I have in Christ and Christ Jesus our Lord. I die daily, and then I want to read a portion in Lukes Gospel.
Luke's Gospel, Chapter 9.
Luke's Gospel, Chapter 9 and verse 23. And he said unto the mall, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Well, here we have something else that ought to be the daily routine of your life and mine. Now I realize when the apostle Paul said I die daily, he was talking about it in a physical way because he was talking about standing in jeopardy every hour.
You know, when Paul went from city to city and place to place, he never knew if he was going to get out alive. In fact, he summed it up at the end of his ministry. He said in every city, bonds and afflictions. You know, I've often thought about that. If I were to come and visit you in your town or city, and I knew I was going to have bonds and afflictions when I got there, would I come, I'd want to be pretty sure I had the Lord's mind in coming. But the Apostle Paul said in every city he feared for his life from day-to-day.
And he certainly had every reason to fear for his life, because there were many who wanted to take his life, particularly of his own brethren, the Jews. And so he said, I die. I die daily. But I suggest there is an application for you and for me. And that's why I read here in Luke's Gospel the Lord Jesus said, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself. That's first. I would just say that to deny oneself is something that's inward.
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It's to deny ourselves those things that are according to our own will, those things that we would desire to follow after the the the flesh. You know, this is a day when we're not taught to deny ourselves anything. We're taught to live to the full. If it feels good, do it. Nobody's to tell us to curb our appetites and desires, but we need to deny ourselves if we're really going to follow the Lord.
If we're going to be healthy Christians, we have to learn to deny ourselves A young person that gets up and goes to the gym, he denies himself. It takes discipline and natural energy. Maybe there are other things he'd rather do. Maybe he schedules for an hour after school. Well, maybe he'd like to go out and have a drink with his friends, coffee with his friends or something like that. But he says no, I need to keep in. I need to keep in shape. And maybe in the morning he'd like an extra hour sleep, but decides to get up and go to the gym and work out before class or work.
It takes self denial to do that. And if you're going to follow the Lord, it's going to take self denial. You're going to have to put your own will aside and to follow the Lord. And then he says here and take up his cross daily and follow me. That is to accept death outwardly. The to deny oneself is inward. Outward is the cross is something that's outward if you saw somebody literally dragging across down the road.
You'd realize that they have the sentence of death on them. That would be a testimony that they are on their way to their to their death. And we need to realize that we are in a world that's stamped by death on every hand. And do you and I walk through this world with that testimony to take up our cross? The Lord Jesus went to the cross. He bore that for us. But we have a cross too. And if we're again, if we're going to have testimony in our lives, we need to take up our cross.
And we sometimes sing that hymn where pilgrims in the wilderness are dwelling as a camp created things, though pleasant, now bear to us. Death stamp. Do they really bear to us. Death stamp sometimes told about two men who were in the dream of of.
John Bunyan in Pilgrim's Progress and as they passed through a place called Vanity Fair.
And they were offered every kind of pleasure and activity. They denied it on every hand.
Even though it looked glamorous on the to them looked like a lot of fun. But they had death stamped on those things that were around them and it brought them great reproach. They sought to put take them prisoner and even kill them because they walked through Vanity Fair. A type of this world like that, and you'll have reproach, you'll have death stamped on you. The world will say there's a person who has a lost life, but you might have a lost life as far as this world is concerned.
But you'll have life everlasting. You'll find it in the next World, so to speak. There will be a great reward for those who walk through this world denying themselves and taking up their cross daily and following the Lord Jesus. Let's go to Second Timothy.
Chapter One.
Second Timothy chapter one.
And verse 16 The Lord give mercy unto the House of Anessa for us, for he OFT refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chains.
I rejoice to see some young couples here who have recently started out on the path of faith together. A new home has been has been formed through you coming together in marriage, and that's a thrill. And as I get a little older, I'm thrilled to see those bright lights set up in various towns and communities. And I want to encourage you to set up a home that is for the refreshment not only of yourselves and your families.
But the refreshment of the people of God, you know, Paul found a home where he could be refreshed. It was the household of Vanessa Forest. And it is refreshing when any of us go to a household where the Lord is honored, where the scriptures are opened and spoken freely about. There's a place of refreshment. You know, as far as spiritually, there's very few places of refreshment today. There's the assembly, of course, but you know, really the home is the only.
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Full bulwarks against the world today. Just being with the people of God doesn't necessarily preserve us, David said. I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. But the home can be and should be a place of refreshment, and it delighted the heart of the Apostle Paul on many occasions to be in this home. And so let's seek to open our homes for the people of God. We need refreshment, and we need it every day.
We don't just come and take a cold glass of water once a week or on certain occasions. No, we need the refreshment of good cold water on a regular basis. And those of us who spend a good part of our year in the tropics, in the desert, perhaps realize this in a very acute way. You come back a time and time again to that water bottle and you drink deep from it because you're in a physical wilderness. But we're in a spiritual desert. We're in a spiritual wilderness.
And we need that refreshment. I want to close by turning to one more portion. It's in the book of Luke, Luke's Gospel, chapter 12.
Luke's Gospel, chapter 12 and verse 37.
Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching. Verily I say unto you, that he shall make them to sit down to meet, and will come forth and serve them. Well, I just want to speak in closing of watching something else that ought to characterize our daily life, our daily Christian routine, And that is watching. Watching for what? Watching for the Lord to return. You know, someday we're going to take that last step in the path of faith.
And I've often told about a young man who had a little motto on his bathroom mirror. It simply said, perhaps today I thought that was a nice exercise. He wanted to be reminded every morning when he got up and looked in the mirror that this might be the day of the Lords return. And that's a good exercise for us to be watching for the Lord. All we all say we're waiting for the Lord, but are we expecting him at any moment? Won't it thrill his heart when he comes to find some of us who are at least who are watching?
For his return. If you pull up to a House of a loved one and you see their face at the window.
Isn't that more than just walking through the door and finding them going on with their activities of the day? Oh, you're glad to see them. They may be thrilled to see you, but there's something special about having someone looking down the road watching for you, expecting you, knowing that you're coming at any moment. Are we going to give the Lord Jesus that thrill, That thrill of knowing that we're watching for his return? And so we've looked at these scriptures so very quickly this afternoon, young people, But I say go over them, add to them, make a list and add to them so that there will be these things.
Exercised.
In our spiritual workout room, if I can put it that way, that we might be strong, healthy, fruitful Christians while we watch and wait for the Lord Jesus to come and take us home where we'll we won't need Christian exercise again. We're going to sit down in His presence, and he's going to come forth and service forever. Let's pray our God and Father how thankful we are for Thy Word, for its encouragements and exhortations. And we pray that each one of us, young and old, this afternoon.
May take these scriptures to heart, and that we might indeed exercise ourselves unto godliness. So we ask thy blessing on thy word. We ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.