Scranton Conference: 2008
Table of Contents
1 Timothy 4
Reading
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I don't know anything I want to give you.
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Anything.
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What's your name?
Please.
I am so thou shalt work there alone in the middle of the day.
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The time crazy. I heard the following up in 2018.
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No, Umm.
386 minutes, one hour to follow up, to follow up on your computer and we don't have anything.
I love you. I don't remember the chicken.
And I'm falling into everything.
00:05:09
Let's read a verse in Luke's Gospel before we pray.
24.
Luke, 2445.
Then opened he their understanding that they might understand the scriptures.
Our God and our Father, we thank Thee for this privilege of being together like this and the occasion that Thou hast given to us to be under the sound of Thy precious word. We feel our need of being instructed and built up in the most holy faith and before we had opened the Scriptures. Our God, we know it's proper that we would look up our and look to Thee.
Lift up our hearts and ask Thee for help and understanding the Scriptures. And we think of the disciples of old and the upper room there, and how the doubt is open their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures and our God. We have the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God who can take of the things of Christ and show them unto us. But we feel our need of our understanding being opened, and we ask thee that Thou would open our hearts and our understanding that we might understand the Scriptures today.
And the things that will be before us, that it may have its power and weight in its proper place in our lives.
And the practical applications too that we need, we just pray that thou administer to us as we have need. So we commit this meeting to the Anastai help and we ask it in the name and for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
I'd like to suggest we read First Timothy 4.
First Timothy, chapter 4.
Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with Thanksgiving, Them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with Thanksgiving.
For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine. Were unto thou hast attained, but refused profane and old wives fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto all things.
Having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. For therefore we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those that believe these things command and teach. Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers in Word and conversation and charity.
And spirit, and faith, and purity till I come. Give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. Meditate upon these things. Give thyself holy 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.
00:10:02
Timothy was given a charge in this epistle to.
Uh, help maintain the order in the House of God. And in first chapter is the charge. But when you come to the second chapter, we have, uh, priesthood in the House of God and the proper ordering of priests. And then in the third chapter, you have office in the House of God and the proper ordering for those who are in that administrative responsibility. But when you come to the 4th chapter, we have the exercise of gifts in the House of God.
And these are three spheres that are found in, uh, the House of God, priesthood, gift in office only the order as it falls in this epistle is priesthood office and gift. Chapters five and six would bring before us a fellowship in the House of God and the proper conduct and manner in which we are to engage in fellowship and many expectations that follow there. But this chapter, as I've said, is really the exercise of gift in the House of God.
And umm, since we all have a gift, perhaps not all, for the ministering of the Word of God.
But nevertheless, we all have a gift so that this chapter surely has some application for each one of us. And there's an order of things here that I think is beautiful. We could maybe look at this morning for our help and need. And that is in the 1St 6 verses He brings before us the need for understanding of the times in which we live, the need for understanding of the times. And then in verse six you have the need for.
Sound doctrine being sound in the faith.
Then verses 7 and eight, it brings in another thought and that is the need for exercise to be godly, that the things that we teach would have, uh, power and weight. And then of course, what follows out of that in verses 9 and 10 is, uh, reproach, suffering, persecution. We live godly and, and minister the truth faithfully. We can expect that there would be that which would follow. And then in the latter chapter he tells him to take care of his testimony. That is Timothy, that is Timothy.
And.
Timothy's responsibility, as you notice, because he says in verse 12, let no man, he's making it Timothy's responsibility that he takes care of that in the way in which he conducts himself. And then when the latter verses, he encourages him to use his gift.
And take advantage of every opportunity to exercise as gift.
And then lastly in the last verse, the need to not forget for self judgment.
When ministering the Word of God, we have to be very careful to pass judgment on ourselves that we keep ourselves in that low place because the enemy especially liked to to malign and take one out of the path. Failure in some way and so self judgment is in the last verse.
In the two epistles to Timothy, and particularly when you come to the second epistle, he stresses, does he not the need for sound teaching or sound doctrine as the basis for order? Because if there is going to be godly order in the House of God, it's got to be based on sound doctrine. The early believers that in Acts 2 it says they continued steadfastly and then it gives a list, but the first thing is the apostles doctrine because it was the basis for everything else.
It was the basis for fellowship, it was the basis for breaking of bread and it was the basis for prayer.
And I think the order that you point out is very important to see here because understanding of the times never gives us license to water down the truth or set aside sound doctrine. Brethren, it is proper to have discernment of the times. And there are. We're facing things collectively and as families and individually today that perhaps the people of God have never passed through before. And we need to present the truth in a way that.
Is in Connect in regard to discernment of the times.
But Timothy is told over and over and over in these two epistles.
To maintain sound teaching, you don't water down the truth or bring in something else because of the times. And so this is what is referred to in Timothy as the faith. More often in Timothy, when he speaks about faith or the faith, it's the truth of God. It's the deposit of truth, not so much confident, the confidence that we have in God. Faith is used in that way too, of course, but in Timothy it's more in connection with the deposit of truth or the faith.
00:15:13
And those who teach the truth, brethren, we need to be exercised.
That we seek by grace to pass along the truth of God in the same purity in which we ourselves have received it and been taught by past generations.
And in the second epistle, where you have the last days described in no uncertain terms.
Timothy is told to pass on the truth, to continue in it himself, and to pass it on with the same clarity and purity in which he had received it from the apostle to faithful men who were to pass it on with the same clarity and purity in which they had received it from Timothy and others. So we need to have discernment of the times, brethren, but we need an exercising gift. We need to go back to the foundation.
And never compromise the principles of God.
Paul speaks here of the beginning of the great apostasy in the Christian profession.
He says in the latter times some shall depart or could read apostatize from the faith. But we turn over to 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2. You'll see that you'll see the culmination of it in the man of sin after the church is gone. And it's not a pretty picture. And so the departure and the apostrophe that was that has come into the Christian profession had begun.
And is gathering speed at all times. And when we speak of apostasy, you know what that is?
That's the abandoning of the faith. That is one that has been once professed. And really an apostate is one who has been only a mere professor and has gone along among Christians with no life and no real life, no faith in God and in the Lord Jesus, and then abandons what they have made a profession of and have departed into some air. So a true believer cannot apostatize but.
As you read from Second Peter that it's possible for a believer to be swept along with the current of apostasy while he's not an apostate himself.
Maybe I should just read that for to you because, uh, that's important. That's in second Peter chapter 3.
Second Peter chapter 3 and verse 17.
2nd last verse of the Epistle. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing that you know these things before, beware lest ye also being LED away. And then it should read LED away along with the error of unprincipled men or wicked men, and fall from your own steadfastness. And so he's not warning them that they might fall into apostasy, because Peter does take this up too in his epistle, but that they might get LED away along with the current of it.
And when that happens, a true believer can give up principles, he can give up practices and let go of a lot of things, though he'll never let go of his inner and foundational faith in the Lord Jesus as Savior. And so we don't want to be affected by the current of apostasy that's all around us today. And I just mentioned also in connection with Jim's comment about faith here, you'll notice that it has the article, the before the word faith. And as a general rule, when it's the faith.
It's referring to the positive truth that has been given to the church, as he's mentioned. But when it's just the word faith by itself, it's usually the inward energy of the soul's confidence in God that we would have faith in the Lord to trust him and so on. And so when he's talking about departure from the faith here, it's about giving up the truth that has been once delivered to the Saints.
That's in Jude, isn't it? And it's relevant to what we're Speaking of because Jude writes about the appalling days of giving up of the truth, and days no doubt very parallel to the days in which we find ourselves. And at the beginning of his epistle, he exhorts the Saints. He says, Brethren, 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 ye earnestly contend.
Notice this again what Bruce said, the faith once delivered to the Saints and that little expression once delivered to the Saints is very, very important because in the last days God doesn't give fresh revelation. Now brethren, we can always have fresh enjoyment of the of the truth of God and fresh, fresh enjoyment of the Scriptures. Ought to every time we open this book, we ought to have a fresh enjoyment. And maybe we say, well, we never saw that before. We never saw something in that light before.
00:20:30
But that's not what we're talking about. We don't look for fresh revelation. Jude wasn't telling the brethren to look for something fresh. He was telling them to hold faster, earnestly contend for that which had already been given the faith once delivered to the Saints. And brethren, we have the revealed mind of God. We have the truth of God in our hands this this morning. And we're not to look for some new twist on things or some new revelation at the end of the dispensation.
No, we are to earnestly contend or to hold fast for that which has been given to us. And Paul certainly felt this burden when he wrote these epistles to Timothy. Even in the first epistle, Paul evidently saw the seeds coming in of the subverting of the souls of the Saints and the undermining of the truth of God. And hasn't the enemy been busy ever since? The truth of God has been given to undermine the truth of God in one way or another.
And what do you find when men give up the truth? They often, as Paul speaks of here in these opening verses, they often turn to things that are even against nature, forbidding to marry, to abstain from meat. These things are against nature. And don't you often find that that it's not just a giving up of the truth, but it's a turning to things that are not even according to God's order in nature? Well, we need to be very careful, brethren, that we don't let these things come in.
And that, by the grace of God, we seek with the resources we have to go on in the faith once delivered to the Saints.
In Proverbs the 30th chapter we have that 2 examples of how the word of God, the truth of God, the faith is undermined. Turn to Proverbs 30 and look at verse five. It says every word of God is pure. He is a shield under them to put their trust in him as thou not on to his words, lest he reprove thee, and now be found a liar. And uh also in uh.
Revelation.
The last chapter, the 22nd chapter, and the uh.
18th Verse. For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book. If any man shall add on to these things, God shall add on to him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. So there are those two ways in which Satan works to undermine the truth, either by adding to it or by taking away from it.
And you get that in the, uh.
Umm, Hebrews 10 too, don't you, that we are not of them that draw back. That's One Direction which we can do is to to draw back from the light of the truth that has been given. And then in second John you have we are not those who go forward and go beyond.
At second John verse 8 or so.
See, drawing back is the idea of going back to Judaism, and that would be giving up Christian ground and practice and understanding. At the end of Hebrews 10. We are not of them that draw back.
And then but in second John chapter 2 John verse, I think around 8 there there's the idea of going forward. And that's that's an idea of mysticism, getting into mystical ideas that are beyond the revelation that God has given. One is turning away from the revelation that God has given and going backwards. The other is going beyond the revelation.
And these are two dangers that are continually, uh, put before us and as a warning in Scripture. So it goes along with what you're saying there, Brother Robert.
You have to get it in Darby's translation. So I'm sorry that in in second John.
00:25:03
Verse 9. Thank you. Second John 9.
Now when we read of seducing spirits and so on, it may give us the idea that it sounds a little spooky. Uh, could that be around today? I believe so. There are seducing spirits and that are at work and like to get a hold of men's minds so that they get a hobby horse, a certain pet doctrine, and they push it and push it to the point where it gets away from the the truth of God altogether. And if the person is self willed.
You will force it on the Saints and pretty soon we have a new creeds and doctrines that that come in and don't think it doesn't happen today. I was reading one time with I think it was Mr. Kelly on his heterodox of FERFE Raven and he said definitely he believed that a seducing spirit had got a hold of that man's mind and it can get a Suzuki spirit can get a hold of our minds too. Brother, we are not beyond.
This kind of an attack from the enemy. Now, of course, he's talking about those who are apostasizing. Who are.
Who are sitting ducks for the spirit seducing spirits to introduce these ideas?
But we as true believers can, uh, be subject to it as well if we are not careful and come up with some pretty wild interpretations of, uh, of, of Scripture. And that's one of the reasons why we need our brethren.
You know, Christianity does not portray the idea of being a one man band.
You need your brethren and I need my brethren because we help adjust one another and our thoughts and our impressions that we get from Scripture. And this is a great immunity to evil to have such an opportunity to have a Bible reading where if I put forth something, I'm sure somebody would say, now, Bruce, wait a minute. And there's adjustment in the clerical order that's in the church today and has been for hundreds of years. When a man stands at the front and he's the Bishop and or the the minister, there's really not that recourse.
And, uh, there is a, the danger of getting into doctrines that are off the, uh, the foundation of scripture. So be thankful for the Bible readings. And by the way, he does speak of Bible readings in verse 13.
And he's telling him to make use of those occasions because they.
They are very viable opportunity to communicate the truth. You see when he says give attendance to reading, he's not talking about make sure that you read your read books of ministry or take up with the habit of reading at home. It's talking about public reading out of the scriptures followed by exhortation and teaching, which is the nuts and bolts of a Bible reading.
To speak of the mind, because as someone has said, the mind becomes the plaything of the devil if we leave it open for that. And in Mr. Darby's translation in this first verse, he says giving their mind to deceiving spirits. And we never want to leave our mind open so that Satan can come in and fill it with that which is not according to the truth of God. Last weekend in Kentucky, we took up Colossians chapter 3.
And you lose the thrust in the King James. But if you notice your margin and Mr. Darby's translation in the second verse.
Of Colossians chapter 3. It's really set your mind on things above and so we need to set our mind on things above and I thought it was very good what some brought out about what are those things that are above. We have to know what those things are just be able to set our minds on them. In the first verse it tells us to seek them, then to set our minds on them. And brethren, we need to store up our minds with the word of God. We need to read it personally.
We need it in the assembly, as Brother Bruce has brought out, which is really the subject of this end of this chapter. We need to have the truth of God fill our minds. If you fill a glass with water, there's no room for air. If you fill a cup with wheat, there's no room for chaff. And what is it that's going to preserve us in these days when the enemy is so busy to bring in that which may even seem at first like the truth, but is mixed with poison and that which is not true, how are we going to detect it?
How are we going to set it aside by studying up on all that and filling our minds with all those false doctrines and teachings? No, what's going to preserve us is to be simple concerning evil, wise concerning that which is good. I'm not saying there aren't times when maybe we need to have some idea of what some teaching is in our contact with somebody, our dealings with another, but I believe basically the way we're preserved is.
00:30:06
To fill up our minds with the truth so there's room for nothing else.
There's a little hint given in, in umm, first Timothy 119 in connection with, uh, how we can keep ourselves. It says in verse 19, holding faith in a good conscience, which some having put away concerning faith, have made shipwreck. And so faith perhaps in this context is loyalty to Christ and being occupied with Christ and having a good conscience. And so there may be, uh, those things that, uh, come in the seducing spirits, as you say, the, uh, things that would naturally appeal to the flesh that would go beyond what?
The revelation of Scripture is, and we need to be careful, we need to have that which is loyal to Christ and have affection for Christ and hold that dearly to our hearts. And if it's going to glorify Christ, then it's going to be something that the word of God, uh, presents. And then a good conscience. If we walk in disobedience, plain disobedience to the plain teaching of the word of God and we walk in a bad conscience, we leave ourselves open to those things that might come in.
That would allow us to act further in the flesh and so.
He begins in this chapter with this admonition that the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith. And so we live in times where the flesh is permitted to act. We do not judge ourselves as we ought to judge. Isn't that the truth? We really do allow things in our lives that we ought not to allow. And so God is telling us, I believe, that the consequence may be.
That there are some things that may come in that we will believe. And I just would refer to John chapter 8. It says there, uh, it presents the source of all liars, uh, of all lies and all untruth. It's really Satan himself. And so, umm, verse, umm 43 John 8 and verse 43. Why do you not understand my speech? Even because you cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father, the devil and the lust of your father will you will do.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own.
For he is a liar, and the father of it. And so the Lord told the truth. I am the Way, the truth, and the light. But the enemy of our souls wants us to believe anything but the truth. And so He's working diligently that we might not.
Walk in a loyal way with a heart's affection for Christ, and that we might allow our consciences to be grieved and not walking in purity.
Notice, uh, it says here doctrines of devils who should be demons. You know that there's only one devil, many demons. One devil should be translated demons here. I'm sure you all know that. But anyway, it's doctrines plural. Isn't that interesting? Look at the contrast in verse 6 where it says and of good doctrine singular and down at 16. Uh, take you to thyself until the doctrine singular.
You know, when the enemy introduces things, it's usually a multiplicity and it's complex, often and confusing because the enemy would like to, uh, throw dust in the air. And it's in that context that he can work and introduce, uh, his heirs and his lies. But when it comes to the truth of God, it's mentioned in singular here, and it's because the truth of God is 1 harmonious whole. It all fits together and it works together.
Another thought too, with regard to the doctrines in plural. It just shows you that.
Bad doctrines don't run alone, they have bedfellows, and when a person gets off on one doctrine, you will very often be off on another one. And uh, it's like making a puzzle, you know, you put the pieces in a puzzle together, you come to one piece, it looks like it could fit, so you kind of force it, but it's not the right piece for the place, but you get it in there. Well, what's going to happen is later in the puzzle you're going to have another piece that doesn't fit somewhere. Then you're going to have to put it in the wrong place. And that's the way it works very often.
Another thing too now, just so we keep going here in the chapter because we only have one Bible reading I noticed.
And that is in verses 2 Through 5, you'll see that there is umm.
A cloak to this bad doctrine of supergodliness and a high order of, uh, of sanctity attached to it. But it's only a cloak. And very often the enemy will work in that way to present his evil doctrines. It'll often be connected in those who will profess some high order of sanctity that's, uh, beyond even what God would call his people too. And be careful because behind it is usually.
00:35:09
The venom of the enemy to introduce those false doctrines.
One of the things we might want to consider too is that this seems to be the extreme case. It doesn't take much spiritual, uh, understanding to be able to, to see that when what he's describing here as a doctrine of devils seducing spirits and so forth, that there is a broad in the Christian Church, a more subtle, uh, uh, uh, force than that. And, uh, we know that the biggest grown churches in, in the country right now are the, uh, charismatic movements. They number in 20,000 people and they have all kinds of different, uh, uh, uh, people that have these great.
Mega churches and they're preaching is what you might say a gospel of prosperity.
That God doesn't want you to be sick and God wants you to be financially secure and so forth. And so they more or less change that, uh, little verse where all they that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer no ills and be financially fit for life. But it doesn't say that all they that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. So there is indeed, uh, in Christendom, if you, if you have Christian friends, you'll find people that are taken in by these things.
Uh, it's the devil uses the world, the flesh.
And the devil, the flesh is ever with us, and it is never improved. And he later on says, in this same chapter over here, he says.
An example of the believers in Word, conversation and charity and spirit and faith and purity. That's some goal that is set before us now. You know, I remember years ago, I mean 50 some years ago, when some of the older brother were here, Brother Kohler and the different ones, you know, if they could be brought back in the assemblies today, they would be shocked. I'll tell you, be now an example and, and and word and then it the old things I used to hear Brother Cola say.
You know, his brother and he says the, the world gets our passion from Paris and Paris gets it from hell. And, you know, there's a tendency of bringing the world in. Satan will do that. He would, uh, allow the flesh to come in and say, oh, I wanna look like the world. I wanna be popular and so forth. So dress is a very important thing and, and, and, and, and God's people. And when he says here, and they also, uh, says here until I come give attendance and reading and so really.
What we need, we need the word of God to come in and to, uh, clarify and to describe for us what is godliness. And I think if there's any lack of, of, uh, in, in the Christian Church today, not only in the, in the gather Saints, but in the other denominations, and it's, it's basically a gospel of prosperity that they're preaching. And, uh, if the sad thing, you know, not only do we see.
The modernist comes in like the National Council of Churches, the World Council of Churches. They're denying the validity of the word of God. They're denying some of the most vital important doctrines in Scripture. We can we can see that, but but here and and Christian circles, even in fundamental believers and we find the world is coming in and one form or another.
We're supposed to move along. As Bruce said, we only have this one reading in the next section. Then we have the need for godliness or piety. And Timothy is told in verse six to lay these things out or put the brethren in remembrance of these things. And if he did so, he'd be a good minister because brethren, we need to be reminded over and over and over again of these things. So again, when Peter wrote to the Saints in his second epistle, again with days of giving up.
2nd Epistles always denote days of ruin and weakness. He said that he would not be negligent to put them in remembrance of these things, though they knew them and were established in the present truth. And if the apostles in their day felt the need of bringing these things before the Saints time and again, how much more in the day in which we live, educators say there are three hours to learning. Review, review, review. And that's true when it comes to the things of God.
But he's going to take up, as Bruce said here, the subject of godliness and the exercise of godliness. Now what you might say, what is this? Well, I suppose there are different thoughts, but it's really energy of faith in the things of God. Because if you and I are going to stand firm in the days in which we live and go on, not only individually but collectively, in these days where the enemy is busy to undermine the truth of God.
00:40:27
It does take energy of faith. It takes purpose of heart. More than just desire. You know, the slugger desires and has nothing. But Daniel had purpose of heart. He was motivated and the truth of God had got down into his heart, and it motivated him to stand in the days in which we live, which he lived. And so Timothy is told in this chapter to exercise himself unto godliness. Now there are young people here who perhaps get up a little early twice a week.
And they go to the gym or they take out membership so that they can workout an exercise.
And this chapter is not condemning that. In fact, it tells us bodily exercise profits for a little time.
Bodily exercise is good, and we want to take care of what God has given us physically. We're to be faithful stewards of it. No man yet hateth his flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ, the Church, and so on. But the point he's making here is there's something that's more important than bodily exercise, which is good for time, for this life, but there's something of eternal weight and value, and that's godly exercise. Now, standing for the truth or living for Christ is not easy.
It takes energy of faith. It takes exercise. You get up a little early to go to the gym and workout. That takes discipline. You perhaps dispense with a little sleep you'd like like to have had. There's a little expense in taking out a membership. There's energy has to be put forth. It takes real discipline and sacrifice. And brethren, if we're going to go on in the truth of God, especially in the days in which we live.
And not give heed to seducing spirits, not be swept along with the tide of apostasy. It's got to take more than desire. You know, after this meeting, we could desire to go up to the dining room and have have lunch. But we might sit here till this afternoon with a desire and never have lunch. No, it takes energy, physical energy to get up off these chairs and motivation to walk up that hill and to partake of what will be provided. And sometimes I hear someone say, well, so and so has a nice desire.
Brethren, it's nice to have a desire, but if you and I are going to stand in the days in which we live, it's going to take more than desire. It's going to take exercising ourselves unto godliness.
Just say a couple of comments with regard to verse six that that leads into the practical godliness that is needed. It's interesting to see in this sixth verse that he insists upon the need for Timothy to be sound in doctrine.
And he tells them how it's gonna, how that would be accomplished. And that is where unto thou hast attained. And that word attained should read, where unto thou hast fully followed up.
Whereunto thou hast fully followed up the point here in this sixth verse is the need to be sound and doctrine. So you see a moral order here, I think in the 1St 5 verses. There's that need to have an understanding of the times in which we're called to live. And then secondly, I need to be sound in doctrine. And he's talking here about how Timothy would be a good minister of Jesus Christ and as putting it before his brethren. But notice here it should be.
Look at the word noticed, nourished. Rather, it's something that is not just that he's learned, but it's something that has nourished his soul. He's taken it in, has become part of him. Because we're not to learn the truth just so we can teach it to others. We've bypassed something. If that's the case, it's good to learn the truth. I say this to the younger brother in particular. It's good to learn the truth, but you don't learn the truth just so you can sit in the meeting and tell others what it is that might be a result.
We learn the truth to get nursed in our souls 1St that it becomes part of us and we are built up spiritually as far as our spiritual constitution is concerned.
And then he'll speak a little later about how that we can, uh, exercise our gift in occasions when the Saints are together for the reading of the Scriptures and so on. But, uh, notice if we are going to be established in the truth, we're going to be sound and doctrine. It's going to take fully following up on the various subjects of Scripture.
00:45:00
You see what I mean? That last word attained in verse six. To fully follow up this takes personal study and diligence. Digging into written ministry that we've been given would be a good way, although Timothy didn't have that in his day. But nevertheless, we need to follow up on the subject so that we understand it somewhat and have it clear in our souls and something we've enjoyed as well before we seek to present it to others.
If it's going to have power, it must have power first with us before it will have power with others.
The danger in a day of ruin is that there are ones who may want to speak, and that's good, I suppose, in itself, but they haven't fully followed up on the subject and they say things that are not accurate and could mislead the things. No, there's no shortcut to ministering the Word of God. You know, we can't just think that while we're of a certain age, we should minister now. No, it takes this private, quiet study in the presence of the Lord fully following up on subjects.
So that when you do present them to your brethren, they have some order and some semblance and they are according to sound doctrine. So I just want to encourage the younger brother, do your homework, pay attention to doctrine. And there's a time coming when the Lord is going to use you if he leaves us here. And when you do open your mouth and you minister the word of God and amongst the Saints that you've got something to say and it's something that's accurate. That's something that's according to the truth. It's something that will build up the things because as we get things get weaker, then the tendency today is to have speaking. We have no lack of speaking in meetings often times I've noticed.
But is there substance there? And it's because we haven't been diligent in fully following up. So let me just insist upon this now, that we all take time to be alone with the Lord in our daily readings and so on, so that we learn the truth. And it's something that takes time.
Not an overnight thing. There's no shortcuts in in the things of God as far as being a good minister of Jesus Christ or Christ Jesus. It should read. Is that right, Jim? Yes. And then in that way, in the seventh verse in the, the thrust is a little stronger in Mr. Darby's translation. It's not just to refuse, but to avoid.
Uh, the pro profane and, and why, uh, fables and so on to avoid them. You know, the illustrations been used of the teller at the bank. She doesn't learn what counterfeit money is by handling counterfeit money. Well, just a little bit now and then. Well, no, she'd lose her job. No, she's to avoid it. She handles that which is real. And then when something that's counterfeit is handed to her, she immediately recognizes it. Why? Because she's familiar with counterfeit bills.
No, because she's familiar with the real currency, the true currency. And brethren, I, I believe this is important. I've known more than one young person who felt that they needed in counteracting that which they were hearing from their Christian friends at school that was false and so on. They felt they needed to delve in, in some depth to some of the false teachings that are afoot in Christendom today. And I, it has LED them away.
They became so tangled in their mind and confused in their souls.
That it LED them away from the truth. And so it's like the teller at the bank. She loses her job because she dabbles in just a little bit of, of the counterfeit currency. No, we want to be sound in the truth and then other things will follow. I want to say this too about your comments that Paul also said to Timothy, I think in the second epistle, thou hast fully known my doctrine and manner of life. Now, if I had been writing that or considering that.
I probably would have reversed the order, put manner of life or piety first and then doctrine. And isn't that the way we often do it in our minds? We say, well, isn't a godly life important? Yes, and he takes that up. Godly exercise is important and piety, practical piety is very important. But what is practical piety a result of? It's a result of having taken in and digested and made our own.
Sound teaching, not taking it in mentally, that's going to lead to legality, that's going to lead to outward moral conformity without the heart being engaged. And things might look very good on the outside, but what is really going to lead to godly exercise and practical piety is when I'm nourished by the truth myself. I've enjoyed it, made it my own. Then unconsciously, unconsciously, it's going to affect my manner of life. But Paul never put the manner of life over the doctrine.
00:50:09
No, and I know many true believers and their manner of life is impeccable, puts me to shame. But the question is, are things resting on sound doctrine? And when Paul gives a list in these epistles of things, sound doctrine always heads the list. Just one more example. He speaks of the importance of the inspired word. And all Scripture is is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. And what's the first thing it's profitable for? For doctrine because again, that's the basis for correction and instruction and righteousness.
And the other things that are listed. And so I believe, especially in the day in which we live, brethren, we cannot stress this enough. It is the foundation laid by the apostles who were inspired to write the epistles, and we need to build everything on that.
In Vancouver, where we come from, is the largest seaport in, uh, Western Canada, uh.
There is of course a lot of coming into these huge ships that come across from Asia and, uh, the last mile or so of the, uh, the journey into the port where they harbor, uh, the captains of the ship are not allowed to, to drive their ships. They have to have the harbor master send a, a, a man out in a boat that he gets on and takes over and guides the ship into the port. Why? Because he knows the harbor better than the man that's been, uh, captaining the ship across the sea.
And they asked the man one time, well, how do you know where all the rocks are and everything and how where to guide it in? He brings in so many 100 feet and then he wrote so many 100 yards and so many brings it in. He says, well, I don't. He said, I just know that I'm supposed to go this many 100 yards and if this many then I turn. And isn't it just like what it should be for us? We don't need to be schooled in all the bad doctrines that are out there if we understand the truth and we are sound in the faith when those things that come forth that don't jive with the truth that we know.
Will immediately identify that it's not right. And that's what Brother Jim has been saying. And so you don't need to learn all the bad doctrines, you just need to learn the truth. But that's our problem, brethren. Are we fully following up on these things?
Says in Romans chapter 14 in verse 17, For the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men. And so there is that inward work in our souls, isn't there, as we read the word of God and what the enemy desires in his deceit is that there would be an outward show. So you have the forbidding to marry and abstaining from meats, and then the bodily exercise all these outward things.
But God desires a work in the inward man that there might be conformity to Christ, that there might be fruit for himself. And so the enemy would desire to have all these things go on an outward show. And it's a particular danger in the day that we live in an outward show, just going on in a form, but not knowing why we're doing what we're doing. Isn't it lovely that we can just read the Word of God together and just understand the truth of God and understand some of these doctrines? And if we don't know.
Some of the teaching of Scripture and what the Spirit of God is trying to bring before us, why we have helps, as you say, the written ministry.
And others that do understand and do desire to walk in the truth with a good conscience and we can go and ask and to be taught. But then the enemy here. I just point this out old Prof we need to refuse or avoid profane and old wives fables. Now a fable is a very very good story. It sounds like the truth. It may even have some elements of the truth. It sounds real good, but it's not the truth and we need the word of God to ferret out those things. We need to have the.
Purity of the word of God. I'll just point out one other scripture in Luke's gospel chapter 4 and how, uh, if we are occupied with Christ and the words of the Lord Jesus himself as well as the apostles doctrine, we need both. It says in Luke's chapter 4 and verse 32 That they were astonished at his doctrine for his word was with power. And so we'll find that there is power with the word of God and with the words of the Lord Jesus. There's power, there's the, the Spirit of God can take that word.
And apply it to our hearts and consciences, that we might have our affection stirred for Christ, and that there might be that work, that enjoyment of Christ in the soul. But the outward thing, the fable, is going to give some glory to man, something that isn't of Christ.
00:55:06
Just need to reiterate that the Lord Jesus said I am the truth.
And as our hearts are occupied with Him, we will understand what truth is and it will be become a part of us. All truth will glorify Him. All truth will lead us to our affections, to to desire Him more, and to to think of truth as a cache of knowledge. We're going in the wrong way. We have to think of truth as who Christ is and its application to us is as we walk in and enjoy Christ.
Then it will become real to us and real to those around also.
Well, I was thinking too, of when John wrote to the Saints. Timothy was a young man when Paul wrote to him. And when John wrote, he commended the young men because they were strong. And they weren't strong because they went down to the gym and worked out twice a week. They were. And they weren't strong simply because they read the word of God either. But they were strong because the Word of God was abiding in them. And as brother Danny said, it's the truth as we have in Jesus, because all truth glorifies, brings glory to Christ.
Makes nothing of ourselves and glorifies Christ. I was thinking of the story that used to be told when we were young when Bruce was talking.
About talking a little earlier about a young man who came to, I believe it was Mr. Darby one time and he asked how he could study the word of God.
And Mr. Darby discerned in this young man that he simply wanted to study the Word of God to get a good knowledge so he could put it out. And Mr. Darby detecting this in this young man, he said, study well these words. The flesh profiteth nothing. And that's what the truth does when we get into the Word and we take in the truth as it is in Jesus. And it's important to see Christ in every line of this book. But when we take it in that way and it becomes part of us, then we're like the young men that John commended.
They, they, they had strength. There was power. But maybe there's some older ones here. And I was thinking of Caleb. Caleb, you know, he saw the inheritance. He was there when the grapes of Eshkol were plucked down. And though he never went in to take possession of it for 40 years, it got into his heart. And when he went finally, I think at 85 years of age, went in to take possession, he said, I'm as strong this day as when I came out. And so there was strength, there was power there. And I believe there's a spiritual principle that we can learn that wherever we are in our Christian life.
The power and strength to withstand the Wiles of the devil and to stand for the truth in our day, whether we're young or old, is to have taken the truth of God into our hearts and made it part of us. That's where the power really lies. The young man that came to Jan Darby I remember reading over, hearing of and he asked him about. He was impressed with Darby's knowledge of the word and so on. I guess he had been ministering it anyway. He asked him how he could have a good grasp of the word.
Darby said, Well, I would like to have the word have a good grasp of me.
You know, there is the intellectual understanding of Scripture, but there is the moral side of it that should have a grasp of Maine and change our lives. And so you can see in this chapter how that there's the fully following up in these things and umm, but then that leads into what we've already spoken out of practical godliness. And the result of that will lead to is what you get in verse 10, reproach. If you live in the truth and walk in the truth and propound the truth, it's unavoidable that there's going to be some sort of reproach.
And, uh, labor, uh, uh, suffer reproach and so on. That's mentioned in verse 10.
You see the order here too, it's exemplified in Ezra because Ezra set his heart to seek the law of the Lord his God and then to do it and then to teach statutes and judgments in Israel. And that's the order, isn't it? He sought it, He did it, and then he taught it says even of the Lord Jesus is the perfect example of all that Jesus began both to do and to teach, so that when they tried to take him in his words, why they couldn't.
Because what he said and what he did perfectly corresponded as that fine flower denoted in the meal offering in the Old Testament. And so we find in the last part of this chapter then Timothy is to teach these things and he's to give attendance to reading. And I just want to echo what you said earlier, Bruce, and that is the one needs to give attendance to reading here verse 13 till I come give attendance to reading. Exhortation doctrine. It's in connection with neglect, not the gift that is in the.
01:00:10
This is public reading of the Word of God. You know, in the early church there were probably very few who could read.
Certainly nobody with a Masters or a PhD. And so they were dependent on those who could read and minister the word of God. And Timothy was raised up as a special instrument to minister the truth of God. He'd taken it in. He'd enjoyed it himself. He was walking in it and he'd been given a gift. And that gift, I believe, was the gift to teach and he was to neglect it. Timothy, as we know from other scriptures, was reticent, perhaps a little shy. He needed to stir it up and be exercised.
To use it, but I would like to just make this very practical comment to all our hearts and that is that we need to avail ourselves of public reading and ministry of the word of God. Maybe there's some of us here and we come from tiny little assemblies and we have a meeting scheduled for ministry of the Word some week night or Sunday night. And we say, you know, there doesn't seem to be a lot of gift. And we come and we read a portion and we don't get a whole lot out of it. You know, one of the great sins of Israel in the wilderness.
Was that they despised the simple manner that God gave them. And I believe one of the things we need to be very careful of, brethren, is that we don't despise the simple manner that God gives us in the local assembly. The word of God hasn't changed. The Lord is there, the Spirit of God is there to the word of the Lord is the same. And can't he feed our souls, perhaps in ever so feeble a way, and give us what's needed when we come together and read a portion with exercise.
And if you come with an exercise to get something, I believe the Spirit of God can meet your need in a very simple way. And then we need times like this, too, when we're together, special times when the Word of God can be before us. We're thankful that we have these opportunities. I've been in Egypt this summer. And you know, when they get the Bible out to read it, they close the shutters, they close the door, we're asked to keep our voice down. We don't sing.
Because there's real fear now, brethren, we've got the doors open wide this morning. We're not afraid of somebody coming in here.
And busting down the door and arresting or shooting us because we're having the word of God before us in the presence of the Lord. No, we have this liberty now. Are we availing ourselves of it? Are we taking advantage of these times? And we need ministry in the assembly if we're going to be balanced Christians. Not that the Bible needs balance. It's the only balanced book there is. But it's we who need the balance.
So there's a lot of verses of the chapter. He's encouraging him to use his gift.
And he says the opportunity is ready made for you in these public readings of the scripture. As we were saying that they didn't have a, they're printing presses in those days. They don't have a copy of all the word of God. Someone may have had a few pages of this or that it was handwritten and they would come and those who could read, who were literate could read it out to the rest who couldn't under, uh, couldn't read. And then there's opportunity for exhortation and doctrine to follow. So it was a ready made opportunity for Timothy to.
Take advantage of this and what he says in verse 14 is very good for us and especially for those who are older in the room.
And that is, he tells him not to neglect the neglect the gift. He recognized that he had some ability in this way. And he said that not only that, that the older brethren, the which he calls the presbytery, could be translated the elderhood.
Had laid on hands with regard to him. What he's saying is, Timothy, you have a gift.
And it's been prophesied that you, ha uh, would be used of the Lord and your older brethren are behind you. They've laid hands on you in a figurative sense. They have given you the fellowship and support and said, we're behind you. Timothy, he says with this kind of encouragement, go forward and umm, occupy yourself with these things. And so I would just like to say to the older brethren here, if you see younger ones who are learning the truth and their lives are in order with regard to godliness and they have some gift to minister the word.
Get behind them and encourage them in their gift that they will be helpful and profitable in the assembly in the years to come if the Lord leads us here. You know this idea of trying to, uh, sit shotgun in the meeting and to hold down the younger brother who is not God's word. Here we have older brethren encouraging a younger brother who has the gift for it. Mind you, you don't want to encourage someone who may want to speak but doesn't hasn't fully followed up in these things and he doesn't have much substance.
01:05:06
But having these things in order, you can see why the elder hood would want to encourage one like this to exercise his gift. And that's a good work for an older brother to do, to encourage ones. Don't flatter them. Sometimes younger brother can get occupied with what they have and they can fall flat on their face. And we would have to be responsible with regard to that. I don't mean that, I mean godly encouragement. Now verse 15, it says meditate on these things. That's one of the poorest part translated parts of the whole epistle.
It's not the idea of.
Meditation here, which would be the idea of taking in quiet, taking in of the truth. It's the putting out it's output that's before us. He it should be translated. Occupy yourself with these things that is to be fully occupied in distributing the truth and exercising your gift and attending these readings and being helpful. And so it's not intake here, it's output that he's encouraging him in.
That may bring us Bruce really to that scripture where it says that study the shows I self approved unto God a Workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth because it says here in this verse 15, give thyself wholly to them. It's actually time involved. How much time do we spend studying the word of God? If the word of God, our joy, our delight, our food, our drink, it should be. I was talking with my stepson the other day and uh, he was quoting me a scripture and he said confessing your faults 1 to another.
And he said that that's, that's what we should do are are false. I said, well, I think that word was more than just false, you know, And he, he said, well, now, and we, we paid it about it for a while, you know, I said, well, Bobby, I think that the word basically also includes sin. But anyhow, I went home that night. That's just before we came down here and I looked the word up and that's what we have to spend time looking at word. I'll look the word up and it occurs. I remember because I just looked it up, uh, the other day.
20-3 Times Now it's translated offensive trespasses fall as translated sin four times. So my, my, my, my stepson was insisting that this word only meant false. It didn't have anything to do with sin. I said, well, Bobby, I, I haven't I, I, I just told him what I recollected. But now that I looked it up, I'll contact him when I get back and I'll tell him. He said, Bobby, this worked for 323 times and it's translated thin your, your sins and their iniquities. All I remember no more and so forth.
I said, if that's not false, so other words, I mean the, the, the responsibility is upon each one of us. And I don't believe it's just for, uh, a minister or the brother who may be labor. And I think every one of us should be meditate, give ourselves wholly unto them. We should want to know what the word of God teaches. It should be our food, our drink, our delight. It should throw our hearts that they're studying to know what God is trying to tell us in his word.
There's a warning here to Timothy, I think would be good at the end of the before the meeting ends to notice. And that is that for Timothy or any who minister the word, there needs to be a proper progression. It's interesting, Mr. Darby, when it speaks about profiting, it's really progression here. You know, there needs to be. The Saints need to see a growth and a progression in those who minister the truth. And then he was to take heed to his own ministry.
Because in doing so, interesting statement here, he would both save himself and those that he ministered to.
And I, I believe there are those who ministered the word, have ministered the word to us and they did it well, but they didn't take heed to their own ministry. And many of the things that they ministered on, they didn't take heed to themselves. And not only did it lead them from the past, but sad to say, it took followers with them. You know, those who Satan is always busy to try to trip up those in a place of leadership and influence amongst the people of God, whether it's in the local assembly or on a wider sphere, because he.
Realizes in doing so, not only do they miss the path, but they usually take others with them. And so it's a warning to any who minister to the word, the word minister the word, to take heed to their own ministry, what they minister. So that in doing so, there would be blessing not only for those they minister to, but for themselves as well. And the saving of thyself here is the saving of from what we have in the first few verses.
01:10:06
That movement that's afoot in the Christian testimony away from the truth. So sound doctrine will save us and saving here is in the, in the aspect of a practical deliverance from, uh, these errors and things that have come in. Just to build a little, just a couple of words on Acts chapter 16, just to build on what you were saying earlier about Timothy as a young man and verse two, Acts 16 and verse two, he was Timothy was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.
Him would Paul have to go forth with him? And so there was a manner of life, there was a godliness, there was a walk with the Lord privately first, and then he could be of use to the Lord and to the Lord's people.
An Israelite who had a vineyard and had an eaten of it was not to go out to battle, you know, and two things happen in battle. You're out there to save yourself, but you're out there also to save others. And so if he hadn't taken in that vineyard, he only planted it, it hadn't really nourished him, then he was going to die in battle and he wouldn't be able to save himself and he wouldn't be able to save anyone else either.
We sing 22 in the appendix.
Your presence is uh.
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh oh, period.
Let me.
Umm.
Also saving 288.
#288.
Oh my God, today is all over the evening and there's a boy and seven nights I'm at the end of the day and it's like getting close, powerful and drinking. It's a lot of.
The difference so I'm.
01:15:58
How many increased rates and.
Umm, I don't know what are the problems with the mile? I'm going to miles away.
Gravity and.
France.
We got a little all of our community and stuff arriving. Uh-huh. And.
Satan's Devices
Address—Bruce Anstey
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.
Let's begin by singing #294.
294 Oh come thou stricken Lamb of God, who sheds for us thine own lifeblood, and teaches all thy love, then pain in life were sweet and deaf.
Were gained 294.
It's been a while.
Beforehand, grandparents were in the air.
Mountains. Are there anything exclusions anywhere that's a blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah?
Blah down there and by my voice followed by.
A little highlight and snakes. I don't know I'm busy with Your name, please.
And umm.
The rest of the rest of our gods and men and they'd be surprised, Pride and cry.
Together, I don't know what to do. And then I'm like, whatever, it's a lot of like, umm.
And outside changing and sunlight problem.
Really. I haven't heard a reply all the time.
Let's give thanks now and ask the Lord's help our God and our Father. We thank before this prayer Him and trust that it is the expression of our hearts, every one of us, that we would have the Lord Jesus as the one who would take our hearts and let them be closed through all but Thee. And we just pray that that would work in our souls this day this afternoon, to create exercise.
With regard to the path of faith, the Lord Jesus, Thou hast redeemed us, and we own this. And we pray that thy claims over us would be felt in such a way that we would want to honor thee in our lives. In every way, we pray for the young people, especially this afternoon, and ask our Father that they may hear things that would touch their hearts and motivate them to want to live for thee. And pray our God and our Father that as thy word is open, that thou would grant liberty by the Spirit of God to make the applications from Scripture for our lives.
And we pray above all our Father that the Lord Jesus would be before us and all of his glory, and that everything that we do, the motive would be.
For him. So we commit this time to thee, and we just thank you for the opportunity to open thy word. We ask thy help now and give thee our thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus, Amen.
Let's open up to first Peter Chapter 5 for an introductory verse.
00:05:10
First Peter, Chapter 5.
And uh.
Verse 8.
Be sober. Be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, is a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour.
We hardly need this exhortation because we're fully aware that we are in a spiritual conflict.
In this world and we have an enemy, the devil, who is seeking to.
Devour us in the sense that he mentions here, and to spoil our Christian lives so that we are.
Not effective in this world as a witness for the Lord Jesus.
And this is an exhortation for all the people of God. This message this afternoon is directed particularly toward the young. But I believe that the comments that we will make and the applications from Scripture and so on are broad enough for all of us. And so it's not just the young that have to be careful with regard to this enemy. And we've had it mentioned in our meetings that the Christian really has three enemies, the world, the flesh and the devil, an infernal enemy, an internal enemy, and a.
An outward enemy?
And umm, they work together. But my point in reading this and introduction is that, uh, we need to realize that this enemy is at work and he wants to devour us in the sense that's mentioned here. Now this is not referring to the loss of our salvation or anything like that because scripture does not support such an idea. But the word devour here is only used one other place in the New Testament I believe, and that's in Second Corinthians chapter 2.
Where it speaks there about a person being swallowed up with over much sorrow. Swallowed up is the idea of being devoured. And uh, I believe that the enemy is at work today to take not only the young but all the children of God if possible, and get them swallowed up in his system, in this world so that their lives amount to no spiritual good. And so we have to realize that this is what the enemy is up to. He wants to swallow us up in his system of things so that we're so taken up with.
Uh, this world's entertainment, this world's, uh, politics and uh, arts and whatever else it may be so that our lives are really rendered useless for the Kingdom of God and as the the devil is spoken of in the scripture, God of this world and also the Prince of this world. And there's two different aspects of his work as the as the Prince of this world, he's the head of a secular system. And uh.
Behind everything he is at work, and, as he is called, the God of this world as well, and there he is the head of its religious system.
And whatever it may be that is an interest to us, or where we may have a hankering in our souls, this enemy is at work and would delight to distract us and to swallow us up in His system. Now we're told from Second Corinthians chapter 2 as well that we are not ignorant of Satan's devices, that is the apostles and God has given to us in His word certain principles and warnings and exposures of this enemy.
And so that we are not ignorant of his devices, that we're fully aware of what he's up to and what he's trying to do with the young as well as the old. And I would like to look into a passage in the Old Testament that really discloses the the attempts of the enemy to to derail us and to swallow us up in his system. And I just think it's incredible that God would take time in His word to really unveil really the.
Motives that are behind the enemy of our souls, and to make it very clear to us exactly what he's up to.
So that we have to not we have no surprise as to what his line of attack is.
You know, years ago when Mr. Hayhoe was still alive, him and his wife Pearl had. We had the opportunity of having them in our home for a meal. And when we he got into the home, it wasn't very long and he spotted something on the counter that we had and that was a chess game with all the pieces set up. And he told us a very interesting story that I'd like to repeat to you. He said either when he was in Europe or he knew of this in Europe and one of the towns in Europe, there was this huge mural drawn on the wall.
00:10:00
Of the city. And it was quite a famous mural. People from all around knew about it. They had been there for many, many years. And so they just passed right by it because everybody in town knew that mural. And on that mural was a painting of a chess game.
And on one side of the board there was a young man and on the other side of the board.
There was the artist's conception of the devil. You know what I'm talking about. People have their conceptions of what the devil is. I'm not saying the Bible teaches that, But this beast with this Longhorns and the and this red garment and a fork and all this, anyway, he was there on the other side of the board, and the pieces were arranged in such a way. On the board, Mr. Hale told us that it was seemingly impossible for the young man to get away. He was just a few moves from being checkmated. And if you looked at the board, you see there's just If you went this way, the devil would get him. If you went this way, the devil would get him. He went this way, The devil would get him. He was it was all but nigh done for.
And I.
He mentioned how that that's the way things are in this world very often with regard to the young, they have an incredible you young people have an incredible, uh, challenge in your life to live for God and God's principles, because the power of the devil seems to be more fervent than ever. And if you don't have the principles of God's word, you're going to be like that young man on that mural. You are going to be in a losing position and the devil is going to get the victory in your life so that you'll be swallowed up.
Into his system and you will be given to just promoting his cause in this world and it will be a very unhappy and unsatisfying and unrewarding life. And there are many Christians that have been swallowed up in this sense and that's why we have this warning here anyway. Mr. Hayhoe said that what happened was that there was a Grand Master chess player that came to town one day and he was fascinated by this huge mural that was on the wall.
In the city. And he stood for the longest time, and Justice gazed at it, and he looked at it, and he looked at it and he looked at it.
And finally, he declared, I have a way to deliver that young man and he knew certain moves because he was a master at the game. How he could divert the enemy's attack and get that young man free.
And he was told in the in the city, and apparently it was even published in one of their local papers, the various moves that could be done to get that young man out of that problem.
And he likened it unto the way in which the Lord, who is superior to our enemy for greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world. He knows the tactics of the enemy, and he has a way to defeat all of the ruses of the enemy of our souls.
And he's written him down too in this book that we're going to read this afternoon. And he is disclosed to us the various attempts of the enemy and his attacks whereby we can be delivered from his attempt.
To swallow us up in his system. And so we're thankful to God, aren't we, when we think of all that He's given to us?
This book that tells us all of our blessings and everything. It also warns us in the pathway.
And tells us exactly what the enemy is up to. And so I'd like to turn to a passage in the Old Testament by way of type.
And just see how that God has done that very thing disclosed to us.
The enemy's attempts and what we need to be careful of and weary of if we're going to be preserved in the pathway. Let's turn to the first chapter of Daniel.
This chapter is to do with the king of Nebuchadnezzar, and I don't have time, but I would like to take time to look at a number of enemy old Old Testament enemies of the Children of Israel, for many of them are types of the devil himself.
And to see what those enemies were up to are a mere image of what the devil our enemy is up to.
But we don't have time this afternoon to look at the mall. But we could see the King of Egypt, for instance, or the King of Sodom.
The King of Syria I've chosen for this afternoon. The King of Babylon. And I want to read just a few verses here in the first chapter and make some very.
Uh, needed applications, I believe. Uh for our souls. Let's read chapter one, verse one. In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, came Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon.
Unto Jerusalem and beseeched it, and the Lord gave Jehoiakim the king of Judah.
Into his hands with part of the vessels of the House of God, which he carried unto the land of Shinar, in the House of his God.
And he brought the vessels into the House of God of his the treasure House of his God.
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And the king spake unto espionage the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel.
And of the King's seed, and of the Princess.
Children, I should read, youths in whom was number, blemish, but well favored, skillful in all wisdom and cunning, and knowledge and understanding science, and such as had the ability in them to stand in the King's palace, and whom they might teach their learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed them a daily provision of the King's meat, and of the wine which he drank. So he nourished them three years.
And at the end thereof that they might stand before the king. Now among these were the children of Judah.
Daniel, Hananiah, Meshel, and Azariah, and unto whom the king of the eunuchs gave names, for which he gave to Daniel the name Belteshazzar, and to Hananiah Shadrach, and to Michel Meshach, and unto Azariah Abednego.
We'll stop there.
Here we have an enemy of the children of Israel, and I believe that if we understand the typical teaching of this chapter, we'll see exactly what this enemy was up to. And as I said already, he's a mirror image of really what the enemy of our souls is up to, and it's very instructive for us. There are some six things I'd like to point out here that the king of Nebuchadnezzar did to the children of Israel, and that what he's trying to do with the use of the Lord's people today. Now notice the first thing that is mentioned in verses one and two.
And that is that the king of Nebuchadnezzar came up into the land of Israel and he deported God's people.
To another land altogether, the land of the Chaldeans. And uh, what actually happened was he took them away from their inheritance that God had given them in the land of Canaan and took them far away to the land of Babylon where they were deported and deposited. And I believe this is a little picture for us of what the enemy of our souls is trying to do, just as this enemy here took the children of Israel away from their God-given inheritance.
The enemy of our souls is trying to take us away from the enjoyment of our inheritance.
You see, the land that flowed with milk and honey that God had given to them was God's portion.
And the inheritance for God's people. But where they were now taken away by the king of Babylon, they could no longer enjoy that.
They were in a position and in a state where they could not enjoy the milk and honey that flowed in that land.
And that's the very first thing that I believe that the enemy is trying to do in our lives, and that is to take us away from the enjoyment of our portion in Christ. If he can get us away from enjoying our portion in Christ, the other things that he's going to introduce in this chapter will will be relatively easy to pull over on God's people. And so it's a sad thing indeed, but this is what the enemy is trying to do, take us away from the enjoyment.
Of our portion in Christ, you know it says in first Peter chapter one that we have an inheritance in the reserved in heaven for you or could be translated a portion. And it's also mentioned in Colossians one and also in Acts I think 26 each time it calls it a portion or it could be translated in inheritance that we have. It's a spiritual inheritance of heavenly things that are ours and God wants us to live in the enjoyment of those heavenly things while we're here now.
And he's made every provision for us that we can by giving us the Spirit of God and the Word of God.
And the Spirit of God would delight to take of the things of Christ and to show them unto us, and to fill our hearts with the enjoyment of those things. But there's an enemy on the other hand, that is trying to spoil our enjoyment of our portion in Christ. Now isn't this interesting that the place that he took them to was called the land of Shinar? Do you know what the land what Shinar means? Shinar means casting off or to cast off.
And it reminds me of that verse that we have in Proverbs 29 that tells us that.
Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint, and this enemy of ours wants us to cast off all restraint that there is.
In the word of God and in our households and families and the Assembly.
And just to do our own will and independence of God.
And this land of Shinar was named that. I suspect it was named that probably because that was the character of things in that place, just casting off restraints. And so the enemy would like to encourage us to let go of the the moral laws and principles and standards that we have grown up with and get us to think outside the box, so to speak. And by by doing that, it will lead to the casting off of divine principles.
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How careful we have to be.
Not allowed this kind of thinking.
To sweep over us, you know, Daniel.
We'll find a little later here he stands against us. But right now we find that the book does not begin with Daniel. It begins with the operations of this king and what he was up to. We'll see in Daniel Howard to respond to it, and we'll look at a few principles there. So the first thing there is that he deported them from their land and that took them away from their land that flowed with milk and honey. The second thing you find that he did. Well, that's a change. There's a number of changes that I'm going to point out here first, if you change their location.
Next thing we find here is he changed their young men into eunuchs.
He changed their young men into eunuchs. Verse three says in the king spake unto Ashpen, as the master of the eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel who were under his hand the King's seed and Princess, and so on. And if you read in Isaiah 39, I think it's one of the last verses of that chapter, you'll find that when the king of Babylon came up, Isaiah was prophesied that he would make all of the King's seed and the children of Judah, the young man who would make them into eunuchs. And so we know that that's what happened here.
He changed the young men.
Into eunuch in Babylon. Now the thought of a eunuch in scripture is that one who is not able to procreate and he's not productive. And that's what the enemy would like to do in our lives too, is to make us unproductive in the Kingdom of God, to make us so that we are not of any spiritual benefit or profit because we have been swallowed up in the ways and system of our enemy, the devil.
And so we find here that he made them Unix in the.
Kingdom of Babylon. I don't have to tell you that. You should know very well dear young people, especially the young men who can be used of God to be a help in the assembly. That there is an enemy that wants to make you a big fat zero, to make you ineffective, to make you a eunuch so that you are not productive in the assembly.
God wants you to be productive. The New Testament bounds with verses that tell us that God would have us to be overflowing and being fruitful in every good work and so on. I could turn you to them if we wanted, but it would take too much time. Suffice it to be said that God wants us to be fruitful in our Christian lives, but the enemy, on the other hand, wants to make us unfruitful and unproductive in the things of God. Of course, you can understand the enemy's tactic here.
He didn't want the children of Israel to rise up and have a king and anoint him king and maybe have an insurrection in Babylon, so he made sure that they're all royal seed was taken out of Commission.
And the idea of the royal seat is ones who have leadership qualities, ones who are able to to to lead or have some capacity to umm, stand up and be counted and and lead some of God's people particularly that is the person that the enemy would like to render useless in his Kingdom. Now let's look at another point. Here we find that not only did he change the young men into eunuchs, but he changed the purpose of their existence.
Because it says here that he took those ones who had ability in science and in knowledge and so on.
And he wanted them to be fitted to his system so that they could stand in the palace of Babylon and promote its cause. Now that's not at all what God had given for his people, Israel.
That was in God's purpose. If we turn back to Isaiah 43 and verse 10, I think it is.
21 verse 21 It says, This people have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise. That's what Jehovah formed the children of Israel for. That's what he called them for, and that's what he redeemed them for, that they may be vessels to show forth his praise. And it's just the same for us. God has picked us up and saved us, because he wants to use this to transmit his glory to this world and to demonstrate Christ before this world. And but this enemy, he had a completely different program for them. He wanted them to get involved with his school there in Babylon, and he wanted them to.
To the end that they would stand in the King's palace and promote the cause of Babylon in this world. And I can tell you that the devil, the enemy of our souls, wants us to build up this system, get so wrapped up in it, and get so involved with the various things in life, that we may further the cause of things in this world. But the things of God are left undone. And so it tells us here in this fourth verse that.
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It was particularly the ones who were skillful and wisdom and knowledge and ability that he particularly wanted to master the eunuchs, to separate and to put them through this system whereby they would be fitted for the cause of promoting Babylon. And I believe that if you have wisdom, or at least an understanding and knowledge, you're a smart person, you're good looking, you've got some some ability in life, you're the one that the enemy is particularly targeting. And I can see a lot of nice good looking young persons here in this room this afternoon.
You have a target on your back. Satan has designs on your life. He wants to take you and form you and mold you to his system so that in the end the net result is that you are pretty much useless in the assembly. And it says here that he was he was going to put them through three years of this and it just shows us that the enemy is fully understand that it takes time to fully corrupt the people of God. A little bit here, a little bit there, until finally we are thoroughly indoctrinated with the ways and principles of this world.
How this just tears the cover off of Satan's ways.
When we look at this in this typical significance, it's amazing to me.
Well, there's more than that. We find that not only did he change the purpose of their existence, but he wanted to change their language. See, it says there that he would teach them the uh, the learning of the tongue of the Calibans, the Chaldeans.
He didn't want them speaking the Jews language Hebrew.
In Babylon, because that would have.
Been counterproductive and would have kept them together by themselves. We see that when communities from Europe move over here or from Asia, that uh, if they don't learn the language, the English language. What happens is it has a tendency of keeping them together in a community by themselves. But this enemy didn't want that at all. He wanted to fully integrate them into the system of Babylon. And so he didn't want them speaking that language anymore. He wanted them to learn the tongue of the Chaldeans so that they would speak like the Chaldeans and so they would be.
Further integrated into the Babylonian society.
And I believe that the enemy of our souls wants to do the very same thing. He wants us to talk like the world. Not just think like the world, but to talk like the world. And to have that same disrespect And to be cool, You know, to speak rough and tough and all this kind of thing and use the world's phraseology and slang and all the rest of it, so that we don't stand out as being different from the people of this world. And this chapter is quite good for us at this time of year, because I know many of you young people are going back to school and to college.
And this is a little picture of the children of Israel being at school in this place called Babylon.
And we need to have the exercises that Daniel and his three friends had, that we might be preserved from the uh inroads of the enemy and his tactics and ruses.
And so I feel for you young people as you go back. There is such a thing as peer pressure. We all know about it.
And the enemy of our souls wants to apply the pressure so that we conform to the system.
And he wants us to speak like the people of this world and use all their phraseology and so on, so that we fit in and we feel like we belong. And it's not wrong to want to belong, but with whom do we want to belong? There should not be, of course, those who are the enemies of the Cross of Christ. So we changed their language. Not only that, he changed their diet.
He changed their diet. Verse five tells us that he wanted them to eat the things of the Babylonians we're eating and how. Uh.
Much this speaks to us of what the enemy of our souls is trying to do to get us to feed on the same things that the people of this world feed on.
The King's meat and a portion of the wine, I believe it says.
The things that sustain this world socially and so on. The enemy of our souls wants us to be feeding on that. And you know, with all of the advances in technology and so on, we're just bombarded with all these devices whereby they have their, if they're in, held in unconsecrated hands, they have their way of just bringing the world right into our souls. I mean, you can feed on the things of this world, whether it's just music and it's entertainment.
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You think of all the DVD's in the iPods and the things that they have today that we didn't know anything about when we were younger. All of those things, if they're held an unconsecrated hands.
Can be used as the enemy to defile your soul. And that's exactly what the enemy wants you to do. He wants you to feed on it from morning to night.
And the net result will be that you'll become spiritually weak and it'll break down your constitution spiritually, so that you'll have no spiritual energy or power or even will or desire to do the things of God. Is that what you want for your life? Is that what I want? Surely not. Well, we have to be careful then what we eat. So they wanted to change their diet. Lastly, he changed their names. Change their names.
Why would you want to change the names of these children of Israel? It was because he wanted to hide their identity.
If he walked around, uh.
Babylon with the names of, you know, Daniel and Hananiah and Michelle. These were Jewish names that made a person.
Immediately identified that they were Jews. But this enemy did not want them to be identified in that way. He wanted to hide their identity, so he wanted them to have a different name, and he gave them different names so that they would fit in with all the rest Just.
And go along with it.
And I believe that the enemy of our souls wants us to fit in with the people that we rub shoulders with, whether it's at school or whether it's at work, so that we don't look like Christians. We don't stand out as being different. He wants us to be closeted Christians, if I could use that terminology. Secret disciples like Joseph of Arimathea, so that nobody knows that we are Christian and that's what the enemy is up to. He wants us to keep our mouths shut and not identify ourselves.
As belonging to the Lord Jesus. And so the idea of changing the name was to to, uh, to hide the identity of these dear children of God. So I think here in these six things we have really a real disclosure, a real expose of what the enemy of our souls is trying to do in his attempt to devour us or to swallow us up in his system. We have no there's nothing that should surprise us, really.
When we have the book open the word of God because we're not ignorant of his devices if we.
Read these things and to meditate on them. God has fully shown to us what He has in mind. Now what you have in Daniel and his three friends, of course, is a an exercise that we all should have. We all need to have an exercise like Daniel that made him to be a man of God, and he is a true overcomer in the day when things were being overcome. And in one sense, we're all we're either an overcomer or we're among the overcomers. We're either overcomers or we're overcomes.
We're either rising above the norm of the day because there's some exercise, or we are.
Compromising in some way.
I want to point out four or five things here that Daniel did that gave him to have the courage to stand up against this that we need in our lives.
But before I do, I'd just like to mention.
That Daniel, he had a choice to make, and we do too. He could have compromised and he wouldn't have been criticized by his brethren because the mass of them had given in to the king of Babylon and said it's no use where conquered people. We might as well just go along with it. And after all, Jeremiah prophesied in his 29th chapter of Jeremiah that when you're taken away by captive by your captures into that city, seek the peace of the city and.
Don't rock the boat. You can read about it in Jeremiah 29. He told them that when you get carried away and your enemies take you away, seek the peace of the city. And you could very easily interpret that as let's not rock the boat. If the king wants us to do this, let's just go along with it. After all, the prophet told us to do that, and so Daniel, he could have opted and taken that road of compromise if he wanted to and he wouldn't have been criticized, I don't believe, by the mass of his brethren.
Because after all, they were doing it.
But Daniel wouldn't do that. He could have taken another angle of compromise, and that is, uh, in the book of Deuteronomy, it tells us that when thou comest into the land, I don't know how many times it talks about the land. The 11Th chapter alone, there's something like 25 times it mentions in the land, in the land. And the book for Deuteronomy, as you all know, is instruction for the children of Israel when they come into the land.
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And it tells us many things they were to do. One of them is about the food list that they were, their dietary laws and so on is chapter 14 in Deuteronomy, I believe.
And Daniel could have very easily said well.
It's true that we as Jews have all these laws and customs that we are to follow, but it says in Deuteronomy that thou shalt do that when thou comest into thy land, that we are not in our land anymore. Therefore it doesn't apply and we should just not go in with those things. Let's just go along with what the these Babylonians want us to do, and you'd be hard pressed to find criticism with that kind of argument.
And such it is. I believe that God does test us with regard to whether we want to please the Lord. And there are many reasoning mind. We all have reasoning minds, but they're very plausible arguments that can be brought forward that we should go along with things of this day. After all, we don't live in the days of the apostles, and we don't live in the days of the Brethren from a century or two ago, And that we have to make our living in this day of 2008, and therefore there should be some.
Way of of interpreting scripture that it would allow us to make a way through life. You know, God allows us to be tested in these things.
And we can take these options as well.
I don't believe it's right, but I'm just saying that such are the ways of our hearts, and there are many who will teach us that it uh, we need to go along with things as they are in this world, because of where we are and when we've been called to live. But Daniel would have none of it. It says in verse 8, Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile or pollute himself with a portion of the King's meat, nor with the wine that he drank.
And therefore he requested with the kings the eunuch, the Prince of the eunuch, that he might not defile himself. He had an exercise. This is the first thing.
He had an exercise to keep himself separate.
From the corruptions in Babylon, and it came from his heart.
He purposed in his heart. Daniel had a heart to want to please the Lord, and it resulted in him trying to keep himself separate.
From all those corruptions that were in Babylon, he probably full well knew of the arguments that were out there that were compromised.
As I've mentioned to you, but he would have none of it. He wanted to keep himself separate from it for the sake of the Lord. And I think it think it's beautiful that he had such an exercise. And I believe that we're going to be an overcomer. This is where it begins.
Daniel was a separated man and it made him a holy man and will find that it will end up making him a useful man.
In a time when God would need a man in those situations in Babylon.
And so I I just want to say to you young people that this is a good place to have an exercise before the Lord from your heart that you want to please the Lord. And it would be in simply, you know, you're young, you may not feel you can do that much as far as service and preaching and so on, but this is something you can do. You can keep yourself separate from the things of this world and keep thyself pure, as Paul told Timothy. And that's something that's of a great value with the Lord. He values that, those kinds of exercises. And we find here that that's why the book of Daniel, or at least one of the reasons why the book of Daniel has been recorded.
Because God saw this man and he was going to use him.
And I'd like to say to your young brothers particularly and sisters as well, that God wants to use you today. There's a tremendous need among the people of God and uh, it's going to need for you to start with this particular exercise of uh.
Not defiling yourself with the King's meat in the next series of verses in the chapter. I won't read it.
You get the the thoughts here that umm.
He influenced three other men, for it does not tell us that they had this original exercise, but when they saw him standing up and desiring to keep himself separate, that they were influenced by it, and it says that they wanted to do it as well. And his three friends as we know, verse 11, they became his companion.
And I believe that if we have the strength of our courage to stand, the courage to strength to stand for our convictions that we have.
That God will use us to influence other persons and uh it will get easier because God will provide others to to walk within the pathway. And then we find all a little bit later in the chapter that uh, God rewarded this exercise that they had and he gave them a prosperity in their health.
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Tells us that they were fairer and fatter than all the others that were there, and they prospered in their health. And this is a type of if we walk in separation, we are going to, and we feed on the things of God, things of Christ, that we're going to prosper in our souls spiritually. No, it doesn't mean that you're going to be healthy like this prosperity doctrine of Brother, I replied was telling us about no, I'm speaking from this chapter for its typical significance.
And how that they are seen here as being.
In in good physical health is a little picture of being in a good spiritual state and healthy. And so this is what we see results from them feeding on the things that were given for the people of God see the pulse or the kind of like a porridge I guess of greens mixed up and that's what they fed on. Well, that was something that the children of Israel were supposed to eat, you know, but the King's meat that had been defiled by.
Its connection with idols and the mixture of things that they were not allowed to eat, they refused.
Now let's look at another point here in chapter 2, verse 17 and 18.
And Daniel went into his house and made the thing known to Hananiah and to Michel and Azariah. His companions noticed that his companions. I want to emphasize this, that they would desire the mercies of God from heaven concerning this secret, that Daniel and his fellows, known as Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the men in Babylon. Well, what happened in the second chapter is there was a crisis in the Kingdom. The king had a dream, and he forgot it. And he wanted not only the wise men in Babylon to not only to interpret the dream, but they they had to come up with and find what he forgot.
So they had to know what the dream was about and also give an interpretation. And the threat was out that if they didn't, they were going to be all killed. And Daniel and his friends were going to be lumped in that group and they were going to be killed. And so there was a crisis in the Kingdom, and we find that Daniel resorts to his house with his three friends and they pray together and they seek the face of God. And God gave them the answer. But my point here is simply this. Daniel had good companions. He had good.
Friendship. It says here his companions verse 17, his fellows verse 18. And this is another thing that I believe that gave Daniel to be an overcomer in that day. Not only did he have an exercise to be separate from the defilements that there were in Babylon, but he sought out and good companionship and they were a help to him in a number of different ways. And let's just say that if you want to be an overcomer, that's another essential thing that you need.
Good companions, you know, It says in Uh, let's see, it's Psalm 119. It says I am a companion of all them that fear thee and keep thy precepts. That tells us what kind of companions we need to have.
Them that fear thee as they have a fear of the Lord in their lives, but also that them that keep thy precepts. You see, a precept is something is the very smallest detail in the law, and here there are fastidious and wanting to keep it. So they're really zealous about not only fearing the Lord, and the first fear of the Lord is to depart from evil, we're told from Proverbs. But the second is that they were fastidious in their desire to keep the word of God and to obey the word of God, even right down to the smallest details and precepts.
That was the kind of companion that is the kind of companions that the psalmist had. And it's the kind of companions that we need to have. We need to surround ourselves with godly individuals that will be like an insulation from the world. It's for encouragement, for preservation times of of of of support and trial and discouragement. Our friends can be a tremendous help for us. I think of David's men. I don't want to turn over there because it would take too much time. But in First Samuel, I think it's 25 and it's a story about naval.
You'll find there that David's young men, they were like a wall to Nabel's young men out in the field while they were shearing their sheep. And they came back and reported that to Abigail, their mistress. And they said that all the while that David's men were with us, they were like a wall unto us from the the dangers in the desert. Because, you see, when they're shearing sheep, that's the time when all the robberies go on, because the desert bands and so on would come in.
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Wait for the shepherds to shear all the sheep and scoop it up and go. And all the while they were carrying on this way these young men of David were like a a wall of protection for nables, men, young men. And they reported that. And I like to think of that, you know, is that we can be a wall of protection to our dear fellow friends and companions. Maybe there is a weak moment and they get discouraged and think about doing something worldly or something they know that is not right or is questionable. We can be right there to be a help, and they can be there a help to us.
As I look back in my Christian life, I can be thankful.
For young brothers that were my age that we could be an encouragement to one another.
You need good companions. There's no such thing in Christianity as being an island Christian. You know what I mean? Guy off on by by himself on an island, you know, on an island is sitting out there by itself, not attached to any piece of land. Heinz Brinkman used to tell us there's no Robinson Crusoe Christians in in the Bible. God doesn't want us to be off by ourselves. No Christianity is to do with a community of fellowship, and there's tremendous things that we can benefit by being in the fellowship.
Of God's people. And so even amongst the young people, think about that. OK, let me look at another point here as we pass on.
Yet an exercise to keep themselves separate from the pollutions. In Babylon, he was a man that sought out good companions. And then we turn over to Chapter 6. Here you'll find that.
He was a man of prayer.
Chapter 6 and verse 10. Now, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went to his house and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem. He kneeled down on his knees and three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he did afore time. As Daniel was a praying man, he was a man that spent time in the presence of the Lord, and that's essential as well. You know, we don't have our link in prayer with the Lord. It's our line of communion with Him.
Everything is going to get out of sync. Even though we might want to stand on right principles and stand for right things, we need to have a living link of communion with the Lord, and it's a daily thing. I don't say you have to get together in your closet to pray three times a day, as he did, although it tells us in Psalm 55 that the Psalmist did the same thing. Maybe that's where Daniel learned it, but the idea is to spend time alone with the Lord every day. If you don't have a quiet time in your life where you spend time alone with the Lord today, there's something desperately missing in your Christian life.
You need to have a quiet time in your Christian life. It is absolutely essential and prayer is something that is being neglected in this day. Bible reading is being neglected too, but I think prayer is being more neglected than Bible reading.
It's the habit very often.
Of us to read a chapter in the morning, but we don't really spend much time praying. And prayer is something that is. Being more and more relegated to something is not important in the Christian world. And I can prove it to you because the churches across the land, as well as the gathered Saints, when it comes to the midweek meeting, when they have a prayer meeting, half the Saints don't show up or even less. I've gone past many, many churches driven on those nights and you see.
Are on the Lord's Day, and I'm not picking on any Christian group at all. In particular. I'm just saying you may have two or 300 people on Thursday morning to go to the worship hour or whatever they call it. But on Wednesday night, when they have a little prayer meeting and it says it on the board, so I know that's what they're doing. There's only five or six cars there, the pastor and his faithful few or whatever, and we can't point fingers at them. It's exactly the same among the gathered Saints.
Exactly the same.
Why? Well, our lives to say that. You don't need me to tell you why. Our lives are saying we don't really think it's that important.
It's one of those optional things. No, it's not. It's one of the four anchors, you know, in Acts Chapter 27, a little picture there of the ship that was going through the sea, you know, the Apostle Paul, you know the story, and eventually fell on rocks. It was all destroyed. Well, and when they got near the rocks, they got afraid. And what they did was that they, when they realized that they were going to hit the rocks to keep themselves away from the rocks, they threw out the four anchors, it says. And that kept them from moving and being.
Pushed by the currents into the rocks and they were preserved for a time.
And if you go back to the to the second chapter of that same book of the Acts, I believe that God gives us what those anchors really typify.
00:50:04
And it says there in Acts 242, and they continue steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and breaking of bread and prayers. There's four things that God gave to them right at the very beginning that we're like anchors that they needed to have in their lives. And now at the end you find that there was danger that they were falling upon the rocks. They threw up the anchors and that preserved them from getting into the rocks. We need those anchors in our Christian lives. Dear brethren, dear friend, young people, I know you've got school, work, and you got all kinds of responsibilities.
But if you have the faith to push those things aside for the hour and go to the prayer meeting, you're going to profit in your soul and the Lord is not going to let you down.
Well you know what happened in that story in Acts 27, they got a bright idea, it was a bad idea. But they got this idea that if they were going to get to land, what they should do is cut off the anchors and then thrust the ship into the shore. And it says it doesn't say in the King James Version, but if you read in Darby's it says they cut the anchors and they made their way towards shore. And you know what they did? They hit the rocks and the whole ship got smashed to pieces.
If we cut out the four anchors in our Christian life, we're headed for the rocks. We're headed for shipwreck. It's as simple as that. Perhaps you say, Well, that's true if we let go all four anchors, But you know, if you just let one you cut 1 anchor off. Maybe things would be OK. Maybe just the prayer meeting, You wouldn't cut off the breaking of bread. Or maybe just the prayer meeting. Well, we'll start to drift. We need to be at the meetings that are for.
Apostles, doctrine, fellowship, and breaking of bread and prayers. And we need all four anchors in our Christian life. And the illustration is right there in Acts 27. When they cut them off, they went into shipwreck. Well, we got a couple more minutes here. Let's look at another point, and that is in Chapter 9.
Verses one and two. It says In the first year Darius the son of Ahaziuris of the seed of the Medes, which made the king over the realm, which was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans. In the first year of his reign. I, Daniel understood by books the number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish 70 years in desolations in Jerusalem. This is interesting. We've learned from this that Daniel was not a man also he was not only a man of prayer.
He was a man who read the books of God's Word.
He says I understood by books and he mentions by name the prophet Jeremiah.
He was reading chapter 24 and 25. If you look at it, you'll find that God tells us there that there would be these 70 years of desolations more by the land with life according to its Sabbaths and so on. My point is this. Daniel was a student of Scripture. He was not only a praying man, but he was a student of Scripture. He poured over the writings of Jeremiah, which was Scripture, and he learned some very valuable things.
He learned that in this, after 70 years of desolations, there was going to be a grand rest of the.
There's going to be a recovery at least. And on the doors of Babylon, we're going to be open and there was going to be a return to their land. More than that, it's very interesting that the first year of Darius is 68 years into those 70 years. So he knew that in two years.
There was going to be a release from Babylon and so he became an enlightened man as a result of reading the word. Isn't that interesting because he was a separated man? It made him a holy person, a holy man.
His exercises and separation made him a holy man. His exercises with regard to good companions made him a happy man.
His, uh, prayer life made him a dependent man, but his being a student of scriptures made him an intelligent man, an enlightened man. He knew of what God was about to do and he could accord himself in regard to that. And so I just want to encourage you, you know, don't get the idea that reading the scriptures and being a student of scriptures is for the older brothers. That's ridiculous. That's ridiculous.
Time to start studying the scriptures is when you're young and to get into the truth and to learn it and have Christ before your soul. He's the answer of really learning the truth and what pertains to his glory.
And there's many things that you can read to be a help, and God would like you to be an intelligent person here. One more thing I'd like to turn on to the end of the ninth chapter.
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I won't read it, just take time forsake of time. But the we find that the Lord reveals to him as he casts himself down before the Lord something what we call the 70 weeks of Daniel. And it says in this verse is here that at the end of the 70 weeks of Daniel all of God's purposes to bless Israel would be accomplished and the Kingdom will be set up and the Messiah would return and the temple of worship and so on would be again.
Reestablished and the anointing of the most holy and song would take place as they'd have a temple again.
And so this was fascinating to Daniel, and it gave him to be an energetic man in his service in Babylon, because what he had before him, and what this speaks to us of this point I now want to bring before you, is that he had God's glorious end before him.
He had God's glorious end before him, and it gave him energy to serve in view of that. And we need to have God's glorious end before our souls as well. Now, God's glorious end for the church is far different than for Israel. That's not the point. The principle of it is that we need to have our hearts set forward to God's end in view with regard to the calling and hopes and destiny of the church and what we have before us, that it's moments away. It's only a shout away, as they've often said, because the Lord is coming.
And when we think of that and put it in that perspective, it should give us to be energetic, uh, men and women of God at a time when there's such a need. And so I just see these various things that characterize Daniel that gave him to be an overcomer that we need in our life. So let us be exercised this afternoon by what we've read here with regard to Daniel the overcomer, and may it be so in our lives as well.
And so I just want to close your young people by just entreating you.
That you know very well that there's an enemy that's after your soul that wants to swallow you up in his system. You know that. And uh, there's only one way in which you're gonna be preserved and kept from it, not knowing it. That's not enough. We need to have a mirror image of the exercises that Daniel had and to cast ourselves on the Lord to keep us. And he'll use you too. There's so much to be done to to be to be done in the Kingdom of God while we wait. And he wants to use young people.
As well for further his cause in this world, Let's pray.
Our father will look up to thee. We thank thee for this exposure of the ways of the enemy of our souls by way of type and the movements and the uh plans of the king of Babylon on the children of Israel in that day. We thank thee for exposing it for us, and we thank you for the model that we have. And Daniel is the one whose faith we can follow. We pray for the young people that they would have these mirror image of these exercises of Daniel and they would prove a blessing and they would be a blessing our God.
So we connect them to the and thank you for this time together, and we thank you for their desire to be here, and we pray that they would profit from it. Our God.
We ask it all now in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Seven Compromises That Pharaoh Brought to the People of God
Is the Mind That Was in Christ Jesus in Me?
Fear of the Lord and Softness of Heart
Gospel 1
Gospel—Robert Boulard
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I'd like to welcome everyone to the Gospel meeting tonight.
I'd like to begin with #7 in the hymn sheet.
The chorus says this.
Twas all Twas love, Twas wondrous love, the love of God to me. It brought my Saviour from above to die on Calvary. It wasn't a matter of convenience, dear friends, tonight that God sent his son. That was the most inconvenient act that ever took place. God in love, great inconvenience to himself, but in great love.
Sent His well beloved Son from the purest heights of glory into the filth of this wicked world in love to redeem your soul. He didn't send him just for the person next to you. He sent his own son for you to night. And perhaps you're miserable in your seat. Perhaps you don't even want to be here.
Perhaps you've never received Christ as your Savior, but in love. The message of love and kindness and free forgiveness of sins is being offered to you tonight. So perhaps we can rise and sing this little hymn together #7 someone started, please.
Umm, eating at all about. It's pretty good. It's pretty well.
And.
I hope they gave me some uh, no problem with the problem and really had the same price problem.
And brought my sake and villain from the blood.
I don't know how everything.
Umm 100 and 2800 and 22,511.
18 * 7 Umm and it is uh, I'm fine. I'm planning to plan to change through the club.
Oh.
My God.
The good blah blah blah and then once you come out, also another period.
Let's ask God's blessing.
Our loving God and our Father, we thank Thee for the truth of this little hymn that we've been able to sing together of Thy love, that wondrous love that brought thee down from above into this world of sin and woe, Blessed Saviour. And now that's come with a blessing, with a word of love and kindness, and at great cost to thyself, not its gold, Blessed Lord Jesus, in obedience to thy Father's will to the cross of Calvary. And there thy precious blood was shed.
The efficacy of which is sufficient to cleanse all from sin, but it is only upon those that would receive him as Savior our God. We just pray that as thy word goes forth tonight, that if there's anyone in this room without God, without hope and without God in this world. We just pray that they might come to the Lord Jesus tonight that they might feel the awfulness of the filthiness of the sin that they go on in and their wicked filthy condition before the are gone.
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And we just pray that they might receive the Lord Jesus as Savior, that they might lay hold on Him for eternal life.
And for those of us that know Thee as Savior, Lord Jesus, we just pray that Thou mayest be more precious to us. As we leave this room tonight, having been able to spend a little time together over Thy word, we ask Thy blessing. Commend the hour to Thee in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
I'd like to spend the hour together a few minutes here, largely in the book of Luke or the Gospel of Luke, and, uh, look at some of the houses that the Lord Jesus entered into and, umm, we know.
That he left the best house in all of the universe.
He left that place, that home of love and kindness. You know, I was thinking.
Enjoying in my own soul hymn #93 in the Little Flock hymn book.
Says from the palace of His glory, from the home of joy and love, came the Lord Himself to seek us. He would have us there above. There, from that eternal brightness have His thoughts flowed forth in love. He and His great love would have us there, have us ever there with Him above trembling. We had hoped for mercy some lone place within His door. But the crown, the throne, the mansion were all were ready long before.
And in past and distant ages, in those courts so bright and fair ere we were, was He rejoicing all He won with us to share. You know, dear friends, tonight it would be a lonely place, as it were, without you in that heavenly scene. And God, in His desire to have His house filled, sent His Son from those courts of glory, from that home so bright and fair to the cross of Calvary.
And in love for your soul, desired that his Son would bear the judgment for your sins.
That He would bear the judgment there in those three long dark hours, and that His blood might be shed to cleanse you and they make you fit for His holy presence. Well, the 1St house that I'd like to look at is in Luke chapter 2.
In verse 46, we're just going to go from 1 little place to another, but I just want to point out in the life of the Lord Jesus at the age of 12, that age of responsibility.
That he was found in the temple, it says in verse 46, Luke two, and verse 46. It came to pass that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions. And then if you just hold your place there and go to Mark's Gospel Chapter 11.
Verse five, I think it is. Well, let's read verse 11, Mark.
Chapter 11 and verse 11 Jesus entered into Jerusalem and into the temple.
And when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the even tide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the 12 verse 15 And they come to Jerusalem. And Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and would not suffer than any man should carry any vessel through the temple. And he taught them, saying unto them, It is, Is it not written, My house shall be called?
Of all nations, the House of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves. Well, dear friends, tonight I read these verses in Mark's Gospel Chapter 11 and in Luke's Gospel chapter 2 to show that the Lord Jesus, even though he was in this scene as the perfect Son of God, he was the Son of man, and He in perfect communion with his Father, desired to be where his Father was, where his Father's authority was owned.
He wanted to be in the temple and we find him as a young boy in 12 years old.
He wanted to be in the temple. He wanted to be in his father's house. He wanted to be in that House of prayer.
That place where it ought to have been characterized by prayer, but we find at the end of.
The Lord's life when he was approximately 33 years old, the house was characterized.
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By those that were using it as a den of thieves, they were using it as a shortcut in taking a shortcut through the temple and taking their vessels. There was a market apparently at the rear of the temple and they were using it as a shortcut to go through. They had no respect for that place, but the Lord Jesus had a desire to be in the presence of His Father and He had the respect for that place and all He could do is look upon it as He went in.
And think of how they were using it. And He gave a space, as it were a space for repentance. And God in his love tonight is giving you a space for repentance. You may have come to these meetings and you may have just enjoyed the company of those that know the Lord Jesus as Savior, but you go on in an ungodly way. You go on in an unrighteous, an unholy way in your practical life. And you go on perhaps even in a religious way, but it's not going to satisfy the heart of God.
There needs to be repentance, there needs to be a relationship with himself. And so the Lord Jesus came.
Into this scene, and I say this, He longed for that home above. He longed for it. He wanted to be in the temple. He says He was in the temple daily teaching. What was he telling them about? He was telling them of the Father's glory. He was telling them of heavenly things. He was telling them of the grace of his God, the love of the Father, and he was telling them of what it might be to walk in practical righteousness that would be acceptable to God.
And they would refuse him. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
Daily he told them, daily he spoke of his Father and his love, and they wouldn't receive that love. All I want to ask you tonight, have you come to the Lord Jesus? Have you received the Lord Jesus as Savior? Do you know that he came?
From heaven itself.
From heaven to the cross, From heaven to the filth of this wicked world.
In love to your soul, that you might have your sins forgiven, that you might be.
In that glorious Father's house, that you might be a part of that heavenly company in a soon coming day, when he gives that shout and were received into his glorious presence. Well, let's turn to Luke's Gospel chapter 4 and read a few of the homes that the Lord Jesus entered into the houses and the lessons that we learned there.
Luke chapter 4.
In verse 38. And he arose out of the synagogue and entered into Simon's house. And Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever.
And they besought him for her, and he stood over her.
And rebuked the fever, and it left her, and immediately she arose.
And ministered unto them. Well, I think this is so lovely that the Lord Jesus entered into the House of Simon Peter, Simon, one of the apostles, one that was the perhaps you might call him the apostle of action. But here, you know, the apostle of action, the apostle of great activity could do nothing for his mother-in-law. There was nothing that he could do. There was no medicine. There was nothing that could be anything that could be done to relieve this woman of the fever that she had. And it's a picture, dear friends, tonight of the helplessness of man in sin.
And make no mistake of this, sin has brought suffering and sorrow and tragedy, heartache into God's creation. And you don't have to be very old to understand what I'm saying tonight, that there's heartache, there's sorrow, there's tragedy in this world. And as you grow older, if the Lord allows you to live in this scene for just a few years, you'll experience some of that heartache and sorrow. But there is a Savior on high in the glory who loves you and who desires to be the comforter, that you might comfort you in this scene of sorrow and tragedy. And he came right to where this woman was.
She was there lying with a great fever. And the word great here is one of the words that Luke uses. It's one of the words that, uh, Matthew uses in his gospel as well. But it was a great fever. It was something that was not able to be overcome except by the power of the divine intervention of the Savior, the Lord Jesus. And you need to have deliverance from the power of sin, from the effects of sin. You're powerless to deliver yourself.
And from the effects of sin, you're dying in your seat as you sit there in your seat.
I'm dying where I stand. Our bodies are naturally speaking dying, and it's going to take the divine intervention of a holy God in your life to give you life, to give you eternal life. And so the Lord Jesus came, He says I'm come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. God wanted you not only to have new life, but he wanted you to be indwelled with the Spirit of God and have power to live in a new life and the power to live for the glory.
00:15:22
Of God in this scene. So with a word he rebuked the fever.
And immediately she arose and ministered unto them. So perhaps there was service before, perhaps there was.
Activity and service and God tonight, dear friends, doesn't want your service. He doesn't want your religion, He doesn't want your money. He wants you to come as a Sinner, bankrupt and hell deserving, and to come to receive his love, to receive the free forgiveness of sins. The most tender hearted man that ever walked the face of the earth came into this scene and entered this home where there's a sorrow and tragedy and he desired to bring blessing.
And every home that the Lord Jesus entered into, there was blessing that flowed forth from the person.
Of God's well beloved Son, and God desires that there would be a blessing that would flow to you tonight.
If you would receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior and allow him entrance into your the privacy of your own life, well, let's just turn over one page to chapter 5 and verse 27.
And after these things he went forth and saw a publican named Levi sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him.
Follow me. And he left all, and rose up, and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his own house. And there was a great company of publicans and others that sat down with them. But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why you eat and drink with the publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering, said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.
To repentance.
Well, here we have this House.
Of a publican, the House of a man that was a tax collector. And the Lord Jesus says that there he saw this man. He saw a publican named Levi. And God sees you where you are tonight. He sees you where you're sitting, and he knows what kind of work you do. And perhaps you're at school, perhaps you're at work. He sees, he knows in tenderest love, he enters into the realities of how we earn our living.
He re enters into the reality of where we are in life and he meets us right where we are. Isn't that lovely? How the Lord Jesus could meet this dear man right where he was? And he was perhaps a despised man, a despised publican. But the Lord Jesus saw this man, He was busy a man of activity and he said just two words, follow me, follow me. And this man in obedience. God says and records here that he left all rose up and followed him. Isn't that nice? And then he made him a supper in his house.
You know, if you or I were writing this, we would have written it this way. Perhaps we might have written that, uh, he rose up. He left all and followed him. But that's not how the Spirit of God records it. Dear friends, tonight God wants us in our hearts to forsake, to abandon every prospect that this world has. This world is going on to judgment. And this man, Levi, when he heard those two words, follow me.
He abandoned all in his heart. He abandoned all his prospects for getting ahead in this world and he desired to follow the Lord Jesus. He rose up, there was an energy of faith. He got up and he began in a new direction. He followed the Lord Jesus. I want to tell you tonight, dear friends, that if you rise up in faith and lay hold upon the person of Christ for salvation, you desire to have your sins forgiven. You cry out and.
Cry for the mercy of God that he is a worthy 1 to follow. He'll never leave you astray. He'll never lead you in a path of unrighteousness or a path of unhappiness. There may be the circumstances of life that he allows in your life and mine that test us and that try us and that perhaps, uh, seem to be difficult in the circumstances that we go through. But he's in all the way home Savior, and he's worthy of being followed. Oh, he's worthy of you and I receiving him as Savior and then not just having our sins forgiven, but following him in a path of faith.
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And leaving every prospect, every aspiration that this world has, and leaving it behind in our hearts. Rising up in faith and following him. Well, this man received a blessing. But there was a feast here in his own house. And he took of the goods that he had. He used the wealth that had fallen into his hands. He used his home as a place where others might come to know the Lord Jesus. He used his home.
In a way that might be used for the Lord in blessing to others. And so the Lord was pleased to come.
And to dwell in his home, to eat in his home. And then he was criticized. You may have tried to do something, you know, for the Lord. You may have desired to follow the Lord Jesus. You may have perhaps desired to do a little service for the Lord, as this man did. And perhaps you were criticized. Perhaps you were misunderstood. I want to say this, that there was no man more criticized upon the face of the earth than the Lord Jesus. Every day of this pathway, he was criticized, He was hounded, he was harassed. He knows what it is.
To be harassed. He came in love with a tender heart and affection for your soul and mine. And what did he receive? The cold, hardened harassment of this world. The cold hearted harassment of religious people. But he came in love not to save the religious.
Not to save those that didn't have that sense of their unworthiness and their sinful condition. No, he came to call.
Sinners to repentance. And so tonight as you sit in your seat and you need that knowledge, dear friends, that you're a Sinner before God. If you've never received the Lord Jesus as Savior, don't try to come to the Lord as a righteous person. Don't come.
As a good person come as a Sinner. Oh, he receives sinners, and he saves them.
He has that desire and so repentance here is brought out. Repentance, rethinking our position before God, rethinking and not having thoughts of ourselves that are above what they ought to be, but seeing us ourselves as God sees us and repenting. Well, let's just turn a couple of pages over and see another house in Chapter 7, Luke Chapter 7 and verse.
UH, 36 And one of the Pharisees desired him, that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisees house and sat down to meet. And behold a woman in the city, which was a Sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisees house, brought an alabaster box of ointment or of myrrh, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet and anointed them with ointment.
Now when the Pharisee which had been him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known.
Who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him? For she is a Sinner. And then just to the end of the chapter here, verse 47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much, but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meet with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgiveth sins also?
And he said to the woman, Thy faith hast saved thee, Go in peace.
Well, you know, this man was a Pharisee.
He had a house, perhaps a nice house, and he desired that the Lord Jesus would come into his house.
And he sat down to meet, and the Lord Jesus desires the entrance into your heart.
The Lord Jesus desires the entrance into your life. He doesn't just want to have you saved.
And then go on in independence of himself. Here this man, this Pharisee, desired the Lord Jesus to come into his house and we're not told his name.
Levi, we're given his name, this man, we're not given his name and this woman that came into the house were given her name. I believe in John's Gospel Chapter 11. Maybe we'll just look at that, how the Lord Jesus just presents it in a chapter, Chapter 11 of John's Gospel in verse two, it was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
So we're given Mary's name in another Gospel. But this man here, he desired to have the Lord Jesus in his house. It was a popular thing to do. And he went along with the crowd. He wanted to have to say that he had had that great teacher in his house. He wanted to have the privilege perhaps of having a famous person in his home. And he had the Lord Jesus there. You know, this man, he was critical of the Lord Jesus for eating with sinners and this woman that came.
00:25:23
Into his presence and he didn't receive a blessing. We don't find that he received a blessing.
But someone else in his home came and received a blessing that lovely Oh, she came not highfalutin Sinner, a lowly Sinner. And she stood at his feet. All that speaks of a low place, doesn't it? She was behind him. She took the 2nd place. She took a low place. She didn't take the 1St place. God doesn't want you, dear friend, to have this idea that you're worth anything, because you know, He says the flesh profiteth nothing.
And there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all.
And he came to save sinners. And she took her place at his feet as a Sinner, held a lovely little picture, and she began to wash his feet with tears. Perhaps a picture of refreshment to the blessed Savior. He didn't receive that refreshment.
At the hand of the Pharisee, but at the poor, This poor woman.
He received that refreshment with the hairs of her head. She was in humility and with affection. She kissed his feet and she anointed them with the ointment. Oh, there was communion, perhaps with the sufferings of the Lord Jesus, what He would go through.
At the cross of Calvary for her then. So dear friends, tonight God desires you to receive a blessing. And here we find that the Lord Jesus, this tender hearted man who loved this Pharisee went into the Pharisees house.
Got nothing but criticism from the Pharisee because of who was there and who received the blessing.
And God desires the blessing to flow forth. And if you will not receive it because of a haughty spirit, because of pride, why there may be someone else sitting beside you that might receive that blessing. Oh, God has a heart full of love for your soul, and He wants the blessing to flow forth. And so he sent the Lord Jesus, I say from heaven itself, that there might be a blessing that would flow forth, and it could have gone out to this Pharisee. He could have received the blessing. But the woman?
This woman, I believe Mary received the blessing. And then it says a little further on that, uh, you know, the Lord Jesus read the mind of this man and what he was thinking. He spoke to him. And then it says that in verse 48, they began and they that sat at me with him began to say within themselves, who is this that forgiveth sins also? Well, it brings before us that we've all trespassed. Every one of us has trespassed against the holy God, none of us.
Has could lift up our heads and say I've not trespassed, not sinned against a holy God. But you know, there's two kinds of people in this room. There are those that are forgiven, the Saints of God, holy ones separated from those.
That are under judgment, there are those I say that are forgiven, and those that are not forgiven, those that the judgment of God, the wrath of God abideth upon their heads. And if you sit in your seat tonight and you've never received the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you don't know what it is to be a forgiving Sinner. And you have the guilt of years of walking in sin, the guilt of years, whether you're young years or older years. Why? There's that conscience, that clear conscience that God wants you to have tonight.
And you can only have a clear conscience if you come to the Lord Jesus and acknowledge your sinful condition before Him.
And come to the Lord Jesus and receive forgiveness of sins, while I'm here to tell you on the authority of the word of God that He has power.
To forgive sins. He has the authority to forgive sins, and there's no sin so great.
That can't be forgiven by a holy God on the basis of the blood that was shed on the cross of Calvary. Why? That blood is sufficient to cleanse us from all sin. Luke chapter 10 and.
Just at the end of the chapter, verse 38, another house that the Lord Jesus came into.
And it came to pass as they went, that he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about with much serving, and came to him and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore that she helped me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things.
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But one thing is needful, and Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her. Well, there were two women in this house. It was Martha's house, and Martha loved the Lord. But it was a House of activity, busy activity for Martha, and it was a House of humility and learning for Mary. The same house on that wonderful that there was liberty given that this sister Martha or Mary.
Could sit at the feet of the Lord Jesus and hear His word. And God desires tonight that if you don't know the Lord Jesus as Savior, that you would sit at His feet and hear that blessed word of salvation, of the offer of free forgiveness of sins. And He desires that every one of us would come unto him. Come unto me, all ye that labor, and our heavy laden, and I will give you rest. While Mary knew what that rest was, Mary knew what it was to sit.
At the feet of the Lord Jesus, and to listen to that tender hearted man speak of the Father's house.
And to speak of what it was to come into the scene and to bring a blessing, to speak of those things that were of heavenly character. She listened to those words. She wanted to enter into the realities of heaven itself and to enter into the realities of the blessing of God's people in this scene. Oh, they looked for the Kingdom to be set up. And then in, in the Jewish way of things, perhaps they, they looked at him as king and they wanted to have the Kingdom set up in this scene.
But she had this woman had a an appreciation for the man of Calvary. She had an appreciation for the Lord Jesus who had come into Martha's house and Martha received him into her house. All I want to say this, perhaps you have been busy with activity. Perhaps it's been service and you've busied yourself with all kinds of work. But there hasn't been that resting in the word of the Lord. There hasn't been that resting and that patience, that waiting in the presence of the Lord Jesus.
To learn of Him, to learn of Him, for I am meek and lowly in spirit, and I will give you rest. Oh, He wants you to have rest to night. He wants you to have the portion that Mary had in sitting at His feet. Well, in this particular house, I believe both of these women received a blessing. Both of them received a blessing. And one perhaps had to be corrected. And that one had the approval, the approbation of her Savior. And my dear, dear friends, tonight, not all of us.
Can say none of us can say that we've gone on in our Christian lives without mistakes, without failures, in one way or another. And isn't it nice that whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth? And so hear this loving rebuke to Martha was given. And God is not going to tell you what you want to hear tonight if you're a Sinner sitting in your seat without the Lord Jesus. He's not telling you what you want to hear. He's telling you that you need to humble yourself and come to Him to receive your sins forgiven.
But if you're a believer and you haven't walked in a way that is characteristic ought to have characterized you as a believer. Why? There may be the word of correction given in these meetings. There may be a word of correction even spoken in the gospel meeting. There may be a word of correction that you read.
In the Word of God. And His desire is that it would bring you to His feet to hear His tender words of love, to hear of heaven's glory itself, and not to be taken up with the filth of this world that He came to deliver you from. Oh, He desires that your heart would be one. He desires that would be tender towards Himself, and the hardness of sin might be erased from your life, and that there might be an affection for that glorious man who loved you and came to Calvary's cross.
To bear the judgment for your sins and to make your life worth living tonight. Who won't you receive Him as Savior?
And come and sit his feet and learn, hear his words, and if there is correction needed, receive the correction from his heart of love and go on in obedience to that word. Well, let's just turn over another couple of pages here, Chapter 14 of Luke's Gospel.
Chapter 14 and verse one.
It came to pass, as he went into the House of one of the chief Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath day, that they watched him. And behold, there was a certain man before him, which had the drop seat. And Jesus answering, spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day? And they held their peace, And he took him, and healed him, and let him go, and answered him, saying, Answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an *** or an ox fallen into a pit?
00:35:18
And will not straightway pull them out on the Sabbath day. And they could not answer him again to these things. You know, the Lord Jesus could say, my Father worketh, I work and my Father worketh hitherto. And every one of us had fallen into the ditch of sin. The *** would speak of the unclean Gentile perhaps, and the ox of the clean animal, perhaps the Jew. They'd both fallen into the pit and needed to be taken out of the pit of sin. And I don't know what your life is tonight. I don't know.
I'll let you go on with and you may be covering up what God sees clearly in your life and perhaps you've fallen into the ditch of sin tonight. Oh the Lord Jesus came in love to.
Pull you out of that ditch of sin, that you might be rescued from that ditch of sin. Here gives this little picture. And he came into the House of one of the chief of the Pharisees, perhaps a House of pride, a house. This man was very proud of the fact that he was one of the leading Pharisees of the day. And he had the Lord Jesus come into his house, and here they watched him on the Sabbath day. Oh, the Lord Jesus came into this world to bless and to be a blesser.
He came that we might have life, that we might have it more abundantly. I am come that they might have life, that they might have eternal life. No man can pluck them from my Father's hand. I and my father are 10. He desired.
That you might have eternal life. And he came into this home.
And instead of being received with affection.
He was watched there. You know, the Lord Jesus knows the spirit of things and what it is when we gather around himself. Perhaps he we have a Bible reading at home and perhaps there is one in the family, perhaps a child, perhaps an older one with a critical spirit, something that isn't right with God. But you know, here we have the Sabbath day. It says they held their peace when he said this.
He said to this man.
It says he healed that he took him and healed him and let him go.
Took him.
Healed him and let him go. And so God wants to in His grace, in his love, in His kindness, release you from the prison, from the ******* of sin, from the service of sin, from Satan and from this world wants to set you free to please him. And so you know, this man had a medical condition. Perhaps he was had a body build up of fluid and here he was helpless. And the Lord Jesus took him, healed him.
And let him go. And his blessing, he had a blessing. He came into the House of the chief of the Pharisees. And the chief of the Pharisees didn't receive a blessing, but this man did. And here in the gospel meeting, dear friends, God is desiring that the blessing would flow forth. And I want to ask you, have you received the blessing? It's flowing forth tonight from the heart of the Lord Jesus. Well, they didn't. They couldn't answer him, and they held their peace.
And so it just brings before us the grace of God. The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Well, let's turn a couple of pages over here in Luke's Gospel.
Chapter 19, verse one.
Luke 19 and verse one. Jesus entered and passed through Jericho and behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus which was the chief.
Among the publicans. And he was rich, and he sought to see Jesus, who he was, and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a Sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all murmured, saying.
That he was gone to be guest with a man that is a Sinner. And Zacchaeus stood and said unto the Lord, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and I have take. If I have taken anything from every any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation, come to this house. For as much as he also is a son of Abraham. For the son of man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
00:40:15
Well, we know the story very well.
This man, Zacchaeus, his name means pure and clean. That's what his name means.
And they came, you know, he didn't feel very pure and clean. He felt the filth of the place that he lived in. And it's a good thing if we feel the filth of the world that we live in. And he lived in a place called Jericho means a constant pleasant odor to the flesh. It's really a picture of the flesh, that which appeals to the flesh, a constant pleasant odor, a picture of this world in his ease and luxury. And here he lived in a wonderful place.
As it were. But he was unhappy, he was unhappy, he was unsatisfied, his heart was.
Not satisfied, He was the chief among the publicans. He probably had the best job in all of the city. And the Lord Jesus knew how his heart was desirous. It was burden. And the Lord Jesus came to relieve the burden of his creation and soul. This man, he put the heart's desire in it, in the man's heart to see the Lord Jesus. Do you have a desire to see the Lord? Every one of us is going to see the Lord Jesus, every one of us.
Is going to see him with our eye. Everyone of us. God is decreed that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Every one of us is going to see the Lord Jesus. Those of us that know the Lord Jesus as Savior, we're going to see him in his glory.
We're not going to see him with a crown of thorns. We're not going to see him as the man of Calvary there.
As He was suffering at the hands of men and then at the hands of God, we're going to see Him in His glory. It's going to be a wonderful sight. He's going to look upon us and He's going to receive us into the Father's house.
And here this man, the Lord Jesus, knew who he was.
He wanted to see the Lord Jesus, and he ran before he was in earnest. He climbed into a Sycamore tree.
And then the Lord Jesus said, Come down, said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide.
Thy house, and so someone has said, have enjoyed it in my soul, so that he has had to come down from the tree so that the Lord Jesus could go up onto the tree.
So that the Lord Jesus could go up there and bear the judgment for his sins.
In those three awful dark hours, and every stroke of the wrath of a righteous and the sin hating God was laid upon the Savior, upon His blessed person, and God forsook His Son.
God forsook the one who he sent when he was made sin, He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. O Zacchaeus came down.
And he humbled himself, and he came down, and the Lord Jesus said, I must abide at thy house. Is there a place in your heart? Is there a place in your house for the Lord Jesus? Could he come into your home?
You know, I was remembering.
Brother Brown I think it was chapter Brown little story that he told and I heard on tape that he went around visiting and he came to a brother and a sister's house and knocked on the door. And he knocked on the door and he heard a lot of someone came to the door and looked out and and with a little bit of surprise that his brother Brown and they spent about 5 minutes straightening up the house and perhaps.
Throwing things in drawers and whatever, and then afterwards came and invited it into the home. So he stood on the doorstep for a few minutes waiting for the house to be prepared for him to come in. And dear friends, tonight God wants standard your life.
In tenderness don't try to straighten up before He comes in. He just wants you to come as a repentance Sinner to acknowledge your sinful condition before Him. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. All He wants you to come tonight. You know Brother Jim Thompson.
In his Bible, you know, he's a man of detail, and I looked through that Bible.
And in one of the very last notes in his Bible in Revelation chapter 22.
I'll just read it so that I won't misquote it. He had this little note above the.
00:45:02
Word come says in verse 12, Revelation 222 and 12. Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me.
To give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. And he said this in verse 17. The note was in verse 17. The Spirit and the Bride say Come, and let him that heareth say come.
And let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely, he said. Above this little word, it's mentioned 1900 times in Scripture to come 1900 times has come.
And God is diligent tonight to have you come. He's diligent. He's left no leaf unturned, as it were. He's done everything. That you might come tonight and have your sins forgiven. That you might start on the way to heaven tonight. That you might have your thirsty soul satisfied, not with the filth of what this world has, but with His blessed Person. He is the water of life and the bread of life. Well, the Lord Jesus came into the house.
Of Zacchaeus to abide. It speaks of communion. It speaks of a place of rest.
A place that the Lord Jesus could rest in this world, this place that he saw.
Can come into the home of a Pharisee and be criticized. Could come into the House of another Pharisee, the chief of the Pharisees. And they watched him there to see whether there would be any works, any blessing that would flow out from His heart of love. Well, he could come into Zacchaeus's house and he could abide. There was a home that he could rest in, as it were in this whole in this scene, even in Jericho. And so he came and he says that they in verse seven, that he was gone to be a guest with a man that is a Sinner.
Well, you know, Zacchaeus tried to defend himself and he revealed that his character of life, that he was consistent, that he continued, he was always giving half of the goods of his goods to the poor. But it didn't give himself any peace. It didn't give him any peace of heart, and the rest of soul didn't give him any conscience. Rest of conscience. He if he took anything by a false means, he would restore fourfold, but he still had a guilty conscience.
And it was the work of Christ, it was that meeting with the Lord Jesus that set him free. You know, I sometimes have told this little story and I, I just like it in connection with how it illustrates how we need to come to the Lord Jesus. There was a young girl in Ohio. I went to a little factory in Ohio to visit a man that was doing business with. And I got there a little early, about 7:45. The place of business are opened at about.
8:00 And so the young girl, her name was Jessica, and she was sitting at the front desk, and she said, you know, you come, Jim isn't here, and just sit down here in these chairs here, and we'll visit for a little while and Jim will come about. 8:00 And so there was a little sign above her computer and it said this If you meet me and forget me, you've lost nothing. But if you meet Jesus Christ and forget him, you have lost everything. And then there's these verses.
In Revelation were referenced and John 5/24.
And I said to Jessica, I said, Jessica, is that your sign by the computer? She said, yes, that's my sign by the computer. She said, I'm pleased to be numbered among those that have vowed the knee to our Lord Jesus Christ in this life.
Oh, what a confession of faith. 1617 year old girl on a summer job. She says, I'm pleased to be numbered among those that are bowed the knee to our Lord Jesus Christ in this life. She said every knee will bow. Oh, we had a wonderful visit. We had a wonderful visit as we spoke of that Lord, that Savior. Well, dear friends, God has decreed that every knee is going to bow to the Lord Jesus and this man entered the Lord Jesus entered this man's house.
And there was a blessing that flowed forth. Well, let's just turn to another one in Luke Chapter 20, Chapter 23. I think it is. Maybe it's chapter 22.
Yes, chapter 22 and verse 54.
Says then took they him and led him and brought him.
Into the high priest house and Peter followed far off and then just verse 63, the men that held Jesus mocked him or mocking him and smote him. Mr. Darby's translation says beating him.
00:50:09
Then when they had blindfolded them, they struck him on the face and asked him, saying, Prophecy, who is it that smoked thee?
There was a blessing that could come into this house. There was a blessing that could have come. There was a blessing that could have flowed forth to this man, this high priest, perhaps the most religious person in the nation of Israel, at the day that the Lord Jesus lived and he came into the high priest house.
And instead of receiving the affection of his people, instead of being received as a prophet that Moses has spoken of, that they should hear.
Why? He was taken by the men in that house and he was mocked, he was abused, he was beaten.
And he was struck as he was blindfolded. He was abused in that house, that tender hearted man that came from heaven's highest courts of glory, to bring blessing into this wicked scene.
Was taken and abused in the high priest's house. Ohio, dear friends, this is a House of responsibility. This is a House of eternal responsibility. This man is going to stand before the Lord Jesus. He's going to stand before the Lord Jesus. He's going to look upon that one.
Who was treated that way in his house and God is going to require man.
How his Son is treated. And if you have despised and refused the grace of God tonight until this late hour. If you despise the Son of God who loved you and gave himself for you, if you've despised that one.
And mistreated him and used his name in a guilty way. The Lord will not hold him guiltless. That taketh his name in vain. Oh, if you've used him and abused him, I want to tell you tonight that he's a forgiving savior.
Why if you turn to Luke's Gospel chapter 23, you'll find there that the cross verse 34, it says then said Jesus, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
And they parted his garment. And then in verse 42, that thief on the cross, he said unto Jesus, Lord, Remember Me when thou comest into thy Kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be.
With me in paradise. And it was about the 6th hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the 9th hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was right in the midst. When Jesus had cried with a loud voice he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave up the ghost. Why say tonight that if you've been abusing that blessed One?
If you've been rejecting His grace, His love, His kindness, His tender hearted entreaties tonight.
Up until this hour, there's forgiveness and that blessed man, he desires to have your company. He desires to have your sins forgiven. And this thief that stood, that was nailed beside the Lord Jesus heard those blessed words. Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Is there anyone else that you would ever desire to be with other than the Lord Jesus? Oh, there's an eternity coming, dear friends.
Every one of us is going to pass off of this scene, this scene of sin and sorrow, and God has decreed that we're going to leave. And if you leave this scene without this man, Christ Jesus.
You're not going to be in the father's house.
You're not going to be there, you know, he says in Luke's gospel. I think it's chapter 14.
Speaking of the Spirit of God.
Compel them to come in that my house may be full.
Oh, that house, that heaven, that home above the Father's house is going to be full. Heaven is going to be full because the Lord Jesus came down from those courts of glory and came into this scene of woe and sin to accomplish His Father's purposes. God for a blessing. Heaven is going to be full. That house all. I'm going to be received into that house very shortly.
You're going to be received if you know him as Savior, not house, and all of those things that we've done in disobedience to the Word of God and without that tender conscience perhaps that we ought to have had. Why those things will never be mentioned after the judgment seat of Christ. Why there's going to be that tender hearted love and enjoyment of the divine things eternally. I want to just turn to one more verse and Luke's gospel chapter one.
00:55:09
Says in verse 78.
Luke 1 and verse 78. Through the tender mercy of our God.
Whereby the Dayspring from on high hath visited us to give the light, to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel. While this is Speaking of John the Baptist.
But you know, it's through the tender mercy of our God, the tender mercy.
Of our God, that we've been able to speak of the loving Savior tonight, the tender mercy of our God, that grace can be presented and that forgiveness of sins can be presented tonight. But if you refuse the Lord Jesus tonight, if you refuse to accept the Lord Jesus as Savior, refused to confess that you're a Sinner on the way to a lost and ruined eternity. Why?
Instead of being in that home so bright and fair, God is going to take the Lord. Jesus, I should say, is going to cast you into the lake of fire. You're going to be cast into a place.
You will be forever forgotten of God. The door is going to be sealed. It'll be forever shut.
It's not a House of love, it's not a House of comfort, it's not a House of blessing. The door is going to be.
Shut, sealed, never to be opened again, and you will be forever forgotten. But tonight you have the opportunity to receive the Lord Jesus as Savior and to come into blessing in that House of love and that home so fair.
Listing number six.
Cheltenham.
Let's go ahead and have anything.
And.
Shining.
And I I don't think I got anything.
And I had a great day.
I was like, congratulations.
On my name.
Bloody nature.
And I don't think.
I'm.
Uh, it's for a while and I didn't blah blah blah and again, super blah blah blah blah.
We're on.
The right hand.
01:00:00
In the top of the groundwater so I don't hear anything and I have a great.
One, she's not surprised it's not blah, blah, blah, blah, blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Oh no, no, no, it's not 12 every day. Oh, my grandma.
Can I say anything respected?
And I think that's the first round of all.
Right.
Our loving God and our Father, we thank Thee for the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us. We pray that if there's anyone here still sitting in their seats that knows Thee not Lord Jesus as Savior, that they might just desire.
Be convicted of Thy spirit, of their sinful condition before Thee, and desire to have their sins forgiven. Desire to hear those words. Son, thy sins be forgiven Thee, so we just ask Thy blessing upon Thy precious word.
And just commend ourselves to the for the remainder of the evening and the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Jesus Christ Arose; Are You Ready to Meet Him?
Children—Robert House
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.
Good morning.
Well, one person is awakened with me this morning anyway. That's good. Now I brought gifts for children sitting in the front row, and I'm very pleased that I'll be able to give my gifts to at least three people.
And I'm wondering if there's anybody else that's a child that would like to come up and, uh, be eligible for a gift at the end because I'm only gonna give it to people who are in the front row.
Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you, ladies.
OK, who has the song that they like to start with? It can be somebody in the front row or it can be somebody further back #11 Thank you.
Somebody could start #11 please.
Will your anchor.
Light be totaled together for me to drive me when the strolling diesel. I'm glad that's the mechanism of all of the scratching. We'll get her back together so hard turn day-to-day.
And I'll take her on the signings of the world.
Yeah, I can't control the girl. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
No, I don't have anything. And that's Maggie and Caroline as well.
We'll get all right there, all the way in the strange of together who had to stop for any parameters for all the other hands of the nation's goodness. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Or not, but so, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's in the medication. It's nice. But a while ago tomorrow and I'll give you anything for bringing anything. I have to do something. Do you want to follow up on your blower and go over to hide out and so on? Then I'm trying to hear what I'm on my way. I'm a little bit of a little bit of a girl. No, no, no, no, no. And I can stay with them for all of us. We're in Canada and I'm not going to do it.
Throughout the Grand Canyon, please, and the Spanish and go and go to the Earth's lungs.
Umm.
Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Blah blah blah.
Blah.
Umm, I think my thank you and nevertheless.
We ain't got Application. I think it's a soul.
And fast control of the world's gold.
Wednesday night.
Well, who else has another song? OK, what would you like to sing #34 Thank you, precious, precious blood of Jesus.
00:05:37
And it's a lot of our blah blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Did you get any of the products? Well, that's yeah, I'm saying it's a blah blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Right, right, just blah blah blah, stinking in touch and I never lost your breathing.
Hello, can you hear me Anything? And then a lot of great things again.
Yeah, I saw somebody else wanted to give one up. What would you like?
#4.
Christ is the Savior of sinners.
OK.
Uh, I don't have anything else to say that you know, I can't afford recognition. I'm speaking as you're just sitting by your breathing.
They ain't behind my glasses. They haven't read anything, anything in the program. But I just pressed like that. You can't afford.
It.
Yeah, I think it's about the end of the community.
Yeah, it's been quite fun and Ibrance, uh, this is frustrating for me.
No, that's why I want to be drinking, drinking, drinking, drinking franchise and silly.
Now there is no something, there is time. Let's let's take an appointment.
Today to run together and I will find anything. Anything.
Yeah, I have anything. There's a lot of wonder. I don't have any cell phones and I said it's like 488 anything.
That's not.
All the last thing suffering.
I don't travel, I don't know how to get already.
Listened sunshine and everybody.
The head and our oxygen, then it's going to come together and it's like hearing.
Yeah, I think that's what I'm going to buy. And right, I'm just blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
OK, one more time.
I have gifts for people in the front row this morning and if there's any children that would like to come up and sit in the front row, now would be a good time to do it. Now, does that do any of the girls up here have a song you'd like to sing? Number 50, Happy day. That fixed my choice. That's a great song. Thank you.
Oh happy days, that makes my choice. I'll be my dad. My God. Well, maybe it's slow. Pretty hard to make it slow at night. And shall it grow up to fall on the ground?
I see that. I've seen that when I'm feeling so small I can't come away.
00:10:26
My favorite color.
It's not a bloody transaction.
Time I am my Lord and he is my life. He is ripping me out and I followed on what I had seen by that the one gave my heart, He.
You know I don't want to do that. When I drink the blood, my hands are overhead.
You know what? I'm still impressed and I'm glad to raise your life.
I have made him. I don't want to be a bad thing. I get it. I have to be concerned about anything. When I finish the blah, blah blah, my sins celebrate.
I'm really good. I falls down.
When do the squad my simple wedding even though I'm getting hot. You don't know what's your brain.
I don't know the increase on the same country and I have to play and I have to make it. We're going to take it like a Swash. My scent is always having.
Well, thank you for your songs. I noticed you like to sing gospel songs and that's very nice. And this is really what this morning is. It's a gospel for children. The gospel is good news. Now I'd like to pray and ask the Lord for his help before we go any farther.
Our gracious God and our loving Father, I come to thee this morning and ask for thy help. I have the most wonderful subject, the subject that's very close to thy heart, thy Son, the Lord Jesus.
And we just asked that.
Every child in the room might understand clearly what thy heart is for them.
And I ask that if there is a teenager or an adult.
That, uh.
Doesn't trust the Lord Jesus as their Lord and Savior yet that they might do so this morning.
We thank Thee that the door is still open, and we ask for Thy blessing this morning in the precious name of Thy Son, the Lord Jesus, Amen.
OK, I'd like somebody in the front row.
To read a verse for me in First Corinthians chapter 15.
So do I have a volunteer?
I know one of these volunteered for me before.
Anybody like to read this verse? 2 verses actually.
One Corinthians 15.
Part way through verse three and the rest of verse 4. You want to do it for me? Please. OK, so start rate here with that name.
I died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. Thank you very much. Good job.
Not only to have gifts, I have a little reward for people who helped me out.
Would you like to pick one of those?
Thank you. OK, this verse is really the gospel.
Think about it.
Christ.
And that's where I really want to start today. I want to start 1000.
981 years ago.
00:15:02
On a hill outside the city of Jerusalem.
And on that hill is a cross.
And right now?
It's a Tuesday morning.
You can go and you can look at that cross.
There's a cross in the middle and a cross on either side on top of that hill.
What will you see on the cross?
What we see on the cross.
On Tuesday, you won't see a man.
The Lord Jesus was crucified on Friday.
So what will you see on the cross on Tuesday?
The Tuesday after he was crucified.
Thank you. There's nothing on that cross. And that's what that verse is telling us, isn't it?
Christ rose again the third day they took him down.
And he was buried. But that cross is central to a lot of things.
You go back 1981 years.
There's about 4000 years before that, from the time of Adam.
But think about it.
Everything from God's point of view look forward to that cross, and now it all looks back to that cross.
And you know that cross is pretty much in the center of the world when God thinks about things, because God's favorite city on earth.
Is Jerusalem.
And that cross is just outside that city.
And what I wanted to do is have you there this morning looking at that empty cross.
And we're going to think about the man that was on that cross.
Three days before. Four days before.
You know where he came from, don't you? You can tell me where the man that was on that cross came from.
OK. Where did you come from?
He came from heaven. We were talking yesterday in the Gospel meeting about some of the houses the Lord Jesus had been in.
But the one that he left?
Is his father's house.
And it was a beautiful place.
It is a beautiful place.
He came down to this world.
He was born a little baby. There's little babies in this room.
Just like that. And he grew up.
To be the same age as you children.
And then he became a young adult, like some of the teenagers.
And then a young man.
But he never got to be as old as I am.
Because of that cross on the hill.
And now?
I want to tell you a little story.
In June I was in the city of Shanghai in China.
And in Shanghai, they have a very nice subway system.
OK. And I was on the subway standing up because they're usually fairly full even at night time.
And there was a boy came on.
And his mother had him by the shoulders and she was guiding him. And I saw him get on the subway car and they were walking along. And then I realized the boy had his hat out like this.
And they were walking along and when I got closer, I realized they were looking for money.
And that everybody is looking for money when they don't have a job. And in China it's fairly common to see little children with a hat or a bowl looking for money.
And this boy came through the subway car and I was standing there. I had a little bit of money, and his mother had his hands on his shoulders.
And I wondered why a mother and her little boy would be coming through looking for money.
And that little boy came closer. He was a cute looking little boy. I could see him about that far away.
And very good and obedient. And wherever his mother directed him, he went.
And when he got closer to me?
When it was my turn to ignore him and not give him any money.
I could see his eyes and his eyes were all covered.
With some growth, he couldn't see anything. He was completely blind.
00:20:02
And his mother pointed him directly to me.
And I couldn't give him nothing. So I reached into my pocket and I took a little bit of change I had and I put it in his hat.
Which is OK, but, uh, what really touched my heart?
Was the look his mother gave me.
When she looked up at me, there was such appreciation in her eyes and such thankfulness.
That I wished I'd given 100 times more than I had.
But she'd already moved on down.
And this morning, you know, he was such a nice looking little boy, but there was a problem. His eyes he couldn't see.
He needed a doctor, he needed medication, he needed somebody. And maybe it wouldn't even be possible.
To fix his eyes, naturally speaking, maybe he needed like the blind man in John 9.
To meet the Lord Jesus.
To have his eyes healed.
But what really touched me was the mother's look, her appreciation and what I want to say. All you children look very nice in this room today. You teenagers, you look fine. All the adults were dressed well, looking fine, maybe not looking as fine as when we were 18.
But each of us has a mother.
And you know, there can be a problem with us that you can't see on the outside. When that boy got close to me, I could see there was a problem with his eyes he couldn't see.
And the same thing can be true of us spiritually. Then our eyes are blind and we can't see.
We can't see the beauty of that man that was hanging on that cross in the middle on the hill.
And we can't see the beauty of the house that he left.
His father's house.
And we can't see.
The awfulness of the hell that made him want to come down at a love for me and you to die on that cross to save us.
And so I hope that the Spirit of God this morning.
We'll open up the.
Eyes of your mind, that you'll see the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The danger of hell and the hope we have of being forever with the Lord, and that your mother and your father and God the Father in heaven will have that same look of appreciation, thankfulness and joy because your eyes have been opened. So go back to that hill and see that empty cross, OK?
Why did the Lord Jesus leave his home up in heaven?
To save sinners. Now let's turn to Revelation.
The end of the 20th chapter and as you stand looking at that hill with the empty cross.
This morning there are two roads you can take. And in the 20th chapter and in the 21St and 22nd chapter of Revelation.
I'm going to show you where those two roads go, OK?
Now the one road goes to what we have in chapter 20.
I saw a great white throne, verse 11 and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.
And the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the book according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them. And they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire.
I think you answered a question for me and I forgot to give you a little reward. Would you like to pick one? Thank you.
What do you do with a pencil?
Or a pen.
That's right. So maybe you'd like to pick one of these.
And you can write with that once it gets sharpened, that road is the road that says I don't want the Lord Jesus in my life. I want to look after my own life.
I want to have fun myself, I want to be disobedient to my parents, I want to be selfish and maybe who knows what else.
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And that road leads to this great white throne and.
The judge sitting on that throne is none other than the Lord Jesus himself.
And he's going to look in all the books, all the things you ever did.
And then he's going to look in the book of life.
And will he find your name written in the book of life? Now I don't know your names, but the Lord Jesus knows everyone of your names.
Will your name be written in the Book of Life?
Because if it's not, the place you go to is the place that God?
The Lord Jesus tells us about. And you know what is that place that scared me into trusting the Lord Jesus? Because it is very, very clear to me.
Blackness.
The Lake of Fire.
And I see all that blackness and those flames. And two weeks ago I had an experience with flames. If you look closely at my arm, there's very little hair on one arm because the flames came shooting out of a BBQ.
About 6 feet and I failed instantly the heat.
And it wasn't pleasant. The lid closed fast. I didn't want anymore of those flames.
Nothing more to do. I didn't want those flames. If I let those flames keep going, I would have been cooked just like the pig that was in the BBQ. But the awful thing about hell is it never stops. You know, after six hours, that pig was done.
But in hell, after six hours is still going on. Those flames are still there, and the worm that the Lord Jesus talked about was still eating away, eating away, eating away.
No friends. All blackness, darkness, horror.
And that's why the Lord Jesus came down to save sinners.
Because it's appointed unto men once to thy but after this the judgment and the Lord Jesus knew he'd created hell for the devil and his angels, and he didn't want me or you or any other person going there.
And he says, come on to me, I'll eat at labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.
Now on the other side of that cross, there's another path we can take, and that's the path where you let the Lord Jesus be your Savior.
And the Lord of your life, the one who gives you the direction, the one to whom you can be obedient.
And the result of that path.
If you go to the right hand of God, where there is pleasures forevermore.
Now, is there anybody in this front row that doesn't enjoy something pleasant?
Pleasurable that doesn't like having fun.
No.
Is there any of you that likes pain?
Likes having a really bad sunburn.
That likes pain.
And really enjoys it.
Especially if there's no end, no.
I don't think so.
So the Lord Jesus knew what his Father's house was like and how beautiful it is.
And let's turn to the 22nd chapter of Revelation. Your Bibles are still open.
Actually I want to read the 21St chapter just a few verses there first. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the 1St heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea. Now John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven.
And then to 22nd chapter.
And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
And in the midst of the street of it, on either side of the river, there was a tree of life, which bare 12 manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month.
And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nation. There shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants shall serve him.
You know what a wonderful thing this place is. What a wonderful place.
And the most important thing about this place for me is that that man who is on the middle cross, who wasn't there on Tuesday morning because he'd come down, they'd taken him down, they buried him and God raised him from the dead.
00:30:05
He's gonna be there.
And for me to think that somebody loved me so much that he take my place on Calvary. I was thinking about it this morning, talking with, uh, Mr. Tanzan.
And I decided that if I was the Lord Jesus in Gethsemane that I wouldn't have made it.
Passed when Judas showed up with this crowd because those 12 legends of Angels would have come down. They would have been all gone.
But the Lord Jesus, he took that.
Those hours.
In the house we had last night, the high priest house, and then in Pilate's mansion, and then going out to that cross and hanging there. Can you imagine what the angels were thinking as they watched the Creator of the universe with all that power, all that majesty, all that glory hanging there?
And him not calling for help.
Can you imagine?
What God's heart was as he took all my sins and put them on the Lord Jesus.
And punished the Lord Jesus.
For my sins and for yours.
I wanna see that man.
I want to see him face to face.
And see the holes in his hands, the holes in his side and his feet.
And know that he died for me.
So who's on the cross on the Tuesday morning after the resurrection?
Nobody, Nobody's on the cross. Where is the Lord Jesus now?
Where is he now?
He's in heaven at his Father's home.
And you have at the cross a choice of two things.
You can go to hell and the Lake of fire, or you can go to heaven.
And what was the difference between which place you go to?
In Revelation chapter 20.
They checked the book.
Whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast in the Lake of Fire.
The end of chapter 21, verse 27. There shall no wise enter into it anything that defileth neither whatsoever worketh abomination, nor maketh a lie, but they that are written in the Lamb's book of life.
They that are written in the Lamb's book of life.
So the verse we started with was in First Corinthians chapter 15.
And verse 3.
1St Corinthians 15 verse three says.
Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
He was buried. He rose again the third day according to the scriptures.
And that's the gospel.
That's the good news that I have. The Lord Jesus saw what my need was and your needs, and he didn't want me to go to hell.
And he didn't want you to go to hell because he loved us so much. And he said in my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you I'd go to prepare a place for you. And he went to the Cross of Calvary.
And gave his life for me and for you. And now the question that I have, how do you get your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life? How? How do you get your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life? Now, some of you have received pencils this morning.
How would you write your name in your Bible? You've answered lots of questions for me. Thank you. Let's try somebody else. How would you get your name written in your Bible? You would write it so it's pretty easy. We understand that part now. How do you get your name written in the Lamb's Book of Life? Would you like a pencil? How do you get your names written in the Lamb's Book of Life? How?
By becoming a Christian How do you become a Christian by admitting.
By admitting your sins to God, is that enough to just admit them?
We need to do more than just admitting. Admitting is a very good first step. What do we have to do more than just admit that we're a Sinner and that we've sinned? We have to believe why? That Jesus died for us, right? First Corinthians 3 Christ died.
00:35:04
Christ died.
He died for us. What else do we have to believe? We have to believe in God. We have to believe that the Lord Jesus is where?
He's in heaven. Would you like a pencil? Thank you. And you can have another one. One's enough. OK, that's it. You need to confess that you're a Sinner and ask the Lord Jesus to wash your sins away and believe that He died on Calvary to take your place. He died on that cross to take your place.
And have your sins washed away in his precious blood, Because if you look at that cross.
You see there's nobody on it, right? But if you look at the ground, what would you see?
You'd see his blood. Would you like a pencil?
You see the blood of Jesus Christ?
That cleanses us from all sin.
You believe that the Lord Jesus blood can wash your sins away.
That he took your place on Calvary and so I hope.
So you'll open your eyes.
And realize that the reason we're talking to you this morning is because if you don't open your eyes, you're gonna go to the place called the Lake of Fire Hell. And it is so awful that the Lord Jesus came down. He left his wonderful home. He came down to take your punishment on Calvary.
You ever had your brother take your punishment for you? Brothers usually don't volunteer to take your punishments.
For the Lord Jesus loved us so much that he came down and took my punishment for me, and yours for you, if you believe in him.
And God raised him from the dead. The Father looked at his son in what he'd done.
And he has given the Lord Jesus a name that's higher than any other name. It's the most important, most wonderful, most glorious name. And the Lord Jesus has created that place in heaven where there's fullness of joy, perfect love, happiness.
Instead for us, for people that he loves.
Now the question that I have for you is which are you going to do? Are you going to ask the Lord Jesus to wash your sins away and have your name written in the Lambs book of life or not? I have one more story for you. I was seven when I was saved. Somebody told me the story of a boy who was still in a car seat. He was driving with his mom and he asked questions about heaven and he wanted to know if his mom and his dad were going to heaven and his Big Brother.
Other members of his family, Were they going to heaven?
They were.
His dad was saved, his mom was saved, the other children in the family were saved. But he is only a little boy still in his car seat, in the car. And he knew that he wasn't safe. And his mom came home, drove up the driveway, and the little boy didn't want to get out of the car. You know why he didn't want to get out of the car? Because that little boy was very serious.
About going to heaven, to that wonderful home where there's love and joy and peace and happiness.
All the time he was very serious about not going to hell and he wanted.
Before he got out of the car seat to get saved, he wanted to pray right there.
As a very young boy to ask the Lord to wash his sins away and to take him to heaven.
And you know, I hope that if any of you in this room is not safe.
You'll get as serious as that young child.
Now you'll deal with the question right now about whether your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life or not. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
And you know, I'm gonna go up and down the front row to all the children.
Because not all of you got a chance to answer a question, and I might have forgotten to give you a little reward if you did answer a question. And I'm going to offer you again, a gift.
You can accept it or you can turn it down. Somebody accepted it. Many people are accepting it. It seems to me people like gifts.
Oh, you don't want a second gift? You know. Is it all right if I use you for an object lesson?
She doesn't want another pencil and I don't blame her, she probably has enough already, but God.
00:40:00
Is offering to you today salvation His gifts? Are you going to accept His gift?
It's as easy as these children who are taking it. Would you like another one?
Would you like one? May I use you for an object lesson? Yes.
I appreciate very much that you said thank you.
How many of us in this room have thanked the Lord Jesus for washing our sins away? I think it's the least we can do to say thank you to the Lord Jesus and to God our Father for His most wonderful gift, the Lord Jesus.
And so while I pray, if you're not saved, please you talk to the Lord Jesus yourself. He can see in your heart He knows your thoughts.
Ask Him to wash your sins away, to make you ready for heaven. Accept Him as your Lord and Savior.
And enter into a new path.
A path of joy and happiness.
And pleasure and service. Let's pray Lord Jesus, succumb to thee now and.
I know that every Christian in the room join with me.
In asking that those who are our neighbors in our seats, if anyone a child 3/4.
7-10 maybe a teenager or an adult.
And for the first time, he has looked at Hal.
And seeing the horror of those flames.
And maybe for the first time has seen and looked at thy home, a beautiful place of love and joy, happiness, pleasure for evermore.
And his look for the first time in seeing that empty cross and the Lord Jesus Christ back with thy right hand. Father, we just asked this morning.
That they might yield their heart, soul, their life. That they might accept Jesus. They might confess that they're a Sinner.
And that Jesus is the only Savior that they might ask to have their name written in the Lamb's book of life, and that they might join us. Those of us who are saved on the path to heaven, we ask for thy blessing in the precious name of the Lord Jesus, and we thank thee for thy help. Amen.
Four Exhortations to Walk Worthy
Address—Jim 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.
Umm.
Going out your feet and I lost a lot of bloody paintings and you're getting anything. I'm going to make you feel better for last night. So 55 5/1.
Well, I'll order if you're ready to get into the conclusion. It's a little harder and after all, I'm pretty good jumping on.
Everything. I'm like, I'm going to get to you. Wait, stop waiting for it. I'll find the.
To my blurry, blurry thing, I'll learn what I'm going to do. I'm going to do anything. I'm going to make it out of the way. I'm going to go, Oh my God.
So I am considering that no, you may never mind if they give you anything.
To drink, please. How far is why are you getting anything?
Up the front, right, right side, that's pretty.
I swear to him I have a life where I can take anything. Uh. I also want to be very good. Uh-huh. Uh huh. That's a lot of experience.
Umm, phone number? I don't know if you're ready for that, but I'm glad that's what I'm saying. Bread.
Man, this is well, I'm back to the bottom of the day. And she's like, no, no, no, no, no. Everything really sounds painful.
I replied to you, now I replied everything.
Ah, 400 kids coming from a lot of blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.
Dial Mike, where are you in the house?
Umm, how long do you want me to give you anything?
Umm, yeah.
Let's ask God's help and blessing our blessed God and Father how thankful we are for our precious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we're thankful that we can lift up our voices and sing of the worthiness of that blessed one.
That one who came into this world went to Calvary's cross and offered himself without spot to the.
We thank thee, too, that that Blessed One is risen, ascended, seated, and glorified at thy right hand.
And we look forward to to that day when he's going to come forth in power and glory, not only to call us to himself, but then to take the throne of His glory, and all will own him as universal Lord. And so we look forward to that moment. But we thank thee that in the meantime we can have Thy living word before us once again. We thank Thee for this happy weekend we've enjoyed together. And now, as we have a young people's meeting scheduled, we pray that there might be a portion for each of us, but particularly for our precious young people.
00:05:18
So we asked by help and blessing. We ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and for his glory. Amen.
By way of introduction to some expressions I want to look at in the New Testament, I'd like to first of all connect some scriptures in the Old Testament. The first one is in Psalm 1.
Psalm one and verse one.
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night, and then in the 119th Psalm.
Psalm 119 and verse one blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law of the Lord and one more portion in Isaiah chapter 40.
Isaiah chapter 40 and verse 30. Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as Eagles.
They shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint. Well, we were just singing about the worthiness of the Lord Jesus, and we had that much before us this morning, didn't we? In the breaking of bread, His worthiness. And in a few moments we're going to turn over to the New Testament, and we're going to look at some exhortations in connection with our still being here in this world, Exhortations to walk worthy.
And there are four of them, and we're going to look at them very briefly, I trust for our practical profit and exhortation. But I began with these verses here in the Old Testament because I have a particular burden, particularly for you who are younger. And again, we're only speaking to you who are younger because this meeting, especially for you, it isn't that we who are older don't need these exhortations. In fact, I would just say to the young people.
If you think it gets any easier as you get older, you're only fooling yourself. No, it doesn't get any easier as you get older. And those of us who are older, a little older and further along in the path of faith, we think back. And I remember sitting in meetings like this and thinking, oh, I'd like to be a little bit older and beyond those exhortations and beyond those difficulties and twists and turns in the path of faith. But, you know, the twists and turns seem to get even more complicated.
As we get older, perhaps they're a little different. The exercises and the trials and that which we face may be a little different from what you young people face, but nevertheless they're very real. And so wherever we are in our Christian pathway, we need these reminders, these exhortations and these encouragements from the living word of God. But I was thinking of these portions we read here first of all, in Psalm One, you know, in the Psalms we have.
Some very beautiful things, particularly the Psalms, are prophetic and Jewish in their character. But you know, there are some wonderful encouragements and exhortations for the Saints of God in any age. And we find here, as the book of the Psalms opens, in this first Psalm it says blessed or happy is the man. Do you want to be a happy Christian? You know, we speak about happiness. The world speaks about joy and happiness.
But you know, it's really only a person who knows the Lord Jesus and is seeking to follow him.
Who can speak of true happiness? And God wants us to be happy. He wants us to be joyful Christians, and we have a joy. It says your joy no man taketh from you. But in a practical way this joy and happiness can only be felt and experienced in relationship to how we desire and seek by grace to follow the Lord and walk in obedience to His Word.
And so he says, Happy is the man who walketh not in the council of the ungodly. You know, this world has its counselors. When you go to school, there are guidance counselors. But those counselors often give just the wisdom of this world and maybe what they tell you. A lot of it is good. Maybe it's helpful in channeling you into a line of work, a vocation or profession that is going to help you to get along through this life.
00:10:18
But I say, sometimes they just give the council of this world and everything they tell you needs to be weighed in the light of God's word.
There seems to be, in business and in every facet of life today, a consultant for everything. In fact, sometimes I wonder if you can't get a job in your field, if you just become a consultant. But there's consultants for everything. There's an 800 number to answer, it seems, every question that arises in the work a day world in which we find ourselves. And again, I'm not saying that sometimes those things aren't helpful, but blessed is the man that walketh, not in the counsel of the ungodly because young people.
We have one whose very name is Counselor, one whose name is Wisdom. And we have a book in front of us, a guide book for our youth and as we get older too, a council for this life. And it's the wisdom of God, it's heavenly wisdom, it's that which is going to make us fruitful, happy Christians as we walk through this world. And so he says, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord.
And in his law does he meditate day and night? Do you read God's word? Do you find your joy and delight in it? Is it your meditation? Later on, the psalmist said, all, how I love thy law. It is my meditation all the day, not just to read the word of God and then set it aside, but to consider it, to find it the joy of your heart. Thy words were found, and I did eat them, and they were unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart, and then to seek grace, to walk in it to be as it says in James, where the subject of practical faith is taken up.
To be doers of the word and not hearers only. And so again the 119th Psalm starts the same way.
Blessed or happy, this 119th Psalm, it's often been pointed out as a very remarkable part of the Bible. It's the longest chapter in the Bible.
And you notice those letters at the beginning of each section, the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. We would say we've got it all from A-Z. And where are we going to get all the instruction for life? Where are we going to get everything we need? Well, we're going to get it from God's precious word. And this chapter, this Psalm, abounds with references to the word of God, either called by precepts or commandments, Thy law, thy word. Almost every verse has some reference to the word of God.
But it begins with this exhortation. Blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law of the Lord, not just those who read it, not just those who hear it. Ministered on an occasion like this because it's wonderful to come to meetings like this. It's wonderful for two days to hear the word of God read and ministered. But young people and all of us, that's not enough if we go away and we don't take take heed and seek grace to walk in what's before us.
It's not enough just to come and to hear it. Not happy is the man who hears it, red, not happy as the man who hears it expounded. But happy is the person who seeks grace to walk in it. And I want to encourage you as you go home, to seek grace, to take what you've heard and what you've enjoyed and meditate on it and put it into practical use in your Christian life. Because as you go home, you're going to go back to the trials and difficulties.
Of the path of faith and service. And it's not easy. I realize walking for the Lord is not easy. It's never been easy. We heard yesterday in the young people's meeting about Daniel. Was it easy in Daniels Day? Not for one moment, because it's never been easy. Whether it was Daniels Day, whether it was our Grandfather's Day, or whether it's today. It's not easy to live for God's glory in a world that is opposed to everything that God has set up.
Instituted and established for the blessing of man on the earth. And so we read in Isaiah 40. Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. You know, young men in Scripture bring before us the vitality of youth, the prime of life, That strength. We think of young men, we think of strength. And I'm thankful to see some strong young men here. And I'm getting to the point in life. I'm glad to let them lift a few boxes if there's a young man around.
00:15:17
Or left a suitcase for me. We appreciate the natural strength of youth. But young people, natural strength, even of youth, isn't enough to meet the situations of life today. No, the enemy is busy, perhaps like never before. This world is getting worse and worse. Things are winding down for the judgment of God. There's no principles or standards. Today we go back to not an immoral society, but an amoral society. There's no right and wrong.
There are no morals today. It's not that the line between right and wrong is blurred. It's removed altogether.
And so even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. And they have a lot of young people who were so promising, seemed to have a lot of energy in the things of God. But you know, they've fallen. Not that they've lost their salvation, but they've become discouraged and down hearted, and they've stumbled and fallen in the path of faith and service. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. And then He gives us three things.
They shall mount up with wings as Eagles. You want to go back and be an overcomer. You want to rise above the difficulty.
You know, we love to watch an eagle soaring over the treetops, over the mountain peaks. Why, If there's a difficulty, the eagle just rises up and he's above it all. The Lord can help us to get above the difficulties. And then it says they shall run and not be weary, because as we're going to mention later on, we're in a race. The Christian pathway is so often likened to an athletic event or a race, and they shall run and not be weary, as thy day so shall thy strength be. But then it says.
And they shall walk and not faint. You know, there's a lot of Christians today and they're just fainting under the burdens of life. They're saying that life is too much, the circumstances are too great, and they're just giving up, throwing up their hands. Because I believe, young people that the great tactic of the enemy today is to wear down the Saints of God. I know it's a little different context, but in Daniel, Speaking of the man of sin in the coming day, it says.
He will wear out the Saints of the Most High. Isn't that what the enemy is trying to do today?
Just wear us out. I've often said we're on a treadmill of society that's being pumped up faster and faster all the time. And as many young people just saying I can't take it anymore. And I wonder sometimes if that in application for us in the Western world, isn't the roaring lion character of Satan. I know that when we think of the roaring lion character of Satan, we usually think of violent persecution, and certainly many of our brethren have, and even today.
In some corners of the world are suffering in that way. Sometimes we think of the roaring lion character of Satan as discouragement, and rightly so.
But I wonder too, if it isn't just the fact that he's wearing out the Saints of the Most High. You ever watch a cat with its prey? You know the cat doesn't kill its prey right away. No, it plays with that prey until that prey is so exhausted it just drops from exhaustion. Isn't that what the enemy is seeking to do today? Just to get us to drop from exhaustion? Just give up to throw up our hands to say I can't do it anymore. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with the wings. As Eagles, they shall run and not be weary.
And they shall walk and not faint. Well, in connection with that last expression, they shall walk and not faint. As I say, I'd like to go to the New Testament and look at 4 expressions that are brought before us. And I trust these will be for our exhortation and for our encouragement as well. Let's go to the first one in, or the first one we're going to look at. It's in First Thessalonians.
First, Thessalonians chapter 2, and we'll begin reading at verse 10.
Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holy and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you, that believe, as you know how we exhorted and comforted, and charged every one of you as a Father doth his children, that you would walk worthy of God.
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Who have called you unto his Kingdom and glory? Well, as I say, we're going to look at 4 exhortations in Paul's epistles that encourage us to walk worthy or in a worthy manner, and we're going to find that in each case it's a little different. And the exhortation is relevant to the subject of the book because, as we've often heard, the exhortations are the practical instructions of the epistles.
Are always in relationship to the light or the subject that's taken up in the book. Because, you know, when God brings us into a place of blessing and relationship with himself and gives us light from his word as to that place of blessing and relationship that we've been brought into with himself and with the Lord Jesus Christ, then there's always responsibility connected with it. And I would just say again, young people that the blessing, the fruit and the joy.
And the happiness come in our Christian life when we seek by grace.
To walk in relationship to the light that we have. If God brings some truth before us, then the only happy thing is to seek to walk in a practical way in regard to that truth. And so we find here that they are to walk worthy of God. Now we might say, why were the Thessalonians exhorted to walk worthy of God? Well, these Thessalonians hadn't been saved very long.
And there were many things that they didn't understand in connection with, if we could put it this way, the deep things of God. They hadn't yet entered into Colossians truth or Ephesians truth, but they did understand one thing very clearly, and that's brought before us in the first chapter. They had turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his Son from heaven.
These Thessalonians believers had once been steeped in heathendom. They had once bowed down to dumb idols. You know, it's a very sad and solemn thing to see people bow down and worship dumb idols, to see those who looked to that which is made of wood and stone, things as Isaiah says, that they've made with their own hands, and expect them to help them and deliver them in their circumstances.
But the light of the glorious gospel had reached into these dark hearts, and they had been turned from darkness to light, and they had been turned to the true God. They knew God now, the true God. And this they understood, and they had been turned to God. And so they are to walk worthy of God. Maybe there's someone here, maybe a young person, and you haven't been saved very long, you know, recently at the conference on the Sinai Peninsula.
There was a man attended there, his wife's been in fellowship a year or two, and he confessed the Lord during those meetings.
At the conference. And you know, he said, there's a lot of things I don't understand about what the Lord wants me to do, a lot of things I don't understand about how I can grow in the Lord and follow the Lord. And we told him, oh, don't worry about that, don't worry about that. That'll come as you spend time in the Lord's presence, as you read his word, as you're encouraged by by other believers. Those things will come line upon line, precept upon precept, hear a little. They're a little.
But there was. It was a joy to see. There was one thing he did understand. He'd been turned to the true God.
He knew God and his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and maybe there's a young person and you say, I haven't been saved very long. There's a lot of things I don't understand about the Bible and following the Lord Jesus. Maybe a lot of things you didn't understand about what was ministered in these meetings. But as another has said, don't let the things you don't understand keep you from enjoying and walking in. The things that you do understand, you know, it's like the blind man in John Chapter 9 is it? He said finally in desperation when they tried to question him about.
Things and getting his sight back. Finally he said this one thing I know well, a lot of things he didn't know about this man, the Lord Jesus, who had given him his sight. But one thing he knew, he was blind. But now he saw, and I love to meet a Christian who says, well, I don't know a lot of things, but one thing I know, I know the Lord Jesus is my savior. I know God is my Father. And so these Thessalonians believers, they're exhorted to walk worthy of God. And Paul before he does that, he reminds them.
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That when he and others were amongst them, why they had walked in a worthy manner.
Why, they had walked in an unblameable way amongst them, and so, having having done so with moral weight, he could exhort them in the same way, you know. It tells us in Philippians that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. And I often think of Daniel in that connection, in the 6th chapter of Daniel.
His coworkers were jealous of him because he'd been promoted under the new king and so on. And they got together and they had a little conference and they tried to come up with something that they could accuse Daniel of. And finally they said we're not going to find anything to accuse him of except concerning his God. You know, that's paramount to you going back to school or work or in your neighborhood next weekend, your friends at work, your associates at work, or your fellow students try to come up with something against you and they say.
You know, the only thing we really have against that person is they're a Christian. I wonder if that would be true of you and me, that the only thing they could come up to blame us for is that we belong to the Lord Jesus. That we know God and his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, we need to walk with that exercise to be blameless and harmless. And so Paul had operated in this way amongst them, had this testimony, and now he says, I want you to walk in a worthy manner, too worthy of God.
Oh, when we think young people of the God of the universe to think that he's the one who sent his son.
But he's the one who chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. He's the source of all the blessing that we have and all that we are going to enjoy in a coming eternity. Oh, it ought to motivate us to walk worthy of him. And so he says here that ye would walk worthy of God, who have called you unto his Kingdom and and glory. You know, there's a wonderful day coming when we're going to be associated with him.
In his Kingdom and in his glory.
Now grace gives us a common place as far as glory. We're all going to share in that glory. But you know, the government of God comes in, and there will be degrees in the Kingdom. Be thou over 5 cities. Be thou over 10 cities. There's not going to be equality in that sense in the Kingdom our reign with Christ our part in that reign, and the administration of it is based on our faithfulness now.
When Paul spoke of loving his appearing that day when the Lord Jesus is going to reign.
Over this world as universal Lord, he spoke of a crown of righteousness that was laid up for him and not for him only, but all those that love his appearing. Because in the measure in which we walk worthy of God, now in view of the Kingdom, why there's going to be reward and administrative position, administrative responsibility in that in that regard?
And that ought to motivate us to leave the things of this world. You know, the devil came to the Lord Jesus in the in the temptation, and he showed him the kingdoms of this world in a moment of time. Young people, that's all they are. It's just a moment of time. You know, I've been in Egypt several times and in going back and looking at some of the historic monuments in Egypt, the pyramids and so on, and other places, visiting the Cairo Museum on more than one occasion.
I've realized what a glorious Kingdom it was in the days of Moses and the children of Israel. Egypt is a base Nation Today, but it wasn't a base nation in the days of the Pharaohs. And to realize what Moses gave up what to realize that he esteemed the reproaches of Christ greater than the treasures of Egypt. I never realized the import of that verse until I did two things.
Visited Egypt and went over some of its history and then traveled through the Sinai Peninsula.
To see what Moses gave up in relationship to what he got the Sinai Peninsula.
It is a forsaken, barren wilderness of nothing but rock and sand.
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And he never did get into the Promised Land, though he saw it from the heights of Pisgah. But, oh, and you come to the New Testament and there he is on the Mount of Transfiguration. Well, preview of the coming glory. Would Moses have traded it for anything? What do you have traded it for a pyramid or some monument erected to his memory in Egypt? Not for one moment when we talked to Moses in the coming day and say, was it worth it all to give all that up?
To travel for 40 years with a murmuring, complaining people through the Sinai desert.
Oh, you'll say it was worth it all. Oh young people, if we could just get a little glimpse of the glory in the Kingdom.
That's ahead. It would wean us from this world we wouldn't be going after.
The things of this world looking for position down here, you know?
Elect This is election year in the United States and I'm interested in what's going on. But, you know, we don't have to be overwhelmed by it. We need, we need to be intelligent bystanders as to what's going on, even in the political arena. And aware but not overwhelmed because there's one in control and we're looking forward to a day when he's going to reign in righteousness and Princess will rule in judgment. Now, young people.
Are we walking worthy of God in view of the glory and the Kingdom? I think Brother Bruce brought before us yesterday that verse where there is no vision. The people perish. Let's get a little vision of what is ahead. Let's have a vision of the glory. Let's have a vision of the Kingdom and realize that we're going to be part of that time when he's going to establish his Kingdom and the throne of his glory. Why the Pharaohs have long passed off the scene.
Other kingdoms have risen and fallen. Great empires have come and gone.
They're just parts of history now, but oh, there's a Kingdom going to be established for the glory of the Lord Jesus and we're going to be revealed. It says he's coming to be glorified in his Saints and admired in all them that are about him in that day. But young people, before we pass on, I say again, we need to walk worthy of that. I want to repeat a little story that I sometimes told in this regard, but I remember reading of one of the.
Uh, Crown Princess of France when he was a young boy. As we know many years ago, France had a had a royal family and there was a young Prince and he had an English tutor to teach him English in preparation for the day when he would take the throne of France and be able to communicate with the outside world. And this young Prince was a very unruly young student and this English tutor had no control over his student.
Because of who he was, couldn't discipline him the way they did when I went to school. I know they don't discipline the way they did when I went to school today. But he, this tutor was at his wit's end. And this young Prince knew that he could take liberties because of who he was. And finally this tutor came up with a very novel plan. One day this young Prince showed up for his English lessons and as he was coming into the room.
The tutor had in his hand a purple rose and as the student took his seat he pinned the purple rose on his lapel and he said to the young Prince, he said when you act up and disobey in class, I can't discipline you because of who you are. But the tutor said you remember that purple is the official color of the French royal family and every time you misbehave I'm going to point to that purple rose on your lapel and that will be remind you.
That there is a conduct in keeping with one who is heir to the French throne. They say the effect was amazing and all. We need to realize that we're going to be associated with Christ in a coming day of glory, and there's a conduct that is worthy of that. I'll tell another little story. When I was growing up, we used to hear a little story from an older brother that illustrates this as well in connection with the Prince of Wales.
Years ago the Prince of Wales was traveling on a ship South and as they crossed the equator, which was quite an event back in those days, there was a celebration put on by those who were on board that ship and many dressed up in various costumes. And there was a a celebration and the Prince of Wales dressed up in, I think it was a jester's costume and there was someone there with a camera.
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Who took his picture? And his picture was splashed across the front pages.
Of the British press and it caused a great hue and cry in Britain.
And the general consensus by the British people was, that's OK for anybody else, but not one who is heir to the British throne. This was conduct that was not in keeping with one who was a child of the king. Well, I think you get the point very quickly. But now let's pass on to another portion in Colossians chapter one.
Colossians Chapter one and verse 9.
For this 'cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you.
And desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.
That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work.
And increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power.
Unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness, well here we have another exhortation to walk worthy.
And this time we're to walk worthy of the Lord, I'll just say before I comment on that.
That if we were to back up in these verses, there had been a report brought to the Apostle Paul of the faith and love of these Colossians Saints. And when Paul heard of this, he rejoiced. But you know, when he heard of it, he realized that the Colossians Saints were going to be a special target of the enemy, because there's nothing the enemy hates worse than the people of God going on in faith and love.
And Paul says here that since the day they heard of it, they see he ceased not to pray for them.
I've often said that Paul uses prayer as a preventative measure.
In his epistles, usually when you read of Paul praying for the Saints, it wasn't at a time when they were going on badly. Now it's good to pray for the Saints when things go wrong. But you know, if we would use prayer as a preventative measure, it might spare us from many things. And Paul knew when the Saints were going on well and happily together that that was the time, as I say, when the enemy was going to be right there to seek to bring in discord.
And difficulties. And so he was praying for them. And his desire was that they would be filled with not all, not with knowledge, the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Three things here. Knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. You know, you often have those three things brought together in Scripture. In fact, they're brought together in connection with Daniel, who we heard about yesterday afternoon.
You know, I was no never good in math or science and I never liked formulas. In fact, when they started at in school adding and subtracting letters I dropped out of math algebra I saw no relevance for. But you know there is a little formula here that I've sometimes presented to the young people and that is you might say that K + W = U That is knowledge and wisdom gives us.
Understanding in the things of God.
Because there first of all has to be knowledge. That's why we encourage one another to read God's word. How do we know what's going to please the Lord if we don't read His word? No, there has to be a knowledge. But then knowledge, as has often been pointed out, is not enough. There has to be wisdom with it. Because if we just have knowledge and no wisdom to use it, then it's the knowledge doesn't do us any good.
You know, when I was going to school, I never was good with my hands. I had to take a shot to graduate from junior high. It's the only year I took a shop and I think the shop teacher gave me an A for the little bookends I made and said don't ever send this man back to any place where he has to use his hands. I could tell you all the theory. The theory was fine, the knowledge was fine. But to take that knowledge and put it into practical use with my hands, I couldn't do.
And Dave Mearns and Paul House and those who help us at home in practical situations, they'll well confirm after this meeting. In fact, I think it was Dave or Paul one time, said Jim, call us before you wreck it. Call us before you destroy it. It's much easier that way. And so there has to be knowledge. But knowledge isn't enough. There has to be the ability then to use that knowledge in a right way. And only God can give us that ability and when he does.
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Then there's understanding. You know, there's a lot of people with knowledge. It may be even scriptural knowledge. But there has to be discernment of the times as we learn in another place that is the wisdom to take that knowledge and apply it with understanding to the situations that face us and the people of God in the day in which we live. And so we have these three things. And then he says that ye might walk worthy not of God.
But of the Lord, because that's the subject of Colossians. In Colossians, the subject is that he is the head of the body. It's the lordship of Christ. And Paul's desire was for the Colossian brethren that as members of the body of Christ, they would, as we sometimes say, hold the head, or that they would look to the head for every direction, for guidance in every situation.
That arises amongst the people of God. You know, young people. You ever wonder why at a brothers meeting we don't take a vote or cast lots when a decision has to be made? No, we look to the Lord for the decision. You know, in the in the first chapter of Acts there was a decision had to be made and they cast lots. It was in the connect in connection with a replacement for Judas because there had to be 12 apostles and they cast lots and the lot fell to Matthias. But you know, they never cast lots in the book of the acts after that.
Why? Because after the Spirit of God came and linked the members of the body of Christ with their glorified head, they always, in the power of the Spirit, look to their head for direction in every circumstance that arose. But I want to apply this now in connection with our personal lives as well, because I'm not going to ask you this afternoon if you know the Lord Jesus as your Savior. That's important.
That's the beginning, of course, But I'm going to ask you, have you owned the lordship of Christ in your life? You know, we sometimes sing a hymn reign thou within our hearts alone. When we were young people we sang that hymn Lord of my life, I crown thee now thine shall the glory be. And to realize young people, that we have one who has every right to be Lord of our life. We're not our own, for we're bought with a price and it's a great price that we've been bought with.
We belong to Him now. Are we going to walk in all the dignity worthy of the of the one who is not only our Savior, but desires to be Lord of our life? Because if we're willing to do this, then there's going to be fruit. He speaks here immediately a fruit. And I know every believer here desires down deep to bear fruit for God's glory, to have something of Christ reflected in your life and mine. But it will only be in the measure in which we walk worthy.
Of the Lord in which we bow every day and own His Lordship in our life.
I heard of a young man and he had a little motto on his desk at work. It simply said 2 words.
Yes, Lord, I thought that was a nice exercise because he wanted to own the Lordship.
Of Christ in his life, whether it was at home, Oregon, whether it was at work, He wanted to say yes to the Lord. Are you and I really, really willing to bow our hearts in that way and say yes, Lord, in everything we do, whether it's in our personal lives, whether it's in our business life, whatever it is? And, you know, I would just say it's a little aside, but I just say there are things in the word of God, too, that he has asked us to do.
And if we're not doing them, we really haven't said yes, Lord, We're not really walking worthy of the Lord. For instance, he's asked us to remember him at his table at the Lord's table. Not the table of Jesus, not the table of Christ, but the Lord's table where His authority is to be owned and maintained. Have you bowed and remembered him? Has your heart responded? Did you partake of the loaf and the cup this morning?
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Did you say Yes, Lord this morning? And remember him? He's asked us to eat that loaf and to drink that cup, and that's just one of many things he's asked us to do. And so we're to walk worthy of the Lord that, as he says here, there might be fruit in our lives and we'd be fruitful in every good work. Good works are so important. Just read the book of Titus. Someone has said Titus is the epistle of good works, not for salvation, and Titus himself makes that very clear.
But good works as the fruit of the work of Christ in US. And he desires that there would be those good works, that fruit for his glory. And then he says, increasing in the knowledge of God. You know, Peter at the end of his epistle, says growing grace and the knowledge. You know, there ought to be a deepening of the knowledge of God, an increase in that way. We need the grace to go with it, of course, but.
Can we honestly say that as we've progressed in our Christian life, there has been a taking in of that knowledge? And then he says, strengthened with all might according to his glorious power. You want power? We spoke of how the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But there is power at our disposal. And then he says unto All patients are endurance and long-suffering and joyfulness. Oh, it's a path of endurance. It's a path of long-suffering.
But young people, it's a happy path as well. Now let's go to the book of Ephesians.
Ephesians chapter 4.
And verse one. I Therefore the prisoner of the Lord beseech you.
That ye would walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called with all lowliness and meekness.
With long-suffering forbearing one another in love, well, here we're told to walk worthy or in a worthy manner.
And here we're to walk worthy of our vocation or Our Calling, because that's the subject of the book of Ephesians.
In the chapters that precede, the spirit of God has given us what Our Calling is. The spirit of God has brought before us the fact that we're a heavenly people, that our hopes and our goals and our aspirations are not centered or connected with this world, but they're heavenly. And he's brought before us that vast panorama of spiritual and heavenly blessings that are ours in Christ. We're seen positionally seated in heavenly places in Christ.
And now, having brought all that before us, we're told to walk worthy of that vocation or calling. Many of you are training for a vocation. They talk about vocational schools where they train you because a young person may feel they have a certain aptitude or calling in life. And you know when you get through and graduate and get a job in that calling, often there's a code of ethics. There's a standard.
That you must sign or adhere to that is in keeping with that calling or vocation. Lawyers have a code of ethics, and if they don't keep it, they're disbarred from practicing law. A physician may lose his license because he didn't live up to the standard or code of ethics that he agreed to when he when he received his physician's license. And you know, you and I are called to a heavenly calling.
And there's a there's a walk that's in keeping with that. There's a conduct, there's a lifestyle that's in keeping with it. Now, we often speak of the follies of pride or self esteem. And I'm going to repeat another little story that a brother and I know this name is just names to you young, just a name to you young people. But when I was growing up, we often heard practical ministry from a brother by the name of Albert Hayhoe.
And he told us one time in bringing out these things, that he had listened to his father in a meeting like this, talk about the follies and evils of pride and self esteem. And after the meeting was over, he went to his father. And with all the respect he could muster, he said, you know father, that's fine for you to talk that way. But you know, if I didn't have a little pride or self esteem I wouldn't make sure that my shoes are shined, my hair is combed, that my.
Ty was straight. You've got to have a little bit of pride, Something to take care of those things.
Well, he said his father listened to him till he was done. And then he very wisely looked at his son and he said, Albert, if you remember at all time you're calling and that you're a son and heir of God, it will take care of all those things without one little bit of self esteem or pride. You know, we talked about upholding a family name sometimes, and sometimes people tell their children. Now make sure your conduct upholds the family name. But oh, what about the Lord Jesus Christ? What about that wonderful calling that you and I have? Are we walking?
00:50:33
Worthy of it, and we don't have time to go into what follows here. But there's a spirit and attitude too. It's not again, in a legalistic way or a hard way, but it's with meekness and with loneliness and long-suffering, forbearing one another in love and so on. Now I want to go to the next one in Philippians chapter one.
Philippians chapter one. I'm going to read the first part of verse 27. I'm going to read it in Mr. Darby's translation.
Only conduct yourself worthily of the glad tidings.
Of the Christ. You know, when Paul wrote to the Philippian Saints, there was a great testimony and exercise in Philippi.
Concerning the gospel, these brethren I believe were very, as we would say, gospel minded. And I've never counted. But over and over again he uses the word gospel in this epistle. But the Apostle Paul needs to remind them to walk in a way that commended the gospel or the glad tidings, because, you know, it's very easy for the enemy to come in and allow something in our conduct.
That spoils our testimony collectively and individually in the gospel.
I want to just say this. In the second chapter he talks about working out your own salvation with fear and trembling. And I know that many have struggled with that verse, and it's a verse that's been grossly misapplied over the over the years. But I believe you have to realize that working out your own salvation with fear and trembling is not an individual thing, it's a collective thing. Because there was a great testimony in Philippi. It was an assembly that had a testimony in the gospel.
But the enemy was coming in with a little wedge, a contention between two sisters that Paul felt was going to spoil their testimony in the gospel. Now he says, you need to work that out with fear and trembling. Don't let something come in to spoil your testimony in the gospel. And so young people, whether it's collectively or individually, we need to walk worthy or conduct ourselves worthy.
Of the glad tidings of Christ, because it doesn't take much to bring reproach on the name of Christ.
It's again, just like Daniel the enemy was watching for any opportunity that they might find to accuse Daniel, something that would spoil Daniels testimony. You know, I think of Lot, what a sad history Lot is. It was a true child of God.
He was a righteous man, and he'll be in heaven another day. But you know, he spoiled his testimony. And when he sought to warn others of judgment coming it, he seemed as one that mocked his conduct, wasn't worthy of what he said. It wasn't worthy of the message that he tried to give there in Sodom. And so we need to be careful. We're going to go back to the world, and we're left here to be a testimony by our actions and by our words.
To be a testimony in the gospel and to speak for Christ here in this world.
Are we going to be careful that what we say and do is worthy of the glad tidings of the gospel of Christ? Well, I want to. Now we've looked at these four exhortations. I want to close by looking at one more time when we have the the, the expression walking worthy. This time it's not an exhortation. Let's go to the Book of Revelation, Revelation Chapter 3.
Revelation Chapter 3 and verse 4.
Thou hast a few names, even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. Well, I want to mention this at the end of the meeting to encourage your heart and mind. We've had exhortations from the word of God to walk worthy, and as long as we're here, we're going to need those exhortations, no matter whether we're young or whether we're old, whether we're just starting out in the path of faith and service.
00:55:18
Or whether we're further along, we need those exhortations and reminders to walk worthy.
But our young people, this ought to motivate our hearts to walk worthy now.
To realize that there's a day coming when we're going to be associated with him, when we're going to walk with him because we are worthy. There's a day coming when we're not going to need the exhortations to walk worthy anymore. We're going to be beyond that. We're going to be in a sphere where we won't need to be stirred up, Where our feet will never go astray in the path of faith and service again, Where we'll never digress.
From what has been set before us, everything is going to be perfect there. We're going to walk with him in that day because we are worthy. And why are we worthy? All nothing of ourselves but His worthiness, Those robes that were going to be arrayed in the blood of Christ. The basis for it all. What a day it's going to be when we're associated with Him and walk with him for all eternity because we are worthy. Now, if that doesn't, isn't the springboard or the motivation?
For us to walk worthy now, I don't know what goes on within our hearts. Oh, let's seek to be exercised.
All of us to be exercised to leave these meetings, to walk in a worthy manner, to walk worthy of God in view of the coming glory and Kingdom, to walk worthy of the Lord and to own His headship in our lives, to walk worthy of our heavenly calling.
To walk worthy of the voca of that that vocation, to walk worthy of the glad tidings that we might be a testimony for his glory.
As long as we're here to be used in blessing to souls and then to realize that the day is coming and it's not far off. It's not far off when we're going to be associated with him in that scene of glory and to walk worthy. This ought to encourage us, as he sought to encourage these Saints here to walk and to keep themselves unspotted from the world, to walk with no other name in view than the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
To walk with his glory in view, knowing that that day was going to come when they would walk with him.
In that coming day of glory, all young people, we desire the best for you. We desire your happiness. We desire that you would walk worthy of that blessed one until He comes. Let's pray our God and Father how thankful we are that we can open Thy word and find encouragement, exhortation, comfort for our pathway here. And we think of these verses, these scriptures that we've looked at so quickly. This afternoon we pray.
That thou bless them not only that are the hearts of those who are young, but to each of our hearts, that we might seek grace to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. So we commit ourselves to the and ask thy blessing in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Vineyard For Fruit Stability and Protection
Personal, Private and Public - Speak Up for Your Savior
Gospel 2
Gospel—Gordon Sester
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And if you're going to do that, it's like somebody.
One thing prospects and our heaven together.
A lot of the children bring the whole guilty spinner and love me and.
And rise and cry because I hear about all the time.
My jeans are getting anything good already? Yes, it's hotter. Help my.
One second, I love coverage so close to all of the rain.
We saw in the dark.
Of reading. I like bottoms. Do you? Do you do? No, No, No. No. No. No, no, no, no.
Begin with the word of prayer. Our God and our loving Father, we thank Thee, we thank Thee for the Lord Jesus, and we thank Thee for the ministry of Thy precious word that we have heard these last two days. And now, our Father, we look to Thee for just a few minutes.
To appeal to any here who may be strangers to that love and Thy grace, we'd ask us, Lord Jesus and thy precious name, Amen.
Let's sing a hymn. There are some gospel hymns and a little flock number 69. Come hear the gospel sound. Yet there is room. Someone could start it.
66, I'm sorry. 66 sorry in the back, yeah.
OK, but I'm not going to.
Kill you.
Thinking about it.
What? I know I'm going to die on that again.
Yeah, yeah, I'm going to go.
Again Friday straight today.
Let's talk this evening.
Yes, I've heard it's really cool.
Umm.
00:05:06
Uh, I heard the jazz and 1000 days.
Many days are gone by singing.
One second, you never let me get through the way I'm looking. Yeah, everything is surreal.
Let's turn for a moment to Genesis chapter 24, three expressions.
In that chapter.
It's like to quickly read three or four passages. Genesis 24.
The first expression.
Is in verse 56 of Genesis 24.
He said unto them, Hinder me not.
And verse.
Uh, 58, The question was addressed to Rebecca.
Wilt thou go with this man? And then the answer.
She said I will go.
Let's turn over to.
John's Gospel.
And.
There's an expression, uh, first I'd like it ties in with what our brother Bruce had. It's in connection with the word believing. It's on our way over to the passage. I really had in my heart, but I don't want to miss this. Uh, my wife and I enjoyed this. It's an expression in John chapter 2 and verse 11. It's in connection with believing. We use the word believe and it's, it's in John quite a few times, but verse 11 of chapter 2 of John's Gospel.
This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee and manifested his fourth, his glory.
And his disciples believed on him, but.
I believe this is a note in Mr. Darby's translation that I enjoyed.
Believe.
Is.
Is the, uh, it's the object of faith. It's on a, but believe on a person as an object of faith, It's believe on a person, you know this afternoon.
I don't know you all, but I believe that all, if if not probably all of you are very familiar with this book.
And I have something in common with you because I grew up under the sound of the Word of God.
But you know, the questions come up, in fact, in conversation it did even this afternoon. Why do we have gospel meetings? And yes, we should be more diligent in bringing our unsaved neighbors in, and I encourage you to do so. But you know, I listen to gospel meetings and I went home and I wasn't saved.
And I hope there's no boy or girl or even a grown up here that's heard the gospel and gone home and they weren't saved. You know what Blue Monday is? It's a Monday after you've heard the gospel on large day evening and you went home and you knew you weren't saved. You knew if the Lord came, you'd be left.
And so we have gospel meetings.
And you know, I don't know your hearts.
That woman in John Four, she said. Come see a man that told me all things.
Is not this the Christ she recognized in that man? And that's the man I'd like to speak to you about for a few minutes. That man that wants you to follow him when you leave here this afternoon. Do you have an object for your life? Is that man the object of your life? And we just read in Gen. in Genesis 24. Hinder me not.
00:10:22
There's someone that wants to hinder you.
And you know what I mean? There's a nanny now, your soul, and he wants to hinder you. He doesn't want the Spirit of God to have its work in your heart.
And you might have sat in a gospel meeting and gone out.
And you said, I know it's right. I, I believe that if somebody said to you, you know, it used to be, you know, I don't, I haven't seen it for years. It used to be in order to get out of the gospel meeting, you had to walk by the man that had the gospel.
And you, you kind of looked, if you hoped there was another door, but you had to go by him. And he seemed to almost he, he, he seemed to know you. I mean, he seemed to reach out and grab your hand and look, you're right in the eye.
And you had to figure out what you were going to tell him.
But you know, whether that's the case or not, the Spirit of God is striving with your soul.
Wilt thou go with this man?
Now I marked some of these. I used these old red things here, so not very good on my memory.
John, Chapter 6.
John 6.
In verse 66.
So like brother Jim said, he's not good on his math, but if you can, if you do know your math, you know 6 * 11 is 66 so you can remember this.
From that time, many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him.
Then said Jesus, unto the 12 will ye also.
Go away.
Then Simon Peter answered him. Lord.
To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.
Well, I just addressed that to you. You're gonna go away.
You know, I just like to say as I've grown up in the assembly.
I've seen some.
My own age, they went away.
And you know, it came time to leave this world.
And I've told this before you get on the telephone, can anybody ever remember that that young man or young lady or older man has ever confessed the Lord Jesus? Have you ever heard a confession from him? And you call this perhaps someone who's in Sunday school with him?
I had a cousin nobody could ever remember. Nobody could remember he'd ever confessed the Lord, and he grew up sitting on chairs like you did.
I hope that's not the case.
My wife and I went to the bedside of a neighbor.
Dying.
If you'd have been a neighbor to that man.
There was nothing in his life that would ever tell that he was a believer.
I've had personal talks with him. I believe he was the last word I said, he said to me.
Whatever the Lord wants.
It was a couple of hours. He was in eternity.
He was a man that grew up like you did. He sat on the meeting room chairs.
But he didn't have time for the Lord.
He didn't have time for the Lord to lost life.
Let's turn over to Luke.
And there we have loop 24.
So the one in Genesis 24?
Was going to go on a journey.
She had an object before her.
Horizon.
We had to go on on that story. We'd see the last.
Line, I believe, of a hymn. Sweetest to his ear are the footballs.
00:15:00
As they come through the desert.
You know the Lord Jesus is that one that's waiting at the end of the journey.
I have to tell you, some of you may know where this came from. Perhaps. I don't recommend the source necessarily, but I read a little article about.
About a little boy riding on the train.
In the scenery outside looked a little boring, and the person next to him said to the little boy, it's it's kind of monotonous, isn't it? He said. It's OK, Mr. my father's waiting for me.
Is your father waiting for you?
Are there trials at the end of the journey? Take courage, you know.
We have the end of the story.
Take courage, Luke 24.
Just a couple verses here in closing.
We're familiar with this passage.
Just.
Verse 13 first and behold, two of them went the same day to the village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem, about 3 square furlongs, and they talked together of all the things which had happened. You know, as we go away from here, there'll be conversation, perhaps conversation in the car. I can remember going from a conference or going from an all day meeting with our family. And as we left there was conversation, maybe there were questions came up.
But, you know, these two as they were, we'll read later. Or I could just read that we trusted that it had been he, you know, is he disappointed you?
Are you going going to go away discouraged? And let's look at the end of the story because we it's nice. We have the end of the story. Then the one came alongside and that's what would be the object of our hearts. And we just heard about our hearts from our brother and our hearts must be touched.
Verse 32, This is the desire we'd have. And they said one to another. Did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us, by the way, while he opened to us the Scriptures?
Now, I'd just like to tell you in closing about a little boy.
And his heart was touched.
And to you children, if I went up and down the road and I asked each one of you.
How long will it be?
Before you take your last breath, or if I ask you as we were often asked in Sunday school.
When is the Lord going to come? Now, you know we're asked that question many times, but is it real to you?
I'm gonna tell you about a little boy. Our time is up.
And this little boy is perhaps known to some in this room.
His name is Brayden.
And I can picture a little scene with my three of my grandsons standing by an open casket. And Braden, I think he was nine years old in eternity.
But you know, it's a sweet thing.
Braden at a Bible, and in that Bible he had verses marked, and Braden had confessed the Lord Jesus as his Savior.
One of my grandsons, in their simplicity looked down and he says Braden.
You're so patient to let all these people go by.
Well, you know.
My those are lessons in life. Life is short and I just ask you, are you going to wait?
Lord Jesus is coming.
Are you gonna go?
Are you gonna go with this man? Has he won your heart's affections? Wilt thou go with this man? And I'll just leave you with that. Is that the one that's won your heart's affections? No, the world doesn't. Everything going for you. He doesn't have anything. Nothing. But I I just like to go say one thing in connection with what Bruce said.
You know, there's a world out there full of people and they're hungry.
You let your light shine. Don't ask the Lord for open doors, they're open.
00:20:05
You don't need to ask the Lord for an open door. The doors are open.
Maybe you don't have courage. I found something that I'd like to encourage you to do. The man in the drive in the man at the service station, hand him a little gospel tract. Maybe you don't know what to say. You may find a hungry soul. And we found it so when we travel.
They've got something.
You have something that they need be a little testimony to the Lord Jesus.
Let's just ask him for his help. Our God and our Father, we thank thee this afternoon for the Lord Jesus.
Oh, we thank Thee, our Father, for that love that sent him down to this world.
We thank thee for that love that has provided everything for our sustenance in this world and everything for our happiness in the pathway down here. And we just cry into the your Father.
That if there's one here that has never confessed the Lord Jesus as Savior.
That that love might reach their heart.
That the warnings in thy precious word might reach their conscience, and we just ask for your father. That they might bow the knee to day before it's too late, Perhaps even now, while our heads are bowed.
They might own the Lord Jesus as their Savior. We thank the Lord Jesus for the value of that precious blood that was shed on the cross of Calvary. And we just ask thee, Lord Jesus, that as we leave, that we would go another way, that our hearts would be encouraged, encouraged to go on. And we thank thee to Lord Jesus that soon I will be taken home and that someday in the coming day, not far off, that will have thy rightful place.
We thank Thee, Lord Jesus, and we commit ourselves to Thee, Thy precious and worthy name. Amen.
Open Mtg. 3
Open—D. Mearns, C. Roberts, R. Boulard
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.
127 I'll bless the home, the Father's house, their love divine. What else could satisfy the hearts of those in Jesus? Bless his homemade ours, his Father's love, our hearts full portion given, the portion of the first born Son, the full delight of heaven. 127.
Everyone completely in college 25, I went around the railroad.
To start.
And go up on the fire above and blow up. We didn't continue it continuously and I'll have to hide it, so I'm going to have.
How to bring the sun to wild hope? It is a lot to do with the path of rising sun.
12.
25 go away.
300 and fifty Wow 6, 75.
Oh great.
Oh.
I'm wrong?
Hold on one second.
00:05:03
For we pray, could we read a scripture? It's a portion of a verse in the book of Haggai.
Minor Prophet Haggai.
Chapter One.
And the first part of verse 13.
Then speak taggy eye.
The Lord's messenger.
In the Lord's message.
Read that first part again, then speak. Haggai, the Lord's messenger and the Lord's message.
Just ask the Lord's help and blessing upon our meeting this afternoon.
Our loving God and our Father, we thank Thee for the time spent together around Thy precious Word.
The time has come for an open meeting. Meeting for edification we think of.
This one who in days of old was spoken of as the Lord's messenger, the Lord's message. And so we pray that this afternoon that the Spirit of God might lead.
Uh, several brethren this afternoon, uh, to give a word of exhortation of comfort or whatever word that might be needed to stir us up to comfort us.
We pray that there might be the leading of the Spirit of God.
In the ministry this afternoon, we thank Thee for Thy goodness and faithfulness to us as a people, a failing people, but we know that Thou art gracious and still. Thou art ready to provide for our needs, that food that is convenient. So we just pray that the Spirit of God might have liberty this afternoon in the ministering.
And that the Lord Jesus might be held up.
And edified and exalted, we just give thee our thanks and our Savior's worthy and precious name. Amen.
My brother has just brought before us.
In the last meeting, some of the compromises.
That.
The king of Babylon.
Brought before the people of God and brings before us.
I would like to, in the next maybe 15 minutes, look at the compromises that the king of Egypt.
Brought before the people of God.
And brings before us, too. There's seven of them, seven compromises that Farrell brought before the people of God. If we could look at them in the first one is in Exodus.
Chapter 5.
So we'll look at, uh, there's much in these chapters in connection with the, umm, the plagues.
That were brought upon Egypt but I would like to just stay focused on this little subject of those seven compromises that Pharaoh brought before the people of God and I'd like to start off with the second verse of the 5th chapter just to look at the character of Pharaoh So we'll start off we'll look at the character of Pharaoh we'll look at 7 compromises and then at the end we'll look at.
What can meet that character of Pharaoh? So we find here in verse two Pharaoh said, who is the Lord?
That I should obey his voice.
To let Israel go. I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. And we find many times first of all.
Pharaoh hardens his heart, and we find that God hardens Pharaoh's heart. His first comment, though, his first brazen comment. Who is the Lord? But you know, that's a good comment, a good question for us to ask too, as to the claims of God in my own life.
That's a good question for me to ask.
Who is the Lord?
So we find here now the first compromise.
In verse seven, he shall no more give the people straw to make brick as heretofore. Let them go and gather straw for themselves. The tale of the bricks which they make heretofore ye shall lay upon them, ye shall not diminish aught thereof, for they be idle. Therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God. Let there be no more work. Let there be more work laid upon the men, that they may labor therein, and let them not regard vain words. And the task masters of the people went out and their officers and speak to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh.
00:10:27
Here's compromise number one. I will not give you straw. Now how's that a compromise? What Pharaoh saw with the people of God was they had too much time. Too much time.
You know that's what the enemy of our souls desires is to take away all our available time. So we don't have any time. No time to take up the Word of God as we've had before us in the last meeting. No time to spend time in prayer, no time to visit with our brethren, no time to have a word of encouragement. Take away all the time. You would think in the day that we live in where I carry a cell phone on my belt at all times, when I have a computer at home to write letters, to do paperwork, when I have a microwave that I can quickly put something in and get something quickly to eat. You would think with all these conveniences we would have more time.
We have less time, Less time. Isn't it something Pharaoh says? They've got too much time. Let's take away their time.
We live a busy, busy life. You know, we just came back from Bermuda. I and my family, I was there 25 years ago was our 25th wedding anniversary. We thought, let's go back to Bermuda. I started going there with Cindy. We'd never been back. We thought we'd go back there. You know, we arrived there and it was a zoo. I thought, you know, the islands, uh, as they were 25 years ago, things were slow. It wasn't like that. There was coming and going and just, uh, business.
Remember the disciples? They were coming and going. They had so much, not so much time as to eat. You know, we find exactly the same thing in the day that we live. Is it busy? It's just busy, busy, busy. Pharaoh says they've got a little bit of time. Let's take it away.
So they have no time. Compromise #1 let's go on.
Turn over a chapter, a couple of chapters to chapter 8, chapter 8, Pharaoh called chapter 8, verse 8. Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron said, And treat the Lord, that he may take away the frogs from me, and for my people, and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the Lord. And Moses said unto Pharaoh, Glory over me, when shall I treat for them, and for thy servants, and for thy people to destroy the drugs.
The frogs from thee and my houses, that they may remain in the river only compromise #2 and he said tomorrow.
Tomorrow.
How many times has the Lord laid on your heart and on my heart something to do, a note to of encouragement to send to someone, a little word of encouragement to give to someone, a little helping hand to someone. And what does the enemy say? Good work, you need to do it, but do it tomorrow. Do it tomorrow.
So many things in my life do not get done because I say I'm going to do them tomorrow.
Here the people of God, they wanted to go now. So Moses says, and there it says, when shall I treat, when shall the people of God go? When can we go? And Pharaoh says tomorrow, tomorrow, not now, tomorrow. And that's something that his whole home to my own soul, the many times I've had it on my heart to do something that will just take a moment to do, just take a moment and it would be such a blessing. But the enemy says, yeah, do it, do it, but do it.
Tomorrow. Do it tomorrow.
Let's go on.
Same chapter, verse 25.
Moses and Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, Go ye sacrifice to the Lord God.
In the land, in the land. So here's compromise #3 Pharaoh comes to them and says, you know, it's a good idea. Just like you're saying, go and sacrifice to the Lord just like you want, but do it right here. That way you can serve the Lord and you can serve me.
You know the Lord brings before us that principle, and the gospel of you cannot serve God and mammon.
You cannot do it. The enemy would have us to serve the Lord and.
To serve him.
00:15:00
If we were to turn to 2nd Kings one of the time, but look at it yourself. Second Kings chapter 17 we find the Samaritans.
People that were brought into the land and it says about them.
They worship the Lord and they serve their own gods. That's what it says. They worship the Lord and they serve their own gods. And a couple of verses later, you know what it says It says. And so they worship not the Lord. Can't do them both. Can't do them both. The enemy knows that. Pharaoh said, sure, worship the Lord, just like you want to worship the Lord, but do it right here. Do it here.
#4 turn over.
To the end of that chapter.
And verse 28 And Pharaoh said, I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness.
Only shall not go very far away and treat for me compromise #4 What is the enemy of our souls? Say? What does Pharaoh say here? He said, you know, you can go, you can go and worship, just like you say, don't do it in the land. You can go worship, but just don't go very far away. Just don't go very far away.
I was impressed when I was in Bermuda the first time, speaking to a brother there. He asked me a question. He said to me, umm.
In the list of the clean and unclean animals, one of them that's listed as an unclean animal is the camel. It's a camel. And he said to me, he said, you know what, camel's interesting. It chews the cud and it has a clothing. Huh.
Now why is it unclean?
Why is it unclean? Well, I have no answer for him. And he said for this reason, if you take a camel's hoof and you turn it over, you find that the pad on the bottom of the hoof, that shows that there's not a complete separation.
Now that was very searching to me.
Very searching to me because association with evil defiles, it defiles. And Pharaoh says here, yeah, you can go and worship. You can worship just like you say, but just don't go very far away.
You know, I was thinking when I think of this compromise that Farrell has and the thought of association with evil defiling, it happens in our lives. We we flippantly allow things that cause us.
To lose our spiritual discernment, we do that.
And it happened so easy.
We tap a few trees on our property.
And uh.
In Maple syrup, thyme, when the children were small, we used to boil ASAP, the easy way. We used to take it to the Millers. Millers are here somewhere. I don't know where they are, but we used to take it to Don Miller. We'd run over to their, over to their, umm, their farm and we dumped the SAP off there and they would, uh, they would boil it down for us and they would give us the syrup back on our way over there. The kids would all like to get off at the barn before we went to the sugar shack.
And they'd always ask, you know, can we go on the bar? Can we go see the cows? Very interesting.
The children, they can go in the barn.
They don't have to look at a cow, they don't have to touch a cow, but they come out smelling just like a cow. You know, association with evil defile it does. And that's why Pharaoh here, he says, yes, go, go and worship just like you want to, but don't go very far away. Just that association to piles. Oh, how that slays me in so many areas of my life.
#5 Let's turn over to.
The 10th chapter.
Verse 9 Let's read from verse 7. And Pharaoh's servants said unto him, How long shall this men be a snare unto us? Let the men go, that they may serve the Lord their God. Nor thou not that Egypt is destroyed. And Moses and Aaron were brought again unto Pharaoh. And he said unto them, Go, serve the Lord your God. But who are they that shall go? And Moses said, We will go with our young, with our old, with our sons, with our daughters, with our flocks, with our herds, will we go, For we must hold a feast unto the Lord.
And he said unto them, Let the Lord be with you as I will let you go, and your little ones look ye to it, for evil is before you not so go now ye that are men, ye that are men, the 5th compromise sure go. They're just the men go. It's interesting that.
00:20:00
What preceded?
The downfall.
Every civilization.
In history, whether it was the Grecian Empire or whether it was the Roman Empire, you see the British Empire, uh, you see it in this land.
Civilization after civilization was.
Their downfall was preceded by three things. One was moral evil.
One was violence and the third was the breakdown of the family. The breakdown of the family.
I would say a word now to those who are young men here, particularly those that are newly married, those that are young fathers.
My brother once said to me when the children started to come along.
That he said beware that when your wife is real busy with the children.
That in your time in the Word, you don't get into a position where you grow spiritually away from your wife.
Don't get into that snare.
It won't be helpful to your family.
Here, Farrell said. Go and serve the Lord, but just the men. Go. Just the men, not the rest of the rest of you can stay here, just you that are men.
The enemy's way. Let's carry on.
The end of the UMM.
Of the 10th chapter.
Pharaoh changes his tactic now in verse 24. And Pharaoh called unto Moses and said, go ye serve the Lord only. Let your flocks and your herds be stayed. Let your little ones also go with you here. Now he's not saying the men to go now, he's suggesting just the flocks and the herds. Now that's been searching to my own heart, very searching to my own heart from this standpoint that the flocks and hers would perhaps speak to me of my business.
And those of us who are in the workforce, and for those of you who are younger in school, are you different at school? Am I different at work than I am at home or that I am in the assembly? You know, the enemy would have it that way. He would have it that way. He would have our lives to be different. We had the force. The thought of the Lord brought the forces, the fine flower, that perfect evenness that we have in the Lord Jesus, we have in the coat that was without seeing from top to bottom.
Lord would have that in our own lives too, that I would be the same in the assembly as I am at work. I am with my family here. Pharaoh, he wanted there to be a difference. He says let the flocks and herds be stayed. Now the last one, which is so solemn to me, let's go to the 12Th chapter, the 12Th chapter of Exodus, because we go through this chapter and we find what a marvelous chapter, the Passover, the Lord's Passover.
When it's all over, we read in verse 30, Moses as Pharaoh rose up in the 19 all his servants and all the Egyptians.
There was a great cry in Egypt where there was not a house, where there was not one dead.
And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and let you go forth from the.
From my people, both ye and the children of Israel, and go serve the Lord, as ye have said. Also take your flocks and your herds as ye have said, and be gone.
And here's the last compromise. And bless me also.
So if Pharaoh comes to the and the point in his life where he says OK, go and serve the Lord.
Take everything, go as far as you want, take your flocks, take your herds, take the men, take the woman, take the children, take it all. Go and do everything just like you wanted. However, bless me also, keep a little spot in your heart for me too. You know, doesn't the enemy of our souls do the same thing? He says, live the life of a believer. Do it just like you want to, in every way. Serve the Lord in every way, but keep a little spot in your heart for me. What a solemn thing.
That the enemy presents.
That to our hearts, just like Pharaoh did it to the people of God at the end when he had his first born slain.
He wanted the people of God to keep a little place in their hearts for Him.
So here's Farrell with his hardened heart.
And now what's the word to us? Let's turn to the book of Job.
The book of Job, because we can get so hardened to these things, these things that the enemy presents to our own souls, that are compromises that we take and we bring them into our lives. And there's such a detriment, those seven things here in Job the 7th, the 23rd chapter, and we'll just end with this Job chapter 23 and verse 16 for God.
00:25:15
Make us my heart.
Soft.
And I'd like to bring a few scriptures before our mind.
I'm I purpose not to take very long because they say that.
Grief is the soul of wit. So I'll try to be very brief in what I have to say, but I do have a few things I'd like to bring before us. Our minds might be exercised with and I wanna read a verse in Philippians, the 2nd chapter.
And the verse that comes to my mind.
Is uh, verse 5.
Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus. Can we just look to the Lord for His help in this little time to come? Again, our gracious God and our Father, we thank Thee that we have Thy precious word. We thank Thee for the great work of redemption that has done in our souls. We thank Thee, our Father, that we belong to Thee, and we thank Thee that Thou art there to help us. And so we look to thee and pray that.
As these few scriptures are brought before our minds that they might challenge our hearts, Lord, and they might stimulate us that we might be more dedicated to Thee and we might be able to honor and glorify Thee more in each day of our lives. We ask you, thank the Lord through our Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. I want to leave this text with you in verse five. Let this mind be in you.
Which was in Christ Jesus.
Isn't that a good challenge for each of our hearts? Let me ask you, let me ask myself, is this mine and me that was in Christ Jesus? It should be. What mind was that? I think we we read further here and I'll just read these. Just bring our attention to them. It says who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation.
And took upon him the form of a servant, and was made.
And the likeness of men and being found in fashion as a man.
He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Now verse that's really on my mind I believe is the next verse, verse 12.
Wherefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in My presence only, but now much more in My absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
Verse 14 Do all things without murmuring and disputing, that you may be blameless, the harmless, the sons of God, without rebuking the middle, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation.
In context, what the Apostle Paul, I believe, is doing here, he's giving us the perfect example of the one who was none other than the eternal creator of this vast universe.
Deity, the God who made the wonders of heaven above the galaxies. They tell us that there's millions of galaxies with millions and billions of stars in them.
And this God is a great God, but I would have you to remember and to know tonight.
That he came down to earth, He became a man, and the Scripture tells us now as his example. Let this mind dwell in you, which was in Christ Jesus. Let us take this with us from this conference. God wants us.
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To have that mind of Christ and that mind of Christ, I believe was a mind of humility, humbleness of mind. There's a text in the and and and and access I'd like to read in verse 29 of Exodus. God saves us that he might dwell in US.
And Exodus 29 if you notice.
I think it's.
I'm sorry, verse verse 45.
Well, let's read verse 44 and I will sanctify the Tabernacle of the congregation and the altar. I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons to minister to me in the priest office. Now this is to the end to which the Lord is going is doing this, and verse 45 and I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God, and they shall know that I am the Lord their God that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell.
Among them God wants to dwell amongst his people now with us, He dwells within us. And it tells us there in this verse that I read, he says, for it is God which worketh in you.
God is in you, He's working. He wants to work and be before that. Of course, it, it, it tells us here and uh, in verse 12, it says now much more absence. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. I understand this is an imperative, uh, mood. It's a command. It's something not just up for options that you may or you may not do this here tells us that it's a command on the part of God. Work out your own salvation.
With fear and trembling. Then in verse 13 it says it is God.
Which worketh in you both to will and to do.
Of his good pleasure. God redeems his people, you and me, that he might dwell in US. God dwells in US. It tells us in First Corinthians. I think it's the 6th chapter and I'll just read that briefly.
It tells us in First Corinthians 6 and verse 19 what know ye not, that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost?
God dwells in you. Are you born again? Have you been washed in the blood of Christ? I'm not asking if you have made a profession of Christianity. And you know, when God sends his great salvation to us, it's not just say an escape mechanism that you can put your say a few magic words like the preacher said. Sometimes they say, are you a Sinner? Yes, I'm a center. You believe Christ died for you? Yeah, I believe Christ died for you. Well, you're a Christian. No.
The great work of transaction begins when a person comes as a lost Sinner, completely undone and comes to God and he gets a new nature.
As many as received him to them gave he the power to become the children of God.
You there's something, a great transaction happens. Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. All things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new.
Has that ever happened to you? Have you been a new creature? Have have you passed from death to life? And it tells us here in this versatile. I chose to just bring before us briefly, and I do wanna be very brief, but I wanna leave with you the fact that this verse here where it tells us in verse 12 That it, it is a command. It it says wherefore, beloved, as you have always obeyed now in my present, not in my presence only, but now much more in my absence.
Work out your own.
Salvation with fear and trembling and we have been talking to this afternoon, uh today's at times about the fact that that we should take time. God should be first he's not going to be second. It's a sad thing and I met someone here recently. They make a profession of Christianity. But God isn't first in our life is God first in your life? He wants to be first. Are you a new creature in Christ Jesus Have you passed from death unto life now now what in the next verse here says.
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Is, is a, a a verse 14, do all things without murmuring. I mean, sorry, verse 13 work out. Uh, if it is God which worketh in you, who works in you is the present indicative? It's a continuous sense God is working in you. Hopefully if you're a Christian and he's working in you to do what to do his good pleasure and God's good pleasure is that we might be conformed.
To the image of his son, that's the ultimate end and I just want to read that.
From from uh, the pistol to Romans briefly. I think it's in the 8th chapter.
Is it beautiful? Verse 29.
For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate, to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brothers. Moreover, whom He did predestinate, them He also called, and whom He called them He also justified. And whom He justified, then He also glorified. So what God is wants to do to you and me wants to conform us.
To the image of his beloved son. Now I read that scripture and you heard it read, you probably read it many times yourself. Let this mind be in you, which was in Christ Jesus. That mind was a mind of loneliness and humility. Now he speaks here about obeying. He says not only in my in when I was absent, but in my present, but when I was absent. And that's the key. I believe in the reason why.
The apostle here brings in you say, well, this seems like a strange thing to bring in as soon as he, he outlines this wonderful thing about the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory who came down here, became a man, went to the cross and laid down his life, suffered under the judgment of Almighty God, rose from the dead. And now he's given us an example of this one who condescended such a low place. And then he tells us in this thing that we should.
Work out our own salvation. And he says God is working in you now.
What's God gonna do with us? It's gonna change us. That's what sanctification is. Sanctification is God wants to change you into something that you were not. And that's what we have in Romans, that little text and Romans, the I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that that you bend your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed. You know that word occurs four times in Scriptures.
Two times it occurs when Jesus was transformed into another form. That word is like metamorphosis is is something you like a butterfly. A butterfly goes into a worm goes into a cocoon that comes out of beautiful butterfly. Well, that's the word that what we have here and we have the same word occurring in second Corinthians the third chapter where it tells us we open with open face beholding as in the glass the glory of the Lord are changed. That word changed is the same word is transformed.
That's the same word that Jesus was transformed on the mount of Figuration.
That's what God wants to do. He wants to make you into something that you were not.
And that's why he saved us. He wants to dwell in US. And as a detection and another text I want to bring our attention to. Well before we do that, I want to, I want to mention this. He goes right in to do things without murmuring and disputing.
Well, people don't do that, do they?
I was talking to my stepson and he's Deacon in a Baptist Church.
He says, I have all kinds of problems was telling me about it. You know, I said, well, listen, that's characteristic of any people who come together. I said, when you get people together, you have all different levels of understanding, levels of intelligence, levels, different levels of, of, of spirituality. And, uh, and they do have murmurs and disputings. This is what the apostle Paul is trying to tell us here, that we, if we follow out what the Lord has laid out here.
And have the Lord Jesus Christ as our object before our souls. And if we are allowing, if we are doing what it says here, work out our own salvation, submitting to the word of God, reading the word of God, looking to the Lord for help and grace. And then it's God will work in us. He will change us without disputing. I talked to another brother that was having trouble in his churches and, and I said, listen, I said, no matter what who you people you get, you might be the Lions Club, you might be the the Rotary Club, you might be the Baptist Church, you might be the Methodist Church, you might be the Presbyterian Church.
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I said when you bring people together, it's people, he said. Oh, you shouldn't compare.
The the Lord's people with these clubs and and so forth. I said, listen, human nature is human nature. All of us have the seeds of the flesh. There's envy, there's jealousy, there's pride in every one of us. And we have to be able to let this mind be in us that was in Christ Jesus. We have to submit to the Lord. We have to work out our own salvation and we do that by the Spirit of God in Romans. I won't turn to her because I want to wrap this up real quickly.
But in Romans chapter 8. Now listen to this verse, if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you.
He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit which dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live out to the flesh. If you live after the flesh, you shall die, but if you through the Spirit to mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. So what's the apostle saying? That verse may have reference to the fact that.
Uh, our mortal bodies will be quickened at the last day at the resurrection, but I believe there's another application to it. If you look at that text, and I think it's a Romans 8, uh, eight, uh, anyhow, when it says there.
And and that chapter.
OK, verse 12, if you live after the flesh, you shall die. What does that mean? You're going to die physically or does it mean you're going to die eternally? Does it mean that you're not really saved and and you're going to die? How are you going to die? Then it goes on to say, but if you through the Spirit to mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. Now what does that mean? We already have life. I believe he's telling us that's the victory that we can have through the Holy Spirit.
If ye through the flesh do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. Then he goes on to say, For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
And then he goes on to say, for you have not received the spirit of ******* again to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption wherewith we cry ABBA father, that word is only used a few times in Scripture. The Lord Jesus uses it once and I think Paul uses it twice in Galatians in here. ABBA father, it means of of a relationship that we have with him. And so I'd just like to conclude by reading what our brothers sort of there and and and exodus. And I just want to re because we're talking about what God will do for us. We're talking about.
The mind of Christ Jesus dwelling in US. We're talking about working out our own salvation. We're talking about God who works in US and God is working with us. Now in the 6th chapter of Exodus, our brother read that and I was thinking that when the judge just like to call your attention to this in conclusion, he says verse 5, verse four, I have established my covenant with them. Verse five, I have also heard the groanings of my children.
Of Israel and verse end of the verse I have remembered my covenant and verse six, I will bring you out from the burden of Egypt. I will rid you of the *******. I will redeem you with the outstretched arm. Verse seven, I will take you to me for a people and I will be to you a God. And verse eight, I will bring you into the land and verse into that verse 8 the middle of it, I will give you it to you for inheritance. So you see what God wants to do. He wants to bless his people.
He not only wants to dwell in them as I mentioned and, and, and that the 29th chapter of Exodus. He wanted to dwell among them. He dwells within us by the grace of God. If we've been born again by the Spirit of God, if we've opened up our hearts and let ask the Lord Jesus Christ to come in. And I want to just say the last word that I want to say is this is that God must be first in your life. He will not take the 2nd place, believe me.
00:45:04
I said this to her, a friend of mine, I don't, I don't remember getting old little Sea now, but I don't remember who it was recently, but a couple days. I, I, I, I, I encourage him, I said to him.
God will not take the 2nd place He wants.
The first place.
Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus, and walked in and fellowship with him, and let him bless you and work out your own salvation. But remember, it's God that worketh in you both the will and to do of his good pleasure.
When I read that verse in Job chapter 23, just before I begin with the subject, that's on my heart this afternoon.
Job 23 and verse 16.
That, her brother read, For God maketh my heart soft.
Men in John's Gospel, chapter 6.
And verse 30.
I can do a kind of my own self, do nothing, as I hear I judge, and my judgment is just because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me there was a heart.
The heart of our Savior was so soft.
That he would rather obey and die rather than disobey. But the first Adam, he would rather disobey and die. Here we have in John's Gospel chapter 6, just a little picture of how the Lord Jesus was so sensitive to his Father's will. It says I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which sent me. Well, I'd just like to look at a few scriptures in connection with the fear of the Lord. The first one is already being quoted in these meetings in Proverbs chapter one.
I think it's verse seven and just look at a few scriptures in in connection with the fear of the Lord. Now the fear of the Lord, I believe.
A nice succinct little description of it is our definition is being afraid to displease the Lord. And it says in verse 7, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise wisdom and instruction. And so there's a beginning. There's a principle part of wisdom and instruction and and knowledge, divine knowledge.
And it's the softness of the heart. It's a desire in the heart never to displease the one that we love. Never, never to walk or to break that communion between the Creator and between the one that He purchased with His own blood on the cross of Calvary. There's a desire in my heart, perhaps in yours, God-given, that produces that softness of heart. And we desire to walk closely with the Lord and never, never.
To displease them in anything. Well, that's the beginning of knowledge. It's the beginning of a work in the soul. When we accept Christ as Savior and then as the Son, as the Son, as a as a child of God, we begin to try to find out what it is that pleases the Lord and what displeases him. And that's chapter 2 and verse. For the sake of time, I don't have time to read a lot of these verses, but in verse.
Chapter 2 and verse 3 let's read yeah, if thou cryest after knowledge and lift us up thy voice for understanding, if thou seekest for her as silver and searchest for her As for hid treasures, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. You know God has desired to hide in his word little Nuggets, little treasures in his word, their hid treasures, their hid for the.
Heart that desires to please Him, the tender heart, the soft heart, the heart that will respond to Himself when the Word is read and when the word of obedience is given, the word from the Lord as to what would please Him. Why the heart is prepared of God. I believe if we just desire to search the Word, Mrs. Really how we find fear of the Lord is searching the Word, reading the Word of God, reading it and reading it, reading it, and not only that, but making it our own, meditating upon it, and having a value for those spoken words of the Lord He's given us.
His revelation given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. I want to ask a question.
This afternoon.
00:50:01
Are you afraid to displease the Lord?
You desire to walk so closely with the Lord, so closely that you get up in the morning. You know that I have an older brother once tell me he's over 100 years old now, still alive. He said, you know, I get up in the morning, I wake up and I say good morning, Lord. And he starts this morning in the presence of God. He desires to know what it is to have that communion with his Savior as soon as he wakes up. Are you afraid to displease the Lord?
We live in a society. We live in a world that is not afraid to displease God.
It says in Romans chapter 3 that there is No Fear of God before their eyes. There is No Fear of God. So this world doesn't fear God doesn't isn't afraid of displeasing the Lord in any way. It wants what's pleasures and it's entertainments and all the sports and so on, but it wants it without Christ. Now let's just turn to the 119th Psalm. This one has been this verse of Scripture was quoted a little earlier.
And it's foundational.
In verse 63119, Psalm the verse 63, I am a companion of all them that fear thee and of them that keep thy precepts. Oh, you and I make choices. We sometimes, I know this was taken up in connection with young people, but we, we as older ones make choices of what our friends are as well, who our companions are, those who will keep company with those with whom will enjoy fellowship and the things of God together, and so on.
And here the psalmist says with a soft and a tender heart, he says, I'm the companion of all them that fear thee. I want to be a companion of those that are tender hearted towards the Lord, those that want to walk in communion with him, and those that are afraid to displease the Lord, those that want to maintain that communion with the Lord. Well, it says of them that keep thy precepts as well. And so the communion is maintained with the Lord Jesus.
As we have a desire to walk in obedience to His precious Word and not to stray from it.
Well, let's turn back to Proverbs chapter 23, a verse of Scripture that I often think of in verse 17.
The Spirit of God says there, Let not thine heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. It's Mr. Darby's translation renders it, Let not thine heart envy sinners, but let it covet. Let thine heart covet the fear of the Lord, Let it covet. The fear of the Lord covet. The fear of the Lord covet. A tender heart covet.
A sensitivity to the feelings of the Lord Jesus. There was a man who went to the cross of Calvary.
Bore the judgment for my sins and for yours, if you know him.
In the greatest tenderness of heart expressed his love. He expressed the love of the father. He said, you're going to be in the father's house. I'm not going to spare any blessing for you. There's only one thing I'd like. He says, my son, give me thine heart. In verse 26, my son, give me thine heart. And he says, you know, Egypt's going to have all of those compromises. Pharaoh's going to have all kinds of things spread out, going to look very good.
He says you don't envy those sinners. Don't envy sinners because they're going on the way of self will and they're going in in a lost eternity. They're going in on to judgment and don't envy the way of sinners and the path of sinners. But covet a tender heart cover, covet a soft heart, covet a heart that doesn't want to displease the Lord in anything not nice. He tells us what to covet. He tells us what's important.
In this scene while we wait for him to come.
Well, if we turn over to Nehemiah Chapter 7, we'll find another little passage there that speaks of the fear of the Lord.
And this one has to do, I believe, particularly with oversight. Nehemiah Chapter 7 and verse two. I gave my brother henna, and I and Hananiah, the ruler of the palace, charge over Jerusalem. For he was a faithful man and feared God above many. Well, it was faithfulness to Christ, faithfulness to the Word of God that really motivated this man, and he feared God above many.
That is, that there were the degrees, perhaps degrees, of sensitivity to the feelings of the Lord, and this man was extremely sensitive to the feelings of the Lord.
00:55:06
Some of us have children and some children love to please their parents.
They are sensitive to the feelings of the parents and it's a pleasure to a parent to see that in a child. Just sensitive to desire to please the parent. But there are others in the family that have a similar feeling, but it's not very intense and they don't mind displeasing the parents to get their own way sometimes.
But this man feared God above many.
And he was of a character that it was noticeable that in every aspect of his life he desired to please the Lord. He had a soft heart, a tender heart, and he wanted to please the Lord in connection with the.
The work that was going on in Nehemiah's days and the doors of Jerusalem were set up, the gates there. Well, if we turn over to the 25th Psalm, we'll just get a couple more.
The 25th Psalm and verse 12. What man is he that feareth the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way that he shall choose. His soul shall dwell at ease, and his seed shall inherit the earth. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them his covenant. Well, what man is he that feareth the Lord? The Divine Pen? The writer writes, Who is it? And it says here that He Him shall he teach or instruct in the way that he shall choose. There is a path of Divine.
A divine safety, divine blessing, a path that God has planned for you and for me.
And we need to be taught of the way of God. And there has to be a soft heart, a tender heart towards the Lord Jesus if we're going to be teachable. And the Lord Jesus desires us to be taught in the ways of righteousness that taught the ways of.
Obedience taught the safety through the scene, and there's a choice that the Lord says that He's going to make.
It's the way that He shall choose. You and I have choices to make every day and oftentimes we desire to choose our own way. But God in his grace says if your tender hearted, I'll tell you what way to go.
I'll tell you the right way. You may not know which way to go, and it's difficult to know because the flesh and sense deceive. But if you have a tender heart, I'll teach you by the Word, and you stay close and I'll tell you. Then his soul shall dwell at ease. There's going to be rest in the presence of God. His seed shall inherit the earth. We know that this is really in connection with the children of Israel, these Psalms. But we have comfort that the Scriptures are written in a broad sense, that we might make application even to ourselves.
And so while we don't get an inheritance in the earth, we do get a reward from the Lord. We do get a a conscious sense of his presence and the reward of a clear conscience. Isn't that nice? You and I, if we have tender hearts towards that blessed Savior, we can have that kind of reward. Well, it says the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. So there's an intimacy and a private communication between the Lord and a soul. And it's in connection with the word of God. It's never separated from the word of God.
We know that, you know, sometimes we say that we're searching for the truth, and I'm thankful for those that say in this room that they're searching for the truth of God and want to walk in the truth of God. Well, it's written in the word of God, but God desires to tell us.
If we want to do, if we're willing to do his will, we shall know the doctrine. And so the heart needs to be tender and the secret, the very hidden things, the purposes of God. Daniel was brought before us this afternoon.
And there were some secrets revealed to Daniel that no one else in the Kingdom knew, because Daniel was tender hearted. Daniel wanted to know what it was to walk with the Lord in communion. And so he will show him his covenant. There's promises that the Lord has made to us. Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the age. And He gives us little bits and pieces, little promises to encourage our hearts and to cheer us in this scene. I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
And we have that sense of his presence if we walk with a tender heart, a conscience that's tender towards him. Well, let's just turn to Malachi Chapter 3, just for one more here.
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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. And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts. And that day when I make up my jewels, and I will spare him them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God, and him that serveth him not.
Well, this was written in a day of ruin, a day of weakness, a little remnant that desired to please the Lord, and right there in that little testimony.
About 500 years before, perhaps 400 years before, the Lord came and appeared in the temple. He writes this, that there were those that feared the Lord, those that were afraid to displease him, and they spake 1 to another, not nice. They encourage one another. They were speaking to one another and.
It's a very difficult thing perhaps to go through this world that doesn't have any compunctions about disobeying the word of God. And they want to have the world but without Christ. And then, you know, the world has its operation. It's it's, it has its effect upon our hearts. And the Lord observed that there was a desire in the hearts of those that were tender hearted towards him, those that had soft hearts. They wanted to speak to one another. They wanted to encourage one another. They wanted to strengthen one another.
And that book of remembrance was written for him before, for them before him. But he says that they feared him and that thought upon his name. And so they acknowledged his authority. They had in a sense of what his authority was. And they were Speaking of the name of the Lord and how it was treated in the day that they lived in. Well, you know, there's the Lord says here in verse 18 that they would return and they would discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not if you have a tender heart towards the Lord, if you desire to walk in tender heartedness.
Afraid to displease the Lord, maintaining communion with Him. You're going to be able to discern what's right and what's wrong. You're going to be able to discern by the Word of God, by the truth that's given, who it is that serves God and him that serveth him not. And you'll be able to walk in a clean path. You know, that's the last verse that really I wanted to refer to this afternoon. In the 19th Psalm, it says the fear of the Lord is clean. It's a clean path.
And it's a filthy, filthy world that we live in. Filthy.
And we ought to be afraid to displease the Lord as to what we see with our eyes, what we where we go with our feet, and what we touch, what we handle with our hands. We ought to be afraid to displease the Lord, and if we'll be tender hearted with that softness of heart.
The fear of the Lord is clean is going to end in a clean path. Wouldn't it be nice for us each one here at this this this this conference to refuse all of Pharaoh's compromises refuse the intrusions of this world into even divine things. And if there is a searching that there might be a tender heart in each one of our hearts to what the Lord is saying in his word. And if there is something that's inconsistent in your life and mine that we would have the grace of God to judge it and to.
Exercise self judgment that there might be a restored tenderness of heart before him.
Uh-huh.
No, I don't like it.
01:05:27
Uh.
Our God and Father has heard this little prayer that we have just sung together. We trust. It's the earnest and sincere prayer and desire of each of our hearts. And now we ask blessing on Thy word to our souls as it's been before us. We ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and for His glory. Amen.
Open Mtg. 7
Open—S. Stewart, B. Imbeau
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You know, I don't know why.
Umm.
Everything.
Our loving God and our Father, we thank Thee for thy goodness to us these couple of days. We thank Thee.
For this little hymn that that reminds us of the glory of that name that is Thine, Blessed Savior, we thank Thee.
That it is possible for us in this scene to be associated with that holy name, that name which is above every name, and that name which will be on our lips in the glorious scene above very shortly. Blessed Savior. And so we thank Thee for this meeting together, and we just ask you that there might be liberty of the Spirit of God to take of the precious things of Christ. Make them sweet and known to us.
And we know that.
It's a meeting to for prophecy.
For edification.
For comfort, for exhortation. And uh, we just pray our God that there might be that which would be from thy heart of love for thy people this afternoon, what we have need of. And so we count upon me for a blessing, and we look to Thee for it, giving thanks in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Amen.
Just want to read a couple verses from the chapter that we have in.
First Timothy.
Verse 15 and 16 of chapter 4 again.
Meditate upon these things. Give thyself wholly to them.
As a 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. Then apportion in Jeremiah.
Chapter 15.
Jeremiah 15, verse 16.
Thy words were found.
00:05:03
And I did eat them, and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart, for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts.
Just keep our finger there and then like to read.
Couple of verses from Deuteronomy.
Levitz, Chapter 20.
Deuteronomy 20 and verse 6.
And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet eaten of it? Let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man eat of it.
And then a little over.
Chapter 23.
And verse 24.
When thou comest into thy neighbor's vineyard.
Thou mayest eat grapes.
Thy fill at thine own pleasure, but thou shalt not put any in thy vessel.
A vineyard in Scripture had that those vines that were planted that produced grapes. I think we've heard many times reference to that verse at UH wine sheareth the heart of God and man, and that that product from that vineyard is a picture to us of joy. The vineyard also had hedges round about it and those hedges protected that vineyard.
And they also marked its boundary lines. And so the vineyard speaks to us, I believe, of our possession and inheritance that we have. For the Israelite. It was part of his inheritance if he had a vineyard. And that inheritance, when it was worked over, it produced that which was for the joy of his heart.
But it also, I believe, pictures to us.
Again, stability and protection, and perhaps a little picture of the truth of God, the words of God, that doctrine which Timothy was exhorted to meditate in, that which he was to take heed to, 1St for himself, and then for the blessing of others.
The truth of God is meant to produce and will produce in our lives, Stability in the path make us stable believers. It also marks out to us the boundaries, and he that break at the hedge, a serpent shall bite him. It marks boundaries for us to keep us safe in that path from crossing over into ways that might lead us into sin.
And destruction and perhaps hurt for others. And so the Israelite had a vineyard and if he were to plant it and it was going to produce grapes and the call to battle came, if he hadn't yet partaken of that vineyard, he wasn't to go out to battle. He had to wait until he could eat of it. And you know, in that sense, I was just mentioned briefly in the in the reading meeting for you and I.
The truth of God must be applied first to me. It has to be first for my own soul and in that way.
Once it's made good to my own soul, then it can go out for a blessing to others. And so Timothy had a warfare that he was enjoined to by the apostle Paul. He was going to be facing all kinds of opposition to those who cared not for the doctrine that Paul had taught him, that truth that he had received from an ascended Christ. He was going to be opposed and his pathway and seeking to maintain that doctrine.
He had to take it in for himself, Take heed to himself first.
And he had to eat of that, as it were, that Vineyard himself, before he could go out to battle, before he could be a help to others. And it's the same with us. We need in the verse before that, it speaks of a man building a house. And if he hadn't built a house and dedicated it, he wasn't to go out to battle either. You know, you and I are, are building a House of doctrine, as it were. And as a young man, as a young brother and sister in Christ, you're building a House of doctrine.
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And getting a framework and then filling it out from the word of God and.
That needs to be in place that framework and and.
Again, applying that, taking heed to ourselves before we can go out and be used in the battle for the Lord and for the deliverance of others. And so Timothy was going to save himself if he took heed to that, and he was going to save others. And when a man went out to battle, you know, you're out there. And I suppose your first thought is the enemy's coming is how are you going to fend it off?
And keep yourself from being.
Cut with that sword or whatever weapon is coming.
But you're also there in that warfare for the defense of another, for the deliverance of another. And you know, in Scripture there's different warfares. In Galatians there is a warfare.
That is more internal. We have an old nature, the flesh, and the apostle speaks of how the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. And the Spirit of God indwells the believer to keep that flesh in the place of death, to help us to judge that old nature. And there's a warfare there. There's a battle that takes place. And then there's a warfare in the book of Ephesians where we get the armor of God, and that is a warfare of taking hold of our inheritance, what God has given us.
And Satan is going to oppose our enjoyment of what God has given us.
And in the book of Joshua, we see they had a warfare to go into the land of Canaan and take their inheritance to lay hold of it. And, uh, it's a wonderful book to read. Conquest after conquest. Yes, lessons learned. There were some failures, beautiful conquests, Joshua leading them, the captain of their salvation, as it were, like a picture of Christ. And then we come to the book of Judges. And you know, there's warfare there too, but it takes a little different character. And I think of it more in the warfare that Timothy had before him.
They were already in the land under Joshua. You know, they had come and taken possession of their inheritance, but different enemies came in and they became enslaved and subject to those enemies. And a warfare of a little different nature came up. And that was a warfare of deliverance of the people of God, deliverance of the people of God, and dear ones, the truth that was recovered to us. And we have on our bookshelves those dear men of God who wrote those things for us.
In a certain sense, I think of it like Joshua's day, I suppose, if I can make an application that way. And much was recovered. And but you know, now it's a, it's a little different kind of a warfare. It's a warfare of deliverance of those who in a certain sense once had possession of those things. And it's slipping away through the enemy's tactics and pressure from every sign. And that was the warfare Timothy had. Now. It was not a warfare of going out and getting the truth.
But of maintaining it, of encouraging the Saints to walk in it, of standing against every opposition to that warfare and.
The Israelite also, we read that other verse in Deuteronomy, uh, 23 he could glean in the vineyard of another. And you know, we have vineyards to glean in dear men of God who recovered that truth and wrote down as they, I believe LED of the Spirit of God and, and their apprehension of those things. And we can go glean in those vineyards. But an Israelite was, he could eat as much as he want, but he couldn't put any in his vessel, couldn't put any in his vessel.
You know.
Only what we have assimilated for ourselves.
And enjoyed for ourselves first. Can be given out in reality for the blessing of others.
It take heed to thyself.
1St.
And then there can be blessing for others. If he just put it in his vessel, he might hand it out to someone else and they might really get nourished by it even, I suppose. But he would not have anything for himself. And as an old brother said, what comes from the heart goes to the heart, not from the head. It's got to be in the heart. You know, our minds, our ears, they're like the highways, the byways, the outposts, I think, Mr. Bellit said.
Of the truth of the channel, but the heart. The heart is the dwelling place of the truth of God, the dwelling place of evil.
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But it's the dwelling place of the truth.
But there's a gate.
The gate is the conscience. If the truth does not have an effect upon me, if it doesn't enter by the conscience, it'll never take its dwelling place up in my heart.
And I won't have from the heart to give out for the blessing of others. So as we take these things in, it needs to be that application first to self and then can be given out for the blessing. Well, there's not as out of a vessel, but as from the heart. And so Jeremiah, he found those words, the words of God. I think of the recovery that Jeremiah saw and King Josiah and the Word of God was found and recovered, that dusty old book.
And that closed up House of God was brought out.
And it was the word of God, and it was read in, and it brought blessing. I think of Jeremiah and his youth rejoicing. The word of God had been found rejoicing. And here he says, thy words were found. I did eat them. I didn't put them in a vessel. I ate them, took them in for himself. And the word was unto me as the joy and rejoicing of mine heart. For I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts, how it identified himself.
With the author of the book brought him close to him. You know man, it says in Genesis, begin to call themselves by the name of the Lord.
Came a time when wickedness and corruption rose up in this earth, that they made a special point of calling themselves by the name of the Lord, identifying themselves as separate from that scene, rushing on to destruction in the flood. He is called by His name. I sat not in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced. I sat alone because of Thy hand, for Thou hast filled me of indignation. All ye know is that assimilated word entered into His heart.
It set him apart. It set him apart from everything that would dishonor the Lord. And he says I sat alone. He felt that he felt alone in Israel.
He felt separated from those around. Oh, that's the first thing.
I believe that assimilated Word of God does to us, it will separate us from what dishonours the Lord. Is that easy? It's not always easy. You know, Jeremiah, in a certain sense, he he just feels.
The difficulty of having to walk in a path of separation. Indignation fills him. He says, Oh, he could, he was. He was offended, as it were.
For the Lord's sake, as he saw the dishonor done to God, as the word of God was open to him, and he saw Israel was not walking.
According to God's word, but it separated him, and he complaints. Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed? Wilt out Be altogether unto me as a liar, as waters that fail. Oh, you know I found thy word. It seems like it should be a.
It, it started out with joy and rejoicing. How come now it's I'm isolated, I'm separated and, and there's family I can't go on with and there's friends that I can't go on with anymore. And it just seems like it's never going to end. It's perpetual and the grief of it never goes away. Is this really a, you know, it's almost as if he's questioning whether he really wants this path.
Wasn't easy, was it?
But that word had entered into his heart. It had found its dwelling place there. And the Lord answers him in verse 19. Therefore thus saith the Lord, if thou return, then I will bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me. And if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou.
Shall be as my mouth. Let them return unto thee, but return not thou.
Unto them, O Jeremiah, he says, I've brought you into this separated place for a purpose. I've separated you, that you might be a help and blessing to others, that you might be used of me to separate the precious from the vile. You remember that similitude of the Kingdom with that gospel net that went out, and it draws in all manner fishes. What a happy work it was to take the precious.
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I put it in vessels. They just left the bed on the shore. They didn't worry about that. They took the precious and put it into vessels. You know, Jehu was a man that God used to deliver Kingdom from Jezebel, wicked Jezebel. And he finds a man, John Adab, and he says, come see my zeal for the Lord. You know he's Jehu is a proud man.
He was occupied with himself, he says to Jonathan. Come see my zeal for the Lord. He went up in the chariot with him.
And they came to this house where Bale was worshipped, and Jehu was going to execute the judgment of God on that house.
And slay all the worshippers of Baal.
And John and Deb, he gets sent in and he says, you find the real worshippers of Jehovah and you get them out of there. Oh, you have the happy, happy task of laying hold of those who were really the Lords. And he says, you come out of this place that's going to burn to the ground, come out of here. Oh, that's how God wants to use you and I to separate the precious from the wild. John And I've never picked up a sword that I've read of.
How He was used to God to separate that which God had set his heart on. Oh, He wants us in that place, and that's the only place He can use us for the deliverance of God's people. If we've been separated by His word, entering into our souls from all that would dishonor Him.
And I will make the unto this people.
Offenced Brazen Wall. And they shall fight against thee, but they shall not prevail against thee, for I am with thee to save thee and to deliver thee, saith the Lord. And so he says to him, I'm going to make you look like a tower, Jeremiah, like a fortress, a citadel, that that those who want to be separate from what dishonors me can run to.
And find their help. Don't leave that separated place, Jeremiah.
You let them come to you, but don't you go back. I have sanctified you. I've made you clean. I've set you aside for my purpose. Don't go back. Don't go back. I can't use you back there.
And so I believe he says to each one of us in that way that he would separate us with his word from all that dishonours him. And in that way and that way alone, we can be used in that warfare for him.
Of the deliverance of God's people.
Have something rather short? Trust and.
Perhaps a bit, uh, simple minded, but that's fine.
You know, we another thing I was mentioned yesterday is that there's a way of taking things in and then a way of putting them out.
And.
Uh, there is certainly Umm.
In the culture that we presently live in, there is a very strong effort.
To squelch what comes out from a Christian.
And so I want to just address that briefly. And I'm going to use 2 words, and you may have other words that are better for this. That's fine. But I'm going to use 2 words that are going to sound pretty much the same, but one is personal and the other is private.
OK, you may find better words but just kind of catch what I what I want to get across.
Let's read a verse in, uh, first, Peter.
First Peter, chapter 3.
And verse 15.
First Peter 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.
And be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you, a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.
And then?
Some verses in uh, Psalm 119.
Which maybe aren't quite as.
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Clear as that in first Peter, but.
Might help us out.
Psalm 19. Excuse me 119.
And verse 41.
Let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord, even thy salvation according to thy word.
OK, so notice that it's not thy mercies come unto me.
And that mentioned salvation. The Old Testament, they didn't know salvation exactly as we do.
But then verse 42 So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me. For I trust in thy word, and take not the word of thy truth utterly out of my mouth, for I have hoped in thy judgments.
So you have a little something to say to somebody about the Lord Jesus.
And it sometimes is not surprising, or at least it's not unusual that they say, oh, you know, those are just, those are just private matters, you know?
That's not really appropriate for you to mention that in the break time here at work. Those are private things.
Sometimes this happens even in in families where maybe some are saved and some are not. So the one person that has accepted the Lord Jesus Christ.
Personally.
But then they are told to keep it private.
Your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is personal. You come to the Lord Jesus Christ as an individual. There's only one way and the door is small. It's a straight gate and there's only room for you.
And the Lord Jesus, of course.
But you see, you're saved now. You have that treasure in your hearts. You have the Lord Jesus in your heart because you have accepted Him as Lord and Savior.
And now?
There's something that comes out.
Let's not be bullied, and I think that's a very good word in this situation. Let's not be bullied into someone coming up to you and saying keep it private, buddy.
Perhaps I can relate a little something that.
Should sound familiar. OK, make it generic enough.
The world is very interested in you describing other people's points of view very accurately.
Because if you don't, they'll call you a bigot.
Now, what I mean by accurately is how that group wants themselves defined.
OK, so you and I probably wouldn't say that's accurate, but that's the world's definition. And if you don't, if you don't speak the party line, you're a bigot.
But if you relate Christianity as you know it in your heart and how you have defined it from the word of God, you are called intolerant.
It's a lose, lose situation.
You say things the way we want you to say them, except for what you believe.
And if you say that the way that you believe them, you're an intolerant person.
No wonder we shut our mouths every time we turn around. We get it coming and we get it going.
From the front side to the backside. And pretty soon we shut our mouths. Which is exactly.
What they want?
Oh, they want you.
They want your diligent work. They want your honesty. It helps the economy, you know, things like that.
But they don't want your savior.
But does that mean that you close your mouth?
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So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproaches me, For I trust in thy word.
Yes, what you believe in the presence of God is personal.
But Christianity is not private.
The testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ is just that. It's a testimony. It's something that goes out.
The word of God is spread abroad.
A sower went out to sow seed. Now that's the Lord Jesus. But we can certainly spread the word of God also.
Personal We trust that every single person in this room has personally accepted the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we also at the same time trust that every single person here has publicly confessed Jesus Christ.
That part of your life is not private.
And don't buy the world's definitions.
That they're trying to push on you.
Take God's point of view. We have a short life.
Speak up for your Savior.