Scranton Conference: 2019
Table of Contents
Hebrews 12:1-5
The Leading of the Spirit in Practice
Address—Tim Ruga
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Good afternoon everyone. Do we start the meeting by singing hymn #236?
#236.
Oh, gracious Father.
God of love we all, my God.
To say.
What our boy words must be a good rose victorious.
For the grave.
In From the Dead, the Broads again.
When?
I.
Comfort.
Until.
Forehead.
May thy.
Spirit God in our souls.
And.
All that.
And I will.
The flow on the Lord. Lord, the Lord Thorn. Thorn the Lord.
We.
May rise.
And fall we.
Pray God.
Always.
Big thing.
Let's pray.
Our God and our Father, we just pray that that would help us to go on and to live our lives in a way that is suitable to be, that we would follow the leading of my spirit in them, that we would go on for the glory of our Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, that one who came from heaven to earth and gave up all.
To do thy will and had such joy in doing it. And then to that joy that he had for us, that treasure in the field.
That he would sell all that he had to buy that field. Thank you so much for him.
And we pray that that would give us thoughts of Him and help each one of us as we consider Thy word and the subject before us this afternoon. We ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
So what is on my heart today?
Is the same thing but a different side from what I spoke on last year. And that, for those who are here, was the leading of the Spirit.
But last year, in connection with the leading of the Spirit, I took up the doctrine.
This year I'd like to take up the practice at least some thoughts as to it, but before we do, I just want to go over some of the.
Thoughts that we had on the doctrine, just very briefly. So if we could, let's turn to John chapter 6 or 14. John 14.
We'll just cover these points briefly because they are the background.
Verse 16 The Lord Jesus said just before he went back to heaven, or to the cross, and then to heaven, he says, I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter, that he may abide with you forever. Even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him, but ye know him.
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For He dwelleth with you and shall be in you. And So what we have here is the basic teaching of the leading of the Spirit, that the Lord Jesus was going to go back to heaven, receive the promise from the Father of the Holy Spirit and pour him out and baptizing believers into one body. And then the Holy Spirit of God would be here on earth with believers in two ways. And that we had at the end of verse 17 with you.
And in you. And so the Holy Spirit of God is with us.
Corporately, collectively and also he indwells each one of us individually and we consider it as well his ministry here on earth in that way, and that is introduce what we have at the beginning of verse or the, I'm sorry, the middle of verse 16 that he is a comforter. Comforter, of course, is the idea of.
A solicitor, Mr. Darby says, or one who takes care of all of our affairs. Comfort is part of that, and that is the Holy Spirit is here to take care of us in every way. Not just comfort, but.
To guide and direct and lead us in every part of our lives. He's a divine person here on earth. And that's implied in the word another here in verse 16. He shall give you another comforter. The Lord was the one who did that.
He went away to heaven. That divine person was here on earth for a time and he went away and then the Holy Spirit was sent and he is here presently fulfilling that office, that ministry of him being the one who who guides in all of our affairs. And then we went and we looked at that in three connections. I'll just mention them briefly. First of all, there's personally the leading of the Spirit and that you find in Romans.
Eight, as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. And so that's all of us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. That verse says very plainly that we're all led by the Holy Spirit of God. Whether or not we follow is another question, but it's His ministry to lead, and that's what he does.
The next thing we considered was the leading of the Spirit as to gift, and we're not going to take the time to turn to it now, but.
We considered, and you can go to 2nd Corinthians chapter 12 and you see there that the Corinthians before they were saved were led by dumb idols and then they turned to the Lord. And they as we were led by the Spirit of God and the leading of the Spirit of God for them was in all things spiritual, which of course would include the gifts, which is a great subject of First Corinthians chapters 12.
14 And then as concerns our worship, we looked at Philippians chapter 3 and verse 3 where we sat, we're told you have to read this in the JD translation, that we worship by the Spirit of God. And so the Spirit of God is here to lead and to guide each one of us as believers.
In these various ways and.
It's my intent to take up today the practical side of that. My burden last year was the thought that we know something about the leading of the Spirit. But.
I have found that with many and for myself that maybe I didn't know so much of the doctrine of it. And my fear has been that if we don't know the teaching and the Scriptures that we will turn the the practice into a form and we'll lose it eventually. We have to know the doctrine.
But the converse to that is that it's not good enough to just know the doctrine. We need to walk in it. There's a moral aspect with every truth of God, and not any less so when it comes to the leading of the Spirit. And so we need to take up with the leading of the Spirit and not only learn this and get it into our heads, but it needs to get down into our hearts and ultimately our feet.
And in that regard, I'd just like to turn to a verse back in Luke.
Luke chapter 8.
Luke 8 and verse 18 says Take heed therefore how ye here?
For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and whosoever hath not, to him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.
This is true of every truth.
We need to be very careful how we hear it. If we're going to take up the truth of God and just get into our heads and make it head knowledge, but we've got no interest in walking in it, then we are exactly the case that we have at the end of this verse where it says that which He seemeth to have. We don't have it. You don't have any truth of the Word of God unless you walk in it, Neither do I. It's very important that we not only see what God has said, but we put it into practice.
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And our lives. And so it says, that whosoever hath not.
From Him shall be taken away even that which He seemeth to have. And we looked last time, just briefly, at two negative aspects of the leading of the Spirit. The first was in Ephesians chapter 4 and verse 30, and that was, we're told there, Grieve not the Spirit.
And so it's possible to grieve the Spirit. The other was First Thessalonians 5 verse 19. We were told to quench not the Spirit. And these are converse of the same thing. When we go ahead and do that which the Spirit of God doesn't want us to do, we grieve Him. And if He wants us to do something and we fail to do it, then we quench Him.
And so there is a negative side to this truth and it's really important that we are exercised about the truth of the leading of the Spirit and how it affects us in our lives.
And what I'd like to do in taking up this truth practically is I'd first like to talk about it as to our personal lives because I really appreciate a point of brother made that there's no point in really talking about how the Spirit of God might lead in the assembly. You know, how do I know if the Spirit of God is leading me to give out of him or read a passage or something like that in the assembly if.
I don't take the time to know the Spirit's leading in my own individual life.
That begins there. And so I want to take it out, starting with our individual lives. And in that regard, I would just say there's a very good principle laid out, a direct verse. Actually, Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 18 tells us that we are to be filled with the Spirit.
That's each one of us in our individual lives. Leading of the Spirit begins there. We're not going to be led by the Spirit if we're not filled by the Spirit, and being filled by the Spirit implies that we're not filled with other things.
And that we do take that time to be occupied with that which will fill us with the Spirit of God. And so I really want to talk about how it is that we take up with the leading of the Spirit in our lives. And in connection with that, I found in my own life that there's two great hindrances that often come in right at the start.
And to look at those, I think they're both expressed very well in James chapter 4.
Just look there at James Four and I think it's.
Verse three? No, it's verse 2, the end of verse 2.
These verses have really exercised me as to the leading of the Lord, as to asking anything from the Lord.
Says in verse two. At the end of it, you have not because you ask not.
This is the importance of the doctrine, for one thing.
Many Christians don't even know that they're to look for the leading of the Spirit of God in their lives. They just think, well, I'm to get on the best I can with the word of God. But no, the Spirit of God has been sent here to fulfill a ministry and he does that ministry. And we are to be dependent on the Spirit of God for leading. We go and we pray to the Lord and we pray we seek the leading of God's Spirit.
And so that's the first thing is we don't even have because we don't even ask.
And oftentimes we get taken up to in our own strength and we forget to ask. That's the first error. The second error is in the next verse. He says you lost and you have not you kill you desire to have. I'm sorry, I'm reading beginning of verse 2.
But verse three is the same thing. You ask and receive, not because you ask a miss.
That you may consume it upon your lust. And so here's the second great thing. Oftentimes we ask the Lord to lead and to guide. But what are we looking for? Our own wills. I'll speak for myself anyway. And that always gets in the way. It doesn't work to go and look to God for leading by His Spirit if we're only going to do our own wills and only go on to do what?
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Pleases us, which is typically the world, and that's brought in in the very next verses because us adulterers and adulteresses, when we get caught up in that spirit of things which we're all too apartment to do, even as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, because that's who James is writing to.
But it's important first that we see that there are these negative things, these things that can take us away, and we need to understand who it is that leads us that it's the Spirit of God. In his name is the Holy Spirit of God.
He always leads in connection with the Word of God.
In John chapters 1415 and 16, he's called three times over.
The spirit of truth, because he's completely occupied with the truth, he does nothing except by the Word of God. Why? Because he is God. And as we're told in Timothy about God, that he cannot deny himself. God is always consistent with himself, and so the Spirit of God always.
Leads according to the truth of God important that we understand that we're not going to come.
And seek for leading from the Lord. If we're mixing it in with our own wills, it's going to come in connection with the truth of God. Now the next point I want to make about the leading of the Spirit is that it's Christ centered. It isn't something that we just take up. And well, this isn't wrong according to the Bible.
And then don't worry about anything else. And no, the Spirit of God is going to lead in connection with Christ.
And this applies to every aspect of our life. And I just want to establish these basic principles about the Spirit of God and his character of his ministry before we go into some of the practical details. And so if we come to look for guidance and it's the Spirit of God that's going to lead us in our lives, it's going to be leading us with Christ at the very center of whatever it is. If it's our bodies, the bodies, the body is the Lord.
If it's our business, well, we serve the Lord Christ. He's the center of everything. If it's the assembly, the assembly is Christ. If it's the word of God, it's the Lord Jesus. Said Scriptures speak of me. It's all about Christ. And the spirit of truth will guide us in a way that is centered around Christ himself.
Just to look and consider some verses in this regard, let's go to 2nd Corinthians.
Chapter 3.
And we'll read verse 3.
He says, For as much as you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, what the epistle of Christ?
Epistles a letter. And if I say it's a letter of something, then the something is what's in the letter. Christ is in this letter. And who is the letter He says you are? You are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us. And who's writing the letter? Written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, Not in tables of stone, but in the fleshy tables of the heart.
Just skip down to verse 17, the middle of the verse.
Says we're the spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. So the Spirit of God is the one who is writing this letter. The letter is Christ is being written in you and me in the fleshy tables of our hearts and there's perfect liberty there. Why? Because it's the liberty of the Spirit and that liberty of the Spirit to me is perfect liberty because I have the life of Christ.
And that life wants to do only what is the will of God doesn't want to do the will of my flesh, who wants to seek after and follow after Him.
And so he goes on to say in verse 18, But we all with open face beholding.
As in a glass of glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. And so we're all being changed by the Spirit of God as He writes Christ in our hearts. And how's he doing that? He's taking our gaze away. He's focusing it on the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Isn't that what we had in the last meeting, looking unto Jesus?
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And that's the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
You want to know some of the first principles about the leading of the Spirit in your life is to direct your eyes to Christ.
The other things follow that These are important. I know there's a desire to find out more about the practical things, but we never get those right unless we get these basic principles correct.
But I will go on. I want to talk about the other because you might say, well, how do I know the leading of the Spirit? How do I know when the Spirit is speaking to me? I get it that, you know, I have to have a right spirit and attitude myself. I need to be filled with the Spirit. But still, how do I know that the Lord is telling me to do something?
And that's the hard part. You know, we've often had questions from our children. We've had to say, well, I can't tell you exactly. It's the things you have to go on and learn. And I really appreciate it again, to mention that a brother brought up the case of Samuel and First Samuel 3 and how he didn't know the voice of the Lord. He had to learn what it was. And so it is for us. These are experimental things. You go on, you walk with the Lord.
And you learn his voice, and you have to learn after a while what his voice is.
And how it works and you get used to it. It's not something that's right there immediately. As we walk with the Lord, we learn how to hear His voice. But I do believe Scripture gives several.
Clues. Several things that can guide us in this regard. There have been things that helped me and I'd like to just share a few of them. The first one is in First Kings chapter 19.
First Kings 19. This is with.
The Lord speaking to Elijah, and I'm not speaking about anything new here.
But maybe for some of the younger ones who are searching this out now, this could be a help for you.
We find here.
11.
That the Lord says to Elijah, go forth and stand upon the mount before the Lord, and behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and break in pieces the rock before the Lord.
But the Lord was not in the wind.
And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, a still small voice. Now you think, well, it certainly seems appropriate that the Spirit of God should speak to me.
In a wind or an earthquake or a fire.
It seems suitable for God, but that isn't his normal way. And not to say he can't. He certainly can, and he has and he will.
But his normal way with us is what we have at the last year is still small voice.
Now how do you listen to the loud wind or the earthquake? Well, you have to be pretty much daft not to hear it, right? But how do you listen to the still small voice? You've got to be quiet and still in the presence of the Lord to hear it. To me that's a very important clue. With the busyness of things all around us, we're apartment to miss it. We need to spend that quiet time alone with the Lord.
Reading the Word and praying and listening to what He'll say to us. And it's in those times when there are still small voice comes. How does that come? I don't know, but it comes. And Elijah heard it that day and it says here it was so verse 13 when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood, and then he listened to the Lord.
He now knew this was the Lord speaking.
So I just want to encourage each one here to begin with that spend that time getting to know the voice of the Lord and do it in the quiet distill. Do it in a place where you don't have the distractions around where the Word of God is there and you can talk to the Lord.
And he has. He certainly can make himself heard. The God of this universe, in any way he chooses can speak to us. It's no difficulty on his side. The difficulty is we often get our ears blocked to hear when he so plainly does speak to us.
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Now we say, well, does that mean I should have no plans in my life? Is the voice of the Lord always going to be audible, or is it going to come in some other ways? Well, there again, the scripture only gives us examples and we have to trace them out, and we don't have time to trace them all, but we can look at a few.
Could for instance, go to Acts chapter 13 and see there that the disciples and Antioch we're praying and fasting before the Lord and the Spirit of God says separate unto me Paul and Barnabas unto the work where unto I have called them. He said that how he said it I don't know, but he said it. The words are recorded and it's the Spirit of God can speak like that.
But you go on a little bit in Acts chapter 16, you'll find that they were going along their way.
And it says that they were forbidden to go to one place and another place the Spirit suffered them not to go. And so we find that there is this guidance and we're not told how it came, but it did definitely come, no question about it. The Spirit of God made His will clear.
To Paul and to Barnabas as they went along in that way and justice. Look at another example in Romans chapter one.
I found this one very helpful because there's many plans that we want to make in our lives.
And the question is, what do we do? How do we do that?
I once knew of a brother who wouldn't do anything at all unless he had.
What he felt was a word from the Lord just telling to get up and do something, and the brother didn't seem to do a whole lot.
And now it's good not to do something unless we have a word from the Lord. But there is the the general carrying on of our life that we do have to go through. And I think we get guidance in the Scriptures to that. Look at Romans one verse nine. God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son that without ceasing, I make mention of you always in my prayers.
Making requests, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey, by the will of God to come unto you, for I long to see you, that I may impart.
And to use some spiritual gift to the end, you may be established. Now you see, Paul had something on his heart. He had a desire, and he's praying about it to the Lord.
And then waiting on the Lord for further guidance and go on here.
Verse 12 He says, That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me. Now I would not have you ignorant brethren, how that oftentimes I purpose to come unto you, but was let that means hindered hitherto, that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.
So here we have.
The general way that the apostle was conducting his life.
He had a desire in his heart trust the Lord put that there. He wanted to see the Roman Saints and he laid that up before the Lord and then he was going on to even let his general plan be known to them as to what he intended to do often and you get to the end of this book of Romans. You find more about his general plan. His purpose was this is specifically what he was praying about that he was going to go.
To Rome and then go buy them and be encouraged by them on his way to Spain.
Did that happen? No, it didn't happen. Paul got to Rome, but he got there in chains. It was a completely different way. Now maybe that was the will of the Lord for him to go that way and Paul got out of the will of the Lord after this point. It certainly seems so when you read the book of Acts. But what we see is a laying up of a purpose before the Lord, then wedding on the Lord to show the way to guide and direct, and the Lord has ways of doing.
For each one of us. Now I want to go on and talk about the leading of the Spirit and a public setting. But first of all, just refer to Genesis chapter 24 because there's a very good example there. And you can go back and look and meditate on this yourself later on. But there you have the call, the bride. And first of all, you find that Abraham.
Takes his servant and I know we can look at the servant as the Holy Spirit.
He is a type of the Holy Spirit, but we also can look at the servant as one who just goes and one who is LED. And it's beautiful to consider him that way because the first thing you'll find with that servant is he's asked to go and find a bride for Isaac.
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So he has a specific direction from his master, from Abraham, but it isn't clear to him. So he goes and asks for further instruction as to what would happen, What if she won't follow me? And so on.
And he waits until the matter is clear. And when the matter is clear, then he swears to Abraham. That is, he's acting completely in the interest of his master. And how do we apply that? Well, you know, you may feel a burden on your heart. Perhaps there's something that we should do. We need to wait, lay it up before the Lord until it's clear what that is.
And the Lord can let us know what those things are and make it clear.
And then here comes that time when we're going to go, And when we go, it might be a challenge of our own hearts. Is this really me, or is it of the Lord? As to the very desire, maybe that should even be first.
That's often been a problem for me. I'm saying this because maybe I'm speaking on myself.
That there have been times and I felt very directly the Lord calling me to do one thing or another. And I haven't been sure if this was a desire of my heart or really something the Lord was asking me to do. And I think it's good to be honest with the Lord about that and say, Lord, I'm not sure this could come from my own desire and I could be interpreting it as as your voice.
And here's a way to let us know.
It says in Romans chapter 15 that we ought not to please ourselves, and that goes on to say even as Christ pleased, not Himself. The one thing we always need to distrust when it comes to the leading of the Holy Spirit in our lives is our own wills. We're so apartment to let them get in the way and even act as counterfeits for the will of God and what He's calling us to do and how He's leading us.
By his spirit. So it's good to go and be open with God about that and justice. Tell them how we feel. I'm not sure, Lord, is this me or is this you? And He'll make it clear. I can't tell you how, but I can tell you in my own experience. You wait on him and he will make it clear. So that servant goes and what does he do is he starts on his way.
He prays and he prays and asks the Lord for guidance and he's very specific in his prayer too, as to certain things that we're going to happen there.
And then what do you find? Well, it all happens. He is led and he speaks and he says, I being in the way, the Lord led me unto the House of my masters, brethren. He was in the way, and the Lord led him in that way. And where did he lead him? To the House of his master's brethren. That's another clue, I believe.
Not saying that the Lord won't lead us far away, somewhere where He wants us to do a work for himself.
But generally speaking, the Spirit of God will not lead us away from the Lord's people. And so he was led there. And what's the final thing we find with Him there? He worships.
Beautiful and resolved of the leading of the Spirit of God, it leads us into communion with the Lord.
And worship is that which will result from it, and justice mention that you can go back and consider it further.
But I do want to take up in the time that remains, just a few thoughts that I have as to the leading of the Spirit of God, as to the public minister in the assembly. And to go first, I would just say that in order to ever experience the leading of God in the assembly, we really need to start with the other.
It's like we said before, when you get used to hearing.
The leading of the Spirit and experiencing what that is in our own individual private lives.
Then it's not so hard to hear Him leading us in the assembly. It's really in the same way. He puts things in our hearts, He gives a desire, He makes it known to us that this is his will, that it should be expressed or withheld. And so we take up with the leading of the Spirit in the assembly in that same way. But the first thing I would like to say is to the assembly.
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Has to do with confidence.
And for myself, I know I put this first because I had a lot of difficulty with that, with confidence, If the Lord is going to use me, do I have confidence as to what's going to happen after all, if I have to be used in any kind of a public way, whether it's in front of several people or just talking to another person?
How do I know what to say? It's only me and I get so tangled up.
In my words and my thoughts, well, I do think the scriptures give us help on that. And let's just go back to John chapter 14.
There's a verse there that I've applied to this and I do think it addresses this issue. It's very encouraging.
John 14 and verse 26.
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you now.
This is something that was given to the disciples at that time and they didn't have the spirit indwelling yet, but speaking about the time when the Spirit would come in and indwell them and no doubt some of this verses.
Fulfilled in the giving of the Scriptures themselves. But it's more than that. The Spirit of God came to the disciples afterwards, and he not only taught them about the truth of God, but he also brought to their remembrance whatever the Lord Jesus had said unto them.
Do you take up with the Word of God in your own private reading? Do you come together to the assembly with other believers and listen to the Word of God? You know when you do that, it goes in and you think about it and you enjoy it. And if you're anything like me, a whole lot of it tends to go out of your mind, but not completely. You've heard it, you know something of it, you've thought about it a little bit.
And you know, in the Spirit of God.
Has that right time when He wants to use it, He is well able to bring it back into your mind so that you can speak a word in season as he decides whether it's just with one person or several, whatever the occasion may be, the Spirit of God is able to do that. And so I just want to encourage you with that. Don't think that when you get used by the Lord in any public way that you won't have the leading of the Spirit.
He doesn't send anybody out just by themselves at their own charges. In every way, the Spirit of God is there. He's with us and He's helping us. And here it says that He'll bring to our remembrance those things that the Lord has said to us. And so we can have that confidence. We can, we can go and do what He's called us to do, knowing that if he called to do that thing, whatever it is, speak to somebody or speak to a group, that He's going to give the strength to do it.
It's not going to be us in our own strength.
And that's another part of the leading of the Spirit that I have found very difficult.
I tend to get hung up on myself. It's hard not to think of self. Self consciousness. What is that is self?
And yet, aren't we self-conscious?
I know this. This is the truth of God. It tells us these things that we're to forget self and look away from Him.
And yet my flesh goes right back and thinks about self and I get self-conscious and then I'm afraid, what am I going to do? I'll just stutter. I have nothing to say. It happens all the time. Well, the first thing is to be confident. He has said what we have here that He can lead, that He can bring to our memory those things that He wants us to say. Now go and look in Psalm chapter 32, another verse that I found helpful.
Card.
Psalm 32.
And.
Verse 8.
And it says, I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go. I will guide thee with mine eye. Now certainly this verse can be taken and applied perhaps primarily to our individual lives. This is the leading of the spirit of each one of us individually. I know it's in the Old Testament, but it was true then for David.
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It's even more so true of us who have the Spirit of God indwelling with that promise that He'll lead and guide. And so this is.
A verse that's a promise from God as to how He does it and what does he say here? It's an instruction, it's a teaching, it's a guiding with His eye. It's a very intimate thing, the eye of the Lord guiding us as to where to go. And it really doesn't leave out much when the guidance is at that level. Now you might say, can I count on the Lord that way in public, that He's just going to guide me?
Well, I believe we can, but that's something that we have to take up by faith, because this subject, like all the other subjects of the Word of God, isn't just meant to be taken with the intellect says we walk by faith, not by sight. And so we can only present what the Scripture says, but each one of us, you and I, have to get over the thoughts of self which would deny these things.
And trust the Lord and walk by faith and try him and see if these things aren't so now you might say, well, if it's just like that, should I get up in front of a group then and not prepare anything?
Just let the Spirit of God.
Guide us to everything that's said. I don't believe so. If you read Ecclesiastes 12, verses 9 and 10, you'll find it says there that the preacher was very wise, and it says that he set in order Proverbs, and he arranged things, and that was so that what his words would be would be useful and profitable. Now there's no doubt.
That when we're considering what we should say.
That we should be before the Lord is to that He can guide us into our thoughts as to what it is that we should say.
And then he can guide us in our thoughts as to how it is that those things are to be brought out. All of this thing, all of this he can and he will do and we need to be in a way that we can listen to his guidance. Now you might say in in this chapter is saying here that he will I will guide thee with my eyes that really that I can count on the Lord that way. This is an objection I've had.
And say, well, you know, I've been such a failure in my life, is the Lord really going to lead me in that way? If you ever have that thought, I just encourage you to go back to the beginning of this chapter and consider the context of these words. I don't think anyone of us in this room has failed worse than the one who wrote these words and the occasion of this very Psalm. It's one who's very happy because it's been restored to the Lord and the Lord has been turned around.
And assured him of the most intimate guidance in his life.
Failure does not get in the way of this once we're restored and David was restored in his life and the Lord brought him back to this place where he could enjoy this full guidance from himself by the Spirit of God. Now just look at the next verses.
He says I will. He says verse, I'm sorry, verse 9 be not as the horse of the mule, which have no understanding, whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee. Now these are two sides of something too, aren't they? The horse is the one that goes ahead, running far ahead, and the mule is the one that lags behind.
Both have to do very much with public ministry. There's a good example of this.
In Samuel, where it speaks about.
Absalom had been slain and there were two men who wanted to go and deliver a message. Who actually one of them doesn't say he did but one certainly did. His name was Ahimez and Joab didn't want to send a hymnias because Ahemias didn't have the whole message so he says no you stay here and you wait. The other one was Kushai and Joy of Saint Kushi with a message and Kushai took the message and he brought it to David.
But while he was taking the message Ahemi has bags and bags and said I want to go on a run and George says OK then go ahead and he ran and he outran Kushine. He got there first with a partial message. He didn't have the message and so he said what he knew which wasn't what needed to be said and he was told to sit aside and Kushai arrived and gave the message that was to be delivered.
It's easy to go ahead like that, like the horse.
And we need to be very sensitive that we don't do it, that we wait on the Lord. But the other side is true as well. And this one strikes perhaps closer to home for many of us as a mule. How many times has the Lord spoken to me to do something? And I've just said, Oh no, Lord, I can't do that. And so we lie back, we wait. Maybe we don't go at all.
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Are you shy?
Brother here, speaking publicly. Are you shy? I'm shy.
Perhaps most of the brothers here are shy. I don't know. It's a difficulty, isn't it? Speaking and going, doing what the Lord wants us to do is a great difficulty. And, and thinking about this, you know, it occurred to me this is exactly what happened with Moses. And let's just look at that. Go back to Exodus chapter 4.
It's not always a bad reason that causes us to be as a mule.
Sometimes it's just our limitations, but that can be false humility. If the Lord calls us to do something, we need to do it. We need to forget self and just go and do it. So Exodus chapter 4 and verse 19. And Moses said unto the Lord, Oh my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither hitherto nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant.
But I am slow of speech and of slow tongue.
Have you felt like that? I certainly have. Was the Lord, say the Lord said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? For who maketh the dam, or death, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth.
And teach thee what thou shalt say.
That's a wonderful promise, isn't it? And the Lord went with Moses. Moses still resisted after this, and the Lord became a crotch. But you see, in the end Moses yields, and he was used mightily of the Lord. And if you have been a mule, as I so often have been in my life, it's OK. Don't keep failing in it. Listen to the Lord.
He'll give you the strength, He'll be with you. He'll give you those words.
To say, as it says here, I'll be with thy mouth. The Lord is well able to do that, to guide our hearts, our minds, our mouths, to express that which he wants us.
To express.
And so we need to get ourselves out of the way. There's a verse that's impressed me very much in this regard in Isaiah chapter one.
It says simply if you be willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land and that verse is convicted me so many times because I haven't been willing or obedient and it's really come to me that what the Lord is looking for today, he's not looking for great gift.
Say I don't have great gift. That's OK, the Lord's not looking for that.
He's looking for willingness and obedience. That's what he wants. That's what he wants from you and from me. He can use anything.
You know, Balaam's donkey didn't even know how to talk, and the Lord caused that donkey to talk.
How much less of a problem is it for him to cause your mouth and my mouth to express what he wants us to express? He's well able to do it well. I just want to take on a few further practical thoughts in the time that remains. The 1St is as to the remembrance meeting.
How do I know the Lord wants me to say something? And the remembrance meeting, and I do think there's even a little bit more guidance on that.
And we could, but for the sake of time, go and look at John chapter 4, because I think that's a wonderful chapter on this regard. And John chapter 4, you remember there was a woman at the well, and the Lord Jesus came there and he offered to her water. And he spoke of that water. And he said this, it will be in him a well of water springing up, He says unto eternal life. But you find in Chapter 7 that he was talking about the Spirit of God. And in chapter 4 is that well?
This springs up into life eternal.
And the Lord brought it out there in connection with worship, worship of the Father, which he goes on to explain in that wonderful chapter. And so I've often thought of it in this way, that the Spirit of God leads us out in worship. And what is he doing? He's leading our minds to think of Christ. And when he occupies us with Christ, he works within us in that way that's expressed a welling up.
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And that leads on to something that.
Just feels the need to be expressed. It comes from himself and yes, I can suppress it. The Spirit of the prophets even is subject to the prophet. The Spirit of God doesn't take over our mouths, but He certainly puts an urgency within us to speak something out to the Lord. Let's look at Psalm 45 to see another verse in this regard.
Suan enjoyed this to connect with John Chapter 4.
Psalm 45.
And.
Verse one my heart is indicting.
A good matter, if you go read that in the margin it says my margin says boil it or bubble it up. And Darby has welling forth with a good matter. That's the idea there. Something's welling up, it's coming up. And what is it? He says? I speak of things which I have made as touching the king. My tongue is a pen of a ready, ready writer. And what is that?
To be written. What's the next verse? Thou art fairer than the children of men. Grace is poured into thy lips. Therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. Set not the essence of worship. And who is it to the Lord Jesus Christ. He should doubt that you can go compare verse 6 to Hebrews one verse 8 very directly speaking about the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
And so in this way, the Spirit of God works within us.
To occupy us with Christ and those beauties, touching his person and his work. And then that praise swells up, that worship wells up in our hearts until it wants to express itself.
And that's how I think of it. And you can still wait on the Lord and make sure you have his mind. But then you feel that you must express that thing He's laid on your heart. Well, if that's so for the brothers, what about the sisters?
Say only half of us can do that. It's true, the word of God says to sisters.
Are not to speak in the assembly, and yet these things well up in their hearts too, and they can give it out to God.
Is there any thought in scripture that the worship of a sister is somehow less than a brother because she can't speak it out audibly?
Absolutely not.
To whom did the Lord give that wonderful teaching in John chapter four? Was it not a woman at the well? And He tells her all about that worship to the Father. And with whom do we have the greatest perhaps examples in all of Scripture as to worship? Was it not that woman in Luke 7 who was a Sinner who came into the Lord?
And she anointed his feet with myrrh.
And wash them with her tears, and wipe them with her hair. And what about Mary of Bethany? Matthew 26? She anoints his head with that alabaster box appointment. John chapter 12. She anoints his feet. What words are recorded that she said? But who in that house did not know of that worship that went out?
The house was filled with the odor of that ointment, and the worship of the sisters is of all importance the leading of the Spirit of God.
Is just as important with the sisters as with the brothers. And it affects the meeting. It affects everything. It's not just the remembrance, it's all the meetings. The Spirit of God leads all of us. The brothers are to give expression to it audibly when called to do so. And the sisters wait on the Spirit of God, and they're in tune with this thought, and the Lord may use that thought as he will.
Even to reach another, but certainly it affects the whole spirit and attitude of a meeting.
Well, I had a few other things I was going to say, but I really would like to just end on this. Notice to the fact that the Spirit of God is there to lead us in everything, and He's going to lead out our hearts and when He does, He's going to lead them in praise and expression of what belongs to Christ. Maybe we could just end on that.
In John chapter.
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16.
Because it's beautiful how it's put there. It's all those things that have to do with our Lord Jesus. Verse 13 John 1613. Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all.
The truth I think the other translation says, but all truth, for he shall not speak.
Of or from Himself. But whatsoever he shall hear, that shall He speak, and He will show you things to come, and He shall glorify me again. Just leave it with this note that the Spirit of God in His leading has characteristics. He is the Spirit of truth, and He's centered on Christ.
If the Spirit of God is that which I'm experiencing in my life, it's going to have Christ as its center, and He's going to speak of Him. He's going to glorify Him.
It doesn't matter what it is, whether it's in my personal life or whether it's in public life, it's something that I'm called to do for him. It's going to be the Spirit of God leading in such a way that it will bring glory to Christ. And he says here that he will speak of things to come. And so the Spirit of God has come, and he has taught us about Christ's glory and he has taught us about things to come.
And in meditating on that.
This one final thought, it's so beautiful to see that when you get to the end of the word of God.
That you find the Spirit of God seen as on earth, together with the church, the bride, and those wonderful verses in that wonderful verse in Revelation 22, verse 17, the Spirit and the Bride. Now the Spirit together with the Bride occupied with Christ coming. What do they say? Spirit and the Bride?
Say, come, that's his ministry. He leads us that whole time.
We're here. He never leaves us until that time when the Lord Jesus comes. And then of course, he won't leave us then either.
He'll go on forever, but he won't have to guide us as to things that we need to know in this life.
Then He's going to just go on and occupy us purely with Christ and His glory for all eternity. Until then, we can count on Him for anything He calls us to do. But let's just close with a word of prayer. Our God and our Father, we thank you for providing.
Hebrews 12:6-17
Reading
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We ask the Lord's help. Our God and our Father, we thank Thee that Thou dost look down upon us in perfect love now to see us accepted in all the acceptability of thine own beloved Son before Thee. And yet.
Thou art the Father, spirits, and not us. Know our down setting, our uprising, the thoughts of our hearts, the words of our mouth.
And we thank Thee for Thy patient grace with us as the Lord Jesus brings many sons to glory. That Thou have an individual tuition for each one of thy sons and daughters. Impatient grace to conform us more and more into the image of that One who is the center of Thy eternal counsel and purpose, who fills Thy heart. Be the center is the center of all that Thou art about and what Thou art doing.
And we do thank Thee that each bit of discipline, each bit of training, instruction, would change us more and more to be like him. We thank Thee, Lord Jesus, for thy work in Calvary, that blood that has screened us. We thank Thee that thou art the leader and completer of faith, the Builder, the architect of the path of faith.
Lord Jesus thus designed it, Thou hast LED in it, Thou hast completed it, and Thou art our object in the glory. Now we do thank Thee. Thou art coming soon for us. We just ask for Thy continued help, Lord Jesus.
Through the Spirit to direct as we continue in Hebrews 12 for the prophet and blessing of our souls.
And for thine own glory, the glory of our God and Father.
Thy name, Lord Jesus, we ask this Amen.
To be.
We were reading in Hebrews 12 This morning.
We kind of discuss things in general with verse 8. Be about right, or should we go back further?
Might be nice to start at verse 6 here. OK.
Remember, this is our last reading meeting and I would suggest if we read to the end of verse 17, that's probably good. We read the whole chapter this morning, but I can't think we'll get beyond verse 17.
Hebrews chapter 12, verse 6.
For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
If you endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement whereof all are partakers, then are ye ******** and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh, which corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but He for our Prophet, that we might be partakers of His Holiness.
Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous nevertheless. Afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down on the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way. But let it, let it rather be healed. Follow peace with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled, lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
I'd like to say something about chastening as.
Privilege that we all participate in as being in God's family and having God as our Father.
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Sin has entered the world and it has been and still is a reproach against God. The fool says in his heart there is no God. And the mocker and scorner says, well, God's not really in control. And so when the prophet says the Lord is coming, the mocker says, Oh well, where is the promise of this coming? And this is the prophecy that that Peter.
The words that Peter addressed in the New Testament and a prophet, Isaiah and the old, you know, oh, Watchmen, what of the night? What of the night? And so.
The world goes on, and God in patience bears with it. But for men and women of faith in Old Testament and in New.
It's it's kind of a trial or exercise to be able to discern and to be able to possess our souls and patience.
While we wait for the other shoe to drop, so to speak, and God will reveal his thoughts about all things all along we're in the Kingdom and patience of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so the the psalmist could look out and see the wicked prospering and it troubled him until he got some spiritual intelligence in the sanctuary. And he says, aha, their end is going to be horrible.
And it encouraged him to just possess himself in patience and to go on. And that's the wisdom for you and me. But even beyond that.
If the world says, well, I don't see how the government of God is carried out. I see, wicked nations, I see.
Horrible things allowed to take place. Where is their order in the universe but for you and for me in God's family, we experience directly God's order with us because He's our Father. And what, as it says there? What? What son is he whom the Lord chasteneth? Not every one of us has this privilege that we're in God's school. He knows exactly what we need as individuals.
And he's pledged himself.
Continuously for our growth, our spiritual profit. As it says later on, He's the Father of spirits. To think that the Father of glory would be also the Father of Spirit. So engaged in your and my spiritual life that he brings circumstances intelligently and with love into our life day by day and year by year.
To do us good at our latter end. This is just a wonderful and a great privilege that we're enjoying. No chastening seemeth joyous when we're going through it and we go through an experience and we say, Oh my, this is humbling. And and, and and then we go through it and we say, OK, we're all done now and everything's good, right? And then, then we might have to then we have something else. And and so the Lord is just so engaged.
And knows exactly what he's doing. And it causes us to be thankful that we are.
Tied to one who has such wisdom and such love for us.
In verse five we had despised and think.
And now we have before us.
The exercise soul that recognizes that God our Father is always working toward our blessing and it ends in exercise thereby, doesn't it? In in verse 11, those are three different things that that one might experience.
But what the Lord would have us to do and.
To learn and to understand is that everything that the Father does is for our blessing, even our chastisement.
And that's so important, isn't it, because in being exercised thereby, as Bruce has said, the other shoe will drop. If we could use your expression, is that what you meant by it, Bruce? And.
As we had earlier today in the former reading, everything that God allows in our lives is not for the same reason, and so the Lord may be teaching us in order that there might be more fruit and more blessing in our lives. On the other hand, He may be curbing a sinful tendency that He seems in order that I might judge and deal with it before him.
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He may be, and the word here is pretty strong scourging.
In the days when this was written, if you ever read about the description of Roman scourging, it was something else, and I won't bother describing it now, but many men didn't survive it. Well, the Lord never takes it that far, but.
Sometimes the Lord has to get through to us in a very severe way, but how wonderful that it's always for our profit and blessing.
As a brother used to remind us, a father might tell his children to be quiet because he was.
Tired and had a headache and he couldn't handle the noise and racket. And my father did that with us sometimes when I and my brothers were young, even to the point if it weather was suitable of sending us out of the house to work out our energy outside or something. But it wasn't because we were doing anything particularly morally bad. It was just we were upsetting him. But God never does that, does he? It's always a purpose of love on his part.
And the being exercised by it allows us to discern because the Lord will show us He will, no question. He'll show us what is bringing before us. And as our brother Tim mentioned, there are no human parameters by which I can say, well, how did you know what the Lord was teaching you? How did you know that that's what the chastening was about? Well.
I can't explain it, but the Lord sure brought it home to my soul. Is that right, Tim?
That's what you are getting across. The Lord has His way of making something abundantly clear to us about His ways with us. If I'm exercised by it, we might say He uses different instruments and so He will use His word. If we read His word and it is supplied by the Spirit of God to reach our conscience as to a conduct that we might be going on with, He might use circumstances. Jonah was cast into the sea. There was circumstances. The Lord was correcting His spirit and it took a series of circumstances.
And then he might use one of our brethren. And so there are those you might use a prophet. I was just thinking of ASA. In Second Chronicles chapter 19, it says Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to King Jehoshaphat, Should us thou help the ungodly, and love them? That hate the Lord therefore is wrought upon me from before the Lord. But you find with Jehoshaphat that when he was rebuked of the prophet, he was rebuked from the Lord. The Lord went to great.
Expense, you might say, great resources. He sent that man on a mission and he spoke to his conscience. You find Jehoshaphat restored and going on. He made the same mistake, I think four times, and yet he picked himself up and he went on again for the glory of the Lord. So that's really the lesson, isn't it, that the Lord loves His people and He will go to great lengths to work with our spirits and to work with us, that there might be fruit for him and the spirit of Christ might be manifest in our lives.
And one more comment. I don't want to do all the speaking but.
There's an important point, I feel with that, and I know you'd agree with it, Robert.
We should be very careful about second guessing what the chastening is for in someone else.
But that doesn't obviate the principle you've been bringing out that occasionally the Lord may give the discernment if we know an individual well, or conversely, they know me well, to put in a word, as you say, from the Lord and say, do you think this could possibly be because of that? You know, I, I've been watching you and I wonder if the Lord is speaking to you about that, is that would you agree with that? Yes.
There may be a period of time.
Between when the Lord allows perhaps a dramatic experience in our life that's humbling for us or corrective for us or instructive for us and we may like the language of faith often says why Lord and what I appreciate about this verse so much, verse 11 is that we're able to get the peaceable fruit of righteousness, not just when we finally have the sense of of what the answer is or the reason why.
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But just by being exercised thereby, I think that's just beautiful because oftentimes something comes into our life. It comes in for a reason. And it's, if I could put it this way, sometimes with us, it's not the work of one day or two, but he brings in the experience and we're exercised by it, humble ourselves, we trust under it, and the peaceable fruit of righteousness is enjoyed. And it may be.
Many years, or perhaps it'll wait until we're home in the Father's house when it's unfolded to us in fullness and then we didn't fully appreciate it down here. I think if you turn to 1St Corinthians chapter 4 or I'll just read it.
I've appreciated this verse and that connection in verse five of First Corinthians 4. Therefore, judge nothing before the time until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness.
And will make manifest the counsels of the heart, and then shall every man have praise of God. Sometimes the Lord brings things into the lives of others. Another family in the gathering or or relatives that you're close to.
Tremendous trials and it affects you, it affects your children or the young people in your family and and raises these questions, honest questions as to why the Lord allowed it.
To me, it's an encouragement that burst in First Corinthians that there come a time when the Lord will roll these things back. What a wonderful time it will be at the judgment seat of Christ when these things are made manifest. And it'll be for it'll, it'll be for his glory. And what blessing as we enter in to to that wonderful time when we live and reign with Him.
I'd like to make a practical observation for parents, particularly fathers, but mothers as well, and I have a practical observation for children as well. Out of these verses, comments have been made in connection with the spiritual application to our lives, but I'd like to just put this out. Not that I'm a perfect example of it, but think of what it says here, talking about natural fathers, which is what I am and what many of you are.
Some of you would be natural mothers as well as Bill was talking about. His father would send them out of the housewife for his own pleasure.
And I think we can learn from the way God works.
As parents, because God's doing it for our prophet that we could share in His Holiness. And I think that's the instruction that I'd like to point out from these verses. I know it's not the main point of this portion, but I think it's a good learning that as parents we need to understand our children's heart. God loves us. That's one of the things we need to make sure we do love our children and then seek to understand the path of holiness for them.
And to correct them for their profit, to help them to be the kind of person the Lord wants them to be.
Obviously we don't have the understanding that God our Father has. So we need prayer, we need wisdom, guiding of the Holy Spirit in terms of how we interact with our children and now speaking to the children, the same lesson that we get as adults here and as young people that we should be exercised thinking about what God's trying to accomplish in our lives.
Children, your lives will be much better if you try and think and understand what your parents are trying to accomplish in your life and work with them instead of against them. That's the path of happiness. Try and learn those lessons that your parents are trying to teach you as quickly as you can. Both your parents lives and your lives will be better if you learn them quickly.
There's reference here to righteousness.
And isn't it true that much of our difficulty in life is because of the fact there's a lack of righteousness? I mean, this is true in the world today. We live in a world where righteousness, it suffers. And as a result, there's turmoil, there's confusion. But the day is coming when this is going to be reversed. And the work.
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Of righteousness is peace.
I believe that's the effect of righteousness, and I was just noticing in Isaiah what it says first.
17 Isaiah 3217 The work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever.
James speaks of it as well. He says in James 318 the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace. Of them that make peace. Well, I just noticed in our chapter here.
That it speaks of the peaceable fruit of righteousness.
And so I think sometimes the Lord allows chastening, chastisement because of the lack of righteousness.
Going on with that which is wrong, and the Lord can bring that to our attention through various means.
Various chastening were exercised about it.
We're going to live our lives more righteous. We know our standing before God is one of righteousness. But what about the practical side?
You know, God's desire is that our state might be more consistent with our standing.
And that, perhaps, we might live a little more righteously.
And the effect of it is peace. It's a peaceable fruit.
We might just comment and say that the Lord corrects two things in his people. That's the same as a natural father. If he's faithful, he corrects our spirits or our attitudes. He teaches us those attitudes in the the spirit that we should have. That's a right spirit, a spirit of humility and so on. He will also correct and teach us obedient and so.
He disciplines, you might put it this way, a wrong attitude, and he will discipline disobedience. So those two things, and you see the principles of them throughout the word of God.
And would you say that's why we get that expression in the end of verse 9?
Subjection under the Father of Spirits, Is that the correct? Yes.
We had natural fathers, and it is to be hoped, and I think you were bringing that out, Rob, that our natural fathers, as if they are Christian fathers, that that they would.
Try and deal with our spirits as well as perhaps chastening and teaching for the actions involved.
I remember reading about a girl who in adulthood said that she remembered very well the teaching and sometimes the chastening and punishment that she got when she was young. And she said what made the most lasting impression on me was the fact that especially my father would never leave me until we were both on our knees.
And I had confessed the sin to the Lord.
She said that's what made the impression and what was that Father seeking to do work with the spirit because the spirit is the God conscious part of our being. And it's where what you were talking about. It's that's where it starts, isn't it Wally? The righteousness has to start with the right spirit that works its way into our mind and our soul and eventually into our bodies and into our actions. And so.
God deals with us always as the Father of spirits.
I think it might be helpful, too, to say that he works with us privately to work that work of repentance and restoration to himself. It took 22 years for Joseph's brethren to come to repentance and to come before him and to bow before him, and then to recognize and confess what they had done. 22 years. The Lord was working with them. But you know, in connection with Solomon, the Lord appeared to him three times.
That two times he told him about his wives and how he was marrying those wives that were not of faith and so on. We don't have any record in Scriptures to that particular conversation. The third time it comes out, it's public. And so it's a principle with God. He deals with us privately, and if we will not hear the correction, we will refuse the correction in whatever way He is trying to train us, then it might come out publicly.
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Later on and then it's a little more severe. So I think it was brother Harrieto used to say something to this effect that.
Correction spurn brings sharper correction.
Maybe it'd be good to mention that not always is our chastening.
For correction.
Sometimes it's for correction, but if every time we were chastened, we would think that the Lord is correcting us for something.
They would maybe send the warning signals out, but it's not always that. It's not always for that. Sometimes the Lord is preparing us for something. Sometimes He's preserving us from something and we need to be before the Lord as to what He is.
Bringing whatever the situation is into our lives, what it's for. I just had the privilege of of being at a conference by the Red Sea.
And it's very interesting our Egyptian brethren have a because of their location, they have a great interest in the travels of the children of Israel in their parts, which is in Egypt. And that was very interesting to me. And I just in my looking at the Red Sea, what my room was about from here to the basketball court, the basketball net there away from the the Red Sea itself.
I got a beautiful view of it all the time.
And I was impressed in going through.
Numbers 33 and going through some of the other Pentateuch that the Lord brought the children of Israel back to the Red Sea on 4 occasions. We, we think, well, you know, they went across the Red Sea and that was it. But imagine traveling years and years and years on your way to the promised Land and you'll open your eyes and you're told to camp by the Red Sea. Like really and, and, and then maybe to go years again.
And to go from place to place and you know, you're going to the Promised Land, you know where you're going. And then to wake up one day and you're by the Red Sea. Like really, You know, sometimes in our lives the Lord brings something across our pathway and it's difficult. And maybe we've learned a lesson.
And maybe down the road sometime we we come into another situation. We think, you know, I've been here before and that happens in our life. And I think that's that that probably was grievous, I think, to the children of Israel to to cross the Red Sea, to see the Egyptians dead of the seashore, to travel for 30 years and then to have to encamp by the Red Sea again. I think, you know, how much closer am I to the Promised land after 30 years? I just haven't seen them make any progress at all. And it seems that sometimes it's not in our lives.
And it's grievous.
And I think that if we have before us always that the chastening is corrected, it's going to be a discouragement because it's not always corrected. I don't think the the point here is there needs to be exercise and it's, there's a, there's a wonderful, there's a wonderful result if there's exercise. Thereby. I think this is the thought that's brought out in Job 37 and verse 13.
Where it says he causes that to come, whether for correction or for his land or for mercy.
Well, I think that's excellent, Brother Dave. We did bring that out a bit this morning, but not quite in the fullest way. And I would just add one more to it, and that is that sometimes the Lord allows circumstances in our lives.
Where?
We are not particularly to learn anything special except.
That it's an opportunity to glorify the Lord by going through difficult circumstances, perhaps as a testimony to the world and to others. That is, if everything went smoothly in the believers life, or when difficulties came in, the Lord always stepped in and there was a victorious answer to it. The world might well look at us and say, well, there's no wonder they're happy. No wonder everything is.
00:30:06
Good in their lives because the Lord looks after them. And that was what Satan in effect said to the Lord about Job Well.
No wonder Job's a Goodman. You've put a hedge about him and given him wealth and prosperity and everything a man could want, but you put your finger on him and see what happens. And we know how how Joe passed the test. But then of course, the Lord allowed the whole thing to go beyond that, to teach Job something that Satan knew nothing about. But sometimes we see a dear believer through put through a what you and I might call a nightmare of suffering.
And yet, what a testimony there is in the midst of it. So would you include that, Dave, in your list?
If you're going to use Job as an example, in the very end, what is it that the Lord got with him?
Said Joe got to know the Lord.
I've heard of thee with the hearing of the ear, and now might I see it me, and I abhor myself so.
Here in our verses, there in verse 10, it says what? That we might be partakers of His Holiness, but that's for a reason too. And down in verse 14 it says holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.
So I would my impression here is that it's all.
Regardless of whether it's correction or another reason, as has been mentioned, it can all be said that the Lord is doing it all that we might know Him. Is that right? Yes, love. Love has a an inherent desire, if I can put it that way, to be known by its object. That's that's.
God is love and love is just it's, it's the almost the central, you might say.
Aspect in Burnet County fail for words, but that's love is love wants to be known by its object and that is why God communicated. It's why he spoke, it's why he brought things into being. It's why everything happens to you is because God wants you to know him.
So if we were talking to somebody.
And he's going through a great trial, perhaps the chastening of the Lord we're taking up here.
That we would we would see in him that in verse 11 now no chastening for the for the president seemeth to be joyous but grievous and we be looking at that brother or sister and we can see them suffering so and and and we could see.
That, that it's grievous. But then he goes on and says, but there's an end in view. There's a blessing in view.
And so you could say to such a one, and I believe the Spirit of God is saying is thought to us. Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them, which are exercise thereby. So he's the apostle here is teaching that there's a blessing, there's an end in view for those that are exercised about what they're going through. But then he says this.
Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down in the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way. But let it rather be healed. And so you say to that one that's standing in front of you. This is what the Word of God says, that God loves you, and there's a blessing in view. There's an end in view. Now lift up the feeble hands that hang down, and trust the Lord.
For what you're going through, that's really what this is bringing out, isn't it? It's bringing out that that we might be exercise. Everyone in this room is going to go through some form of a chastening and a trial, some something that exercises us, something that produces something of Christ in our lives. We've had that at the beginning of this chapter, him as an object and an example for our pathway. So, so that's what the Spirit of God wants for us.
Is that even though we're going through such a difficult trial, what do we want to see? What do we want to feel? What do we want our brethren to see? And what do we want the world to see? That we believe that God loves us despite what I'm going through at the moment. And I'll lift my my feeble hands. I'll lift up my hands and my feeble knees and to walk, walk forward because I know there's a purpose of love in it for me.
00:35:20
That's I believe that's what we're supposed to, to arrive at in this, in this portion we're taking up. Yes, the first part here is up until the end of verse 11 speaks primarily to the one going through the trial or the chastening. But then what should be the reaction of other believers who are looking on and seeing it? And I can go to an extreme in both directions.
On the one hand I can say, well, the Lord's dealing with them, let them learn the lesson from it, and I can maybe.
Say, yeah, the Lord loves you. I know it's kind of a rough time, but don't worry, you'll get you through it and leave it alone. The other extreme to go to is that perhaps, and I'll use an illustration I remember well, a case years and years ago now where there was a brother who.
Found himself in very serious financial difficulties and I did not know much about the situation, but to those who were close to it, it was fairly evident that there had been carelessness and a getting away from the Lord and the brother's life. And if we could use the expression or running a lot of red lights that the Lord had put up for him until finally he was in major trouble financially.
And almost immediately another brother who had wealth stepped in and lifted him out of it. But it didn't do any good. It circumvented the lesson the Lord was seeking to teach him and resulted only in further difficulties down the road. And so there can be an extreme on both sides, can't there? We can step in inappropriately and without the mind of the Lord to lift someone out of a circumstance that the Lord is allowed.
Or we can on the one hand say well.
And it's rather extant in some countries some of us have visited where the attitude in false religions is, well, that's your karma. That's what the gods have allowed, so you bear it and I leave you alone. Both are wrong, aren't they? I am to be concerned about my brother or sister in Christ. I am seek to be an encouragement, as you said, Ed, I am seek to bring Christ before them.
Are there sometimes when we can alleviate some of the suffering? If the Lord leads, we should.
There's opportunity for real pastoral care, but that takes just as much exercise on the part of the one doing the help as it does on the part of one in the midst of the chasing, doesn't it?
The Spirit of God brings before us that when there are those trials in our lives and they may affect our families, they may affect our assemblies, and there are those that are weaker that are looking on. And so he says that.
In verse 12 Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down the feeble knees, make straight paths for your feet, less that which is lame be turned out of the way.
But let it rather be healed so we have the hands that bring before us perhaps service. There might be a little service for the Lord that we might be doing. And even though the Lord is dealing with us and seeking to train us in some particular matter or correct us, whatever it might be, we're not to get disheartened, say, well, I'm just not going to do this anymore. I'm giving up my Sunday school class or whatever it is. We're to do what we do for the Lord and for his glory. And then the knees, you know, we're to persist in prayer.
Were to persist and to be diligent in prayer. And our dependence upon the Lord is not to flag because of what He's doing in our lives. And then our paths were being watched and so were to follow the Lord. Were to continue on in a path of righteousness and holiness. And there are others watching, we're told. I'm not an educator, but apparently educators are told that 85% of what you might learn, you learn by observation.
You don't learn by speech and by being taught. Yes, we do learn by reading and by reading ministry and reading the truth of the Word of God and so on. But when it comes to learning practical Christianity, I believe we learn by observation. And so he's saying that there are those that are lame, those that are weaker in the faith, and they might be turned out of the way if we are going to react in a wrong way. And so rather let it be healed and let's go on.
00:40:30
Together.
We've got to be careful and use discernment because.
Not careful and concerned to be gossip.
Sometimes following peace and following holiness can seem to be counterproductive to one another, can't they? It can be, in some ways.
Keeping more peace, perhaps by sidestepping holiness a little. Or if I insist on holiness, sometimes I disturb the peace. We're to seek both, aren't we? Not always possible, not always possible.
Follow peace as much as lieth in you as is referring to the outside world. Live peaceably with all men. And Paul had to talk about being delivered from unreasonable and wicked men. For all men have not faith. And so sometimes it becomes a real exercise before the Lord. But the scripture puts these two together, showing us that if we really are before the Lord.
It can be done.
How would you define holiness? Can you give a definition?
Holiness.
Well, I suppose the simple is simplest definition of holiness is that character in you and in me which corresponds to God's nature.
And God is holy. That is his character, isn't it? Holiness. And God is forming that in you and me. Do we have a nature that ultimately is holy? Yes.
We do we have a new life in Christ, and that new life cannot do anything that is not pleasing to the Lord, but as.
Tim was bringing out in the address. Things keep cropping up. I keep focusing on myself. If I'm not careful, thoughts keep coming in. And then of course.
There's a tendency to sidestep what is what is right, isn't it? Righteousness is the result of holiness. Righteousness is right conduct toward others on the ground of holiness, But holiness is the innate quality that corresponds to what God is. But if has been brought out, our brother Ted was bringing it out. If God is light and his character is holiness, God is also love.
Brother Harry Hill, you her brother Harry Hale used to have a little expression. He would say that holiness is a delight in that which is good and a hatred of that which is evil good. So a little synopsis, A delight in that which is good and a hatred of that which is evil.
We're exhorted to cease to do evil, but doesn't stop there. Learn to do good. So it kind of brings out what you're speaking about I was thinking of.
In Psalm 45.
With reference to the Lord Jesus, I believe in verse seven it could be said of him, Thou lovest righteousness and hatest wickedness. Therefore God, thy God, is anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
Loving righteousness, heeding wickedness, Is that not holiness?
Well, that's essentially Harry Hales definition.
The chapter began or early in the chapter. The exhortation was looking unto Jesus, whom we need as an object for our faith to draw us along in the pathway. But then in verse 14. If there isn't the practical.
Success to walk in newness of life with peace and in holiness. We're going to lose discernment.
00:45:08
We won't be in communion with the Lord, and we won't discern the Lord's.
Actions, The word Lord still small voice. As Tim put it, we won't be seeing the Lord. It's remarkable at the end of John's gospel.
How such a one is Peter, who got discouraged because at that time in his life he was lacking the endurance of faith. He wasn't patient, he didn't wait. And so finally his eyes off the Lord, he says, I go fishing.
And others, of course, went with it. And then the Lord's there on the on the on the beach.
And says cast the cast the net on the other side and it fills up and you would think Peter would go aha, I've seen this thing before and it would have clicked, but it still doesn't seem to John has to tell him it's the Lord And of course then he you know, off goes the boom where I can't remember. He goes on scope yeah, and and and towards the Lord, but.
You know, that's the way we can get.
We can get so dull because of hairlessness in our life that we don't we're not enjoying the Lord and we don't see the Lord's hand in our circumstances. Little wonder we would despise chastisement or count it a small thing, just an ordinary happenstance, because we're dull and we don't see the Lord. So how important it is for us in our to judge ourselves not to be self occupied.
But as the old brothers used to say, to keep short accounts and judge ourselves so that we can see the Lord.
It's a question about the meaning of holiness or being holy in general, because.
Many times, many, many times in the Old Testament, particularly in the law, would say that.
A certain sacrifice or something offered to the Lord?
Was most holy, right? Is holy Well how, how can?
Something you offer to the Lord be holy if it has to do with behavior.
I think the word is the same as sanctity, right? Isn't it the same word? Doesn't holiness mean separated?
Something is holy. It's been set apart.
It's it's set apart. We call this the Holy Bible. Why? It's not like, you know, some books are close to it or some writings are close to it or no, it's, it's as we were saying, a class by itself. It's, it's holy. It's, there's there's no connection of anything down here on earth to it. It is holy, separated and.
God's name is that way.
Sanctity of his name is the same as saying the holiness of his name. It's it's a part, it is separated. And if we're a holy people, his people are holy. Why? Because he took them out of the world. He separated them unto himself.
Right.
I was going to say that I think sanctification is setting itself apart to be holy that right so and and first Peter chapter one. I'll just read these verses because it speaks on holiness. Verse 13. It says wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, Be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought on to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust in your imagination.
I'm sorry in your ignorance, but as he which hath called you is holy.
So be holy and all manner of conversation, because he, because it is written, be holy, for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of person judges according to every man's work, pass a time. So journeying in fear, I'm going to go any further than that. But but here, here it is. Is that because we're children, because we're identified with our Father who is holy?
00:50:06
We're called to have that nature. We have a divine life. We have power to be separate from what we were, what God viewed as as a scene of judgment, and to walk in a path that's consistent with his will. That's the path of that's the path of holiness, isn't it?
Holiness has to do has an effect on whether you're going to end up falling into sin or something, because if you're if you're always walking close to the temptation or the source of temptation, and the more the the, the stronger the temptation, the more likelihood you're going to fall into sin. But Holiness would have you not walk close to the edge of the Cliff, so to speak, where you Holiness would say, well, I'm, I'm going this way. I'm not even.
Getting close.
A holy life would not would lead you in a path that you wouldn't even get close to those things which would cause you to stumble.
Some years ago there was a wealthy gentleman in England that was.
Had advertised for a new coach driver.
And he set up a date for an interview and he called in the prospective coach drivers.
And he asked them one question. He set up a scenario.
He said.
You may run into a situation where.
You are driving on a road near the edge of a Cliff. How close can you get drive that carriage when you're driving it next to the Cliff? Well, one of the first ones interviewed I would get as close as I could, maybe several inches away. Then the next was a little more cautious. And finally the last one said I would stay as far away from the Cliff as possible.
And so that man got the job.
Well, perhaps just a comment or two because our time is going on the last few verses.
I perhaps didn't draw the line where I should have with our responsibility versus the individual under chastisement, but beginning with verse 15, we are to look diligently.
Lest any man fail of what?
Holiness. No. The grace of God.
Chastening will.
Correct my lack of holiness if needed.
But a sense of God's grace.
Is the strongest antidote to falling into sin.
Yes, chastisement may be needed. There is government in the House of God.
And his brother Dave Mearns was bringing out all chastisement is by number means punishment or giving us something that we deserve for doing something wrong.
But the strongest force in our lives, if properly appreciated, to keep us in the pathway of faith, is an ever deepening sense of the grace of God in our souls. And that's.
Why? Peter says at the end of his epistle, Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The believer who has gone on in the path for many years and walks well before the Lord has on the one hand a deeper sense of what his own sinful flesh is capable of, but also a deeper sense of the grace of God that has saved him out of it.
The fail of the grace of God in my soul is when I lose the sense that God is for me. Yes.
And that is an important understanding for the believer to keep close to his heart that God is for me and.
I've experienced the chastisement up, you know, from the from the verses above and the ups and downs and sometimes it seems clear and sometimes not. And I see it in my brethren too.
And in others, but it's just vitally important that I lose that I'd not lose the sense that God is forming. And it's, I believe that sense that even though Job was struggling and he hadn't gone through the process yet to get to the place that Ted referred to a little while ago, he's still in the very beginning said, though he slay me, yet will I trust in him? Because he had that sense that God was in control, that God was for me.
00:55:22
And even if you slay me, yet will I trust in him though to lose the sense that God is for me?
It's you can see why it would bring bitterness.
And bitterness is one of the worst roots in the human heart. It defiles others, it defiles assemblies. And if you go into old folks homes and assisted living and these kinds of places, I was so thankful that the Lord had it. My father went into a place. It was just saturated with Christians and I, I met all these happy.
Aged Saints. It was so refreshing, but that's not the norm.
The norm is when, you know, when the kids are in grade school. When I get to middle school, things will be better and.
Yeah, I don't. I'm not happy now. I'm not content, but it'll be better. Then they get to middle school. You know, this isn't, well, they have high school ahead of them and well, when I get out of high school and get out of my dad's house, then it'll be there. And people just keep substituting these hopes, the unbelieving, the ungodly people, because man needs that needs something before him. And then these folks and say, well, when I get a better job, when I when I, when I have grandchildren, and then guess what? You get to the end.
And you're in the place where you're only going to go out when you die, and there's no hope left.
And that harsh reality of bitterness just descends like a dark cloud upon these souls. It's a a solemn and sobering thing to see. So for you and me, we we need to be careful that I wonder what others have for thoughts on looking diligently. It seems to me that there's an exhortation to to have our antenna up with one another in a few sense that I'm losing that sense in my soul to come help me.
Because.
The root of bitterness is just it's a horrible weed that sucks the spiritual energy and joy out of a life.
And the root of bitterness is as you say.
Usually starts when I find fault with my circumstances.
Perhaps complaining, even though I might not say it out loud, but complaining that the Lord hasn't used me right, or perhaps more commonly, that other people haven't used me right, or that my brethren are not being fair to me, or whatever it might be. That's when that root of bitterness develops. I knew a sister once, many, many years ago now, who would no longer break bread.
Because her son had been wayward and the Lord wasn't intervening to bring him back, at least not as fast as she thought he would or should. And she would not go and break bread out of if I could use that awful expression out of spite to the Lord. Because he wasn't doing something for her that he thought, or she thought I should say that he ought to be doing, and other situations. And.
We know they arise where?
Things happen in assemblies and bitterness arises because somebody wasn't treated right or.
Something wasn't done right, and it's interesting here that it refers to Esau.
And I would expect maybe others can say more on it, but his root of bitterness ultimately developed because he resented the fact that God had, and I believe he knew it, that God had chosen his brother Jacob for more blessing than he was going to give Esau. Had Esau submitted, he could have been blessed of the Lord too. He wasn't going to have quite the prominent place that his brother Jacob got. And Esau never got over it, did he? And they've been a thorn in the side to Jacob's family.
Even today, that way you would see it. Bruce yes, he saw in in his descendants, even the Edomites. God raised up the prophet Obadiah to speak about the Edomites. And it is solemn if you trace through that people down through the ages in Scripture. I'm not sure there is another people upon whom judgment is so severe.
01:00:11
Because, as you say, he was so close. What would have been wrong?
You know, the sisters are in a place where that are married and their husband is the head of the of the of the family and they are in the subject place. They don't all act like Esau. Esau didn't have to do that. It was only after his life was fully lived out that the prophet said in hindsight, Jacob have I loved and Esau have I hate. That was not said in advance, but Esau despised the blessing.
And that is a solemn, solemn thing.
It's just what the.
The Jews did with the Lord Jesus for one morsel of meat our place in our nation. They sold their birthright.
The other thing I was thinking of is a brother Ed read some verses at the beginning of the meetings from Matthew 11.
Where the Lord says.
And there, Matthew 11 Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in my sight. And then he says, Take my yoke upon you, and learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest unto your souls. That's from revealing where he got his own rest. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. There was perfect subjection in every circumstance.
And there was peace. And so that's where we'll get peace. But the second thing is in verse six, whom the Lord loveth, He chasing it. And so through all of these things, if there's not confidence in His love, then there's going to be no energy for us to go through those circumstances. The hands hang down. Why do hands hang down? Because I don't have any strength. Why are the knees feeble? Because I don't have any strength. So I'd rather just roll in bed at night than get on my knees.
And lift up my hands in prayer.
His energy is gone because they don't have confidence in His love. I would that every men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands for this, 'cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's it's dependence and confidence in Him and His love that gives us energy to go through the trials. He loves me. Don't forget it. Lift up the shield of faith.
And so when that's gone, bitterness has a way to come in.
There's not subjection. There's no confidence in his love. What awful circumstances I'm in and make everybody else miserable around me if I can too. Because misery loves company.
Satan seeks to sow seeds.
Of doubt in our minds is to the goodness of God. He seeks to make us suspicious.
Of the Lord, and that, I believe, can truly bring bitterness into our souls. But if we could just recognize the fact that the Lord always has our best interest at heart. He loves us too much to do his harm. Look at the cross if your question is love.
So may we keep ourselves in the love of God and trusting in His goodness, so that the trial rather than make us bitter, this will make us better.
No, You see an example in the Apostle Paul, he was in under house arrest and in Rome he really did have a desire, hearts desire for the people of God and for his own nation. But instead of bitterness, there was submission to the will of God. And he wrote the sweetest epistles when he was under house arrest. So may that be an example to us that the sweetness of Christ came out. And I don't think there's a sweeter epistle than the Epistle to the Philippians.
So what it means, make straight paths for your feet. I know we touched on it. It's an even path because a lame person doesn't have so much of a problem with a crooked path as they do an uneven path. That's where a lame person has a problem. So if my life is uneven, I'm up and then I'm down under it all, and then I'm down under it all. Whoever's coming behind me that's feeble, they're going to have trouble. It's the even, steady path of confidence in the Lord and His love.
01:05:02
And submission to his will, that even path that the lame can follow behind and they can learn.
Themselves confidence in the Lord and trust in His love and submission to His will.
It's an even path. It's a beaten path.
There's two things to look at in verses 16 and 17. The The first one is the fact that that he was to he was the head of the house. He was going to be the head of the house.
In connection with being the head as the oldest son, that he would have the priestly privilege.
And so he despised it, didn't he? And so it's in connection with him being a profane person and despising what was his right, because he desired no relationship with God. God gave the inheritance and blessing to one whose heart was occupied with that position.
His brother wanted it, his brother got it. He sold it for a pottage so.
This is really, it's the, it's the other end of the spectrum, isn't it? It's, it's one who's not a child of God. It's one who's not a son. It's one that's not being chastened. It's one who has all the rights and speaking to any in this room that's made a profession and is not real.
I'm speaking to you because if you're not real, you're really like Esau here. You're, you're living a lie and you're rejecting what God has done for you. This is a call to the apostate. This is a call to those who've made a profession of being in a family who has particular rights and have despised it. So this is the, the end of what we, what we have here.
Is a call to you to search your heart if you have not confessed Christ as your Savior. If you're going along and you're pretending to be something you're not, own it before God and get right with Him. He desires to bless you.
The.
Everything was for him.
But we also sing the last two verses of #47.
#47 the last two verses.
May grapes free grace inspired our souls with strength. Divine verses four and five of #47.
May grace pray. Grace inspired.
01:10:07
Our souls.
In heart make.
And grace. And.
Rain.
Gospel 1
Gospel—Wally Dear
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.
Welcome to the Gospel meeting tonight.
September 7.
2019.
Isn't that amazing? I can recall.
Back in school reading a book. It was entitled 1984.
By a man named George Orwell. Now I don't remember much about the book, but some of those things in the book seem rather far fetched and I never expected to live to 1984.
But here I am.
And here you are.
1984 is 35 years ago. That's a long time ago.
And the gospel of God's grace is still being proclaimed.
And I believe this speaks to the goodness of God. His desire is.
That all should come to repentance.
He's long-suffering, he's gracious, he's loving. And tonight we have opportunity one more time to proclaim the good news because that's what gospel means. And perhaps we could turn to number 66.
In the back of the book #66.
Come hear the gospel sound. Yet there is room.
Perhaps we could stand as we sing 66 in the back of the book.
Come here.
With joy, you now may hear your hair in room.
Lord, in bright we see.
Yes, there is room.
Great. And I'll be yes.
How to say?
Oh.
Yeah, every song. All things are getting on.
I.
'LL complete.
Your round here.
00:05:01
So we pray.
Our godfather, we thank you tonight.
For this wonderful message.
Message that's come down from above.
To cheer your hearts, and we thank you. There is still room.
In thy house, we earnestly pray that if there's one in this gymnasium here tonight who is still in their sins.
We pray that they would take advantage of the opportunity they have at the present time to accept the Savior, the Lord Jesus. We ask you that thy Spirit might have liberty to bring home thy Word, thy living Word, thy written word.
To the heart and conscience of each, may the entrance of thy Word give light and bring salvation.
To many souls, not only in this hall, but worldwide, and we know that time is short. Coming to the Lord has drawn nigh, and so we commit the meeting to thee.
Seeking thy help, thy direction, thy worthy name, Lord Jesus, Amen.
Perhaps we could sing another hymn.
#48.
In the back of the book #48 In the back of the book the father sent the son.
A ruined world to save.
The father sent the son.
Across the.
Great blessed substitute from God across.
He drink like all this light and he looks like an evil 2-3 girls.
I remember all his grace and righteousness.
I.
The Lord shall come again and come again.
Asleep, not on my shelf. A mess in goodness and the love.
I'd like to turn tonight.
To the opening verses.
In the epistle the letter to the Romans, Romans chapter one.
You know, Job asked a question.
How can man be just with God?
That's a good question.
God is just. How can we be just?
And be comfortable in the presence of God. Well, I believe Romans.
Is the answer to this question, and it's a wonderful answer. We find out in the book of Romans.
How that?
Sin.
The root principle.
Is dealt with.
And also since the fruit of the root.
Since, and it comes out very clear in the book of Romans.
And we find out how we can live for Christ. We can live for the Lord.
And it's a foundation book. It's a wonderful book. Well, tonight I'd like to talk about salvation.
Salvation.
Where did it come from? Who did it come from? What's it all about?
00:10:02
How can we get it?
Who does it apply to? Well, we get these answers in the book of Romans, but I have no intention to read the book. We'll just read perhaps the 1St.
Little portion here in Romans chapter one and verse one.
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the Gospel of God, which he had promised afford by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power.
According to the spirit of holiness.
By the resurrection from the dead.
And then we'll drop down to verse 16.
For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jew 1St, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written. The jest shall live by faith.
For the wrath of God is revealed.
From heaven against all ungodliness, and.
Unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has showed it.
Unto them. Or perhaps we'll just read that far.
Where did this gospel come from? Did it originate from somebody here on earth? From some man? You know, there's many religious movements in the world today that have originated with.
An individual man.
And this man has made great claims, perhaps.
And claims to have a revelation from God.
What we find out that.
What is being promoted is not according to God.
Not according to the word of God.
Now we find here that the gospel, it comes from God. It's God's gospel, you know, the hymn writer said. A message came from heaven.
To cheer my heart one day it set the joy bells ringing and chased my gloom away.
Was in the Holy Bible, John's Gospel chapter 3 verse 16 I discovered.
Was written there for me. How is it with you here tonight?
Are the joy bells ringing in your soul? The joy bells? You know what the gospel is? Joyful news. I like the name of that calendar that's distributed far and wide from Bible truth publishers. It's called the Joyful News Calendar and.
We find.
God's desire is that you and I, we might be.
Totally, thoroughly happy.
He's a joyful God himself. He's the blessed God, the happy God. We read about that. I believe in first Timothy, chapter one. And he wants you and I, you and me, to be happy too. And he's made every provision that it might be so. And so we find the gospel of God. Yes. And who is it about?
In verse 3.
It tells us it concerns his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
He is the one.
Who is?
The savior He is the one who came into this world scent of the father as we sang into him, the father sent the son to be the savior and.
My question to you tonight is what have you done with Jesus? You know God would have all men to honor the Son.
00:15:10
All women, boys and girls, because the sun.
Is the perfect.
Display.
Of the Father, What is in the Father's heart?
The Lord Jesus came into this world.
And what a moment that was.
When the Creator himself was born as a baby.
In Bethlehem's Manger.
It was caused for glad tidings of great joy unto you as born this day in the city of David, a Savior which is Christ Jesus the Lord.
And of shepherds.
They were stirred up and they made tracks to the.
Manger because it was a time of joy and excitement. Yes, the Savior had been born.
Well, you find that God?
He comes into this world.
In the person of his son.
And what does he require?
Does he require anything from you and me? Does he make any demands upon us?
Not one demand.
Not one. The law came by Moses, and you know the law.
Made demands.
And those demands? Oh, so difficult.
To fulfill the law's demands.
In fact, it can't be done. It's impossible.
Now, people don't realize that, but you know what it tells us in James?
If you keep the whole law and yet offending one point.
Guilty of all you fail to test. I'd rather last week was speaking about this, you know, he says. I'm going to give everybody a test here.
So it turns to the 10 commandments. OK, here you've got 10 questions, OK.
I'm going to tell you something.
Boys and girls going back to school, you know all about tests, right?
You got 10 questions on the test.
You get one.
Question wrong.
You get a 90%.
Is still a passing mark. You get 2 questions wrong, 80%, three, 70%.
You get 460.
You get 5. You only get 50% now. You failed the test.
But I'm going to tell you something. When it comes to God's test for you and for me, you get one wrong.
And you are out. You failed the test.
So we see.
How difficult?
To meet God's standard.
Of Holiness.
Based on our performance.
God knows our problem.
And in this wondrous love and grace, he has provided a solution to the problem.
And he makes no demands on you or me, because salvation is a gift.
It's the free gift of God. We read about it here in the book of Romans. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. What a wonderful God we have to.
Sing about the ring about, read about and to talk about.
00:20:01
One who doesn't make demands on you and me when it comes to the question of salvation.
Because.
Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of God.
And God, his desire is that in all things his Son.
Might have the preeminence, including the salvation.
Of our souls.
Now it tells us here this gospel that's come from above.
The Gospel of God. It concerns his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. How beautiful to refer to Jesus as Lord.
The apostle Paul delighted to speak of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And I believe this is salvation. You know, it tells us in Romans 10 and nine, Another verse from the book of Romans, If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Confessing with the mouth that Jesus is Lord.
Of course God looks at the heart and it is possible.
For some to say some very nice things, but their heart is not right.
The Lord had to say about the Pharisees. Now they draw near unto me with their lips, but their heart is far from me now here tonight as God looks down in this hole.
He looks beyond the exterior, he looks at the interior.
Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.
How is it with you tonight? Is your heart right with the Lord? Have you confessed Jesus as Lord? Have you believed in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead?
You know it tells us here.
In verse 3.
That Jesus Christ was made of the seed of David.
According to the flesh, this brings before us his humanity.
It tells us in John chapter one that the word.
Which is God?
The Word was God, but the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.
Full of grace and truth.
How wonderful that God would become flesh.
In the person of his son.
And.
He was both.
Man, and he was God.
And this comes out in verse 4, declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead.
We believe that Christ died for our sins.
According to the scriptures.
That he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. How wonderful to have this book in our hands. These are the holy Scriptures.
They're able to make us wise into salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.
But to think that in one glorious person.
We have both.
God and man and his name is Jesus, Perfect God and perfect man.
And as he walked.
Down the road over there in Palestine walked through Galilee.
You could stand on your doorstep and you could see him walking. You could see there's God. God.
00:25:06
Is in human form, He's manifesting the flesh and He is with us.
But all house sad to think.
He was rejected. It tells us that He was in the world. The world know Him not. He came unto his own. His own received Him not.
He was rejected of men, you imagine.
Had blessed one.
Who in this world?
Sought the blessing.
Of men, women, boys and girls.
We sing a hymn, you know about his every act. Pure blessing was.
Well, what's the problem here? I'll tell you the problem.
It's in the heart, the heart.
Believe it's Jeremiah 17. It tells us that the heart of man is deceitful.
Above all things and desperately wicked.
Desperately wicked. Who can know it?
I, the Lord.
We do not enter.
Into the depravity that's in the heart of man. The Lord knows it.
All together, but thank God if by His grace we've come to realize in some measure.
Our.
Sin.
Our need.
Because I believe it's very important.
To look outside of ourselves, realizing that.
There's no good to be found.
In man after the flesh. There's no good there.
It's all to be found in Christ.
And Christ.
Alone.
The Lord Jesus it tells us here.
He was the Son of God, with power according to the spirit of holiness, never a man.
Walk the holy life like Jesus. He was holy.
He knew no sin. He did no sin.
In him was no sin. In fact, he could not sin because he was God.
And if there had been one flaw in that man.
Never could he have been the sacrifice to put away sin because.
He would have had to be judged for that sin.
And he could not then be.
A sacrifice. A holy, spotless Lambeth God.
To put a waste in.
But that was not the case, and so we find that on the cross.
The Lord Jesus gave himself.
A sacrifice and an offering of a sweet smelling savor to God. He was perfect in every way and when we look at the cross, we see what man is.
And we see what God is.
And I was just reading recently.
And it's just so much impressive.
How the Lord Jesus submitted to the wickedness, the heart of man.
You know, the chief priests and the elders, these religious leaders.
They made sport of the Son of God. Can you imagine What did they do?
They took a blindfold.
Covered his eyes and then they.
Punched him in the face I believe multiple times. They buffeted him.
These are sharp blows to the face Buffet.
And then they spit into his face.
Now I wonder if I could maybe have a show of hands here tonight.
Is there anybody in this audience?
That has ever seen somebody spit into the face of another Anybody. OK, here's one.
00:30:03
2345678.
9/10/11 12:13 Well, you know, I think there's quite a few more than I anticipated. You've seen spit running down somebody's face. I just think it is so degrading. And I'm really wondering, as I see these hands, what were the circumstances under which you saw this take place? But this is what they did to the Son of God, if you can imagine.
And the Lord Jesus said I hid not.
My face from shame and from spitting.
His visage was so mired more than any man.
I think.
Because of the abuse.
The brutality that the precious savior suffered.
His visage.
Was beyond recognition.
It's the heart of man told out in all of its wretchedness.
And of course, that wasn't the end of the spitting, because he was taken.
And put on trial is the greatest farce of a trial in human history.
The judge, I believe about four times over, said I don't find any fault in this man, but he delivered him to die.
What kind of a trial is this? But again, it's the heart of man and it's all wretchedness coming out. And then he was taken and he was scourged, and it was mentioned at the meeting circle.
Skirting.
Was of such an intensity, it was so awful that.
Sometimes it wasn't even survived. It was so cruel, discouraging, while the Lord Jesus said they made deep their furrows in my back.
Prophetic of the scourging.
And then he was arrayed in the purple robe and they mocked him.
And they put in a reading. His right hand was basically just a stick.
And then they crowned them with thorns. Can you imagine?
He should have had a golden scepter.
You should have had a crown of gold, but it was just a stick, a Reed, and.
Crown of Thorns.
And there he stood.
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter.
As a sheep before he shears his thumb. He opened not his mouth, he stood there.
And then he led him out to be crucified.
You could say prophetically they pierced my hands and my feet.
He was nailed to the cross. The cross was.
Erected, I believe, dropped into a hole.
And there the Son of God.
The Son of Man hung between heaven and earth, a spectacle to this world.
And they sat down and they watched it. They watched him suffer.
Well, such as the heart of man told out that the cross of Calvary.
And then?
We read about those hours of darkness.
He was crucified at 9:00 in the morning at 12:00.
The Sun.
It came dark.
Darkness.
And for three hours.
That blessed, precious ***** spotless son of God.
He bore the judgment.
The punishment?
For my sins and yours.
Those things that.
We could not have exhausted.
The wrath, the punishment in hell for eternity.
00:35:00
Were compressed into three hours.
And I think it's important that we reflect on those three hours.
We sing it here most solemn hour O hour alone.
When in solitary might.
That blessed one for sin atoms.
He bears the punishment.
From a thrice holy God.
He says, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
And when we think about what he endured?
We come to realize.
The work is done. The punishment was exhausted during those dark hours at the cross of Calvary. He exhausted the fierce anger of a holy God.
And now the river of God's grace as we sang into him, it's flowing over.
The bear in place where Jesus died.
The river of God's grace.
Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound when man did his worst.
God, he does his best.
It's because God's desire is that all men should be saved.
And come to a knowledge of the truth. He desires your salvation here tonight.
I didn't finish the story.
You know the.
The Lord Jesus.
After those dark hours.
He says I thirst.
That was a particular.
Trial when one was crucified.
The Lord Jesus says my tongue is cleaving to my jaws. It was difficult to move the tongue around. It was hung up on the jaw because there's no saliva. He says. I thirst.
What does man do? Buddy goes and he fills a sponge with vinegar.
I mean, is there any compassion?
Is there any sensitivity to somebody suffering?
They just heap upon that Blessed one.
Suffering.
And more suffering. And they hold up the sponge. Here. Here's something for you to drink.
Vinegar.
It says when he received the vinegar.
He bowed his head.
And he gave up the ghost.
But before he did, he said 3 words.
It is finished. Words of triumph.
That Blessed One had.
Perfectly.
Fulfilled the mission upon which he was sent, He became obedient unto death.
And that the death of the cross.
Now you know the Lord Jesus gave up his life.
And we spoke about this in.
The conference said Saint John last weekend. How that he laid down his life.
Why, Yeah, you might take it again.
The only way he could prove.
That.
He had resurrection power was to go into death. That's the only way. And so that's what he did.
He laid down his life.
And he takes it again. Previously, he said I laid down my life for the sheep. It's because he loves the sheep.
He wants to save his sheep. He's the Good Shepherd. He gives his life for the sheep in order that the sheep might have life. He's not the hireling, you know, that has his eye on the dollar sign and.
His own interests.
Are what he thinks about the.
And if there's any sacrifice of his own interests?
He's not in agreement.
00:40:01
And so he flees when the wolf comes. But the Lord Jesus met the power of the enemy head on, and you know it's through death.
It tells us in Hebrews 2 it's through death that he destroyed him. Who has the power of death? That is the devil, and he's delivered those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to *******.
Well, we know the story.
They take the Lord Jesus.
There is hanging on the cross. He's expired. He's given his life.
He gave his life that he might take it again.
Soldiers come. They break the legs of the first thief. They walk around to the other feet. They break his legs.
They're preparing to break the legs of the one on the middle cross. His name is Jesus. Oh, he's already dead, so they didn't break his legs, but that was in fulfillment of prophecy that a bone of him should not be broken, but a soldier with a spear pierced his side and forthwith, which means immediately.
Came out blood and water.
And we read about the blood here in the book of Romans.
We find out.
In Romans chapter 3.
What does it say? Romans chapter 3?
And verse 23 it says, for all have seen come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance.
Of God now verse nine, chapter 559, but much more than being now.
Justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through.
PM.
He was.
Buried. He rose again the third day. Now the work is done.
Nothing left for you to do but to believe like the hymn writer put it. Cast your deadly doing down, down it. Jesus feet stand in him and him alone gloriously complete.
How wonderful the work is done.
Oh, the peace forever flowing from God's thoughts of his own Son.
Or the piece of simply knowing that on the cross all was done.
Yes, he's made peace through the blood of his cross.
And that peace is a lasting peace.
We don't make our own peace.
We read about one in the Old Testament.
That sought to make his own peace and he found out it was bitterness. Bitterness.
But to be able to rest on the finished work of Christ and to know that it's in him that we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, it's all about Him. Has nothing to do with our performance, has everything to do with His performance. It was perfect.
So we have this wonderful book that.
Goes on to speak about the gospel.
It tells us in verse 16.
Well, the apostrophe says I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It is the power of God. Now that word power, I understand in the original Greek is dunamis. It's the same word from which our word dynamite originates. And we know about dynamite, don't we? We've seen dynamite work. It's so impressive. We drive down these highways, these interstates, and we're going.
Through these fascinating cuts of rock.
You know, we look up and there's a rock face.
That once was a mountain.
00:45:01
And now?
Part of the mountains missing is because of dynamite.
The mountain was dynamited and the rock removed, and now there's a road that passes right through. It's so impressive. Well, you know the gospel of Christ is the dynamite of God, and when you see what's taking place in the souls of men.
And women too. And boys and girls.
Souls that were besacked with.
Sin and degradation, and now they're transformed. I'm thinking of a man over there now.
State of Maine. His name is Kurt and he was.
A man that was feared in the community, alcoholism, had a grip on that man. And when he walked on the road, nobody wanted to be walking on the same side of the road because you never knew what he's going to do. He's going to lash out, walk on the other side.
You know, but today came when Kurt was converted and he was such a gentle.
Man and he was ready to pray and it was just such a dramatic change in Kurt and everybody could see it. Well, it was because the gospel of Christ.
And here today our brother was telling me about.
The Chief.
Executioner.
During Cameroon's back in the 70s, he was the chief torturer and chief executioner.
In that communist movement.
He got saved, came to Christ, He acknowledged his guilt.
And he went from chief executioner to Christian.
And now he's seeking to reach souls for Christ into prison, as I'm told.
I looked up a little bit about him and I didn't get a lot of information about him, but I was thinking in connection with what we have here.
The Gospel of Christ, you know, we don't want to limit it.
Sometimes we have the idea that you know, this one over here, he's not worthy of salvation. He deserves to go to hell.
And we think, you know, he's no candidate for salvation. But I want to tell you something.
What is it that magnifies the grace of God?
It's when he saves the vilest.
And actually, the apostle Paul, he said he was the chief of sinners, and, you know, he breathed out threatening slaughter against God's people, the church.
And I know he repented of it, but you know, God saved that man.
He took that man out of Satans forces and he put him in his own forces.
In the Pastor Paul, he refers to himself as the chief of sinners.
Said This is a worthy faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ.
Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
So you might be #2 Sinner.
But you can't be #1 center, because #1 center is already saved and into glory.
Has something to think about. There's nobody too bad.
For the Lord, He reaches out. He wants to save you. He wants.
You to be eternally secure and happy. Well, the power of the gospel, it's, it's so refreshing.
But you notice it's unto everyone that believes. It's not everyone that believes and does the best they can, everybody that believes and is baptized, everybody that believes and goes to church.
Everybody that believes and leads a good life, no, it stops. It believes.
To everyone that believeth and that salvation.
That wonderful. It's because Jesus paid the price. He's the only savior.
00:50:09
You know that boys and girls, they sing a song, it goes.
The best friend to have is Jesus.
If you trust them every day, He will help you on your way.
The best friend to have is Jesus. Now I'm going to say this.
And I'm not trying to confuse anybody.
But the Lord Jesus Christ is not the best Savior.
And the reason being is he's the only savior.
There's no such thing as good savior, better savior, best savior. That's how we see it in the world around us. Good, better, best. No.
He's the only Savior. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Now.
He's not the only friend.
And as I look around this hall here tonight, you have friends. You're sitting next to a friend, your dad, mommy, your friends. But the best friend you could ever have is Jesus.
And the little hymn goes on to say the best book to read is the Bible. If you read it every day, it will help you on your way. There's many books.
And many books are worth reading, but.
The best book to read is the Bible. Like a brother, Ted said. This book right here is in a class of its own. It's the word of God.
And it tells us here in verse 17. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed.
From faith to faith as it is written, the just shall live by faith.
The righteousness of God.
It's revealed.
What about the righteousness of man?
You can look at mankind. You can look for righteousness.
What do you find?
Man has failed, it says The Lord looked down from heaven on the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God.
They are all together gone, aside altogether, become filthy.
There's none to do with good. No, not even one, Mr. Darby puts it in his translation. Not even one. Where righteousness.
Can be found.
And we read in Isaiah that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.
So what is God going to do?
Now speaking reverently.
What if God said, Well, I think what we'll do?
Allow.
Maybe those that have committed 100 sins.
Will allow those.
Into heaven. It's like he lower his standard.
To accommodate a few.
Think of how many.
Would be rejected and think of God lowering his standard. Actually the thought is abhorrent. God would never lower his standard of holiness. God is light, God is love. What does God do?
God.
He originates a plan.
Whereby he can extend an invitation.
To his house.
Who does it go out to? Whosoever will the whole wide world.
Is invited, for God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever.
00:55:05
Believes in him, should not perish, but have.
Everlasting life, what sounds better to you?
Will have 100.
Sins allowed, and these ones will go into heaven, or whosoever will may come. Well, we find that God.
His heart goes out to all.
And the reason that he can extend the invitation to whosoever will is because of what Jesus did at the cross, His death and resurrection. We already spoke about it. He was delivered for our fences, raised again for our justification, and God was willing to punish His Son.
In order that you and I, we might go free and all of God's holy requirements.
You suggest God. They were met at Calgary.
And later on in Romans we read that because of this he can be just and the justifier of those that believe in Jesus.
What a wonderful message. The gospel is coming directly from the heart of God.
To your heart here tonight. What are you going to do with it now?
This last verse here.
Verse 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven.
Against all ungopliness, in unrighteousness of men who hold the truth.
In unrighteousness.
You know, it tells us that God is angry with the wicked. Every day there is wrath. God loves the Sinner, but he hates.
Sin with a passion.
And.
The Lord Jesus.
Exhausted that wrath.
For me.
He exhausted the fierce anger of a holy God for me and for you too, if you trust Him at the cross of Calvary, but if you reject Him?
I believe even now the wrath of God hangs over you.
You ought to be sitting in your seat just.
Shall I say, shuddering to think, that he that believeth on the Son has everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.
Or you could say on her.
It's true that God is a loving God.
But we don't want to overlook the fact he's a righteous judge, yes.
And shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Those that reject God's offer of salvation, they're going to stand before the judge at the Great White Throne. The books are going to be open. And at that time those souls will be judged based on their performance. Their performance is absolutely wretched, depraved. There's nothing.
In their favor whatsoever.
They're not found written in the Book of Life. They're cast into the Lake of Fire. Romans or Revelation 20, verse 15. Oh, we pray that nobody here tonight would be standing before the great white throne in their sins, only to find themselves in a lost eternity.
On the way here, we find ourselves parked on the Mass Pike.
Trafficking to a halt.
And we waited there, and we waited. And I talked to a trucker that was parked right nearby, and he said he knew the story up ahead, probably about less than two miles up.
There were tractor trailers and cars involved in multiple crashes.
But there was one minivan, he said. It's.
Trapped underneath.
A big transport. Apparently this transport came from behind a mini van and just just shoved it right in underneath.
01:00:02
The truck ahead.
And the helicopter was waiting there.
I don't know if anybody actually came out alive.
But I got a question for you.
If you were in that minivan.
And you're expected to have a nice day and all of a sudden.
You're underneath a truck.
Smashed from behind, Would you have opportunity?
Ask God for salvation. I don't know the circumstances there, but what I'd like to say this.
Don't trifle with your eternal destiny. Come to Jesus now. This is the only now that God.
Promises you acquaint now thyself with him. Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord, for your sins Be a scarlet, they shall be white as snow, Though they be red like Crimson, they shall be as wool. Now. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. We're going to pray. And as you sit on that chair.
If you're not saved.
The wrath of God is still hanging over you. I want to tell you, you have opportunity to accept the Lord Jesus here tonight. Come to Jesus.
Come now.
And find joy and peace through believing. Perhaps we could pray. Father, we just thank you tonight.
For the wonderful message of the Gospel.
We thank the our God for.
The love that drew.
Salvation's plan. We thank you for the grace that's brought it down to man.
We thank you for that mighty golf that thou hast stand at Calvary. We thank you, Lord Jesus for thy love and going there to the cross. We thank you our God, thou always commend. I love to to each of us here tonight and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Now if there's one in this hall who is still.
In their sins, they're on the broad Rd. that leads to destruction.
We know the door of mercy we believe is about to close. We do earnestly pray that they might look to Thee for salvation. They might call upon Thee while there is still time, and confess Thee as Lord. Father, we ask this as we thank Thee.
For thy wondrous love and grace, for thine unspeakable gift.
And so we ask and give thanks to the worthy and the precious name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.
Hymnsing 1
Our Individual Walk with the Lord
Talk—Bruce Conrad
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.
I'm afraid I'm going to have a challenge being heard in this.
For what little I'm going to speak.
So anybody who's in the back, if you stop being able to hear me, just wave. Can you hear me now?
OK, All right. Well, I don't intend to take up much time. Everybody's had a long day.
But we will speak for a few minutes and let's pray first, OK?
Our God, our Father, we thank Thee for the time to be together today.
We've had so much before us for us to consider and ponder. We thank you for this. And now for a few minutes as we open my word, we ask for just a few things. That would be for our help and encouragement. We count upon D for this and ask for Thy blessing, Lord Jesus, and Thy worthy and precious name. Amen. Amen.
So I want to read a verse first of all in Jude to point out what I'm not going to talk about.
I know that sounds a little backwards, but.
In Jude.
In verse 3.
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and to exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the Saints.
So that verse is kind of a classic verse about the collective aspect of Christianity. It's called there the faith and you and I that have put our trust in Christ and and all the children and everybody who's been baptized unto the Lord Jesus, then you have been brought to the faith.
Scripture calls the faith. There's only one.
In God's sight, and he calls it the faith, calls it the common salvation.
And so when you and I are saved and we begin to learn the truth, as I did from a neighbor of mine, and sat me down at the kitchen table and started to unfold to me the the things of the Scripture, I was learning the faith which had been once delivered to the Saints hundreds of years before. And I was just amazed that that I had been selected to be part of this precious legacy or a spiritual inheritance.
That had been established by the Lord Jesus and built up by the foundation of the apostles and prophets. And it's called the common salvation, the faith once delivered to the Saints. And so there's very many aspects of our Christian life that are collective. Some of our privileges are collective. We're part of the body of Christ together.
Together we are the bride of Christ.
Together we're built up as living stones in the in God's house. We're the flock. And probably there's other things. There's probably seven or eight more that I don't have recall to to remind you or me of.
And all of that is really special and precious. And throughout all eternity we're going to have the privilege to be displaying the beauties of Christ to the whole created world that God has fitted to take in such beauties.
I used to work for a man and and he was, I considered him quite old. He's probably younger than I am now, but I thought he was really old and I got a kick when I was around his him and his wife.
And he would always refer to her. He probably was in his 70s. He'd say, well, I'll be right there. I have to call my bride.
And I thought that was so cool. He called her his bride. He'd been married at 18 or 19 in Germany. And he came over and she came over and they were there in their mid 80s now. And, and I could tell they had just that, that nice special relationship. And he called her his bride. Well, you and I together collectively as the bride of Christ, we're going to be that for all eternity. But there's another side of things that I don't think we talk about as much.
And think about as much. Maybe I'm wrong.
And that's the personal side.
And so I'm going to turn in read a verse in well, first in Matthew 7.
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Matthew 7.
Verse 13.
Enter Ye in at the straight gate.
For why does the gate? And broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, And many there be which go in there at Because straight is the gate, narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
So a straight, you know, a straight gate. That's not a word we use every day in English, right?
Except we mean straight like it's not crooked, but this kind of straight is narrow.
And so if you're walking together and you want to talk with your friends or your family, right, you like walking the street or you look for a broad sidewalk or something so you can be side by side. But if you come up to a narrow gate, then what happens? You could, you got to go through one at a time. And that's the way we come to Christ. We don't come in groups like these three boys here can't come together.
And these two can't come together. And this married couple, they can't come together.
We have to come one by one, one by one, and that's why the gate is narrow, because we come into this gate 1 by 1. And it's interesting to notice, for example, in John's gospel where it's been pointed out that the Lord Jesus chapter after chapter, he's alone with one person.
In John chapter three it was Nicodemus and he talked to Nicodemus about being born anew and he said except ye, you as a person are are born of water and of the Spirit, you cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That was a message to one person. And then in the 4th chapter he met the woman at the well and he spoke to her.
About worship.
In chapter 5, I can't remember who he spoke to, it was the.
It was the, the layman, the inputted man and he, he, he gave him to have power again in his legs so that he he could walk and so on. And in chapter 8, there was the the woman taken in sin and he he was left alone with her and so on through the chapter, through the the book, the Gospel of John.
And it's very important. It's, I think, you know, we're not like this very often.
At least I'm not come from a little small gathering and and my family is now smaller. Most of the kids are gone and and it's a very kind of a it's a happy life, but it's more personal and I spend a lot of time in the scriptures personally by myself and.
And and this is really it's the way it is and it's the way it should be.
And it's foundational.
And a matter of fact, I don't know about you. I have my own personal reading meetings. You go to a reading meeting at the conference and you may want to hear from Robert, but you get stuck maybe listening to me, or you may want to hear from Paul, and Paul doesn't want to say anything that day. Well, in my reading meetings, you know, I just pick who I want to be in my meeting and I get a book out on whatever I'm reading and I can.
You know, I have my own full deal there. I, I find it very, I've been doing it many years then I, I think it's profitable.
But my point is this is that it's we need to pay attention, even when we're young, to our personal relationship with the Lord. It's the way we started by faith. We started and we came in one by one. We're usually baptized one by one. We asked for our place at the Lord's Table 1 by 1.
And at the end of our course, let's turn to Romans chapter 14.
Romans 14 just to read part of one verse.
Well, part of two verses, Romans 14, the end of verse 10. We shall all stand.
Before the judgment seat of Christ, that's everybody.
00:10:03
But then we read in the next verse, verse 11.
For it is written as I live, saith the Lord. Every knee shall bow to me.
And every tongue shall confess to God, so that everyone of us shall give account of himself to God.
Keep account of himself.
And this is an important side of things.
Each of us has the Spirit of God and dwelling.
Each of us has a conscience. Most of us can read. Can you read? It can read. So probably all of us can read the scriptures. We've got the whole package.
And God is going to and does hold us responsible and accountable for what He's committed into our trust.
And it's good to kind of think of the end.
Before we get too far along and to realize that personally, I'm accountable and responsible for how I've traded with what the Lord has given to me, and you're going to have to trade and answer for how you have traded with what the Lord has given to you.
And if we turn to 1St Corinthians 12, we read, following up on Tim Ruga's talk today. The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man, every person.
For the common profit.
And it says to one is given this and to another and to another, into another, into another.
And it uses the word diversity. It's kind of funny to me in the business world.
Where now it's politically correct that big companies are just kind of old fashioned, but but in big companies, they have a vice president of diversity and that's a person that's supposed to be occupied with having the right ethnicities and all the different departments of the company. And just to make sure that that white people aren't running amok and and you know.
Messing everything up and oppressing people from other ethnicities, people of color, as as we might say.
And they think, well, this is a new thing. We've invented diversity. God was, God was into diversity thousands of years ago. And it's a beautiful thing in the Church of God. And not only do we come from different races and both genders and we come from all different countries and walks of life, but he fits it all together perfectly and.
And there is diversity in the Church of God well.
I want to say this.
And the reason I emphasize this is because you know, a lot of a lot of you younger brothers and sisters, you look like you're going to go on well with the Lord.
And and you look like you like to be together.
And you look like if there's enough of you together in one place, you're going to be together collectively and you're going to go on together. And that's a happy thing.
But we need to be careful that we don't kind of lose our individual sense of responsibility and our individual conscience before the Lord. We need to maintain that side while being active on the collective side. And I'm not encouraging you to say, well, I, I don't get that much out of the reading meeting. So I'm just going to stay home and, and do what Bruce does and have his own personal Bible reading, No.
That is not that would not, that is not the Lords mind. It's a collective path, but it's made-up of individuals that each of us needs to have and we do have, whether we are cultivating it or not, a personal responsibility for the Lord. One of the biggest mistakes I speak at at our company's university.
And my call once a while, my colleague, where are you going? Well, I have to go speak at Kiewit University. It's a company university.
What do you talk about? I say, well, it's easy. I said. I just go and talk about all the dumb things I did and all the mistakes I made, and I tell all these young leaders, these young managers, not to do what I did. I said it's simple.
It's actually a little different than that, but that's the thrust of it.
And we we that are older, it's humbling to to think back about some of the.
Mistakes and dumb things.
00:15:01
That we did, sometimes well meaning and sometimes just asleep at the wheel and.
Fall asleep.
But one of the mistakes that then I felt feel really humbled about raising a family of kids. And sometimes I just, I kind of substituted what I thought other people thought we should do as a family.
And I substitute that for what I should be getting from the Lord and putting into practice in my family. And I don't fault the brethren for that to say you, you brothers and sisters, you look like you really want to go on well, and that's good. But remember, you need primarily to get your instructions from the Lord himself.
And seek to carry that out.
With the Lord's help and guidance from his word, and yes, you're going to get, you know, as iron sharpeneth iron, so does the man, the countenance of his friend and our brethren in the assembly, especially the local assembly, that where where I was first saved and gathered. They used to call it the rock Tumblr. Because you put in these rough little rocks into one of those things and then you plug it in. It goes round and round forever and it takes off the rough edges.
And they called the, I don't know why they thought I had rough edges, but I guess I, I do and did. And anyway, that's, that's, that's a needful aspect. But the other side is important. And so I'm not going to have to give account before the Lord of what, how the Saks family raised their children or what decisions they made.
For the gorgeous family or the Porter family?
I have to give account for myself and to do that I need to be fresh and straight and open before the Lord is so important, so important. And I, I didn't do a good job at that. I really confess. I, I guess I was so zealous for, for the collective side and I just thought, well, you know, whatever everybody else is doing is going to be right.
And it's not necessarily so.
I believe that the Lord, because of the diversity and each one of us is unique and different in the body of Christ, that you need to look specifically for how the Lord would have you apply the principles of the Word of God which don't change. We're still part of the faith which was once delivered to the Saints and God is no respecter of persons and we all operate spiritually under the same principles. That will never change.
But the application of these principles in the New Testament is left wonderfully vague.
Oftentimes, so that you and you and I need exercise before the Lord personally with the Spirit of God indwelling to apply those principles in the way that the Lord would have us do so. And that's why heaven is going to be filled with all these bright gems. And that's why it says in First Corinthians 15 one star different from another star in glory. They're not just all the same or cookie cutters.
And as you display what you've gleaned from being before the Lord according to the principles of the Word of God.
Then you're going to have as it says in the Book of Galatians.
Then shall you have rejoicing in yourself alone and not another?
Because yes, we bear one anothers burdens. That's what we had today in Hebrews 12 when somebody is the man that wrecks got his car or the family that ran into difficult times. We circled the wagons. We bear one another's burdens. But few verses later it's a different type of burden and it's every man shall bear his own burden. You have a different burden than I have that I have to look to the Lord for wisdom and grace to carry my burden and you can't.
For me, that's the personal side. So in closing, just Revelation chapter 2.
And most of you are familiar with the seven churches there that are described, 7 assemblies in Revelation 2 and three, and they can be looked at in different ways. But what I just point out in closing here is the striking way in which the Lord would speak to the collective testimony there. But then He would sit, He would hold out encouragement for the overcomers.
00:20:06
And so just to pick an example, I will pick I will pick Pergamos the third church in the end of chapter 2.
And there were some things going on there that were distressing the doctrine of Balaam, the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, and so on. And the Lord warns them about that. But notice what he says in verse 17. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches, to them that overcome, no, to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a whitestone.
And in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it.
The encouragement here to the overcomer is a token or representative.
Of your unique and special relationship with the Lord, I believe He's going to give the overcomer, the believer in that day, just a stone that's going to have a name on it, a new name. And it's just going to be characteristic. It's just going to, it's just going to, I think connect immediately. It just is out. And that's the Lord's acknowledgement that He knows. He has known our individual pathway all the way through.
Later on in Chapter 3.
To the last church, the Laodiceans.
There's not much that he can commend, and this church really is is a picture of the Christian testimony today that we're all part of.
We're all part of and sadly.
This church says I am rich and increased with goods and so on.
And yet it's characterized by not having.
By lacking everything.
That a Christian should have.
And so in verse 18I counseled thee to buy of me gold in the fire, that thou mayst be rich and white raiment.
The shame of thy nakedness not appear. Anointed eyes. All these things. Discernment.
Spiritual riches, all these things were lacking.
But what does he go on to say? As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. We had that before us today. Be zealous therefore, and repent. And here it is. Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
And if any man, again it's individual, hear my voice and open the door, I will come into him and will suck with him and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and I'm sat down with my father in his throne.
Well.
Say there are.
The way the Lord has established the church as the collective entity is just sublime. The way you have local assemblies and local oversight and yet you have gift interspersed throughout the body. And the way order is established in a spiritual way, it's just sublime. And it's also a house.
And we have the collective and we also have the individual, and they're kind of woven together.
All of this is very supply, but as I say, I want to just leave you with one thought, everyone of us.
Young and old.
The Lord comes tonight. These little guys here, they're not going to have the opportunity to be.
Young people like you know what does young ones, young people start 16141313 OK, you're not 13 yet, are you? So you're a whole Christian life may be spent, you know, before you're 13. It's it's it's exercising.
And so so it is so we all need young and old need to be exercised before the Lord because every one of us, when we get home to heaven, we're going to be before the Lord. We're going to give account of ourselves before God. And our desire for one another is that that would be a happy and rewarding.
Experience one way or another is just going to be excellent. I really look forward to it.
All the hard questions will be answered.
And we'll see his value. Sometimes we're not sure how to value something. You're going to see exactly the perfect value that he's put on everything. And some things that we didn't value that much, he'll show that he valued it a lot. Some things we think are pretty cool. We want to put it up on our shelf.
00:25:13
That's got to go. So, so be it. That's the way it's going to be, right? All right. Well, I've said what I wanted to say, so let's just commend ourselves to the board.
Lord Jesus, we thank thee, we marvel at the.
Wisdom of Thy ways with us. We thank Thee for the great privilege to have been brought to Thee to be members of Thy body, and to be called by Thy name.
And we thank Thee for the privileges we've enjoyed, these special privileges in these last days to be gathered together, Lord Jesus, unto thy worthy name during this time of thy rejection. But help us, Lord Jesus, to not lose sight of our individual privileges, our individual responsibilities before Thee, that we might walk here to please Thee. We might be a help one to another.
And we thank thee that we have every resource needed from thee and in thyself.
So we just commend this time to thee. We give thee thanks.
Praise thee, thank Thee for all I love, my worthy and precious name, Lord Jesus. Amen. Amen.
Cords
Children—Rob House
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Good morning.
Who's ready for Sunday school?
All right, lots of people ready for Sunday school. Let's start Sunday school with a hymn. Who has one they want to sing?
We got lots of volunteers. What number would you like to sing?
15.
Do you know the words for 15?
OK, we'll sing one verse of #15.
Oh.
From your parents.
Are.
Lord, your free may draw near.
The boy they need not fear.
With joy they don't make here.
Yeah, there is no thank you.
Say it again, please.
Walk and wash away my sins. Thank you.
We're going to sing all of this song #32.
What can wash up?
The blood.
Nothing but the blood.
Jesus.
What I can see and I see nothing but the blood of Jesus.
For my heart, and it's my dream. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh, Christians. Oh Christians in the world.
I know nothing at the bottom.
And force in the cold nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Good that I have done not because the moral of Jesus.
Is the flow.
That makes me whine that snow.
No.
How far you know? Nothing but tomorrow.
Of Jesus.
All right, makes me white I.
Snow.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Well, we started out seeing #15 oh blessed gospel sound last night.
Many of us were here in a gospel meeting.
Both salvation.
And this is a continuation in a sense of that gospel meaning.
But it's really, really aimed at children.
But you know, the amazing thing is that if an adult wants to get into the Kingdom of heaven, they have to become like little children. So this is a gospel meeting that everybody can listen to.
00:05:11
And if we make it simple enough for you children, then even the adults can understand and come to trust the Lord Jesus as their own personal.
Lord and Savior, now what was the song we were just singing? I'll get it for you.
What was the song we were just seeing? They had to question it.
What was it?
Yeah, that's the answer. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What was the question? Thank you.
Walk and wash away my sins, nothing but the blood of Jesus. So that is important to remember, it's important to know. And what I want to do right now is ask the Lord Jesus to help me present the gospel message, OK?
Lord Jesus, I just come to you this morning.
Ask for your help to make this gospel message clear and simple. Just pray for Thy blessing on each child. An adult teenager that's listening this morning.
Than if anyone of them is not a believer in you, Lord Jesus that this morning.
They would accept you as their Lord and Savior. Have their sins washed away like this song that we've just been singing. Lord Jesus, walk and wash away our sins. Nothing but your blood. Thank you for this and ask for Thy help and blessing this morning. Amen.
All right.
Let's.
Sing one more song. What would you like to sing?
39, All right. You said 39, right? OK.
This is an important song.
It's not a big part of what I want to talk about, but it's something that you really need. You need to understand that Jesus is a friend. He's a real friend. He's a friend that sticks closer than a brother. So let's sing #39.
What a friend we're having, Jesus.
Our sins, that Christian hair.
What the privilege?
Thank you my friend.
Oh my, peace may often.
Fall in.
Oh, needless angry hair.
Oh.
Everything. Thank you, my prayer.
I great Royals and campaign.
S the problem anyway.
We should never get the sun.
Oh, we can have you ladies. Our greatness the Lord again.
And she'll be.
00:10:10
All right.
Well, today I have some things to help me. Going to learn some lessons from some ropes.
Otherwise known as chords.
And I got a big yellow rope here.
And I got some blue rope.
See my blue rope? It's a nice blue rope.
And I have some white rope that I have.
Nice white rope.
Going to feel my white rope feels nice.
And.
That's almost string, right? That's real chord.
And then I have some that.
Some of the people that like to sew would recognize what's that.
Is that thread? That's thread. That's right, so we'll get to that later.
But right now to start with.
I need to explain the gospel to you. We're already saying what can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. I want to turn to 1St Corinthians chapter 15.
First Corinthians, chapter 15.
And we'll read verses 3:00 and 4:00.
I need some help to read those verses.
I think I have a volunteer already.
Thank you. Did your hand come up? Can you read verses three and four please of First Corinthians 15?
For I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ 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. Now I want to all say together the last part of verse three and the first part of verse four. I'll say first, and then we'll say it again.
Christ died for our sins.
According to the scriptures and was buried and was raised again.
According to the Scriptures. OK, you ready? Christ died.
For our sins, according to the scriptures, and was buried.
And was raised again according to the scriptures.
Why did Jesus die?
You know.
Exactly. He died for our sins.
After he died, what did they do to him? What that verse say?
They took him down from the cross and where did they put him?
Thank you. They buried him. Thank you very much. They buried him.
They rolled a stone in front of the door. And then what happened to him next? What did that thing say? What did it say? He rose again on the third day. He rose again on the third day. According to what?
I have another person that knows here.
Scriptures according to the scriptures, and that's so important, it was written down.
All those things that Christ would suffer.
Suffer for our sins.
He would die for our sins.
He would be buried and then the amazing good news of the gospel.
He was raised.
From the dead, according to the.
Scriptures excellent according to the scriptures.
I'm just going to put this back here for a second.
00:15:03
So that's important to remember. That's the gospel message, that we believe that Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures.
He was buried. He was raised again the third day, according to the scriptures.
Why is that important?
We're going to learn some lessons from the ropes. Let's turn to Proverbs chapter 5.
Proverbs chapter 5 And is there somebody that wants to read Proverbs chapter 5 verses 22 and 23?
OK, go ahead.
His own iniquity shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holding with the cords of his sin. He shall die without instruction, and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray. Was there a part in there about chords? What did it say about cords?
He shall be holding with.
The cords of his hands, the cords of his sins.
All right, this is very, very solemn. This is why the Lord Jesus came into this world.
Because.
Umm, this is a big powerful chord.
It's a rope.
And I think there's some boys that are pretty strong.
In the room here.
Any one of you thinking take this rope with your two hands and justice kind of break it right in half?
All the boys are saying no. Any of the girls think you could just break it right in half by pulling on it.
Well, some of you would know Uncle James.
He's my son, he's got this nice big 4 wheel drive truck.
And we tied part of this rope to an apple tree trunk, and we tied the other part to his truck.
And we put his truck on the pavement and we put it in low 4 wheel drive.
And he stepped on the gas till all four wheels were spinning on the pavement.
And the apple tree trunk started to move.
But the rope, this rope didn't break. Now I ask you a question. A man will be holding with the cords of his sins.
Do you think if we tied somebody up with this rope and tied them real tight, that they would ever be able to break this rope when it was all wrapped around them? Lydia says no with her head. And you know what? I think she's right. But we have another problem.
We need to read another verse.
In Ephesians.
Ephesians chapter 2.
Who would like to read Ephesians chapter 2 verse one? It's got a big word in it.
All right, I'll let you read it.
Paul an apostle of Ephesians chapter 2 verse one, and you have A and you have the quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins.
Dead in trespasses and sins. Thank you very much.
I thought a man would be held by the cords of his sins. What does this mean?
If we tied up a dead man, would he be able to escape?
OK, I need to get a permanent record of the answer.
Paul, you are being very emphatic.
Would a dead man be able to escape if we tied him up with that big yellow rope? No, definitely not.
Would he try to escape?
What do you think? Yeah.
You think a dead man would try to escape? No, not at all.
So there's two problems.
A man will be holding by the cords of his sins and dead. He's not even going to try.
Now here's the good news of the gospel.
00:20:04
John, chapter 20, verse 31.
You all found it. John chapter 20, verse 31.
You want to read badly, don't you? So you gave me a good answer before I'll actually read this verse. John 20, verse 31.
And these are written that you might believe that Jesus is Christ the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name. Thank you very much. How does a person get life?
That verse just told us how does a person get life by believing in who?
The Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. That's right, you get life by believing that Jesus is the Son of God. And let's say it together, that Christ died for our sins and he was buried.
And he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. That's what's so important, believing that and the Lord Jesus gives you life.
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. Now let's turn over to John chapter 8.
Who can quote John chapter 3 verse 16 to me?
John, chapter 3, verse 16.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 316 Thank you very good. Another one to say that verse.
John 316 For God's soul of the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 316. Very good, thank you.
What's the name of God's Son?
What's the name of God's Son Jesus?
What's his whole name? Thank you, Abby. What's his full name? Everything. His titles. Everything.
I'm looking for three words go together. One of them is Jesus.
Nobody's 100% sure you want to try.
Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit. So Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit is an interesting answer. They all work together for our salvation.
What's the full name of Jesus? What do we call him when we give him all his titles?
All right, somebody really wants to answer this time. Thanks, Robert. Lord Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus Christ, Exactly. Thank you.
Now John chapter 8 and verse 36, who has it?
And wants to read it.
John 8, verse 36.
John, chapter 8, verse 36.
If the Sun therefore shall make you free forever, but the Son abideth ever.
So let's read it again.
Can you read it again please?
If the sun therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. Excellent. Thank you very, very much. You know what the sun gives us Life. The Lord Jesus Christ gives us life when we believe in his name. What else can he do?
Remember, we had a dead man. He wasn't even trying to get free from the big yellow rope. Whatever else, he was tied up the cords of his sins.
The Lord Jesus can give that man life.
And what did that verse just say? He can set him.
Free. If the sun will make him free, he shall be free indeed. Is that right?
That's exactly right. Freedom. The Lord Jesus can give you freedom and he gives you life, both the things you need in order to be saved. Well, Acts 1043 tells us.
00:25:15
That anybody that believes in the Lord Jesus.
Receives remission.
Of sins. Their sins are gone. And how does that happen?
How do we wash our sins away? How do we get them washed away? We sang an important song together. What was it?
How about I sing the question, you sing the answer.
What can wash away my sins?
Excellent. Thank you very much. Walk and wash away my sins. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. He sets us free. He gives us life. That's the good news of the Gospel.
The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin now.
Have you ever heard of a man named Samson?
Here's my blue rope.
Remember we started off with a man shall be held with the cords of his.
What?
Paul.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Man shall be held with the cord of his sin.
Samson, remember, there's a lady named Delilah Sampson. And Delilah, you've probably heard that story. She tried different kinds of ropes on Samson. And that's what the devil does and the world does with all of us people trying different kinds of ropes.
And I have this string here.
And what they did with Samson was you try maybe?
We'll try red, red red thread.
And maybe when I try red thread, you're not interested in it. And this is like a sin, a certain kind of sin that you might like and suggest it to you and you like it. Maybe you don't like it. Do you like red?
Do you like red?
OK, So what the devil does is you know you like this sin and if you're not interested then.
Gets the world.
And you like blue?
Do you like blue?
Yeah, OK, so she likes blue. So the devil gets out of sin. Now maybe the first sin was lying and and maybe Jenna doesn't like to lie. So the devil, the devil tries a different one and.
He gets out one that looks like getting mad at your brother.
And if you won't tell a lie, then maybe you'll get mad at your brother.
And lose your temper and get angry.
So the devil uses all different things, and he tries all different things to try and get you.
In trouble gets you sinning because he knows that verse 2.
A man or a boy or a girl will be holding with the courts of their their sins. That's how everybody say it together.
Man shall be holding with the cords of their sins.
So there they are.
I'm using these different threads to represent different sins. And you think about Samson. The Lila bothered him and bothered him. She tried one kind of rope on him and another kind of rope, and then she tried some other things. How many times did she have to try before she found the real thing? That would take away Samson's strength. Do you know how many times?
Four times. That's all.
Four times.
One didn't work.
Two didn't work.
I'm holding up different colors a string of thread here. The third one almost worked.
And on Samson Delilah, the fourth try, Samson ended up being captured and losing his eyesight.
And it was a disaster.
00:30:01
A very bad disaster for Sampson.
And the devil works the same way with boys and girls.
You know that Lydia the devil tries one thing and then another sin and another sin.
To try and get people to tie themselves up with the cords of their sins.
Now some of you boys and girls might be pretty strong. I want to do a little test.
Compared to my big yellow rope, is this white thread pretty skinny?
Is pretty skinny now.
I am a big, strong man. I can break it. I want to see if some of you kids can break it. Who wants to try and break this string? All right, you try and break it.
Ah, he's strong. He broke it. See how easy that was?
Now one of the other things that the.
The devil does is that he gets us to practice sinning sin more and more and more.
And in our verse, it said a man shall be held with the cords of his sins. That means there's more than one.
Now maybe you just tell a lie. Just one lie.
How easy is it to?
To stop telling lies if you've only told one.
How easy is it to break this string? Who wants to have me tie this string around their wrists?
As an example of telling like one, just one lie, your very first lie, OK, you put your wrist together all time up both them together, cross them over. So I can get it on here and I'm going to tie you up with just one string.
OK, can you break it? Oh, wasn't that easy.
All right, now we have a problem. We're going to have to deal with that after.
Oh, you got it, thank you. The thread was caught in her nice coat and it wouldn't let go. And you know.
Sin may look nice, like my nice blue rope. I like this blue rope, and it might be that there's some sins that look really appealing to me and they feel nice and I think I'd want to do them.
There are sometimes when I've been in a situation and I don't tell lies.
The next thing I know the right situation and I told a lie.
See that?
Nice white rope.
What happens if you put more and more and more strings on somebody? More and more threats. They tell more lies.
I'm going to try you with three lies, OK? Keep those sleeves pulled down because there's a sad, sad lesson that comes with this. OK, so I'm going around. Once there's your first lie, here's your second lie.
Oh, and I'm caught. Here's your third lie. Now what are we going to do? 3 lies. Is it easy to tell three lies? Look at what Peter did. He told three lies. He said I don't know Jesus.
I don't know that man, I don't know who he is. 3 lies.
OK, try and break them. You did it. Was it a little harder? Yeah, a little harder. And a little more stuck in your coat, wasn't it? How many lies do you think I'd have to wrap around you before you couldn't break it at all?
10.
Do you want to try 10?
OK, let's try 10.
Let's try 10 and I picked U because you have nice long sleeves.
1.
2/3.
Three, she's getting tied up just like these are more and more lies that she's telling.
4 5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
And now I have to tie a knot.
00:35:04
You might still be strong enough to break that because you got these. Nice.
Cushiony sleeves on.
All right, you try that.
You did it. Good for you.
You know something, last night I was experimenting with this and she was able to break the 10 strings.
But eventually you get to a point where there's enough strings you can't get free. Just like it says he shall die.
It's going to go to destruction and that's why the Lord Jesus came to give life and set you free because.
He doesn't want people to perish and go to the Lake of fire. Now there's something about breaking.
Free. Last night when we were experimenting with these threads, I had a short sleeve shirt on and my wife had a short sleeve shirt on.
And if you look carefully at my wrist, you see a mark right there.
Can you see a mark on my wrist right there?
Yes.
And if you look at my wife's wrist, you'll see she has a scab on her wrist just the width of.
A thread.
And to break free from that sin.
It cost my wife some blood last night.
She was bleeding because the string cutter.
You know, the devil makes sins look really appealing.
This one is so nice and soft and blue.
Not too many people would want to get tied up with this one because it looks mean and nasty and rough.
But the devil doesn't start with one like that. He starts with a little small, thin ones that you just think I can break that no problem.
But he's deceitful, he's a liar, and he tries to snare you, and a man will be held with the cords of his sins. It's true of people who are not believers, and it's true of people who've trusted in the Lord Jesus. If you start giving in to sin, you'll get all tied up and the only one that can truly set you free is.
The Lord Jesus Christ.
So it costs pain for me and for my wife to break free last night from those sins.
And it's much easier and much better not to get tied up in the 1St place because it hurts.
Sin is painful.
Now there's one more thing that I want to go through with you.
The devil is tricky.
Have you ever seen your mom bake cookies?
They smell nice, don't they, when your mom's cooking, as long as they don't stay in the oven too long.
And then out of the oven comes a nice tray with four cookies on One Direction and three cookies in the other direction.
How many cookies are on the tray?
How many 7?
OK, let's say there's seven cookies on that tray.
Thank you.
And you come into the kitchen and you smell the nice cookies.
Did anybody have seven people in their family?
I died a mom and five kids.
Unfortunately, not this morning.
Well, you had 7.
So if you came into the kitchen, brother, you saw those seven cookies on the tray and you wanted one and you took one.
How many would be left?
6/6.
Oh, now there's only 6 cookies left.
So you know what you do next? Did you have permission to take that cookie?
It was probably for supper. Right now there's only six. What are you going to do?
You know what you do? You take those cookies. But first of all, you sinned, right? So let's let the red one be that sin. You took a cookie that didn't belong to you.
00:40:07
You got one sin wrapped around you. The next thing you do is you take those six cookies that are left.
And you spread them out on the tray, and you hope that mom doesn't notice that there's only 6.
Right.
So you're trying to deceive your mom. That's the purple straight. That's a different scene.
And then it comes to supper time. Your moms been busy. She gets out the cookies and she looks at them and she quickly realizes there's not 7, there's six.
Does that mean everybody gets a cookie?
Somebody has to be without a cookie, right?
So mom looks right at you and she goes, Did you take the cookie?
What are you going to say? You know the first answer that comes to your mind probably is not me.
There's another one, another one. It's a lie. So you see that just this few minutes.
You stole a cookie, you tried to hide it, and you told a lie.
So there was three things wrapped around your wrists right there, and the devil got you to steal the cookie in the 1St place you gave in.
And then?
Got your conscience, got you. So you started to try and cover it up. And then when you were asked about it, you told a lie. And that's what happens with sin. It goes from bad to worse. It's not just one, usually another one and another one. Now there's a verse in Proverbs chapter 28 and verse 13. Look it up because that's the one we're going to stop with.
In my little story, the stole a cookie.
And then you shuffle them around so nobody notice. And then you told the lie. Now I need somebody to read this verse. Proverbs 28.
Anybody ready?
OK, Paul.
Which chapter was it? Proverbs 28. Oh, I thought it was that verse.
Somebody remind me what verse I said it was?
13 Thank you.
Powers 2813 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsake of them shall have mercy. Thank you Paul. So the mistake in the 1St place was committing the sin, the second sin was trying to cover it up. And what does this first tell me to do? What's the right thing?
After that cookie was gone, what should you have done?
Gone to your wife and told her I just took a cookie and I shouldn't have taken a cookie. I'm sorry.
That's confessing.
But the second part is very important for believers.
It's one thing to say I took the cookie.
Then you have to forsake it, and the next time your wife makes cookies and you go into the kitchen and there's only seven, you leave the cookies alone. You go somewhere else where you won't smell the cookies to avoid that temptation. And that's very important for us as Christians, if we do start to get tied up by our sins, that we go to the Lord Jesus and confess our sins to him and we forsake them.
We do everything we can to avoid them in the future.
So let me summarize what we've been talking about.
Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and was buried.
And was raised again the third day. According to the Scriptures. That's the gospel message.
People who are don't know the Lord Jesus as their Savior are dead in trespasses and sins. They're held with the cords of their sins. And what do they need? They need life.
You get life by believing in the Lord Jesus.
And then he sets you free. The cords are gone.
And you can serve him. It's wonderful.
But we have to be careful that we don't let the devil.
Snare us into more sins.
00:45:00
No matter how pretty they look like my nice blue rope, or how small they look like the little thin threads.
Because sin brings sin and suffering.
Caused me pain and my wife pain, and only the Lord can set us free. But what's the right thing to do? If you sin, confess. If you sinned against your mother, your father, your brother, confess to them, confess to the Lord Jesus.
And forsake those sins in the power of the Holy Spirit. So what can wash away my sins?
I'm going to sing it. We'll all answer.
What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. All right, thank you very much for listening. If any of you have questions about what we've talked about this morning or want to be free from your sins and have life in Christ, please feel free to talk to me or your parents or somebody else that knows the Lord Jesus as Savior. Let's pray. Lord Jesus, we come to you now and ask for Thy blessing on these children.
On everyone who heard the gospel message that they might come to you, Lord Jesus, and be set free from their sins to be given life, to be able to live and serve you and have a relationship with you, we ask you, Lord Jesus, for your blessing and I precious and worthy name, Amen.
The Joy that was Set Before Him
Address—Bill Prost
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Well, good afternoon.
We thought we were going to have to start a little late, but it seems people are here after all. Good. I'd like to sing part of an unusual hymn for an address in starting number 98.
We more commonly sing this hymn at the remembrance of the Lord, and very appropriately so, but.
It brings before us the contrast that I want to talk about a little this afternoon, and one or two points we'd like to bring out of it. So let's sing together the 1St 4 verses of #98 gazing on the Lord in glory while our hearts in worship bow.
There we read the wondrous story of the cross.
It's shame and woe.
Going to start a tune to it that I know is familiar but sometimes is sung ever so slightly differently in different places. But we'll, we'll make it work.
Now.
I.
Give you.
Praise God.
And smash them.
4 verses for those that came in a bit late. Maybe we'll finish it later.
Let's look to the Lord.
Loving God our Father.
What a privilege it is to lift up our eyes.
From all that is in this world and see the Lord Jesus as a risen Christ in glory. We bless thee for this.
And we thank the Lord Jesus that it is on account of thy sufferings that thou art exalted. Thus we thank Thee for thine exaltation, as we thank that He this morning for thy suffering.
00:05:13
And now we commend our time together to Thee. As we open Thy word together, we pray for help. We pray that by Thy Spirit Thou wilt speak to us from Thy Word. Encourage our hearts.
Warm our hearts. If necessary, stir up our hearts.
While we are still down here in this world.
We do pray for some that have had to leave, and we ask for safety for them and care as well As for many our God whom we know would have loved to have been here but were hindered. We ask for Thy help and care for them too. So we commend our time together to Thee and ask all Lord Jesus in Thy precious and worthy name, Amen.
Number of years ago.
Quite a few years ago now.
A brother handed me a piece from our written ministry that I had never seen before, which wasn't, of course at all surprising, but the brother brought out some thoughts in that little piece that really went to my heart because I never quite seen it that way before.
But ever since that time in reading the Word of God and more particularly the New Testament and even more particularly Paul's ministry.
Everything that that brother brought out has really, I trust anyway in my own soul come alive.
Allow me, if I may, to share a little bit of it with you this afternoon.
And there's an object in that too.
Because sometimes in these last days.
As we see, and I don't think any would doubt this, as we see things getting weaker, not merely among those gathered to the Lord's name, but among Christendom in general. And we are part of Christendom. We are not separated from it. We're in the great house along with others, and we share in the weakness.
We share in the declension and we have to share in the humility.
But as we see things getting weaker sometimes on the one hand, and some of us were talking about that not too long ago, there is a tendency, perhaps maybe on the part of people in my generation, to start reminiscing and looking back, it's tempting, isn't it?
Ecclesiastes says, Say not thou. What is the cause that the former days were better than these?
For thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this matter, but some of us do it anyway.
On the other hand, there is a temptation and we had a bit of it before us in the readings yesterday.
To start to become discouraged and the hands can hang down, the knees can grow feeble, and pretty soon it tends to be a bit contagious, doesn't it? And others tend to feel it. And then perhaps.
There's the looking over the fence, as the cows and the sheep do, sometimes thinking that the grass maybe is a little greener on the other side.
And we give up something that we know to be true in order, hopefully to get greener pastures.
Only to find out that that doesn't work. What is the answer?
I had several thoughts brought before me when I came to the meetings because.
As is often the case today, the brethren had let most of us know that they would like us to take a responsibility at the meetings. But then last night when Wally turned to Romans 1.
I think it clinched it for me. Let's turn back there. Romans chapter one.
And we want to start off there.
Because we'll remind ourselves of what we were already reminded of last night.
00:10:05
And that is that when God preaches the gospel in this dispensation, he does not start with you and me.
And before Wally read that scripture, we were reminded of it in Hebrews 12 where Brother Ed brought out that thought from what the Lord gives us there in Hebrews 12 when it says that the Lord Jesus.
Went back to sit on the throne of God, but what does it say there?
Let's read that just hold Romans one, but let's read that just to get it again. Hebrews 12 and verse two, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross and the IT was brought out and rightfully so that that joy.
While it included having you and me with him.
Goes higher than that.
It was the joy of being able to go back to the Father and to be able to say I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
When I was growing up, I had a father who was.
And I don't say this in order to bad mouth my father. I just make an observation. He wasn't used to giving out a lot of praise, so that if you got a bit of praise out of him, you really put a mark on the calendar, as we say. And one time my brother and I, who probably were only about maybe 10 and 12 years old, were commissioned to put some shelves together in our.
Basement, while my brother was better at it than I, even though he was younger than I, but at that age, you know, you're a little clumsy at it sometimes. And we had a quantity of tongue and groove lumber and some two by fours, and we did our best.
I still remember my father coming home and looking at it, and for once he said good.
You boys did a good job.
Wow.
That was nice to hear. And those shelves stayed in our home and they were there when we sold the home after my father went to be with the Lord. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to compare us to the Lord Jesus, but the Lord Jesus went back to the glory, having finished the work the Father gave him to do.
First and foremost before we came into the picture. Now back to Romans 1.
You know when Peter and John, and I have said this before, but it bears repeating, When Peter and John started preaching the Gospel and Philip and many others in the book of the Acts, they tended to start with the need of man because they were preaching mainly to the Jewish nation and here was a guilty nation that had crucified its Messiah.
And suddenly they were convicted by the Holy Spirit.
Of the awful crime they had committed, and they immediately say, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
And how wonderful that there was an answer for it. Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, for the remission of sins and so on.
There was forgiveness. Wonderful news.
But then the nation as a whole, as we well know, rejected that wonderful message.
And God.
Writes over Israel.
He was going to set them aside. No longer would he own them publicly as his earthly people. No, he was going to turn to the Gentiles. And he raises up another man.
Paul, formerly Saul of Tarsus, and how that happens.
Never ceases to amaze me. Not because not watch, let me rephrase that. Not only because of the very signal way and the demonstration of God's power, but because of how it happened.
00:15:07
And in order to say it better, I'll quote from Mr. Wigram. He said it better than I could.
This may not be word for word, but it's close, he said. When Satan.
Using the hatred of man put out the brightest light in the early church in the person of Stephen. It was typical of the grace of God in this time of His grace that God reached down, laid hold of the very worst one responsible.
And said, all right, you come and take its place. Isn't that wonderful? And then what does he do? He makes it even greater servant of that worst one than the one that they had stoned to death.
But when Paul comes on the scene, where did he see the Lord? Here on earth? No.
He didn't know the Lord Jesus when he was here on earth.
He met him first.
Has arisen Christ in glory and everything about Paul's ministry.
Was characterized by that, and so let's turn to Romans 1 again.
The end of verse one, the Gospel of God.
Notice that.
Verse 3 concerning what concerning man is a lost, guilty Sinner who needs a Savior. That's not what it says, does it? Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness.
By the resurrection from the dead.
Old Paul starts his gospels first of all with the focus on God.
And his purposes in his beloved Son, the gospel of God.
Now, when it comes to you and me, it's the gospel of Christ and it's an interesting study which I invite you to do.
To look in the New Testament, the number of times you see things connected with God.
And with Christ, the power of God, the power of Christ, the grace of God, the grace of Christ, the gospel of God, the gospel of Christ, and so on. And there are many more.
When it's God, it's his nature and power. When it's Christ, it's more the practical side as it applies to you and me.
And so here we have the Gospel of God. Now turn over to Two Corinthians 4 where we get this supported.
Later on in Paul's ministry, a well known verse.
2nd Corinthians 4 and verse 3.
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.
In whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.
Lest the awful condition of their sinful state be clear to them.
Now what it says is it? I don't mean to corrupt the Scriptures, but I'm making a point. What does it say? Lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, or more accurately, the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine under them. In Acts 20, Paul tells about preaching the gospel of the grace of God. Wonderful.
We need that grace, but first and foremost, Paul brings before us the gospel of the glory of Christ.
Some will recognize this name. Maybe not. But there's a prisoner out in the Colorado State prison system by the name of Alan Yerke. I've never met him. I've corresponded with him. I've even talked with him on the phone. He's far better known to other brethren closer to that part of the country, and also to some of our brethren at Bible Truth Publishers.
He is in there for life.
But he's an earnest Christian now.
00:20:03
And that man and one of his fellow prisoners, who also knows the Lord.
Apparently repeatedly remind one another.
It's not about us. It's not about us.
Why do I emphasize that? Because.
The day in which we live, and if we could say it in modern language, right from the beginning, right from the get go of Christianity, there was a tendency, and it's in our hearts, mine as much as any, for the focus of Christianity to be on us.
Does it concern us? It does. Does God have blessings for us?
The book of Ephesians brings them out in a wonderful way, and we are meant to enjoy them, no question about it.
But if the focus of Christianity is on God as a philanthropist, one who is there to give us what we need, one is there to whom we can go whenever things aren't going right and whenever we need help in difficult circumstances, whenever there are problems and difficulties.
And a number of hymns that we sometimes sing focus on those things.
If that is our main focus, oh how far short we fall. Because, as our brother Clarence Lundeen used to remind us, the man or the woman who is occupied with him or herself is never happy.
No, I don't want to be misunderstood. Does that mean I don't occupy myself with the blessings the Lord gives me? Of course not.
Does that mean that we do not go to the Lord when we are in trouble and difficulty? Of course not. Does that not mean that He hath given us all things richly to enjoy as a brother reminded me yesterday? Of course we love to hear that, and we should enjoy all those things. But God wants your focus and mind to be primarily.
On the glory of that Blessed One.
And when the apostle Paul was given the precious truth from a risen Christ in glory.
How did it all start? It started with the gospel he preached, but let's turn to Ephesians chapter one to see how that carried on in his ministry to believers.
Ephesians, chapter one.
We read this verse already, but.
Excuse me at these meetings, but.
It starts with.
The beginning of verse three. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And then go down to verse 9.
This is chapter one. Sorry, Ephesians 1.
Verse three and then verse 9, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Having made no one under us the mystery or secret of His will, according to the good pleasure which He hath purposed in himself.
That in the dispensation of the fullness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ.
Both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him.
And then you and I are brought in, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance.
Being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things, after the counsel of his own will.
In whom know that we should be to the praise of His glory, who first trusted in Christ?
Notice the order, the glory of Christ and God's purposes in Him. And then you and I brought in an association with it. Why is that so important? Because if that truth gets hold of our souls.
It's not going to be about us, is it? It's not going to be focused on us.
00:25:01
It doesn't mean that we will be oblivious to all that God is for us. It doesn't mean that we will neglect the blessings God has given us. But when the eye is fixed on a risen Christ in glory, oh, what a difference it makes. And don't think for a moment that I have arrived. That's not the point. But the point is that when we see all that, we see if I could use a.
An expression what made the apostle Paul tick is that being irreverent, I hope not. We see what kept him going. We see how that a man like Paul, yes, he could make a mistake in his zeal for the Jewish nation. He could go up to Jerusalem and get into all kinds of trouble and end up being in prison for several years and then end up.
Being sent to Rome as a prisoner.
But after being in prison for at least two years in different parts of Judea and Caesarea and so on, then what happens? Here's Paul brought before Agrippa and Bernice or Bernice and brought before Festus and so on. And I don't know why they felt it necessary to have them in chains under those circumstances.
Just maybe to emphasize the fact that he was a prisoner, because where was he going to escape to? But anyway, there he isn't changed.
But who's a master of the situation? Who's got the helmet of salvation firmly on his head?
Who is there with the whole armor of God, enjoying that vision of a risen Christ in glory?
The one with chains on them.
There's Festus, there's Agrippa and all those big.
If I could use the term Roman big shots as we would call them. Dignitaries all there with their pomp and their glory. Paul stands head and shoulders above them all.
What a picture, What a picture, And that's what if I can say it, That's what the Lord is looking for.
For you and me in this world today, he's looking for those.
Who will walk in all the dignity of who they are? Why? Because of what they are.
No, because of what Christ is. Because they are associated with a risen Christ in glory, they are not occupied with their own circumstances.
Now, do we get under our circumstances? I have to confess that I do sometimes. Yes, I really do. And it's not easy sometimes to go through difficult circumstances. And we had it yesterday, didn't we? No chastening for the moment seemeth to be joyous but grievous.
That's that's being honest, isn't it?
But at the same time, when I see up there in the glory the man who exemplified every kind of suffering that a sinless man could go through, and where is he now? At God's right hand? What a place for him to be in.
Sometimes as time goes on and we do see the Christian testimony getting weaker.
We shouldn't be surprised. God has told us it will be that way. And God has told us that evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse. God has told us through the mouth of the Apostle Paul that grievous wolves would enter in not sparing the flock. God has told us that even of our own selves, sometimes those will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them.
Second Timothy 3 describes.
Not the heathen world, but what becomes of Christendom when they turn away from the Lord and those nations that had the light of the word of God.
We shouldn't be surprised, but it's difficult and it's hard to go on.
And if I start looking at myself, my circumstances, the situations I am faced with, yes, I can take them to the Lord. And He does help us, Absolutely He does. And we're meant to go to Him.
The eyes have to go a little higher than that.
We've lost a brother whom many here revered. Turn to Hebrews 13.
00:30:05
Hebrews 13.
Verse 7.
Remember them which have the rule over you.
Who have spoken unto you the word of God?
Whose faith followed, considering the end of their conversation.
But don't stop there. What's the end?
Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever, or as it reads in the Darby, in the ages to come or to the ages to come.
You know there is a danger on all of our hearts to put our brethren between ourselves and the Lord.
And don't think I haven't done it.
All perhaps fall back on reminiscing a little bit.
I grew up mostly under the Ministry when I was younger of Harry Hale.
I didn't appreciate him when I was in grade school as much as I did as a teenager because things he said started to come to life.
And I still remember going to the first conference when he wasn't there.
In 1962.
And how the bottom fell out of my stomach when I looked around. Uh, he's not here.
And then a few years later.
At a meeting in 1966, someone stood up and said, just to let you know that last night Paul Wilson went to be with the Lord.
Young people in my generation broke our necks to get to the conference if we heard Paul Wilson was going to be there.
Because we knew it, every young people's meeting, we wanted to hear them.
And I could go on.
But then all this comes home to our souls. Oh, the Lord doesn't want me to be occupied with those. Yes, enjoy what they give us. Because what was their message? If it was a right message, it was Christ.
But let's face it, we look at our brethren.
Everyone of us, and there's failure in everyone of us. There's only one in whom there is no failure and who remains.
The same.
Today.
And forever yesterday. And today. And forever.
Can we look to him? Indeed we can. Can we have a sense of his presence? I believe it can still be had collectively, and that's another story. But what a wonderful thing to be able to come together. We're that blessed one gathers to himself in the midst.
And I want to say this without any shadow or doubt, that I have no question in my own soul.
That when the Spirit of God gathers around the Lord Jesus Christ in the midst, he cannot, There's no way that he can gather on any other principle except that there is one body. To do so in any other way would be making God the author of confusion. I believe with all my heart that God will never give us truth in His precious word, and yet make the circumstances so difficult that we have to say well.
I know what I ought to be doing, but it's impossible to carry out.
Now, I don't want to be misunderstood.
When the Apostle John was on the Isle of Patmos, it may well have been that he couldn't remember the Lord and couldn't enjoy, at least for a while, the collective testimony.
And.
Alan, your key to whom I referred a few minutes ago, he's in prison there. It's very difficult for him. He can't enjoy the collective testimony the way you and I can.
It's out of his control. I'm not talking about those situations, but I'm talking about.
You and I who perhaps have liberty, a measure of it anyway, I believe God will always make a way.
For you and for me to be able to answer to what He shows us in His word.
Let's turn back now to John 17, because this brings us to another thought that I alluded to a few minutes ago but didn't develop it. John 17.
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This is a most wonderful chapter, as most here are very much aware of. Here is a prayer by our blessed Lord Himself just before He went to the cross, and he is praying for His own, but not merely for His own who were present at that time, but he looks on down through the ages.
To those who would believe through their word.
He was praying for you and for me. Isn't that amazing that here a prayer that was uttered?
Perhaps close to 2000 years ago.
Was prey on behalf of you and me, but I want to look particularly at what we get toward the end of the prayer.
And let's look at verse 22.
Well, I'll read yeah. Verse 22 And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them.
That they may be one, even as we.
Are one.
Quite a few years ago now.
Probably at least.
20 and probably more.
I was at a conference in Lawrenceville, IL.
And we took up this chapter.
We came to this verse.
And a good deal was said by a number of brethren, most of whom are now with the Lord.
Concerning coming glory and how that we were going to share the glory.
Of the Lord Jesus.
And after there had been quite a few comments.
Our brother, our late brother Clem Buchanan, spoke up.
And said, brethren, I wonder if we're missing something here.
He said. I agree with all that has been said.
And it is true that a divine person such as the Lord Jesus could speak of something in the future as if it were already true because of who he was. He could say, for example, in verse four, I have finished the work which thou gave us me to do.
Even though as to actual time, the work on the cross was ahead of them.
But then Clem proceeded to say, Notice the tense of the verb in that 20 second verse.
The glory which Thou gave us, me I have given them.
He said, Brethren, I believe we have that glory now.
That was all he said. He didn't develop it because there wasn't time. It was at the end of the reading meeting. I went home. It's just personal reference. She'll have to pardon that. But I went home and I thought there's more there, There's more there. So I kept thinking about it and then I stumbled on something.
In our written ministry and suddenly it clicked.
A brother made a comment on this verse and he brought out what I believe Clem Buchanan was alluding to.
And I'll try and pass it on. He said something like this. He said that glory.
That Christ is going to share with us is shared with us now.
But he said it is manifested down here in a slightly different way.
He said.
There is a glory that the Lord Jesus.
Will display with you and me in a coming day when he appears, but that glory appears now in the way that it appeared.
With him when he was on earth. That is what God looks for in you and me.
Is those who, on the one hand, walk through this world.
Despised, rejected in humility and taking that place without resenting it, without rebelling against it, without trying to straighten the world out or take the place that doesn't belong to them, they walk through this world like that.
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But he said they walked in all the dignity and moral power of who they are as sons of God, sharing the glory of a risen Christ up there. That's as best as I can say.
I that just overwhelmed me.
What a difference that makes.
We don't suffer so much physical persecution now, do we? But we do get suffering of different kinds. It says all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Some of our brethren and other lands, and I know some of them and others here do too, have gone through nightmares of suffering. I knew at least two people in India who are now with the Lord.
Martyred because of their faith, by their own families, because they refused after their conversions to bow down to Hindu idols.
Cut right off. And they're with Christ today, and it's happening over and over and over again, as we well know. But over here the Lord may put us through different things. It may be through trials and difficulties. It may be, shall I say it, having to face problems.
Sometimes that faces us even in the circle of believers in which we live and move.
And it can be very, very difficult.
A man was once very severely persecuted for his faith and later on in his life he was attacked, falsely accused for many other things in his life, in his Christian life. And he said I would far rather have been beaten the way I was in the past than have had to put up with that. He said it hurt more. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not minimizing the physical sufferings of our brethren and other lands. All I'm saying is that the Lord.
Going to make you and me feel it if we want to take a pathway that is pleasing to Him. And as we see the day darkening in these favored lands and as we see, and we had it before us in our readings. The level of godliness in the world around us going down, down, down. The word of God being thrown aside and man adopting that which is flagrantly opposed to this precious book.
You and I are going to stick out more and more.
If we seek to follow the Lord faithfully.
We shouldn't resent it, but at the same time, what should be there?
The moral power and where will it come from ourselves down here? No, it has to come from seeing a risen Christ in glory and recognizing who we are with Him.
Turn over now, please, to Luke's Gospel to see a similar thought.
Because.
This is a time when we can serve the Lord.
Will there be service in Glory though? I believe there will.
I believe their will. The first verse of that 17th chapter brings before us the Lord Jesus.
Where he says in so many words, Father, I've done everything possible to serve thee down here in this world, glorify thy Son. He says, that thy Son also may glorify thee. And if I read that rightly, the Lord is saying.
I've glorified you, Father, down here in every way that you ask me to do. But now glorify me.
At your right hand, to what point or to what end I should say, so that I can continue to serve thee up there Isn't that beautiful? Lord Jesus remains a servant for all eternity, and in Revelation 22 it reminds us that His servant shall serve Him, and they shall see his face.
So that service, in one sense, will not end completely in glory. I love that.
But there's a special character to service rendered under difficult circumstances.
There's a special appreciation for what is rendered in a world that has rejected our blessed Lord and Master. And notice what the Lord says to His disciples in Luke 10. Here, Luke 10.
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To get the antecedent for this, look at verse one.
After these things the Lord appointed other 70 also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whether He Himself would come.
Therefore, said he unto them, the harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few. Pray ye, therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth laborers into his harvest. Verse 3. Go your ways, and so on.
And then?
He gives them instructions.
And then what happens?
Verse 17.
And the 70 returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils or demons are subject unto us through thy name.
They come back full of joy. Well they might. Things had gone well. The Lord's power was with them. They had been able to do all of those things which He told them to do. And in the power of that name of the Lord Jesus, it says even the demons were subject to them. Wonderful. What's the Lord's reaction?
Verse 18.
And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.
Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
They must have loved that. I do too, naturally speaking. Oh, the Lord looked on to a day which hasn't happened yet, when Satan is going to be cast out of heaven, no more access to God's presence. And we know that in that day he'll be come down to earth, as it says, having great rock, knowing that he hath but a short time.
That is, the Lord looked on to the day when that power of Satan would begin to be diminished, diminished, diminished until the final day when he is cast into the lake of fire after he leads that final rebellion at the end of the Millennium.
And the Lord encourages those who served him, and we need encouragement today.
And we would encourage each one here.
Let's do what we had before us yesterday. Lift up the hands that hang down and the feeble knees.
And make straight paths for your feet. And I might say that when it comes to serving the Lord.
Don't get the idea that somehow.
Some here, including myself, have had the privilege of going to foreign lands.
But that's not necessary, and it doesn't start out that way.
God starts out by using you where you are, and if you want to do something for the Lord, look around where you are. That is the place to start and then.
As things go on, the Lord may see fit to use you in wider circles.
But that should never be our object, as a dear brother remarked many, many years ago, and it's in our written ministry.
He said the best Christian is the one who serves the Lord quietly in his own sphere.
And who does it? Unknown and unpraised and unsung. He or she will get the greatest reward in a coming day. I believe that with all my heart. And so yes, it's nice to make others aware of what is going on in the rest of the world. And I have done it myself occasionally, and it's nice to know how things are going in other lands.
But let's remember that.
There is work to be done right where you are, and I can't tell you what your work is and you can't tell me what mine is. But I rest assured, and Scripture tells us that, that each one of us that tells us in Ephesians 4 is given grace according to the measure of the gift of the Christ. You have something you can do for the Lord that no one else can do as well.
He'll show you what it is if you want to serve him, but notice what it says here.
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The Lord encourages them. I am going to give you power.
But then he gives them a gentle caution. And I want to notice this in verse 20. Notwithstanding in this, rejoice not that the spirits are subject under you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.
Oh, I must confess that that goes home to my soul. Why?
Because there is a danger in all of our hearts of getting taken up with service.
Of getting occupied with of what we're doing for the Lord.
It's good to serve the Lord.
But.
Many years ago, some of us knew our late brother Eric Smith fairly well, who served the Lord in South America for many years. He had a very strong effect on some of our lives.
And he told of how he went to Bolivia way back, approximately 100 years ago now.
To serve the Lord. And he had a zeal and an energy to see souls saved and to see souls brought into the truth of God. And things weren't going very well. And one time he went into his room, he told us, and as we would say, had it out with the Lord.
And he told us how that the Lord brought before him, and he used his first name.
He said. The Lord seemed to say to me, Eric.
Whose work is this?
And he said, well, Lord Jesus, it is Thine and Eric who's.
Power is it?
Oh Lord Jesus, it is thy.
And then the hammer hit harder. And Eric, Whose glory is it?
Lord Jesus, it is dying.
He said after that the work started to go ahead. Why? Because the focus was on a risen Christ in glory.
Why does the Lord say, rejoice that your names are written in heaven?
What did you and I have to do with that? Oh, we have to hang our heads, don't we?
We have to hang our heads. We have to say nothing but our sins.
Nothing but the degradation and the awfulness of our sinful condition.
We remembered that this morning.
That puts everything in perspective, doesn't it?
And when I realized that my name is written in heaven, not for anything that I have ever done, then it puts service in its right perspective.
No one needs to tell if I can use his name and I know he won't mind. No one needs to tell an Alan Yerke who is in prison for life.
And he says I deserve it because of what he did. No one has to tell him that he's a lost Sinner. But sometimes when we're brought up in Christian homes, we don't realize how bad our sinful self is. Sometimes the Lord has to put us through circumstances that are very difficult to make us realise that.
Rejoice rather, because your names are written in heaven. And then what does the Lord say? And we'll end with this.
Verse 21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father.
Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered to me of my Father, and no man knoweth who the Son is but the Father, and who the Father is but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.
I pondered in my own soul why the Lord Jesus added these two verses, and I don't pretend to know the whole answer, but I suggest this thought. The Lord Jesus brings before us that which you and I can never understand.
There's much in this precious book that we can understand, and we thank God for the precious truth that has been revealed to us.
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We thank God for that for which we can have heights and depths of meditation that exhaust not merely a lifetime, but will exhaust, if we could say it, all eternity. But how are they revealed to those who come as babes, to those who come in simplicity? Now that don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean that God rejoices in those who don't know very much.
Paul had to correct the Corinthians and it's in Hebrews 2 where they were carnal and they weren't able to eat strong meat because they were so juvenile in their Christian understanding that they were good for just.
Nothing but milk. That's not the thought.
But I have to approach God with all the reverence that is due to Him.
And remember, and we have it in verse 22, that the person of that blessed one who sits at God's right hand.
That blessed One who loved us and died for us on Calvary's cross, that One with whom we will spend all eternity. His person is a divine mystery. And I say it I think I'm right that I don't believe even in all eternity, you and I will ever be able to understand it.
We had in that in that hymn 150 that our brother gave out this morning.
The higher mysteries of thy fame the creatures grasp, transcend the Father only thy blessed name of Son can comprehend.
It's true.
And when we think of all that, then we come in the right way, occupied with a risen Christ in glory, yes, walking through this world and all the dignity of those that belong to Him, yes, but in all the humility, not merely of who we were before we were saved, but in the humility of realizing who has brought us into His favor and with whom we are associated.
That will carry us in these last days.
Let's sing the last two verses of that hymn we began with at the beginning.
And maybe we'll start a different tune because I noticed a lot of.
Maoists were not too widely open. I didn't realize that tune was not as well known as it perhaps should be. So let's sing the last two verses of #98 gazing on it. We adore thee, blessed precious holy Lord.
Thou the Lamb alone artworthy this be earth and Heaven's accord #98 versus 5:00 and 6:00.
And we'll we'll sing it to to a German tune. It's called Rhineland. I think it's well known.
Gazing.
On it.
Our loving God and Father, we commit thy word to Thee. Being conscious, we trust the object before us and the feebleness of human language.
01:00:01
To occupy us with him, as it should.
But we thank the our God and Father for thy spirit, which is able to make things good to our souls.
And able to give us the energy to walk in the good of them. We pray that we might have it in these last days. For Thy honor and glory, and for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, where we ask it in His precious and worthy name. Amen.
What God's Love Has Done
Open—Ed Staggs
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No.
The end of this hymn that we just sang said, O Lord, we cast our care on thee and triumph and adore.
Well, that our great concern may be to love and praise Thee more.
It's the desire of my heart, the exercise of my soul, that.
That we might be able to enter in a little bit more.
Of who God is and his love to us, and that of His Son as well.
And that we're such unique people.
That God has chosen us out in him before the foundation of the world. And I was struck by.
Not only the prayer meeting on Friday night.
But I've been struck on the ministry, encouraged by it, but to realize that that we're so unique to God that as is so often said, that everything that happens to a child of God, there's a purpose of blessing.
On the heart of the Father, and I hope to develop that, because so often we might ask ourselves why.
00:05:01
Why is there sorrow and why is there suffering?
And I don't understand.
But I hope to show.
That God has an end in view.
He has an end in view for the glory of His Son.
And he has an end in glue, in view of the glory of the Father.
So the prayer meeting started out on Friday night that a brother wrote. Read a portion.
In Romans chapter 8, I'd like to read that verse.
It's a very familiar verse for us.
That's in verse 26 of Romans 8.
It says likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities.
For we know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us.
With groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searches the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the Saints according.
To God.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose, 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 brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate them he also called, and whom he called them he also justified, and whom he justified them he also glorified.
What shall we then say to these things, if God before us?
Who can be against us?
He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall He not with us also freely give us?
All things who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
It is God that justifieth. I'll stop there.
That verse, those verses here, really manifest to us the uniqueness of who we are.
There's nothing that happens in our life.
That God does not know about.
And has a blessing.
To manifest.
In the end.
I want to read a couple more verses. One is in Ephesians chapter one. Our brother read part of that verse during his address.
I want to be careful of the time I was thinking about this and.
This is a it's actually a very big subject and I don't have time to take it up as a big subject. I want to take it up more as a synopsis. That is I, I hope to give you enough that you can see the beauty of what's on my heart, but not so much that it doesn't give you something of an appetite yourself to look into it.
To search more deeply the things that God has and blessing for you and for His Son's glory and for His glory. That's the exercise and the desire of my heart.
Chapter one and verse three. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places?
According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world.
That we should be holy and without blame before Him and love. There's more there that could be brought out, but I just want to touch on that. These verses that I'm going to have before us, I hope to allude will allude to in connection with the portions that I have on my heart. First Peter, chapter one.
In verse 18.
For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your Father's, but with the precious blood of Christ.
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As a lamb without blemish and without spot. Who verily, was foreknown.
Before the foundation of the world.
But was manifest in these last times for you.
So I've read, I've read 2 verses.
That that have to do with before. Before there was, there was.
Before there was this planet as it is today.
In eternity, you've been chosen. Each and every one of you have been chosen. That's an amazing thing to consider. Before there was ever a man on the planet, you were already chosen for eternal blessing.
But you know what also is interesting? Before you were ever born, or before He ever formed man on the dust of the earth, He had already chosen the Lamb of God.
And that's amazing to consider.
Before the foundation of the world, Christ was foreknown.
To be the lamb that would die on Calvary's cross.
So before man ever was on the planet.
God already knew you were going to fall.
He already knew you were going to be created. He already knew what was going to happen, and he knew that you were going to fall. But I want you to understand that not only did he know the beginning of what was necessary to save you, he knows exactly where you're going to be at the end of the story. He knows exactly what you're going to appear at in the in in the glory, in in the Millennium and in the eternal state. God already.
Has a view of all of these things from the beginning to the end. That's an amazing thing to consider.
Each morning when you get up, as many lives, as many years as you've been alive, He knows everything about you.
Not only have you been chosen out in him before the foundation of the world.
He purposed a blessing for all eternity for you. He knows the end of the story.
Now I want to take a look at something that's going to seem for a moment to be out of place, but I don't think it is Ezekiel 28.
Now this is an interesting.
Story This is an interesting portion of scripture because it's talking about the King of Tyre. But things seem to change. It seems to start bringing out something that's beyond the King of Tyre. And I don't want to take up the subject. I don't want to take up the time because I want to make this fast so that the Lord could use some other brethren to come up and encourage you. But I'm going to read.
The.
We'll start with verse 13. Well, let's start with verse 12, Son of Man.
Ezekiel 28 and.
Verse 12 Son of Man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyre, Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God, thou sealest up the sum full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden, in the garden of God. Every precious stone was thy covering, the Sardis, the Topaz, the diamond, the burl, the Onyx, the Jasper, the sapphire, the emerald.
The carbuckle and gold and workmanship. The tablets of thy pipes.
Was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub.
That covereth, and I have set thee so thou hast upon the holy mountain of God.
Thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou was prepared in thy ways from the day that thou was created.
Till iniquity was found in thee by the multitude of thy merchandise.
They have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned. Therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God. I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty. Thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.
I will cast thee to the ground. I will lay thee before kings.
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That they may behold thee, Thou hast defiled thy sanctuary. Sanctuaries.
By the multitude of thine iniquities. By the iniquities.
Of thy traffic, therefore will I bring forth fire from the midst of thee. It shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to the ashes upon the earth.
In the sight of all them, and behold thee all, they that know thee among the people shall be astonished.
That the thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be anymore.
Well, this is interesting because I believe this is this is an eternity. I believe this took place before Adam was formed.
And Eve was brought forth from his side. I believe that this this picture that we have presented here is Satan in all of his glory and splendor, all of his beauty. Imagine he had 10 precious stones, the the glory of God, Satan shine forth as the highest cherub.
He was most beautiful.
And from from his, the sound that came forth from him were the most beautiful sounds.
He was an amazing creature.
But he was lifted up in pride.
And I'll tell you, there's one thing about this Satan in his glory.
As he never knew the love of God.
In fact, he didn't know anything about God other than the fact that he was holy.
What he did know is that he was beautiful.
And he felt that he was beautiful in himself.
He thought he was equal to God, and he thought he desired to have a place before God.
To be equal.
But God judged him in his wickedness, and he fell, and he was cast out of his presence in respect to.
The glory that was connected with him.
But many years later, what we find.
Is that really God was using?
The fall of Satan that in the end he was going to manifest something that was in his own heart.
Something that the angels could learn from, that they'd never seen before. So.
Something that man could understand about the God that created them.
God was going to use this as an example.
Of the wickedness of what can be in the heart of a created being.
And sure enough, in the garden, what did Satan say to Eve?
When thou eatest, thou shalt be as what?
Gods.
The very thing that was the fall of Satan was the fall of man.
That man felt that God was holding back a blessing.
We have brought up of late about trials.
And I will tell you that I believe.
That the one thing that Satan will present to you.
Is it that in your weak condition, in your sorrow and in your suffering that God does not love you?
As much as he does.
How often does that happen? You you become weak and feeble. Need you don't? You don't see God in the trial?
You know, in my life I've known two people that have professed to be Christians. And you know what they told me? I am mad at God. Why are you mad? Because God let this happen. You know, you may not say you're mad at God, but sometimes you may act like you're mad at God.
Sometimes, by the way, you carry on in the world where we should be representing the love of God.
We hang down our hands and we walk in a feeble way and instead of the world seeing that we're a unique people chosen out in God before the foundation for eternal blessing, what are we? What are we manifesting? That I'm a Christian and God doesn't love me?
But you know, it's my desire, honestly.
00:20:05
It's my desire.
That we see a view of God.
That in His love He cares for us so much that He's manifesting and He desires to bring out something that is going to be displayed for all eternity.
Of God's love for us.
And do you know the way that that's brought forth, interestingly enough, at least one of the ways?
Because I don't want to take up time. There's other ways, but I don't want to take it up. But one of the main one of the main ways is through trial.
We may not, we may not know it at the time. We may not feel it at the time, but if only, if only we could embrace the end of the story. If only we could see what God had saw in eternity before we were ever created, what the purpose of his heart was, was to and I'm going to, I'm going to say this kind of in a backwards way.
He wants to display in his creation what kind of a God he is.
Oh, it's true. He's the God of light.
But you know, only the church, only the church right now, at this moment knows that he's a God of love.
You know that only the church.
Now, I will say that in one respect, that's not.
True, because the angels are learning the manifold wisdom of God. Through who?
Through the church.
Angels are learning things they never knew before. The first time they ever saw the baby Jesus was the first time they ever saw God in the flesh. Before He was a spirit. They never seen Him like that before. The first time that they ever saw what was in the heart of God is when Jesus hung on that cross.
It must have been a marvel.
How in the world could God let these creatures form from the dust of the earth? Take and nail his son to a tree?
She had his precious blood treat him the way that they did, but then what?
Is it true?
That God is judging his Son on Calvary's cross, His own beloved Son. We know why we worshiped him this morning. We understand that it means something to us. It's valuable.
God has brought us into his confidence. We're sons. You bring your sons into your confidence.
You share with them your heart. What's on your mind. God does that to all of us, doesn't He? Of course I use sons generically. Sons and daughters.
We are a unique people.
But God is working in US an end in view.
You know when when rebellious man breaks down?
And turns their heart to God.
The angels must have marveled.
These rebellious creatures.
Look at them.
Look at how they own what they are.
And look at how they see what Jesus did.
And look at how he saved them, and look at how God brought him into his family.
And they've become a new creation. Why? In reality, we've bypassed the angels.
We have a closer relationship. We have the same place that God has that Christ has before his Father.
We do.
Each one of us, not the gathered Saints. I don't want to limit this to a gathered Saints thing. I'm talking about the body of Christ.
Those who have been purchased by the precious blood of Christ, every one of us we meet on that very principle that there is one body.
And we long for that day when we're caught up to be with Christ.
And then with Christ. So we run representation. Imagine the praise unhindered by the flesh that the Lord Jesus will receive.
We should long for that day.
00:25:00
Well, let's go to Revelation.
21.
There's going to be an amazing difference here. I trust that will be displayed to our hearts.
We're going to start with verse 9.
And there came unto me one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials.
Full of seven last plagues and talked with me saying come hit her.
I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
The bride, the lamb's wife. We're going to look at her in just a minute.
First of all, the bride.
That first pangs of love and affection, the one that you have chosen.
The desire of your heart to spend your life with.
And then the wife.
The wife is the one that shares with you.
Everything that you are and everything that you have.
She compliments.
She encourages, she loves, and she is loved.
This is the Lamb's.
Bride and the Lamb's wife. You know we had the breaking of bread.
The theme was the Lamb of God. This is the end of the story, at least the end of the story.
Is that what was in the heart of God? Is that He would glorify His Son in eternity? That was his desire. But then not only that, but that he would have a bride.
He would have a wife and she would share with him and be like him and he would love her and she would love him.
A suitable companion bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.
That's what's in view and eternity.
But let's let's take a look at her beauty in reflection to the fact that she shines forth not by her own light, not by her own glory, but by His.
In verse 10 and he carried me away in the spirit to a great high mountain, and showed me.
The holy It should be the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of the heaven from God, having the glory of God.
And then notice it says her and where it says light it should be shining. Why is that true?
Because the bride has no glory in itself, but is shined forth from the glory of her husband.
The Lord Jesus Christ.
And the shining forth was like onto a stone most precious.
Even like a Jasper stone, clear as crystal.
Manifest Glory.
And had a wall great and high. And had two gates. And at the gates 12 angels. The name name written thereon, which are the names of the 12 tribes of the children of Israel.
On the east 3 gates, on the north 3 gates, on the South 3 gates, and on the West 3 gates and the wall of the city 12 foundations.
And in them the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb. And he that talked with me had a golden Reed to measure the city.
The gates thereof, the wall thereof, the city lieth 4 score. The length is as as long as large as the breath. And he measured the city with the Reed 12,000 furlongs. The the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof 140 and four cubits, according to the measure of a man.
00:30:05
That is of the Angel.
The building of the wall it was of Jasper. The city was pure gold, like on to clear glass. A notice the foundation and the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The 1St. The foundation was Jasper, the second sapphire, the third.
I'm sorry I'm confusing the name of my mind. Shall see, Tony.
The 4th and Emerald the 5th. Zardonex the six. Sardis the 7th. Crystallite the 8th. Burl the 9th. Topaz the 10th.
Crystal Ferris, The 11Th Genesis, the 12Th Amethyst The 12 gates were 12 Pearls, every seven gate was one Pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold.
As it were, transparent glass.
I just want to. I just want to do a comparison.
Satan had 10 manner of precious stones to.
Manifest His glory. The Church has 12.
What came from the pipes of Satan were beautiful sounds, but will come from the church.
Worship and praise to the Lord Jesus for all eternity.
In its display of its glory, it receives its light from the one that it loves. Satan loved no one.
We have been brought in to the confidence of God to be able to manifest this beautiful scene, which, by the way, is taking place in the Millennium.
Because this is all talking about our position with Christ, far above what Satan never had.
Was we have responsibility and administration with the one in whom we are like and whom we share an inheritance where where our inheritance is below us.
What a contrast that God uses, a being that had been displayed in glory in his great fall, that in his heart and in his mind that at the end of the day he was going to have a companion like his Son that would compliment his beauty, who would share with him for all eternity, or at least at this scene, let's say the Millennium.
In this manifestation.
How did these precious hues of color come forth? I believe it's through trials.
You know, we all know that gems get their color from the pressure that is under the earth.
And we're down in this world and we experience pressure. And I believe this display of hues are those who identified with Christ in his suffering down here that God delights to display with his Son because they identified with him in his rejection.
There's nobody like us. Nobody.
And this is the end of the story. But if we were to think that this was the most precious of all things, no, I don't think it is.
Because I believe that quite often that what God does is He shows us what is most precious in the very beginning.
And then he builds on that afterwards and then he reflects back to it again. I didn't do that. I went to, I went to verse nine first.
Now I'm going to quickly read just these portions in verse one of the same chapter.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, and the 1St heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared. What does it say as a bride?
Adorned for who? Her husband? Well, there's more that could be read here.
But I want to stop here because to me this is the most precious.
Of it all.
This is eternity, this is not the Millennium. This is what is on the heart of God.
00:35:03
When righteousness no longer reigns, but righteousness dwells.
And Christ, as a man among men, has a companion.
Prepared for him.
One that he loves.
In his fear where sin will never touch again.
In a sphere where there's perfection, where there's joy and there's no more sorrow.
That's the end of the story, and that is what is most precious.
You know, you and your wife might share something, many different things, but there is nothing like just being alone with your wife, unhindered by anything else you know that's true, where you can just enjoy her and she can enjoy you. And for the Lord Jesus, that's his eternal state.
Love Overcoming Problems in the Body of Christ
Open—Josh Stewart
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.
Please turn to a verse in First Corinthians.
One Corinthians, chapter 12.
And verse 12.
What I'd like to speak on for just a few minutes is how love can overcome problems.
In the body of Christ, we've had a little bit of God's love for us, but I'd like to speak a little bit.
About our love.
1St Corinthians 12 and verse 12.
For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
Well this verse says I'm sure everyone here knows is comparing the human body to the church. For as the body, the human body is one and has many members, arms and legs and fingers and toes.
And all the members of that one human body, being many, are one human body. So also is the Christ.
The Church is compared to a human body, and in many ways it functions.
Much like a human body in the apostle Paul goes on in the rest of this chapter and he takes up that figure of a body and he gives us many wonderful exhortations that we've probably enjoyed concerning service, the function of gift, and very helpful principles. But you know, I was thinking and I thought many times.
That, you know, with our human bodies, things don't always function smoothly.
There are problems that come into our bodies. We get sick. I think everyone in this room has gotten sick, maybe a few exceptions, those who have excellent health, but we all get sick. We have problems. And I was thinking about the body of Christ and how problems have come in to the body of Christ.
And now I know that I'm sure someone will correct me the body.
In an absolute sense, as one, it says here there is one body and I believe in God's viewpoint there are no imperfections.
Everyone in the body is there according to His will He's placed. Every member in the body is at least him. But I was thinking about how difficulties come into the body of Christ.
And love is so key in overcoming those difficulties. I thought of of a few things.
The number one killer of Americans.
I don't know if this is true in Europe aside from car accidents and stuff like that. Is heart disease heart disease in the body of Christ?
I think that, and I'm making an application here, you're not going to find these in Scripture. So if you can cut me a little bit of a little bit of slack here, I'm just making an application. A lack of love, a lack of love in the body of Christ is the number one hindrance to the functioning of the body of Christ. Heart disease. How does heart disease happen? Does it happen overnight?
Do you instantly have a heart problem? No. We know those blockages begin and they're slow.
And layer after layer builds up and our arteries get constricted more and more until finally, bang, we have a big problem.
But it's a lack of love.
Another issue? Cancer.
I think that might, to me at least.
Have the thought of wrong principles, wrong doctrines that come in we find in Second Timothy?
That something came in.
Second Timothy 2.
Verse 16 But shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase unto more ungodliness, and their word will eat, as doth a canker or a gangrene, of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus, who concerning the truth of aired, saying that the resurrection is passed already, and overthrow the faith of some. Here was something that came in wrong teaching, and it started to spread. Paul says their word will spread.
And it will gradually overtake the body.
And those things have to be dealt with, and we have clear exhortations in Scripture how to deal with this.
We need to deal with wrong doctrine and we need to have our minds subject to the Word of God. That's the answer.
00:05:02
What else? Infection, I think in First Corinthians 5, how that speaks of sin and defilement that can come in moral defilement that can come into the church, and how that needs to be dealt with.
We are warned. Verse six, Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole one? If an infection comes into our body again, there are doctors here. I'm not a doctor, but I I've been told that the infection will spread if the body does not put it down. So when a healthy body, the immune system jumps into action, sends all the white blood cells to the source of the infection, and the bacteria is destroyed and the infection's gone.
And sin and defilement, when it comes in, needs to be dealt with. If it doesn't, it will spread just like infection. Amputation is something that's never a first option, but it's necessary if the infection is not contained. And so there's all these difficulties that can come in just quickly. A few more paralysis. Our brother spoke on the leading of the Spirit of God to me, paralysis.
You know, it's when the signals from your head that go down to your body.
That tell your body what to do are not being obeyed. Your brain says get up and walk and your body just refuses to obey.
And how many of us are like members in the body of Christ that are paralyzed or have been at times or at times experienced this where we're just simply not listening to what the Spirit of God is telling us? It's like paralysis in the body. And the word of God speaks about quenching the Spirit and says quench and not the spirit. So if we have received something from the Lord, were to do it.
The opposite of that.
I guess the technical word for it is dyskinesia. I learned that because my wife's grandfather had Parkinson's.
And a combination of that, I believe in the medication he was on, he would go into these modes where he would just shake and his arms would flail around. And it was a, it was really a terrible thing to watch. His mind was saying sit still, but his arms and legs were just moving without control. That's the opposite. And I believe, you know, the word of God also says grieve not the Holy Spirit of God again.
To act without direction from the Lord, without direction from the Spirit of God.
It's a terrible thing. It's a it's a disorder that comes in.
Autoimmune disorders. Autoimmune. That's a terrible thing, I believe, and again, I'm not a doctor, but that's when the body begins to attack itself, the the body's immune system begins to attack the body.
I think of passages like we have in Galatians 5.
Where it speaks about those who are biting and devouring one another.
But if he bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. The body can actually attack itself. And we know that there are infighting and divisions among believers. Brethren, we're all one body. It is completely out of character for the body of Christ for us as believers to be fighting among ourselves.
Devouring ourselves. It's a it's a terrible disorder. What's the answer?
Walk in the spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. One more and we could go on, but I wanted to speak on the first one. But one more atrophy. What is atrophy? It's when you lay in bed for so long that your muscles just shrink until they're almost gone and they're still there, but they're chronically weak through lack of exercise.
How many of us times in our lives have been so weak?
Because we haven't exercised, and I'm not just talking in a physical sense, I mean we haven't been, we haven't been doing what the Lord has given us to do to the point where we hardly even know what He has for us to do.
And I believe there are everyone of us in this room has a gift. Each one of us has a gift. And it is God's desire that we use that gift. But if we don't, we will grow weak in that. And there's a need for us to to grow in that. And so Paul tells Timothy to stir up the gift that is in you. So we need to stir that up. Get off the couch, you know, so to speak. Get off the bed and start moving about and doing what the Lord has.
Us to do and neglect, not the gift that is in me.
And so we need to.
Be exercised about these things because there are difficulties that come into into the church, into the assembly.
00:10:05
But what I wanted to speak on just for we only have a few minutes left and.
What was that first one? Heart disease? The lack of love among us?
I wanted to speak about how love can overcome difficulties.
What's where in Galatians 5? Let's just jump up a verse or two.
Looking for the place where it says faith works.
By Love.
Verse six. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision avail of anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith, which worketh by love. This is how faith works, it's by love.
And as we read through the Word of God, we will find that every.
Service for the Lord Every activity that has the approval of God.
Is motivated by love.
And we find that what the Lord Jesus did at the cross of Calvary, we had that before us this morning, was motivated by love. He went to the cross. Why? Because love to his Father and love to us. He went to the cross because of love. And the same is true for everything that we do. Love is to be the motive we find.
In First Corinthians back in chapter 13.
That wonderful chapter that comes in between the gifts, the members of the body of Christ and their exercise. In chapter 14 we find that love is presented in chapter 14. Love is to be the motive for the exercise of gift.
And so love can overcome things that can't be overcome any other way.
I think about divisions that are festering. I think about.
These situations that arise in assemblies where there's two sides, what is this in the body of Christ where there's this side and that side? It is not to be, but love can overcome that. Love can say, you know what?
Naturally, I don't like you.
You don't like me, but you know what? I'm going to go across the room to you and I'm going to sit down with you and I'm going to mend that broken relationship. It's not easy to do, but excuse me, Love says. I'm going to put my own comfort aside.
I'm gonna put my own natural preferences aside and I'm gonna go, and I'm gonna do it because it's what God wants me to do, he said. Well, I don't have the personality for that.
I'm sorry, that's not good enough.
It's not good enough.
It's inconvenient for me. I don't have time. I'm sorry. That's not good enough. Was it convenient for the Lord Jesus to go to the cross? No, it wasn't.
It can overcome lack of gift in the assembly. Just look at the last verse of chapter 12.
The last verse of chapter 12.
But covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet show I unto you a more excellent way. Brethren, I'm not putting down gift. It's wonderful, and we should covet it. But there's a more excellent way. If there isn't gift. Love can make up for the lack of gift.
You know, brethren, we're living in in a day of great weakness and there's not as much gift as perhaps there once was, especially considering the days of the apostles. But rather than this is where love comes in.
If we're in a local assembly and there's an opportunity to have the word of God open, love should govern what we take up. You know, is it just what I've been enjoying? Is that what I should be ministering in the assembly?
I believe we should minister what we've been enjoying and we shouldn't speak beyond our own experience and beyond what the Lord has given us and what we've enjoyed in our souls. But I believe that we need to be.
Concerned about what is profitable, what is beneficial, what is edifying.
For the assembly.
Not all things are edifying for the assembly and we need to be in tune with where the where the flock is. Is this really what's going to be helpful? Is this really what's going to be beneficial or is this just something that is has been a nice encouragement to me? I'm not speaking critical of anyone here. I've really enjoyed these meetings and it has absolutely nothing to do with that. I really just, I think about that to to take the time to know where our brethren are at to take time to know.
00:15:06
Our brethren are at and to be before the Lord about what will feed their souls and what will be a benefit to them.
Love is the motive in serving the Lord, for the love of Christ constraineth us.
And then one more area I wanted to take up was love can overcome social awkwardness.
This might seem a little bit of a strange thing to take up, but I believe it's something that we all deal with, some more than others. There are some who feel very little social awkwardness and they can just go right up to anyone and have a conversation.
But not all of us are that way, and a lot of us have a hard time.
Introducing ourselves to someone new. Have a hard time having a heart to heart conversation with someone.
Have time getting close to our brethren. It's difficult to do. We know how it is when.
There's perhaps someone of a different culture, a different background, maybe someone who's on the other side of the division in your local assembly. How awkward it can be to have those conversations.
But love overcomes that. Love says, You know what? I didn't grow up the same way as you did.
Or I know our parents don't see things the same way. Or whatever it might be. Maybe you're from a different you have a different first language. Whatever it might be, love can overcome that.
So that those relationships can be restored.
What about in giving the gospel?
We feel the awkwardness, the shame that's associated with the cross.
But love says, you know what, that person is going to hell.
And I want to see them in heaven.
Love can overcome.
That generation gap that there may be between those who are older and those who are younger.
I know our time is almost gone. I'm sorry, but this is something that's been on my heart a little bit. If you could just turn over with me to the Book of Titus.
Titus, chapter 2.
And verse one. But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine.
That the aged men be sober, brave, temperate, sound in the faith and charity and patience. The aged women likewise that they be in behavior, has become of holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things. That they may teach the younger women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste keepers at home.
Good, obedient to their own husbands, but the word of God.
Be not blasphemed.
This is something I feel like.
That is being done in some places, but generally it's something that we've failed in the aged women teaching the younger women.
It's so important, you know, I think it's probably the most difficult thing.
To be a young wife and maybe a young wife and mother to.
Go on faithfully day after day and you know, I go to work and I work on a project and we have deadlines and we have accomplishments and someone comes along, Pats me on the back and says good job. But you know what for? For a stay at home mom, it's one load of laundry after another, one diaper to change after another, and it just goes on and on and on and there's no end insight. There's no project finish state. There's no.
Awards that are given out in maybe in this life and it's very difficult. There's no adult human interaction. It's just it's very, very difficult to go on.
But God has provided a resource. There are these older women who have gone through the path that have the experience in these practical things that can come alongside and they can teach them.
And there needs to be a relationship first before the teaching happens. You know, you know how much it would mean to to draw alongside a younger sister and just say, I want to pray with you. Just hold your hand and pray with them. It would mean so much.
And then there would be that relationship so that the teaching could go on.
Love overcomes that awkwardness that we feel that's keeping us back from doing it. Love says, you know what? It's not my personality, but Oh well, I love them. I want to see them grow, so I'm going to do it anyways.
00:20:05
What about the men?
Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded and all things showing thyself a pattern of good works in doctrine, showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, sound speech and so on. I don't have time.
To set a good pattern for those who are younger.
But you know, it's wonderful for those who are older to bring those who are younger into their circle of friendship so that they can see this example, so that they can see it lived out in your life.
What an encouragement that can be to one who's younger. One more verse regarding the young men. I know, I know, I'm over.
First, Second Timothy 2 verse one Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
It's a very important thing for those who are older and those who have applied themselves and they know the truth of God to commit what they have learned.
To those who are faithful, who are coming on behind them, it's very important that that take place.
If that handing off the baton, you might think of a relay race. If that doesn't take place, there's a we're not doing the next generation a good favor if that if that handoff doesn't take place.
And some feel that this is fulfilled in the assembly reading meeting. And I believe that is partly true. And young people go to the assembly reading meetings because there you will find those who have known the word of God and watching it for many years, passing it along. But it may require more than this. It may be more than just the assembly readings.
An older brethren, you know how encouraging it is when you take time to speak to someone who's younger, who's coming along, who's showing an interest.
Faithful and responsible in the things of God when you take the time to speak to them.
Maybe have them into your home if they could just see the the love that you have, the scriptures, it's going to do more for them.
Than 100 reading meetings. If they can just glimpse what the the truth of God has done in their life, it's going to do more for them than 1000 lectures, it really will.
These are things that are difficult to do if we just stay in our comfort zone and we all have a comfort zone, but love will push us out of that into service for Him. Is it worth it? Is it worth it to allow love to drive us out of our comfort zone, to allow love to overcome these difficulties? I believe it is. I just want to close with one verse, Song of Solomon.
Chapter 8.
Verse six sent me as a seal upon thine heart, and as a seal upon thine arm. For love is strong as death, jealousy as cruel as the grave. The coals of the coals thereof are coals of fire, which have the most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it. Here it is if a man would give all the substance of his house for love.
It would utterly be content. I believe that last phrase phrases go something like this.
It would be worth it all. I think of all the love that God has poured out upon us, the love that he has invested in.
To him, it's worth it.
It's worth it and I believe the love that we show as members of the body of Christ for one another.
We may not realize it now, but it will be worth it.
Two Destinies
Gospel—Rob 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.
I marvel at the leading of the Spirit of God.
I had it on my heart to just take up really, from a gospel perspective, the end of the path.
And our brother Ed spoke really from the sovereignty side of things, perhaps a little more. But I'd like to read some passages of Scripture that have to do with responsibility. Let's look in Revelation chapter 4 and we'll read.
From verse 4.
Revelation 4 and verse four around about the throne were four and 20 seats.
And upon the seat I saw 4 and 20 elders sitting clothed in white raiment, and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
Verse 10 The four and 20 elders fall down before him that sat upon on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
How is it that these people came to be here?
Is this the cream of the crop? Is this the best that there is?
Were these the ones?
That did something to earn the favor of God.
Not so.
But they're there, you know, there's 24 elders, there's twelve that represent the Old Testament Saints.
That are there based on the principle of faith, they believe God.
Was accounted unto them for righteousness.
And then there's twelve that represent really those that.
After they cross.
By the grace of God, believed upon the Lord Jesus and accepted His finished holy work. Applied the blood to themselves as those that were sinners before God.
And by faith, I'm on the at the because of the sovereignty and the goodness and the love of God.
The end of the story is they find themselves before the throne.
Cleansed, made fit for the presence of a holy God, sitting in a cushion. Those are cushions, the seats sitting the work is finished sitting in the presence of the Lord, observing his glory and.
Fitted for eternal praise and Thanksgiving worship.
Perfectly fitted. What were they? What was the sample material? You might say I was thinking of First Corinthians chapter 6. Let's read it.
First Corinthians chapter 6. Not a very nice list.
But verse nine, it says, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Be not deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adult adulterers, nor effeminate really should be, nor those who make women of themselves, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the Kingdom of God. And.
Such were some of you but the year washed.
But you are sanctified, But you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
What sample material?
We find in the sovereignty and the goodness of God. He is in His love, desired to have heaven filled with those that display the image of His Son. Suited companions to the Son of God, morally, physically, spiritually, suitable to be companions for Him. They find themselves in that scene of glory, seated.
With crowns on their heads.
Marvelous.
00:05:02
They put their faith in Christ and the finished work of Christ. What material?
We read of another scene, we don't have a lot of time to go into any detail, but let's look at Revelation chapter 20 and the gospel of the grace of God brings in the responsibility of man. There is the sovereignty of God, but there is the responsibility of man. And her brother Josh brought before us in connection with our relationships as members of the body of Christ, those of us that know the Lord Jesus as Savior, we do have responsibility.
In the sovereignty of God there is one body.
But there is responsibility. And this afternoon you sat through these meetings for two days. And if you're sitting in your seat this afternoon without God, without hope, without faith in Christ, never having received the Lord Jesus as your Savior, now's the time to receive him as your Savior.
There are going to be different judgments. This judgment that we read of in Revelation chapter 20 is after the Millennium. Our brother Ed read about the eternal state in those few verses in Revelation chapter 21. The 1St 8 verses have to do with eternal state. We don't have very many verses in Scripture that tell us about the eternal state, but those do.
Very simple language.
But in chapter 20, after the Millennium, after the old Earth.
And the old heavens are destroyed. There's going to be another scene.
Brother used to say.
That prophecy is history. It's written ahead of time, but it's history. If God looks at it as if that's already taken place, it will take place.
And it says in chapter 20, verse 11, I saw a great white throne in 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 and small and great stand before God. The books were open, and another book was open, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books according to their works.
The sea gave up the dead which were in it. Death and hell were delivered up.
The dead which were in them, and they were judged every man according to their works.
Death and Hell were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death. Whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of Fire.
How did they get there? How?
Why? Why is this scene taking place?
Why is this throne and the people before this throne standing, not a single one sitting? Why?
Scripture says they died in their sins.
You know, it says in Revelation, I think it's chapter 14, verse 13, it says blessed are they that die in the Lord. Oh, what a happy thing it is to die and to know the Lord Jesus the Savior. We're not looking for death. We're looking for the coming of the Lord Jesus, but our brother Jim.
Is with Christ. There were two men that died.
On September the 6th.
I knew both of them, Brother Jim, one of them another.
Man Mr. Chevalier from the Peterborough area.
Brother in the little assembly in Denton. His father never made a profession of faith in Christ.
God is sovereign. It may be that He accepted Christ before he left this scene.
But it's a solemn thing.
There are going to be some that sit in the presence of the Lord Jesus and have crowns upon their heads.
There are going to be some that stand at the Great White Throne.
And are cast from his presence into the lake of fire.
Which company?
Are you going to be in? We know that there's going to be a harvest judgment. I'm not going to get into that. Our time is up.
But we need to know what determined the destiny. Your destiny is determined today.
That this very hour, today is the day of salvation.
Do you have faith in Christ?
Have you accepted the Lord Jesus as your Savior? Love the love of Christ. The love of God has given you a desire and an opportunity.
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In responsibility to respond to his love as to whether you will receive Christ.
A savior. You're being offered an opportunity this very afternoon.
To accept Christ as your Savior. The work is finished, the blood was shed at the cross of Calvary, and God has made this whole world savable.
By the work of His son, propitiation has been made and salvation is available for you.
Let's commend ourselves. Our loving God and our Father, we thank Thee.
For these happy meetings together, we thank thee for the.
Responsibility of man, and the ability that thou hast given us by Thy spirit.
Quickening souls to be able to respond to that call in the gospel.
We do pray our God that if there's anyone here that is yet lost without God, without hope in this world, that they might call upon the Lord to be saved this afternoon.
Lord, save me. So we just commend thy word to Thee. We ask Thee to bless Thy words we've had in the ministry.
And that we might indeed desire to build up one another, encourage one another, and strengthen one another in the things that remain. And we pray to our God and our Father.
That as those that are members of the bride of Christ, that we might display the dignity.
Of that one who is to be the companion of Christ for all eternity.
Oh how we feel the responsibility of walking through this scene as the sons of God.
Heirs of God, join heirs with Christ, help us to walk with the blessed Savior.
Responsibly and with affection for thee to lay aside our own desires, our own wants.
And to live for Thy glory in the very short time that remains. We ask Thy blessing now upon our brethren who are traveling. We just commend them to Thee and seek Thy blessing on the remainder of our time together.
In the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
2 Peter 3
Reading
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Should we sing 100 and 71170?
No, he comes from.
Descending.
Once more.
Lord.
So I'll go down to the greatest rain.
Glory.
Fashion go away. Glory is in love.
To all the joy.
Of trotation.
To the results of the world.
Yeah.
Shall now be behold him.
For a great sun and justice in all the rest of the world. And so embarrassed. And then I'll hear you tell him you're telling him you're telling the blood.
Dream knowing glory.
And glory.
Shall.
Bring.
Tears. I can be right. I can see it.
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Jesus.
Come Lord Jesus.
Come on, come.
Great, our God and our Father, we do thank Thee for that wonderful expectation that is before our souls of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank Thee that He will come for His Bride to take us to be with Himself. And we thank Thee that He will come and take His rightful place, and we long to see Him.
Honored.
And.
Glorified in this world that cast him out. And we know we'll have.
That wonderful place by his side for all eternity. Share that headship that has been given to him.
That all things, heaven and earth, will be headed up in that man of Thy eternal counsel, My purpose. We thank Thee for Thy purpose and Thy ways in which.
I'll bring that purpose to pass by council made good and even now being presently unfolded for thine own glory before all created intelligence.
Secret of thy heart. And we do.
Thank Thee for Thy sovereign grace that picked us up and made us part of that coming.
United system of glory and heaven and earth. And my beloved Son, we thank Thee that Thou be glorified in Him for all eternity. We thank Thee for Thy great love that has been the deep mode of spring of all to bring it to pass. And so he just asked for Thy blessing. Now, as we open my precious word, may our hearts be more firmly established. Present truth.
And.
Our faith encouraged and strengthened and that we might have guidance and direction for our pathway here while we wait his coming. And we would ask this our God and Father, and the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Amen.
Wonder, brethren, if it might be profitable to take up Second Peter chapter 3. We had some of the comments made in connection with the scoffing and the days that we did in the scoffing as to where is the promise that is coming and so on and.
We live in these days.
Sounds good.
Second Peter, chapter 3.
This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you, in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance. They may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? Or since the Father's fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water, and in the water thereby the world that then was being overflowed with water, perished. But the heavens and the earth, which are now by the same word, are kept in store, preserved unto fire, against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing. That one day is with the Lord is 1000 years, and 1000 years as one day.
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The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but as long-suffering to us word not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also in the works that are therein shall be burned up, seeing them that all these things shall be dissolved. What manner of persons are ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?
Looking for in hasting unto the coming day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wearing dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that you look for such things, be diligent, that you may be found of Him in peace, without spot and blameless and account that the long-suffering of our Lord is salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given unto Him, hath written unto you.
As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, and which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable, rest, as they do also the other Scriptures are to their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, see ye know these things before. Beware lest He also being LED away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness, but grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To him be glory both now and forever. Amen.
I believe he was. Peter was writing to the same individuals that he had written the first epistle to, because he says.
Quite clearly that this second official, beloved, I know right unto you. So he was writing in first Peter chapter one to those that had been scattered, those believing Jews that had been scattered because of the great persecution that had arisen. Perhaps at the beginning of chapter 8 it were mentioned that after the stoning of Stephen there was a great persecution and they were all scattered.
Abroad accept the apostle. So it was a measured thing, but there were those that were believers and they suffered in those times and were spread out throughout the Roman Empire. So he spoke to those in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asian, Bithynia, elect according to foreknowledge of God the Father. So we know that he brought before the Saints practical righteousness, how to live as believers. They knew already how to live like Jews, but how to live as those that were believers now in the Lord Jesus.
But in the second epistle we know that there's.
Breakdown and there's really a time of depression departure and it was characterized really by scoffing and materialism. And so this is really what he's addressing here. And we do live in days of scoffing and materialism.
It shows the government of God in connection with the world. First Epistle is more the government of God in the House of God.
The Apostle widens the view here.
And speech of the government of God in relation to the.
The world and the judgment, that is.
I mean over this world.
First, like this one takes up the government of caught in the House of God in connection with the way that we should walk in this world is those that represent the character of godliness and we should be holy priest and royal priest and that when it it comes to the government. We should bow to the government when it comes to our boss, regardless of what kind of a person he he might be were were called to obedience.
And so there it's.
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The judgment is connected with those who don't obey that that manner of life. But here it takes up a little bit different than there's going to be judgment that's going to fall upon this world. And we're called to recognize the judgment that is going to fall upon this world and encourages us to walk in separation. And so we get similar things that that the Lord does in First Thessalonians. You get to get chapter 3 in view of coming back with Christ, in chapter 4 of being caught up to be with Christ.
But in Chapter 5, we're looking at this world is going to be judged, and we're not children of the dark, but we're children of the day. And so that's really kind of what this is bringing out. It's really bringing out this world is going to be judged. And in view of that, it should encourage us to be separate from that, shouldn't it?
Another aspect of Peter's ministry is that he really takes things up from the Kingdom perspective. And so he speaks of the appearing of the Lord Jesus. And so his ministry is characterized by the appearing and the Lord coming with his Saints. And he's going to come and he's going to judge that which is inconsistent with His Holiness and inconsistent with the in character to the Kingdom. And so he speaks of the appearing in his glory.
And so that's really the focus of the times that he does speak of his coming. He's priestly. He speaks in verse four of the promise of his coming. For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. Well, man wants to live in God's creation without any feeling of responsibility towards him. And the Jew wants to live in the land of Israel, but without the Creator, without the Son of God, without the Messiah.
And these people are promising me in verse 9, the Lord is not slack concerning His promise.
And then he speaks again. I think it's in verse 13. Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and new earth, where he dwelleth righteousness. So Peter.
Really reminds the Saints that it's the word of God and the promises that God has made to them in connection with the reality that he will judge things. He will come, He will set up His Kingdom. He will judge unrighteousness.
And so those things are going to be fulfilled. But in the meantime, as you say, it was an encouragement to them that they could walk in a godly way in a righteous path. And he was reminding them that God was going to intervene in judgment and has intervened in the past. He gives them specific examples, and He will fulfill his promises.
Just box a little footnote, something I noticed years ago. He started chapter 2 talking about, you know, how false prophets came, then they'll come again. And I noticed that all three of the prominent New Testament writers, Paul, John and Peter, all talked about coming.
False teachers and and ones that would lead the Saints astray and so on. And the remedy from all three of them was the same. Remember what we told you? And I found it very interesting here it's in with Peter it's.
Verse two, he may be mindful of the words which was spoken before by the holy prophets and of the commandments of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior. And you know, they were the witnesses. They were the ones who.
Or with the Lord. Paul knew the Lord. He had special revelation too. And.
And they didn't. My point is they didn't pass it on to anybody coming after them.
It was remember what we said and you know that kind of, you know, the whole Roman Catholic idea that, you know, things were passed down by the Church fathers and so on and so forth, and they put their trust on that. But.
They said remember what we said that God has miraculously through the centuries and it is an amazing mirror that we have their words printed page today more on the earth than there ever has been before. But that's what will preserve us and it's what we always have to come back to and what you say Ted is absolutely true. But I'm wondering too in in days of declension perhaps.
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We're not being as careful when it comes to receiving someone at a large table.
What as far as what they hold as far as doctrine is concerned?
I really don't know what they hold. Yeah. I mean, you can always have someone that has received and they don't show their true colors till after the fact. But I'm just wondering if being not as careful as we should be in reception could help alleviate some of that. You'd have been hard pressed to quiz me when I was received at the Lord's Table. I was just saved. I really didn't even have any colors yet. No. Well, I was like that too, Bruce.
And I I was aware of that colors, but I decided that I would just submit myself to my friend.
And through the years, if I said something that was off or wrong, I would expect.
And love to be corrected. To me, that's what we do when we submit ourselves. And I think, you know, we're not made of glass. And I think you told me that. But John Baxter China, Yeah, you know, he can handle it. You know, it's not that we wouldn't be careful, but we certainly are equipped with a shepherd. And, you know, if if the person is presented with the truth and they refuse to accept it.
That's one thing. But many times people come in holding all kinds of bad doctrine and things and it is not a problem. I mean, they get corrected, they receive it, they go on.
I think that's very good, Ted, because there is a happy medium, isn't there? We start to quiz everybody about every bad doctrine. We end up sometimes being like the Roman Catholic priest that in the confessional would ask people about sins that they never even thought of committing and depiled their minds by. But as one of our good writers put it, he said, if I knew that a man came from a House of thieves, I'd want to be sure he was clear of it. And so I think that's the proper way to look at it. Well, that's sort of what I was thinking. I wasn't, you know.
Thinking of a whole long list of questions is just just have you know, get to know the person and find out what they believe.
So we have here the apostles in verse 2, and oftentimes when it speaks of the foundational work in the Church of God coming from an ascended Christ, it's through the apostles and prophets. But here we have prophets first, which were spoken before by the holy prophets and the commandment of us, the apostles of our of the Lord and Savior, etcetera. So I take it that that is the the profits of the Old Testament.
The the holy prophets in.
What Peter learned from the Lord and what he taught was two things consistent with the prophetic scriptures down through what we call the Old Testament era. And also, of course, he being an apostle was one part of that group that passed on what they had received. Paul speaks of it as a revelation to himself, but it clearly was a revelation to the other apostles.
To also receive what they perhaps learn from Paul. And they've got it, as Paul says in Ephesians 3 by Revelation 2, so.
Sometimes people question well, why is why does Paul say in Colossians chapter the end of chapter one, I think it is that it was given to him to complete the word of God when revelation is at the end of the of the scriptures of the New Testament. But to Paul was given that a special revelation of the church that was the revelation of of the Christ of the Christ in the church together as the Christ. He was given to sort of put the last piece in place of the revelation of God.
A mystery hidden in God and not revealed in Old Testament scriptures. And so in that sense he completes the word of God. But Peter and the apostle John, they really take up and augment and embellish with details and put into a fresh context and confirmation the subject of Old Testament prophets because they did prophecy about a Kingdom that would be headed up by Christ on earth. They did prophecy.
That there would be.
As I sometimes called that the other shoe would drop and all of this ungodliness and false teaching, false prophets and all of that would be addressed in that great day of the Lords appearance. So it's safe when we read Peter, I believe also John.
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When they speak of the Lord's coming, they're Speaking of his appearing, because the rapture of the Saints at the first resurrection was part of that.
Line of things that was given to the Apostle Paul.
Well, the.
What was the reason for the puppet? I'm talking about the Old Testament prophets.
Wasn't it because children of Israel got away from God? They were taken up after their own lust? It's, it's, it's not an inconsistent thing with men in this falling condition, is it? So if it's true of the old, old prophets, it's certainly true of today. And so it's bringing out that side of things. And it's, it's giving us to see that, that you've been told about this. This is not something new. You can read it in the Old Testament.
You can go to Isaiah, Jeremiah.
Ezekiel, all of them, they, they, they all speak about Israel having gotten away from the Lord and that in the end they're going to be judged for their wickedness. And so it is here that that knowing that this first, that there shall come in the last days. What last days? Well, in our last days, we certainly know that's going on more and more. You're getting those that are scoffers, especially the day we live in. Man is taken up with his own lust, his own ideas, his own pleasures, his own desires.
God is going to charge it. He does say that they should be mindful of these words. And so that is to be aware of those words and to pay attention to what they teach. And so as you mentioned, it's the Old Testament scriptures. They were to be aware of those Old Testament scriptures. We have authority to read the Old Testament passage of Scripture, but then they were to be aware of the New Testament Scriptures as well. And by the commandments of us, the apostles and the Lord and Savior. I wonder if that maybe some reference to to the gospel.
Because those gospels were written by this time, maybe not John's Gospel, but they had the word of God. And he acknowledges that what Paul wrote was the word of God. He says in verse 16 also in all of his epistles, speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable rest as they do also the other scriptures unto their own destruction. So Peter acknowledged that what Paul wrote was.
Divine inspiration, it was from heaven and we might just refer to Galatians chapter one where he says in verse 12 of Galatians chapter one, I neither received of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. So he got his revelations directly from the Lord. Different revelations, many revelations, he says and so it's heavenly truth. It's not characteristic of Kingdom truth as what Peter was teaching here.
The last days would refer here to.
The last days of Christendom, would it not? The last days of Israel too.
There are two different things.
The last days of Israel.
Is not until the establishment of the Kingdom.
But I think we're in the last days of Christendom.
Period. Now. And these scoffers.
Were occupied with materialism.
And.
Making.
Setting aside the clear teaching of the of the Word of God.
One brother put it this way, that the wish is parent to the idea.
Something like that. And so there's a connection between the moral condition of a person and what they end up embracing in their thoughts and in their teaching or in their doctrine. And so here it is, knowing this first, that there shall come in the last day scoffers walking after their own lust. It doesn't say after their own confusion or ignorance. It comes after their own loss. And so the wish.
Which is a moral side of things is parent to the idea on the.
And I won't digress any further than to say that. And so we see that when the moral condition declines, we get into a state where we put things into our heads and take up with things that is conducive to where we are in our souls. And the opposite is true for us, and we should be exercised about it. It's interesting that in Ephesians 3, just as the apostle Paul starts into that prayer at the end of the chapter.
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Where he speaks about being able to comprehend with All Saints the length and breadth and depth and height, before he goes off into that, he speaks about the foundation being.
That she being rooted and grounded up may be able to comprehend with All Saints and so on. It kind of ties into what my brother was speaking about in the open neediness to love. So the moral condition necessary to be able to take in and to hold and to value and continue on in divine truth. And the opposite is true for these ones as well. And we have that scripture. He that would do his will will know the doctor.
That's the moral condition of this heart is I want to do, I want to please the Lord, I want to do Lord's will.
So to be clear on this and I'll ask this as a question.
Is this speaking about those that have made a profession and are in the House of God that has become a great house and speaking it's the government of the House of God?
Just say that because I don't see that the world caring. Where is the promise of his coming?
Their reference point is the world, not the word of God. But they still, I believe this is professing Christendom that is being spoken of because he's going to judge those that profess Christianity and he's Speaking of those that are professors.
Although I have, I mean I, I personally, you know, my, me and my siblings were brought up in a, in a.
Least nominally Christian Church.
And my brother is quite familiar with the teaching of the second coming of Christ. He's not saved, but he mocks that notion as his sons did, because when his sons would talk to my brother's son, my brother being saved.
I remember what they said, if you're not one of those, Jesus is coming again, people are you, you know, so there was a a mocking and I just say that, but it is. But you could say they were in that.
In the Great house, even if not.
Personally, professors just the So a person in Matthew 24.
And 4:48 it says but, but, And if the evil servant shall say in his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming.
That's an answer, isn't it? So what? What is it that that the Lord, that the Spirit of God is constantly putting before us? The Virgin's waking up, occupying till the Lord comes, is constantly laying upon our heart that desire to be looking for His coming, to be occupied with His coming. And this is just the opposite of that, isn't it?
The interesting.
Little picture in the Old Testament.
If you think of mocking, and I'm sure there's a number of places, but the one that stands out in your mind probably would be.
The children, children mocking Elijah and what did they say? Go up that bald head, go up. Great. And they were from, let's tell, the House of God. So it was the children that were from the House of God that were the mockers. And what's remarkable is they come under judgment.
And what's the next thing that Elijah does? He comes to Jericho, picture of the world under the curse, and he brings blessing.
And the faithless House of God is going to come under judgment. But this world.
Is going to eventually come under blessing by the Lord, but the the faithless House of God is going to go on as far as this world and responsibility is concerned. It's going to go on into judgment without recovery.
Unless we see that as, as Bill mentioned in his address today, I think it was, unless we see that the House of God has become the great house and that it is inhabited with those that are merely professors through baptism or church affiliation or.
Just check out the box on the job application on a Christian. Unless we see that much of the scripture in Matthew and in other places in the New Testament is going to be confusing to us.
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Because we can get into the mindset that there's the body of Christ and then there's like everybody else.
But the scriptures look upon it, they look upon all that profess His name as being in the house. And that's why you can have such scriptures. Why? Why in Revelation chapter two and three, for example, to move beyond Matthew 24, Do you have the Lord presenting his own coming as a thief?
Because doctrinally everybody in the room will say, well, the Lord never comes to his to his beloved Saints as a thief in the night. He comes as the heavenly bridegroom to catch us up. And it's something we look forward to. Well, he says it to the to the house, so to speak, because it includes profession. And that's and and people stumble over what do you what's an unfaithful servant or was the wise and the unwise and and they get kind of puzzled about this and it it clears it up.
When you see that that's that's the scope that the Spirit of God professes and we're part of that House Bill brought that out today. We need to be humbled by what has entered in in the condition of things in that house. We're all part of it and I was struck and I I mentioned this before I'm at the age where I repeat myself anyway, but but I was listening to A to a reading meeting and Chuck Hendricks was was made or maybe somebody asked him this question.
Well, will it, will the church be here for the tribulations? And you know, if we had a quiz and we handed it out there, but in here, everybody would 100% say no. And he said yes and no. And I thought, wow, this is going to be interesting. I'm driving along this and this and what you know what he meant now, right? He meant that the truth, every true believer part of the body of Christ here on is going to be caught up at the first resurrection before then kept out of that hour.
But Christendom itself is is going to go on is going to continue on into that what we know as the as the 70th week of diamond until it's judged at around the the middle of the week. So it's good for us to bear that in mind that we would be humble. As you know, I sit sometimes at home and I read through the protest, the prophets and I say to myself, how could they not have been impacted by this?
I mean, the Lord's assessment of their moral condition was scathing, scathing, and he just lets them have it. And I say to myself, and and then he holds out, of course, the encouragement for the overcomers, so to speak in that day. And I say, well, am I doing the same thing? So I can just sit here, as I think Steven mentioned with like a duck with the water coming off my back and and not allow the word of God to to.
Back to the to Christians, to me as part of Christendom.
And can I do the same thing? I can't. And I can just let stuff go by and just kind of grab onto the sweet things that I that comfort me and and I ought to let it get into my conscience too and be exercised about the condition of things that I'm part of and walk humbly and walk softly and, and seek to honor the Lord until he does come for me. I think that was a good answer when he said, will the church be here for the tribulation? And he said.
And no, we cannot believe we cannot leave the great house family with no and as you say, it actually will go on the Kingdom of the heavens will go on after the rapture believe so that's correct at that point you make Bruce I think is very important though, because.
In the first place, we ought to be exercised and humbled by the condition of Christendom, and secondly, God often gives a warning to a mere professor about coming judgment, but intending to warn us about our state. For example, and I name only one example, there are quite a few. At the end of Philippians 3, we read about those whose God is their belly, who mind earthly things, and in the end it says whose end is destruction.
As a believer, am I entitled to dismiss that and say, well, that's clearly talking about an unbeliever so I don't have to worry about it? No, there's a warning for you and me, isn't there? Because my God can be my belly even as a true believer and I can mind her earthly things even as a true believer. And so as you say, we need to be warned by it, not to slap it up. And if if these false teachers who aren't real.
00:40:08
Scoff at the return of Christ. Is it possible?
But that same spirit can come into the hearts of real believers that we would deny his coming or push it off into the distance and say it's not a near reality. Is that possible? You know, it's possible. You you sent me y'all sent me a a little. What do you call those little mini addresses by a, a man with a lot of letters behind his name, the theologian believer. And he he he I listened to it in my hotel room 1 morning and I was it stunned me and I I was affected by it half the day.
Because no, it was good for me to hear it. It was sobering because the the questioner asked him specifically, do you believe in the Lorde coming for, for his Saints? And he just dismissed the thing like it was some little nursery rhyme, like like Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall. He just categorically just.
Stuffed it away with the back of the hand and this is this is common today.
My son and I heading out, got an Uber, Lyft to the airport and, and I got to talking with the driver. He turned out to be a Christian And after the obligatory, you know, where do you go and all that kind of thing, I'm just kind of sitting in his car. And I said, you know what I have been reading that morning? I said, where you go? Did he talk about the Lord's coming?
Is that something that you?
You know that you hear as part of your teaching where you go at your church, he says. Well, it's part of the doctrine.
But it.
As we have more conversation than that, but it was basically just kind of a dusty thing on the shelf somewhere. And so that's not mocking, but.
We need to be exercised at the hope of the Lord's coming. It's not just academic with us, but it's actually a real, a real reform theology doctrine is really a denial of the Lord's government. That's a so-called covenant. Theology is such a mixture and such a confusion.
Imprisoned them today. We can be thankful that we have the truth of God. But you say it's more serious than that though, because it says they're willingly ignorant. It's not that they're just ignorant. They're willingly agreed. And I think it's Mr. Kelly said that the spirit of air is to refuse to hear the truth and so clearly to be willingly ignorant.
You have to set aside some portion of the word of God and refuse to read it.
Refused to bow to it. And so they're willingly ignorant that by the word of God the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water. He speaks of that gap, perhaps Genesis 1 verses 1:00 and 2:00. And then in verse six he speaks of the flood world. That thing was he overflowed with water, perished. But the heavens and the earth which are now by the same word are kept in store, reserved under fire against the day of judgment by tradition of ungodly men.
And so he speaks of how God has intervened in the time past.
And we know that he's going to intervene in the future. He said one thing, he's not ignorant of this one thing that one day is with the Lord is 1000 years and 1000 years is one day. So the believer, while the world, those that are in the world, those that might profess Christianity and maybe take a leading role as those that are teachers and are willingly ignorant, the believer, the true believer is not to be ignorant of these faces. God is going to intervene in a future day.
I if I've substituted Earth, Earth is my aspiration and the Book of Revelation is is speaks multiple times about the dwellers on the earth. And even though I am a believer and whether I accept the teaching of the rapture or whether I don't, if I'm a true believer, I'm going to be caught up but to have Earth as my aspiration.
It's it's quite likely that I the truth of the rapture is it's inconvenient. It's to say the wish for Earth is parent to the idea. I'm sorry. Well, I'm just wondering what a believer is. I mean, if we if I say I believe in.
In a person.
00:45:01
But I don't believe what he said. How can I be believing in the person I This is a difficult question for me because if a person says he believes in Jesus Christ.
And the Lord said I'm coming. I'm not going to leave you or I'm coming.
And they say, well, it's a fairy tale. I just, I have, I have trouble believing they're believing. I mean, you're either a believer, you're not.
Brother brought in a, you know, a brother assembly. You know, I'm Alex Nash when he first got married and he had a neighbor who professed to be a Christian. He was a good man. Oh, but he, but he doesn't believe in the, in the rapture. He doesn't believe in the, you know, this thing and he didn't believe it. And I'm like, I, I'm sorry, but I don't you, you don't get to pick and choose what part of the package you're going to get you, you believe in the Lord or you don't. Now, I know they could be ignorant of the teachings, but if they are.
Made aware of the plain truth and they deny it. I just have a hard time with that. That they could be a truly.
Man himself is the religious by nature. And in Matthew 25 you get 10 virgins, don't you? They all look like believers. They've all made some form of profession. There were five that were real and five that were not. At the end of the day, the Lord brought in the versions. And when the other five came, what did they say? Lord, Lord, open unto us, What did He say? He said, depart from me, for I never knew you. And so there there are those that.
But.
Quite honestly, they they they feel the need for a religion and they look at believers and they see them happy in the Lord and and they go along with them, but they're not real and and and scripture has that brought out a number of times that the very fact that there's an apostate church that later will deny that Christ ever came is a is is a very is the very truth of the fact that one time they made some kind of profession.
But they never really embraced that they were sinners and that He was their Savior.
Well, there is a danger of, as Brother Joshua reminded us, that we can be influenced by the spirit of things in the world. I met recently with a brother I actually met at a meeting room and he used to be in fellowship at the Lords Table, he and his family and so on. He left some years ago and wanted to meet. I spoke with him. He no longer believes that there is a rapture. He believes the covenant theologians and that.
It's all one event and so on. It didn't matter what passage of Scripture I read to him. He had an excuse and a different interpretation and all this sort of thing. He refused. He was willingly ignorant of the fact that Christ is coming for his church. He's going to ****** his church away and then after approximately 7 years, he's going to come with his Saints that is appearing, and he will judge the Western Christian world and that which professes to be Christian but isn't in reality.
And so this is what he's Speaking of, is that appearing and that he is going to intervene and what is not real he will bring under judgment.
We.
It's probably good to remember our early brethren that the Lord used to give us many of these truths all held reform theology before the Lord recovered that truth, and they were believers. So we wouldn't want to label our brethren that do hold reformed theology as as unbelievers.
Just want to make sure that doesn't come across that way. I know that's not intended, but I want to make sure it doesn't come across that way. The other thing is.
There are many who are being swept back to reform theology because those who hold dispensational truth.
In the systems of men that do hold it, don't understand it well enough and teach it well enough that when souls are challenged as to the scriptures and as you say you have an argument preached scripture, the assumption is I never heard this.
I don't have any answers to this. This sure seems like the word of God must be everything I was taught in Sunday school was wrong. And because there isn't sound teaching on dispensational truth, souls get challenged and the assumption is I don't have an answer for this. There really isn't an answer. This really wasn't the truth and they embrace reformed theology. That's really why so many are going over it's it's it's as far as.
00:50:17
Really feeling this is the truth of Scripture. Now there are underlying moral reasons can come in, but there's not sound teaching among those who hold dispensational truth. I had a brother and the Lord at work who went to a Baptist Church. It held dispensational teaching outwardly, but there's a core of sincere, devoted believers that had gone to Reformed theology because dispensational truth was held very.
Casual loose way wasn't really taught, he felt like.
It was really not supported by the Word of God.
And so he left that one to reform theology. The second thing that attributed was attributed to him going over is he looked on those who held dispensational truth and most of the scandals, public scandals and and fundamental Christianity that have hit the headlines in the news are on the part of those who hold the rapture. He brought into me a Wall Street Journal article, threw it on my desk.
This Broadway production evangelical preacher and at the end of his stage show Wall Street Journal.
Article said he lifted off the stage, supported by strings and wires, and floated up like a Gray suited Peter Pan in an imitation of the rapture. He says that's dispensational truth. It makes a mock of the word of God. And so those who have held in an outward way dispensational teaching because of the way they've conducted themselves and the inability to communicate the truth has really contributed in a large way to this. Underneath there's a desire to have the world, to make the world a better place, to settle down here.
But those things have coalesced and come together in the day that we live in, and that's why we're seeing so many go over to reform theology. We need sound teaching. As to these things, we need sound teaching.
Certainly if it's if it's a matter of heart and I don't want to keep diverting, but.
You're a believer and you know the Lord Jesus, How could you not want to see him again? I just, I just cannot conceive of it. How could you any, any kind of doctor that had ever been presented to me. I, I've been saved a couple weeks. I do nothing about Jesus coming again. And thankfully a brother just back from Vietnam came back to be the youth leader at this place where I get saved. He started talking, still see his face.
The light shine in a cellar we call the catacombs. Where's the youth group?
And the light shining on his glasses, talking about Jesus coming again. And I'm telling you that lit a fire in me and it has carried me through.
Crooked path through this world. But I don't. I would never have kept going. I would not. I would not have kept going if it wasn't for that one thing. The Lord's coming to get one going to see him.
And that's a hard thing. Lay aside the dispensational doctrine, the teachings and everything. If a person knows the Lord, how could he not want to see him again? I just, I can't conceive with it. But we preach not ourselves. So will they substitute it for what our early brethren corrected, that they came out of that, like in John 14, when he says, I'll come again and receive you unto myself. That's the Lord coming at death, and that's when we're going to see Him. And so they don't look for the Lord's coming.
In that way they consider the Lord's coming. When I die, that's his coming and he's going to take me to be with him then. OK. And so there is an expectation to see the Lord and a love for the Lord, but extreme confusion as to what the expectation is. But what does it lead to? It leads to saying.
The Lord's coming Is that death that somewhere far away? Or when I die and sorry?
Shall we gather at the river and shall we gather it is coming. I think that him was changed. We'll look at the parable where the servant says my Lord delayeth is coming. It has a disastrous moral effect and it it and that's what the chapter starts to get into is time is about up, but in further part of the chapter.
Peter starts in the verse 11. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved with a matter of persons ought to be and all holy conversation godliness looking for in hasting under the coming of the day of God. Peter is looking beyond the rapture and beyond even the appearing into that Scripture calls the day of God, but that hope that he had of seeing the Lord.
00:55:27
They're sanctifying the fact and had a present effect on his life. My Lord delayed is coming to begin to even drink with the drunken and to beat the men's servants and and it just introduces an earthly mindedness at best and tomorrow depravity at worst. So it's necessary for us to understand the distinction between the day of the Lord, the day of Christ, the day of God.
We need to understand and appreciate those distinctions. And So what Paul is, what Peter is Speaking of here in verse 10 is the day of the Lord. And that we know begins at his appearing and goes for 1000 years. And so it's really similar to the day of Christ, isn't it? Is the day of Christ is that his coming and his display of his glory? And he'll display not only his own glory, but he'll have his bride with him and her glory and then all of the Saints really.
The glory of the Saints will be displayed alongside himself, but we need to know these distinctions. He's not Speaking of the same day. And so the day of the Lord begins at his appearance. He's going to come and he's going to come as a thief. And when it mentions his coming as a thief, he comes in judgment. So he's not going to come in judgment. When he comes at the rapture, he's going to, it's a secret coming. And I might just say what Brother Steve mentioned is that when the truth was recovered, our brethren who really recovered the truth of dispensational truth, they suffered persecution.
Severe persecution and ridicule from those that continue to hold covenantal theology. And so I believe that even right now, at the end of the age, right in the last hours of the day of grace, as we hold the coming of the Lord, the Rapture, and we value those scriptures that teach it, we need to begin to be ridiculed for it. And we may suffer some approach for holding that truth.
Always I make a small comment here. Sorry, no, no, go ahead. Well, just on.
Roberts definition of a daze. It might be confusing to somewhere It says in verse 10 the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in the which the heavens shall pass away and so on. And then it says in verse 12 The day of God were in the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved.
That's what I was going to ask about, son. He ain't going to hear what you have to say. Well, the Darby corrects that in a nice way.
Reading verse 12 as looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved. The day of God can't be ushered in until there are new heavens and a new earth.
But it really happens at the end of the day of God, not correction in the end of the day of the Lord.
Not actually in the day of God. Is that correct? Yes, so, so to to the the day of the Lord is his judgment, the day of Christ is his millennial reign, and the day of God is the eternal state. Yes, good to see that those are distinct things. But the Millennium is still part of the day of the Lord. The day of Christ has more to do, as Robert brought out with the revelation of Christ and his pride. It brings you and me in.
But the day of the Lord really includes judgments that set up the Millennium, the whole of the millennial day, and then the judgments at the end, the in between night and end is 1000 years, isn't there? So when you when you look at that, it's it's 1000 years between night and in and in that thousand years is the millennial reign. And then it's after that that then you have this happen.
In the which the heaven shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up. That's a whole new thing. Everything that was identified with a fallen creation is destroyed, and a whole new thing is developed. So it's after that seeing then, that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of person ought ye to be?
01:00:08
And all holy conversation and godliness looking for and hasting on to the coming of the Day of God.
That's the eternal state. So at the end when everything is burnt up and everything is new, that brings in the eternal state. That's the day of God. So the day of Christ isn't developed here there, but there's but there's a dash and there's 1000 years that's not talked about. And so it's you know, we need to see that that's going on there. There's not going to be a fervent fire that's going to happen during the Millennium.
That happens at the end of the Millennium, after judgment comes. So it's just good to see that there's actually a a terrible rebellion at the end of the Millennium, isn't it? Satan is going to come forth with the reception and large numbers will follow him.
And then God comes out in judgment upon him, that whole, that whole rebellion, that Satan.
Means well our time is up. But I just mentioned the other scripture that mentions the eternal state. Its first Corinthians 15 verse 24, really down to verse 28 so.
We don't have time to really read it and develop it, but that is the other scripture. I think there's only the three scriptures. What we read in Revelation chapter 21 verses 1:00 to 8:00, what we read of in first Peter here or second Peter, and then what we read in First Corinthians chapter 15, verses 24 down to 28. And he brings in the internal state and the condition of things.
Even so, come Lord Jesus, it's our hope.
Could we sing #168?
This is an hour and a half meeting. We couldn't get there. Anybody who would like to go? Maybe just best.
Did you say 168? One, six, eight? Yes.
No.
Rejoicing Israeli rings and joyrides and your Lord.
For some freaking love.
They say.
01:05:29
It's a pain.
So much.
My fellow swing, breathing in the land with shining.
To be home.
Ourselves.
Our God and Father, we are so thankful for this many meetings we've been able to have this weekend and.
Thank you for this one this evening and this truth that has been before us and.
Perhaps we recognize that there's a danger even.
Though we may hold the doctrine of our Lord's return that.
You may not treat it with the importance that it deserves. And so we just asked for help as we go out from here, that we would have this before us and that it would have the needed effects on our daily lives that it ought to this truth. And so we just asked this and thank you.
In the name of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Hebrews 12:1-6
Sing