Address—E. Wakefield
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I'd like to bring before us this afternoon with the Lords help 7 scriptures in which we find the word house or houses and the word of God. Each one of them I believe will bring some truth before us in connection with our Christian lives and I like to start off with a well known one on the 12Th of Exodus because this brings before us in Exodus 12 The subject of redemption.
How wonderful it is to be able to talk about redemption. And so on the 12Th of Exodus, just to read two or three verses, and the third verse, Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel sane on the 10th day of this month. They shall take to them every man a lamb according to the House of their fathers.
A lamb for an house, and if the house will be too little for the land.
Him and his neighbor next unto his house. Take it according to the number of the souls. Every man according to his eating, shall make your account for the lamb.
Your lamb shall be without blemish. A male of the first year should take it out from the sheep or from the goats. You shall keep it up until the 14th day of the same month and the whole assembly of the Congregation of Israel.
Shall kill it in the evening.
Then we read down in the.
12Th verse For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the first born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment. I am the Lord, and the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where you are, And when I see the blood.
I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, and I smite the land of Egypt.
Now here we find God's people in the land of Egypt, which is a picture of this world. Here we find them God's people who are now going to be brought into a place of redemption through the blood of the slain lamb. And we know this in verse end of verse three we have a lamb. Verse five, we have your lamb and.
In verse four, rather, we have the Lamb, and in verse five, your Lamb. Now I'm sure we'll all notice before.
This corresponds exactly with our blessed Lord Jesus, because when the angels came out of heaven, they said to the shepherds, under you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which corresponds exactly to a lamb. Then we find in the fourth of John the woman's of the well said is not this.
The Christ, the Savior of the world. This corresponds to the Lamb.
Then in the first chapter of Luke, Mary said, my spirit has rejoice and God my Savior, this brings before us the subject of your lamb. And so I believe that this lamb would bring before us the Lord Jesus. And so is a beginning in connection with houses. How nice it is to be under the shelter of the blood of the lamb, to know that we're under the shelter of that precious blood.
And God said to the to the children of Israel, when I see the blood.
I will Passover you how wonderful it is today to be able to start our little meeting the talking about the Lamb of God and the blood of Christ. I like just to point out here it says in the fourth verse if the household be too little for the lamb doesn't say if the lamb be too little for the household. There's no such a thing in Scripture. We believe whether the house is a large number of children, the father and the mother.
There's five children or ten children, while the lamb was sufficient for every household. If the household be too little for the lamb, why the lamb was sufficient for everybody. The lamb could satisfy everybody. Isn't this a wonderful thing? You know in the world the devil has got to change his programs all the time. He can't keep the same program all the time. If we were to turn black the clock to the apostle.
Day and say to young people now we're going to offer you the same entertainment as they they had in the apostles. Day Well, they'd laugh us to scorn. They'd say these things, these old-fashioned ideas. Even if we took the clock back to 1925, the entertainments of 40 years ago wouldn't satisfy the people today. But isn't it wonderful that while the devil must change this program every 10 years?
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God never changes his program.
The same object that satisfied the heart of the beloved Apostle Paul way back and in the year probably 35AD satisfies the people's hearts of 1968. This is a wonderful thing. It's the same lamb, the same very lamb. So we begin with our first house. We have a house, you and I, by the grace of God, that were under the shelter of the precious blood of Christ.
We know there's no judgment for us all. We said last night, beloved, do we recognize this wonderful truth that God has given to us? Think of the many dear Christians. So they, some of them are really earnest, some of them are really earnest Christians. We must, we must thank God for every one of them, every member of the body of Christ. But think of the many dear Christians, if you were to say to them, and are you saved for eternity?
They would say to us, we believe that Jesus died for us. We know he loves us.
But as to say I'm saved for eternity, I wouldn't dare say that I wouldn't presume that. Just imagine the truth that God has given us, that we know, beloved, that the sin question has settled, that we're safe under the shelter of the blood of Christ. And isn't it nice to think that God's purpose is blessing to all our families? Isn't it nice to think that God doesn't just mean to save the Father and the Mother and allow the children to go away?
And go to hell, but it's God purpose to bring all the household into blessing. And so this is our first house and I like to read them before we turn on to the 30th verse. I think this is a very, very precious verse. And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians and there was a great cry in Egypt for there was not a house where there was not one that.
House that night had death in it, either a dead boy, a dead girl, or a dead lamb. Just imagine there wasn't any house in Egypt. And you and I, as Christians, while by the grace of God we know that as far as eternal death is concerned, we will never perish, we know that each one of us are associated with death, the death of Christ, the death of the Lamb of God. Well, this is a very wonderful thing. Now the next thing.
I like to turn in connection with the houses Deuteronomy chapter 6 where we have them. I believe the Word of God brought before us Deuteronomy chapter 6 and verse 6.
And these words which I command thee this day shall be first of all.
In thine heart. Well, we wouldn't be saved if these words weren't in our heart. If they were just in our heads, we wouldn't belong to the Lord. Thank God that the Scriptures not only are in our heads, beloved, but the Scriptures have sank down into our hearts. They shall be in thine heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto Thy children. How wonderful.
And shall talk of them when thou citizen thine house.
And when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up, and thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontless between thine eyes, and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house and on thy gates. I believe there's 10 things said there in connection with these words of God. How important they are, that our children now we know.
And are those we were older, have said even recently how awful to be young again and to have young children. What would we do with young children today who are growing up in such an atmosphere, such a world as we're in today? Well, as we said last night, that there's the same God there, the same God that our grandfathers and our fathers had in the same God that we were parents have got today.
These young married couples today in this room, they have got the same God and the same power.
While power we know among the Christians is diminished and many of us we feel in our souls maybe the lack of this power, the power is still with him. The power is not lessened. And even though we live in a day and where everything is declining, and when the enemy is coming in like a flood, we have the living Word of the living God.
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Oh, it's attack, beloved. It's attacked. We know on on great wars are fought.
The efforts of the enemy is always to attack, as a rule a strong point to get rid of the strong point.
And the devil does this he attacks the strong point. People say, well, the Bibles are right on Sunday. It's a good book on Sunday morning or Sunday night. Good to have the Bible on the Lords day. But oh, during the week we don't want the Bible. But this these verses teach us isn't it nice but our hearts, but our children talking in the daytime, talking at night, talking when we're sitting down in our homes when we're.
Night when we rise up in the morning and on our doors on the frontlets of our homes to have it stamped with the precious word of God. Some of us know about Mr. McKay and McAdam. When you get that old man drunkard as he was a few years ago and now in his home he has scriptures on the front window, on the front door stamp in his home out as a house that belongs to the God of heaven, the precious Word.
There it is. He, I don't know whether he ever read these verses or not. Maybe somebody told him about them, but he's obeyed these verses. He has these verses on his front. You know, sometimes in the problems to Quebec and we go down the street and we see a crosses and windows or some something to do with the great Church of Rome. These people are not ashamed of to put the cross or some emblem of Romanism on their windows or their doors. How wonderful.
Word of the living God, a place upon our doors and our frontlets, on our windows, on our hearts.
And before our eyes, the precious word of God to lead us and to guide us, or the Bible is the most up-to-date book in the whole world. Why there's no book like it in the whole world. Here we have the whole picture in within the covers of this book, all the great mysteries that the great presidents, the great kings, the great Queens of this world, the great prime ministers are baffled. They don't know what to do. They don't know where to turn. The whole world is.
Here we are, just a few Christians with a book in our hand that has the whole wisdom of the living God between its pages. It tell us of every circumstance in our life. There's no problem we have to face. It's not found written within the covers of this book. What a wonderful book this is. It's a living book. So a book that has life and so on. And the 2nd house, we believe we have the word of God, the word of God in our homes.
What a what a treasure this young boys and girls here. We were speaking to a group the other day of young people. I wish we said to these young people, you know, we live in a day when the word of God is scoffed at and mocked at even people, young brothers, children are coming to me and said, Mr. Wakefield, you believe all the Bible. Don't you think that maybe some of us not true.
Or behind such words.
Is the serpent's hiss the serpent's hiss. The Bible is true from beginning to end, the word of God. And so we we told these young people, one of the things today we have with young people is that they look upon the older people as old fogies. This is one of the expressions of this modern 20th century. You see, we're taught in the schools when you're going to get a job and you go into an office and the man says to you, well, well, how old are?
You say I'm 45 now, 45 as a young man, really. But they say, oh, you're too old. We don't want old foggies like you. You're too old to get a job now. Well, the whole world has changed. So it's a young man's world. This is a young man's world. But you know, in the school of God is not like that in the school of God. God doesn't run his principles when a young man's world.
God, I believe, would put the responsibility of the House of God into the hands of experience of men who have gone on with God, with men who have a knowledge of the Scriptures. Just the opposite principles to this poor world. So how important it is young.
I speak now to those who were younger to speak with respect to your appearance.
We have no respect for parents. They call it the old man and the old lady, the old woman, and so on. All these things are of the devil. I really believe instead of the devil to refer to our beloved father, our beloved mother is the old lady and the old woman. This is of the devil. How nice it is to respect our parents and to say this is my father, this is my mother. Like the story I heard of the young man who?
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Away from college and he was called to the front and everybody clapped with all the marks he got.
And he called out of the audience his mother, and he brought her to the front of the room, and he put his hand on her and said, here's the woman whose prayers and whose love have given me this position that I have. Well, wasn't that nice? To honor his mother, to honor the father and have in the home the word of God, and to obey the word of God, to have the word of God before us. And people say, well, what is wrong with this?
And the minute we hear that, we know that behind that question.
Is the sneering enemy of our souls Satan? Satan always said, what's wrong with this? What is wrong with doing this? What is wrong with doing that? But the Bible says thus saith the Lord definitely. And so the Word of God answers every question and every problem in our assembly life.
And our home life and our business life and our school life and our private lives. The Bible, the word of God has every answer in this 20th century. Well, the next thing we have, the next toast is in Daniel 6. And here we have connected with the word of God is is prayer.
Now, and let's look in Daniel 6.
And the tenth verse.
Now when the king knew, no, now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem. He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God.
As he did a four time well, the house here of Daniel is linked with prayer. All beloved, I speak for myself as my house.
A place of prayer is your host a place of prayer the enemy is very cleverly as we mentioned the other day, I think it was here and he's very cleverly today got man to reason. People have said to me well, when we pray we must remember that we're praying to a God who knows our prayers before we make them. So when we kneel down before our bed to pray for something definitely why before we I enter the utter the words.
In prayer, the God of heaven knows all about it. So why pray? This is again is the hiss of the serpent, the devil who would like to keep us off of our knees. Now these young people, some of these young people are Christians here. They know the Lord Jesus. You know, even if you're just a little girl or a little boy, maybe you're just 11 or 12. I want to tell you something. When you kneel down beside your bed, that little poem comes to my mind. Satan trembles when he sees the.
A St. upon his knees, a little boy, maybe 8 years old. He kneels down to pray the world with silica. This boy here, let's see Dylan praying. Oh, but the enemy, the devil, he looks into your bedroom and sees you on your knees all he trembles when he sees that little boy, that little 6 year old or seven-year old girl on her on her knees in prayer. The devil trembles. And so Daniel. Daniel was God's man. What a wonderful.
Thing why they were against Daniel and they said of Daniel, if we find anything wrong with this man, we got to find something wrong in connection with his God. Wouldn't that be a wonderful thing if my neighbors or your neighbors could say, look at this fellow, if we want to find something wrong with him, we got to find it with his God. We can't find. He pays his bills. He's not dishonest, he doesn't tell lies, He doesn't get drunk and swear and use bad language. He hasn't got a bad temper if we want to.
Fought with him. It's got to be about his God. That's what they said about Daniel. And you know, the decree was signed. The lions den. The lions den for this man or any man that prey to any God but to the king. Now when Daniel heard this, and I believe, beloved, that the devil would say to Daniel, no, Daniel, we know you're a man of prayer, but go home and put down the blinds and pray in private. Never mind the people outside. They can't see you.
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God will see you. This is reason. That's what the devil will say. But Daniel's windows were open.
And he knew when he knelt down to pray that his life was being placed in the hands of God. And he knelt down three times a day, and he made his request before his God was as custom to pray. Oh dear young man to day. And young ladies, I want to tell you this.
That this is what the devil will do everything he can to keep you and me off our knees, off our knees if we set our alarm clocks earlier, how happy we would be if we spent time in prayer. I'd like to tell a story. Mr. Pierre Patham came to a funeral in Montreal and in the living room he told me that he had to get up at 4:30. Well, I said, brother, why 4:30? What do you what do you have to get up at 4:30? And the plane didn't leave till 7:30. Well, he said.
It took me two hours to get to the airport and he said I didn't have any time for my breakfast, but I had to pray before I came. Well, I liked that he had to pray, didn't have time for his breakfast, but he had to pray. Oh, how important this is to pray. If we leave our homes in the morning without prayer, we're beaten before we get down the front steps. Oh, how wonderful to pray. To be a man of prayer does to say I'm going to pray about this. And beloved Saints of God.
Often when we go out of the meeting.
We meet a brother who comes and says I'm praying for you and we just pass that off. We're so used to hearing that expression, I'm praying for you. But how valuable this is to think that a man is praying. If somebody came to us and said, say I'm going out of the bank, I'm going to make, I'm going to deposit $1000 to your account. Why we listen, this is important, $1000 to my account. How important this is. But when a Christian says I am praying for you, how often we just shrug.
Oh beloved, to think that a person is praying for us, or are we men and women of prayer? How much our assemblies would be blessed if a man would pray Epiface in Colossians 4 verse 12. God doesn't tell us he was a great gospel preacher. God doesn't tell us he was a wonderful orator, a marvelous teacher, the Bible. He was a man of prayer, a man of prayer.
Oh, and God calls him a servant of Christ.
Young sister, you don't preach the gospel. You can't get up on Sunday morning and give an exhortation or pray.
Well, what can you do? You can pray. This is a wonderful service to pray, to be on your knees and to pray. And how God would bless our assemblies if we were to own independence, our weakness, and pray or to pray to be a man of prayer. Your children will be blessed if you pray to get down our knees. You know, I've often told young people this. I think it bears repeating.
In school here we are maybe a class of 40 young men or young boys.
And we have maybe hard studies and there's nobody to help this boy next door. He's not, he hasn't got a Christian father, a Christian mother. He's never taught to pray. But here in this particular house, as a young lady or a young man who belongs to Christ, and as they go to college or school or university, wherever they're going, they can pray. Just imagine and say to the God who's their father, help me with this problem. Give me the answer and the.
In connection with these examination papers and into the school they go, isn't it wonderful to think that the eternal God?
The eternal God, the God who knows every subject under the sun, is able to put into that young man who has done his lessons and studied diligently in his lessons. That God up there is able to give wisdom to this man or that young lady and help them in their problems at school, in business, and when we go to buy clothes we wouldn't find after a month. Oh well, you know.
I was cheated by that man. I paid $65 and this garment is wore out already that this wouldn't happen if we prayed about it, if we spent time in prayer because God will lead us and God will guide us. And for men and women, whether we're young or old, a prayer. And so Daniel was a man of prayer. He went to the lions den and then somebody is so beautifully said.
Well, the king mourned over David, over Daniel, and spent the night restless. Why the king didn't say, well, Daniel?
I signed the paper. Let me go to the lines den and you stay out. I will go into the lines den for you. He didn't do that, did he? No, he did not. But the Lord Jesus, whose law was broken by man, he came into the world and he said, I will go into the place of judgment. I will go into the place of judgment for those who have broken my laws. Isn't that blessed? Oh, how wonderful then to be a man of prayer, to be a prayer before.
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With a definite request. And beloved, let me say this, let me say this, the Lord Jesus, I believe in connection with our prayers would have us use his name. You know, we might write a check out for $1000, but it's no good unless our signature, our name is on the check. How wonderful in prayer to send to God the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that name.
Means so much to his father's heart.
So we have in connection with this house here of Daniel, we have the subject of prayer. Now the next one, I believe in the book of Ruth would bring before us the question of decision. Ruth, chapter one. This is about my Almighty.
And tells us in verse 7, Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her, and they went out, they went on the way to return under the land of Judah. And they always said unto her, two daughters in law, go, return each to her mother's house. What a sad thing, this poor. And Oh my, had come down from the land of Bethlehem, the land of blessing. And here she's telling these.
More like women to return to their houses. Just imagine to return to their houses, to return to a house where they would worship idols. Just imagine how far she had got away from the Lord, way off down here where she had gone to escape the famine with her husband and.
Tells us here in the ninth verse, the Lord granted that you may find rest, each of you in the House of her husband. How could they find rest? Oh dear Christians, how can we find rest?
In the House of the ungodly, how can we find rest in the homes of those who don't know Christ?
And this, this is the, this was the the advice. And they Oh my to return to the homes of their husbands, ungodly homes, homes where idols were worshipped. But she had got so far away from the Lord that she would advise and give them this bad advice. But this young girl, Ruth.
How nice it is to find in the 16th verse of our chapter. And Ruth said, And treat me not to leave thee or this girl recognized. And this woman who came from the land of God's land, the land of Bethlehem, she recognized something in this woman. And treat me not to leave thee, or to return from falling after thee, for whither thou goest, I will go.
And where the largest I will lodge. Thy people shall be my people and thy God, My God, how wonderful this is. What a decision that Ruth had to make. And I say to those who were young, you have to make a decision. You have to make a decision, the little companies.
As a brother has often has told us, sometimes, you know, as you go around and visit the different assemblies, you find trouble and sorrows, as if the enemy was just doing everything he could to wipe out under the face of the earth those who were gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus. We must make a decision.
We say and treat me not to leave thee, and treat me not to leave this. The other night a dear brother said to me, actually within that young sister who withdrew from fellowship, he said to me these wonderful words, If he said, we take our place, we may leave, We may leave the assembly if we just take our place. But he said, if we are gathered by the Spirit of God to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
By the grace of God, we will not leave, and treat me not to leave thee. Oh, the devil's trying to get us to break up, brethren. The devil's trying to smash us up. All kinds of petty questions, all kinds of difficulties Satan is bringing in. I believe this proves a reality. I've been gathered to the Lords name all the difficulties that come in through our little assembly in Montreal, all these problems and questions that are brought before.
The CARE meeting in Montreal and other places.
I believe it shows the reality that the devil is attacking wherever the devil finds a testimony for Christ.
Then his guns are turned on. That testimony, I remember, Mr. Hale once said of a young man.
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Wants to build a diesel locomotive? The devil will say fine, go ahead and build bigger and better.
The bigger and the better is fine with me. But he said if a young man or a young girl says I want to please Christ, then he said all the power of the devil will be hurled against that young Christian. How true that is. And so we need to make it a decision to say and treat me not to leave thee, for whether thou largest Iowa lodge, thy people shall be my people. Or do we say that God's people?
My people and God, the God of heaven, will be my God. You know, we live in solemn days, days of discouragement, days of discouragement, beloved. But you know, isn't it wonderful to think that we belong to the living God, the living God, when the very foundations I speak reverently of heaven seems to be, are being shaken, as it were, by the power of the devil who says that God is now dead? He's dead. He's a dead God, they say.
Oh, how wonderful to know that we belong to the living God, the living God who still hears and who still answers prayer. And the next house we like to consider as the 10th chapter of the Gospel by Luke.
The 10th of Luke and the 38th verse. Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village, and a certain woman named Martha.
Received him.
Into her house. Notice now doesn't say received him into their house, received him into her house I believe. I like to think it anyway. This was Marthas house. Mary didn't have a house but Martha had a house. She had a house and what we find she had a sister called Mary which also sat at Jesus feet and heard his word. Here we have communion.
When Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him and said, Lord, dust, thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone, Bit her therefore that she helped me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things.
But one thing is needful, and Mary had chosen that good part which shall not be taken.
Away from her. Now this is a wonderful scripture. Just a few verses. Here was a home in Bethany where Jesus often went, a home where Jesus was welcome, always Jesus welcome in our homes. Is our home marked out as a Christian home? Do the neighbors say, who are these strange people? We don't see them getting drunk. We don't see them going out to wild parties and coming home at 5:00 in the morning singing and shouting. Who are these strange?
People that Sunday morning when we're all resting and sleeping after a hard a busy week or going out with Bible cases and Bibles, and who are these strange people? Oh indeed, our blessed Lord Jesus was a stranger here and but here was a home where he was welcomed.
It was the home we believe of Martha. But you know, this home of Martha wasn't something that stepped in her way to spoil her opportunity of having company with Jesus because Mary didn't have any worries. She didn't have any troubles. The Lord said thou art careful and troubled about many things. There were many things that bothered Martha. She was a busy woman.
I suppose she wanted to make sure there was no dust in any of the furniture. Why Jesus was going to come there.
And Jesus might come at anytime. And Martha wanted to have her house ***** and span. And I believe probably that the Lord Jesus came to this house unexpectedly. And Martha wasn't ready for the Lorde arrival. And so she had to get busy. She was cumbered about many things and she missed this grand opportunity of sitting at the feet of Jesus. All how Mary said, and how she must have been, her heart must have been raptured.
Soul warmed up as she sat at the feet of Jesus. But along comes her sister and said, Lord, does not thou care? These are the very words that disciples said in the 4th chapter of Mark. Cares thou not that we perish? Have you got no care for us? And now Martha says almost the same words. Carest thou not, Lord, that my sisters left me to serve alone?
Hit her there but she come and help me in other words.
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Get it away from your feet. And this is what the devil tries to do, beloved, just doesn't he try to do this? Isn't this your experience and my experience that Satan will try his best to get you who are sisters here, cumbered about your home, your ironing and your house cleaning and your painting and your garden and your walls and your sinks? Anything to keep you away from sitting at the feet of Jesus and with we who are brethren.
Our business, the making of money, they're trying to build up a bigger organization to be more powerful. Satan presents all these things before us to keep us from sitting at the feet of Jesus. But now isn't nice to notice how much the Lord appreciated this communion between.
Marrying himself in private, all he said to her.
Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful, just one thing. Everything else had to fade away as nothing when this one thing, this one thing. This was a person who was here Jesus. He was on the way to the cross. He wouldn't be here many more days of Bethany. He was on the way to Calvary and this was one of his probably his last visits of this home. One of the last occasions when Mary.
But they're able to sit at Jesus feet and how she valued this all brethren, when can we sit at Jesus feet? Yes, I believe in our private Bible reigns. We consider Jesus feet, but also in the assembly Bible readings we can sit at the feet of Jesus. Do we value these opportunities?
Supposedly United States government suddenly said in the press, all Christians are forbidden to meet, ever meet again in a public way around the Bible. We would say, oh, how I value those meetings, but it would be too late now. But thank God we live in the country where thus far this wonderful privileges afford to us to sit at the feet of Jesus. He says one thing is needful.
Now notice Mary had chosen Here we have again the choice of Ruth had to make a decision.
Mary had to make a choice Mary could have said to the Lord and I speak reverently. Well Lord, my sister is really tired and I got to go and help her. I I'd love to sit at your feet. I I just haven't got time but she had to make a choice and the Lord commended her choice and I believe the Lord commends our choice when we put Christ 1St and it says Mary had chosen. Notice that good part. The one thing she chose was a good.
The one thing is linked up with a good part now is what the rest of the verse says, which shall not be taken away from her. Isn't that wonderful? When we get to glory, we're going to meet Mary, I'm sure of that. We're going to meet Mary of Bethany and I believe we'll be able to say to her, Mary, what about it? What about that day when you sat at Jesus feet? She'll say, I'll never forget it, I've never lost it. He told me in the presence of my sister, that good part.
Shall not be taken away from her and it's still mine. I still enjoy what Jesus told me back there in old Bethany in that little house I used to live in with my sister Martha. I'm still enjoying what Jesus said. Isn't that beautiful? Isn't that wonderful to find this? And I believe if we sit down with our Bibles and the Spirit of God gives you a truth and gives me a truth, some little gem that we enjoy. I remember a little gem.
Gave me just just a few days ago in connection with the 15th chapter of Luke. You know what it says the prodigal was a great way off. It doesn't tell us he was 50 miles away from home, or 100 miles or 75 miles. It was a great way off. In other words, God didn't measure the distance. He didn't measure the distance the prodigal was away. But in the 24th of Luke, when the two disciples left Jerusalem and went down to Emmaus, God.
The distance he says from Jerusalem about 3 score furlongs in the case of these disciples, these believers, God measures the distance and when we get away from the Lord and backslide as Christ speak of now to born again Christians, God measures the distance that young brother.
God knows this old brother here, when we get away, God measures the distance, how far we got away from them, and you know the arm will stretch out. Beloved, if we really belong to Christ, the arm will stretch out. Someday that mighty arm will stretch out. And the truth of Psalm 23 will be fulfilled to the letter. He restoreth my soul even on a deathbed.
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The arm will be stretched out and He will bring us back because He loves us.
And so.
Mary enjoyed, I believe to this very eternal day in which she's entered. Mary is still enjoying in her spirit until the Lord comes and she receives a new body. Mary and joy still that chameleon with Jesus at his feet in Bethany. Well, the next home and the next place we find is on the 12Th of John.
In the first verse this is a beautiful chapter. It says then Jesus.
Six days before the Passover, just six days before his death, there was just six days left. Who would have thought Jesus knew they get all connection with this, this measure in the distance of the protocol. I like to say this, I should have said this before. There's only one person who measured the distance that you and I were from God. Who was this person? He doesn't tell us in Luke 15 about the great way off. Who measured the distance all beloved, we.
Morning in the darkness, alone with God, in the darkness, with our sins laid upon his holy, precious Person, Jesus, our beloved Savior. He measured, beloved the distance He felt the weight of the wrath of God fall on his sinless head. And alone with God in the darkness, eternal glory to His fearless name.
Jesus measured the distance you and I.
Were away from God, but here now it says six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, his last call at this little home, Bethany here he was the Son of God coming here, the cross before him six days away. He knew all about it. Just think of it. He knew all about it, the sufferings, the agony of that cruel, cruel cross. And there he comes, not to Jerusalem, not.
Great castle, but He comes to Bethany, this little humble home of Mary and Martha. And Lazarus now tells us where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead, what Joy had brought into this home. He had given back this dear brother who had been called by death.
Jesus had given them back to his sisters, and above all that he'd even wept with them. Just imagine.
Thing is such a picture, the living Christ, the eternal Son of God, the Prince of life, with all power, knowing that in a few minutes Lazarus would be alive. In Chapter 11, Jesus weeps. The tears run down his face as he sees that his friend is dead, and he sees, I believe, the results of sin and sorrow, and sees Mary and Martha weeping. Jesus mingles his tears.
To fulfill the very Scriptures which he is the God of the very word of himself weep with them that weep and Jesus mingles his tears of those beloved sister. But here he is now and Lazarus alive in the second verse you'll notice there they oh how wonderful. And it doesn't say there Martha made him a supper doesn't say Mary made him a supper, but there they I believe that Mary and Martha and Lazarus were together.
Mind here. There they made him together in unity and fellowship together. There they made him a supper, and Martha served. But Lazarus is one of them that sat at the table with him. What a wonderful picture this is, a risen man sitting at the table with Jesus, who raised him from the bed. There they are, and how wonderful this is a picture of you and me.
And all the sense of God, those who pass through death and who were raised up, sitting with Jesus, looking at his blessed face and saying there's the one who raised me from the dead. And there was Lazarus. But it says in the third verse, then took Mary a pound of ointment, a spikenard, very costly. Notice God doesn't tell us what it was worth. He doesn't say, and I speak reverently, 30 pieces of silver. It doesn't say 300.
But he says it was very costly. Who could tell the value of this ointment? Who could tell it? Could Lazarus tell it? Could Mary tell it herself? Could Martha tell it? No. This was a value that God placed on this worship. This is this is the home of worship.
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Very costly and anointed the feet of Jesus.
And wiped his feet with her hair. Her glory was laid her hair. The woman's glory, her hair. She laid her hair at the very feet of Jesus, Wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the order of the ointment. How beautiful.
That little home, now, that little home where Jesus often visited, was filled with the order of the ointment. And I believe the order would go out to the street and those who passed would say what a wonderful thing, what a wonderful order is coming from that little, little home, that little peasant home, as it were, in Bethany. Why, what is going on in this home? Why there's somebody at the feet of Jesus?
She has got this ointment and she paid such a price for it. Such a price she probably saved her money for a long, long time.
And at last she was able to buy this ointment and keep it specially for Jesus. You know, the blessed Lord Jesus at his tomb. Mary Magdalene was there, and we know that Peter was there and John was there, but Mary of Bethany wasn't there. Isn't this a strange thing?
Mary, who loved the Lord so much I believe we might call her the woman John of the New Testament. John, who could say I'm the disciple whom Jesus loves, Here is the counterpart. And Mary, what a love she had for the Savior. But she wasn't at his tomb. Why? Why didn't Mary go to the tomb? All she knew he wouldn't be there. She knew she had annoyed him before time.
Southern, this reminds us of those who have the privilege of breaking bread. We'll never be able to break bread in heaven. Never in the glory will we ever break bread. But, but, but down here we have to do it. Let us be like Mary. Mary had anointed the feet of Jesus before his death and before.
His burial, she had already anointed his feet and this was the worship that came up in the present. This little home in Bethany is your home, is my home, a place where Jesus is loved, where he's reverence, where he's worshipped, where our house is filled with the order of the ointment. Many homes we go into, they're filled with the order of cigarette and tobacco smoking. But all how good it is to have the order of.
Ointment, the precious ointment that poured out upon this blessed, worthy One, the Son of God.
On the last one on the 7th is in the 14th of John, and here we have another house.
Isn't it wonderful to see this last house? Let not your heart be troubled. Oh, in the 12Th chapter of the Lord Jesus, that now is my soul troubled, now is my soul trouble. But here he says, Let not your heart be troubled, my hearts troubled.
Soul is troubled, but let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also in me. Then he says the last house in my father's house isn't this wonderful. In my father's house all these houses have gone, everything has passed. All our houses are gone, but they're still the father's house. In my father's house there are many abodes or mansions if it were not so.
I would have told you, the Lord will never deceive us. Isn't this beautiful? I'll never deceive you. I would have told you if this wasn't true. I would have told you this. But I'm telling you, I go to prepare a place for you in six days or that very week, maybe five days later, or for whatever day it was, he went to the Cross of Calvary. And by his finished work on the Cross of Calvary, everything was prepared. The house was ready. It's ready now, beloved.
And in the third verse he says, And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also. Here we have the Father's house, the beloved Son of God, everything prepared. The many mansions are ready, prepared long ago for those who will share with the rejected and the despise Nazarene.
The Father's house all have blessed to be associated with one so real, so precious as Jesus. Or do we appreciate it, These seven houses, The House of redemption, the House of the Word of God, the House of prayer, the House of decision, the House of communion, the House of worship. And now.
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My Father's house, and later on in the same gospel, the Lord Jesus.
Associated you and me with that one who was my father. And John 14 when he said, I ascend unto my father, he always said that about his father, my father. But now after the cross, he adds these words. And your father, just imagine. And so it is the father's house. And soon, beloved, we will be there, and we will see him.
Whom we will adore for eternal ages.