Address—R. Boulard
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Soon with uh, hymn #9. Maybe someone can raise the tune to hymn #9.
And we just had lunch. We'll probably just sing another little him, maybe part way through so that we can stand up and refresh ourselves. Meanwhile, let's just have a word of prayer together.
I would like to turn to Ephesians chapter 5 and justice read from.
Verse 20 and read a few verses there. Are there perhaps 7 relationships that are mentioned and some instruction given for each one of those relationships. And if we have the time, maybe we'll comment a little bit on each one. If we don't have the time, then we'll comment on the ones that we have time to comment on.
Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 20 giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father.
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting yourselves 1 to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church.
And he is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be unto their own husbands and everything.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, that he might present it to himself. A glorious church.
00:05:06
Not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish, so ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it.
Even as the Lord, the Church, for we are members of his body, of his flesh.
And of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh.
This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ in the Church. Nevertheless, let everyone of you in particular so love his wife even as himself.
And the wife see that she reverence her husband. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honour thy father and mother, which is the first commandment, with promise, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wroth, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Servants, be obedient unto them that are your masters, according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart as unto Christ.
Not with I service as men pleasers, but as the servants of Christ.
Doing the will of God from the heart with goodwill, doing service as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatsoever good thing a man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And ye masters do the same things unto them, forbearing, threatening, knowing that your Master also is in heaven, neither is their respective persons with him. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, in the power of his might.
I'd like to stop there and comment first of all, as to the, in a broad sense in connection with this passage. God, uh, presents to us the ideal in these, uh, relationships in life. And they are God ordained. And so God has, uh, in his wisdom and in his kindness, uh, formed relationships, given us relationships. And here he speaks of, uh, the marriage relationship 1St. And it was for the blessing of man and that there might be a picture of Christ and his church.
And it wasn't known in the Old Testament scriptures, so their wives were treated in a bit of a different way, and the wives had different.
A kind of response and, umm, relationship to their husbands and in New Testament times, but the cover comes off in the New Testament and umm, Paul, part of Paul's doctrine is to reveal that a husband and a wife living together and having established a home, it's a picture of Christ in the church and the blessing that flows forth from that sphere of responsibility that they have taken, undertaken and voluntarily entered into. And, uh, we trust for the glory of God, why he desires that there would be a high standard in that home.
And there would be something of a reflection of the glory of Christ in the home, in the assembly.
In the workplace, all the spheres of responsibility that we might find ourselves in.
And so he gives the ideals in this little portion of Scripture that we've read. Well, I began with the verse 20 here because it says giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is one of the things that should characterize us in these last days. It should be thankfulness. But you know what it says in Second Timothy chapter 3? That one of the things that would characterize the last days. I think it's the seventh thing that's in that list.
His unthankfulness. But that's not what's to characterize us. We're to be thankful for what God has instituted for our blessing.
We're to be thankful for one another and we're to have that spirit of Thanksgiving continually. And so that verse was read so appropriately this morning. Rejoice always and pray without ceasing. Oh, we ought to be a thankful people. We have much to be thankful for. And then he begins here. And really the subject in connection with these different relationships is submission. And, uh, the world isn't characterized by submission. We know it's characterized by rebellion.
Rebellion against God and the fallen nature that you have and that I have. It rejoices to rebel and to break away from authority.
But in the grace and the kindness of God, he's restrained us and uh, we're constrained by the love of Christ to follow a man that loved us and gave himself for us. And so we desire with our hearts to serve the Lord. It says here in the just at the end of uh, verse six, chapter 6 and verse 6, as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart. And so these relationships are entered into and the Lord Jesus would desire.
That we would enter into them with a heart for himself. And so the very first, uh, submission here, the instruction is to the wives. And it says, wives, submit yourselves on your own husbands. And so you know, each, each one of these instructions, there's umm, the wiser instructed before the husbands and then the children before the parents, and then, umm, the servants before the masters in chapter 6 and verse nine. And the reason is because the subject is submission. And so he presents a glorious picture.
00:10:30
Of how the church is subject to Christ in verse 24, chapter 5, verse 24. Therefore, as the church is subject on the Christ, we don't see the church subject to Christ at the present time. There's rebellion and there's all kinds of denominations and all kinds of self will that man, even believers have imposed upon what we see as a display outwardly of what the church is. But oh how the Lord, he looks down into your heart, my heart, and he says, you know that brother, that sister, a part of the member of the members of the body of Christ, a part of that church, why they want to be subject.
To me, they want to be subject, they want to enjoy that relationship that they have with me.
And all they want to be subject. And so he gives this instruction to the wives. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as unto the Lord. A very high standard. And I think it's a wonderful thing to umm, as we discussed there, just to have these different relationships before us, to think of the relationship of a wife to a husband. It's a very precious thing. And I'm just going to turn to umm, second Samuel chapter.
Umm, I think it's chapter 12.
Second Samuel, chapter 12 and.
Let's just read from verse 1 to get the connection. And the Lord sent Nathan unto David, and he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city, one rich and the other poor.
The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing saved one little. Oh, and this is the third verse that I'm really thinking of. The poor man had nothing save 1 little oh lamb, which he had brought, bought, and nourished up, and it grew up together with him and with his children. It did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveler under the rich man he spared to take of his own flock and his own herd to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him. But he took the poor man's lamb and dressed it.
For the man that was to come was come to him. Well, we have a little picture there of the tenderness perhaps of the relationship, the marriage relationship and how the man valued his, uh, wife and how someone else came. And there was that bond was broken. But here it's speaking to the wives in connection with their submission. And the husband is the head of the wife in a place of responsibility. And it says Christ is the head.
Of the church, the Savior of the body. And so she is given a very precious privilege to be.
Uh, umm, because I can put it this way. A compliment. Let's just turn to Genesis chapter 2 just to form these thoughts. Genesis chapter 2.
And, umm.
Verse 21.
Well, let's read verse 20. Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found in help meet for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept.
And he took one of his ribs and closed up his flesh thereof, and the rib which God, the Lord God, had taken from man, he made he a woman.
And brought her under the man. And so this, uh, wife, there's wives here and this, uh, little hall. And, uh, I like to think when I got married in, uh, on May the 2nd, 1981, that the Lord, as I saw my bride walking down the aisle, I thought to myself, the Lord has formed a beautiful young lady and, umm, trained her up in a special way and suited her, formed her when I wasn't even aware of it.
And, umm.
He formed her just to be a helpmeet, a suitable meat, a suitable one that would be a compliment to me.
And she voluntarily entered into the marriage relationship and she desired to respond to my love and umm.
Here it says that she submits herself to her own husband as unto the Lord. And so the marriage relationship in connection with a wife, connection with a husband, is characterized in the ideal that there's one that takes the lead and it is the husband, but he has the good of his wife in view and so they go on together. You know, Brother Gordon Hale told a story once of Umm, a Chinese umm missionary. His name was Umm, Mr. Becker, and he had Umm.
00:15:29
Carried on some a gospel work in in China and he had gospel meetings and so on and one day a woman got saved out of the idolatry in that country and she got saved and she they had some helpers speak to her and told her that she should really go and speak to her husband and that she should tell him that she got saved. Oh she says I can't do that he'll kill me if he finds out that I'm a Christian and so she's they said well can we ask you some questions. Mr. Becker spoke her to her and he said.
Umm, who, uh, gets the breakfast at your house? Uh, do you fix your breakfast, uh, breakfast for your husband? He said she says, Oh no, he gets his own breakfast. Uh, I don't do that for him. Well, he said, you know, umm, if you can't tell your husband that you're saved, win him without that confession and win him with the word in, umm, in connection, without the word in connection with your conversation, your manner of life. And so when he gets up tomorrow morning, you fix him his favorite breakfast. So she got up, she fixed him his favorite breakfast.
And then, umm, she did that for a few days and umm, then he says, uh, to her, umm, I just finished the story. It says, uh, he wanted to umm, umm, he wanted to do some things. He Li he liked to go places. And Mr. Becker said, uh, do you always go where your husband would like you to go? Do you go with them and share his company? And she said, no, I guess I'm a little bit selfish. I don't go where he wants to go. I just like to do my own thing. And umm.
Then you know.
He said, you just go and be with them and desire to go where he goes. And uh, she said, he said to him, uh, to her as well. He said, umm, do you uh, cook your, your husband's favorite meals when he comes home at night? Does he have a good meal? And uh, she said, well, no, I only cook what I like. He said, well, when you get home, you cook the meals that he likes. Don't tell him that you're safe, but you just do those things. So after a couple of days, this uh, woman, umm, her husband came to her, said, what has happened to you?
And she said, well, I can't tell you. You won't like it if I tell you what happened to me. And umm, so he's she kept, kept on doing this. And a couple of days later he begged her, he pleaded with her to tell her what the change was.
Well, Mr. Becker said that this man got saved and two weeks went by, he got saved and got baptized and there was a Christian home. Instead of a miserable, unhappy existence, there was a Christian home. And so here you have the little picture here of Christ and the church given. It's really verse 32, This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ in the church. And so the very first thing that we have in these relationships that are brought out before us in connection with submission is that the sister in this marriage relationship, and it really supposes a Christian relationship, a Christian marriage.
That the sister is submissive and not in any way inferior to her husband, but, uh, she's morally and spiritually compatible to him. And, umm, perhaps physically. And she's intellectual. She's, uh, intelligent and she's able to share some of the things that he enters into and, umm, but she doesn't take the lead. And it says in all things, and I just say this, uh, at this point is that many of our brethren are unemployed.
And we perhaps don't recognize how serious a thing it is for dear brothers who don't have work. And they feel that very keenly. And, uh, they long for the support of their wives. They long for the encouragement of their wives and for their wives to allow them to still take the lead and, umm, not to try to usurp that place of leadership. And I just say to us each one that we ought to encourage those dear ones that find themselves without work.
And you know, we find this instruction given, it's good for the last days because we live in electronic age. We live in an age when men and women are both in the workforce in many places. And sometimes we tend to be very independent of one another. But oh, how nice it is for us to, uh, look at this godly order and to accept it and to live in the good of it. It's for the blessing to be, to make for a happy home. Well, then it says in verse 25, husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church.
00:20:01
And gave himself for it. Well, the woman is instructed in verse 22 in connection with submission because that's probably, that's likely a place where she may fail. And, uh, the man is likely to fail in connection with love. And so this is a love that decided at the time that, uh, they marry. It's, uh, I understand it's agape love and it's a love that's decided to decided disposition that I'm going to love this woman no matter what happens.
And umm, so this is given to the husbands. They're likely to fail in connection with love. And so he says, husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. So the husband's love is an unselfish love. It's a love that gives and gives and gives and gives.
Unselfishness, you know, Mr. Hale used to say this to us and sometimes said it at weddings. When he spoke at weddings, he would say that, uh, to have a happy marriage, you have to.
Have a wife that's or husband that's 100% for his wife, a wife that's 100% for the Lord for her husband and both of them 100% for the Lord and that that makes for a happy.
Happy wedding day and a happy life together. And so the husband is characterized, ought to be characterized not by selfishness, not by wanting his own will, but looking after the needs of his wife. And so this is really something that the world abuses and the marriage relationship and dishonors. You know, it says in umm, Hebrews chapter 13, Mr. Darby's translation, it says, I think it's, uh, I'm not gonna be able to quote it right here, so let me read it.
It says Hebrews 13 and verse 4. I'm going to read it the way it says it in Mr. Darby's translation. He says marriage is honorable in all and the bed undefiled. Mr. Darby translates it this way. Let marriage be held every way in honor. Isn't that nice? Let marriage be held every way in honor. And this world doesn't honor marriage. It dishonors marriage. It speaks against it. It's undermining every institution that God has instituted for the blessing of man is being undermined by this world.
But the Christian ought to go on in a character of love for his wife, while you say.
That's kind of a broad statement. Husbands love your wives.
I just want to give you a little couple of little illustrations. It doesn't doesn't need to be.
A great display of affection. It's good if there's a good display of affection between a husband and a wife. But you know, I was, uh, in Richmond, BC when the South Koreans, some of our South Korean brethren came to BC and they visited with the brethren in Richmond and there was a, a brother Shin and his wife there and, umm, brother Wayne and, uh, Kasha, they were staying at Wayne's place. And uh, they went to give thanks for one of the meals and, uh, he reached over and he put his hand on top of hers.
And he gave thanks for the meal. He said, Amen. And then there was a big buzz of conversation between the husband and the wife. And finally Wayne said, what's the what's the problem? He says, do you have a scripture, brother that tells us that we should have hold hands when we pray?
And, but this was just a little display of affection between a husband and a wife that they hadn't seen and that they didn't notice before. Then he was backing out of the driveway in the van and umm, he needed to see in his rear view mirror or his side mirror. And he just gently put his hand upon his wife and, and she knew instinctively to move back and let him see in the mirror. And, uh, so there was another big buzz of conversation in the back of the van about what took place and, and umm.
They said Wayne asked them to explain what the big buzz of conversation was, and he said, well, in Korea we would have just put the hand out and we would have, uh, just got her out of the way. Well, you know, isn't it nice for husbands and wives to treat one another with dignity, with respect, with love, with affection, in those kind little ways Christ loved? The church says he gave himself for it. What is there that Christ hasn't done for your blessing? What is it? Is there any kindness that he is?
Withheld from you has he dealt with you in every way in love and respect and kindness? Oh, he has in every way. And uh oh, how he desires that we would show love and respect one to another. Well, I think it's time to sing a hymn. Let's, uh, sing 169. Let's stand and sing this little hymn.
Lord, we can see by faith in the.
00:25:06
Prospect bright and failing.
Where God shall shine in light, divine in glory.
Never fading.
9508 Five, 1923.
03 I don't have no more than two minutes.
But I did not know thousand and 99 and so they tried to give my name and.
Nsnoise.
I just want to point out four things that this passage says that we ought to do for our our wives. The 1St is in verse 25. It says love your wives. And then it says about Christ he gave himself. So it's unselfishness. The first there's a love.
And then there's a an unselfishness and then in verse 29, it says, no, no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it even as the Lord, the church. And so to nourish it would be defeated to build it up to seek to have that nourishment. Perhaps Speaking of the word of God and learning the Scriptures together and having a Bible reading together and just learning more of our blessed Savior and all how God wants us to be nourished up and the things of God, not only in a physical sense. And then it says cherishes.
I think that word is so lovely. There's a value there.
You know, I'm, I don't like to say too much personally, but there's one woman that I pray for more. There's a person in the world that I pray for more than anyone else. I pray for my wife all day long. I cherish her. I value her. She's a wonderful gift from God himself. And oh how the Lord desires that we would pray for one another in that way that we would cherish one another. And so somebody here, maybe young men, young women, and you would long for that kind of relationship.
Oh, the Lord knows those desires that you have and all he wants to fulfill and to umm, if it's his will to provide one that would be suitable for you and it's a real privilege to enter into the marriage relationship, but it's a very real responsibility. And so pray and ask the Lord to guide and to direct. And so this is something that he would desire for you. And so it says in the last verse, in verse five, it's 33. Nevertheless, let everyone of you in so particular soul love his wife.
00:30:13
Even as himself and the wife see that her that she reverence her husband.
So there you have love for the wife. It's a man's responsibility to maintain that love. And in a world that is attacking marriage, the enemy is seeking to take down those that are married one marriage at a time. And if that doesn't work, he'll destroy marriage itself.
I have a sister recently that married in the assembly.
Gather to the Lord's name married a man young man that was in the assembly married just a little six months before we were married maybe five months and they're divorced. The enemy is seeking to destroy and beloved married couple here today. Cherish your partner and if there are things that are a little rough and rocky, they're not quite right. There's responsibility before God and oh how he delights to bless and own the failure we failed in any way why he want how longs to restore.
A happiness in our relationships. Well the next relationship here is in verse chapter 6 and verse one it says children obey your parents in the Lord.
For this is right.
This is right. It's a good thing. And children in this world largely have become rebellious. And, uh, they're rebellious by nature, we know. But, umm, this world almost, uh, relishes the fact that children are disobedient and rebellious against their parents. And the Lord desires that There would be a picture here of the Christian home that would be, uh, an example to those in this world and a testimony of good order and, umm, that the children would be obedient.
You know, when I was a little boy, I lived along the railway. My dad worked in the station house. He was a Telegraph operator and he was also a station agent, sold tickets. And he was, uh, that was the kind of work he did. And umm, one day he, uh, called to us. He always trained us to come as soon as he said come. He didn't have to say it twice, he just said it once. And we would drop everything and we would run right towards him. And so we were playing on the track one day.
Maybe 1/4 of a mile away. And he said, come. So we ran at full speed. We came, stood in front of him and he said, umm, now turn around. I want to show you what's back there. So we look back and, uh, there was a bear standing exactly where we had been and he had seen that. And uh, with the, you know, I just give that as a little illustration. Your parents, dear young people, children, they have your good and blessing in view and they want you to come. Perhaps they, uh, give you a little bit of instruction.
And our Nat, our natures are such that we don't want to take that instruction because it's coming from mom and dad. But uh oh, how the Lord desires us to be obedient. And your parents are training you to be obedient to them so that when you grow a little bit older that you'll obey the Lord. Not good, not nice. Oh, he wants you to be obedient. Have you ever thank God for your parents?
Do you thank God for your parents? Do you thank God that they take the Word of God and explain to you something of the truth of God and why they're directing you in a certain course?
There's a little boy, he's 5 1/2 years old.
And he lay down beside his grandma the other day.
And he said, uh, Granny.
I don't have a daddy.
She's a single mom. He's the son of a single mother.
He says I don't have a daddy.
She said well.
You know, the Lord Jesus has said that he would be a father to the widows and to the fatherless, and he thought a little bit about this and he said, yes, that's true.
But it's not the same.
He longs for a father at five years old, almost six years old, but he has an uncle that tries to play that role in a little wee bit. You know, dear young people, thank God for your parents.
Tell your parents you love them, thank them for the rebuke. Thank them in the way that they seek to nourish you up. Thank them for it. They love you. There's no one on the face of the earth that loves you like your parents, but this world is going to try to train you to rebel against your parents and to give up the family relationship that you have with your mother and your father. But the Lord says here in this portion he gives us four things that that really why we should obey our parents. The first thing is that it's right in the sight of God verse one.
00:35:20
And then it says honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment. So it's about, it's in connection with the word of God. It's a, it's an obedience to the word of God that it may be well with the, you know, perhaps that's three things. Well, with the God wants to bless you and it's going to go well with you if you, uh, live and honor your parents. You know, these Koreans that I was telling you about was quite a revelation here. They had all this buzz of discussion about why someone would put their hands over.
His wife's hand and, and give thanks. But, umm, in, uh, that culture, apparently, uh, the oldest one that, uh, is in the room is the one that gets the most respect. And so brother Walter Coleman is, uh, umm, in his 80s. And, uh, he came into the room and they, uh, they bow very low, very not pretentious at all. And, uh, they say, your honorable age, Sir. And so he told them his age and he was evidently the oldest one in the room.
Well, from that day on, as soon as he entered the room, they stood up. They wouldn't sit down on a chair until he sat down to come to the meal. They give thanks for the meal. They'd all just sit there, wait for him to take the first bite. After he'd taken the first bite, they would go ahead and and eat. You know, when I was young, when we came into the classroom, we had all come file into the classroom. We'd sit down in our chairs, in our at our desk. And then when the teacher walked in, maybe Jim remembers that when the teacher walked in, we all stood up.
The teacher walked to the desk.
And she said you may be seated. We sat down and then she was either seated or began her lessons. But we've grown up in a day, an age of disrespect, and it's crept up on us and we don't even know it. But oh how God desires that there would be a reverence and the respect for family. Never, never disrespect or dishonor your mother and your father. They may not go on for the Lord as they ought to, but you can always respect and to show them some respect and honor in some way.
Some reverence, I'm sure and in connection with your parents and uh, so the Lord gives us this instruction. Then he says here in verse 5, servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling in singleness of your heart is unto Christ, not with I service, not working just when people are looking at you, not just working as long as the boss sees you and he's out there in the shop or whatever in the office, but as servants.
Of Christ doing the will of God from the heart with goodwill, doing services to the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. Well, I'll just comment in this way on this. Our time is going, but this is we don't have slaves today. And thank God that in I don't know if there may be slaves in some other parts of the country, but in the western Christianized world.
We don't have slaves, but we do have the employee and the, umm, employer relationship. And those of us that are believers ought to be in the right character in the highest ideal that God presents to us in the word of God. Those that are the most reflecting the character of Christ in our service. Not so. It ought to be a wonderful thing for an employer to have a Christian as an employee because he does what he's told, not only does what he's asked to do, but he does it with joy and he does it to please the Lord. And that's something that we need to keep before our souls, those of us that are in the workforce.
We ought to remember that responsibility that we have. And then the masters in verse nine it says masters do the same things under them for bearing, threatening, knowing that your Master also is in heaven.
Neither is there any respective persons with him.
Well, you know, there's a man in Hammer Bay.
His name is Jim Jacqueline.
And Brother Hammer hired him when he was a young man, came to work for him as a young man, an ungodly.
Uh, worldly young man.
And, umm, they would talk to his employee about the Lord. And one day he walked by and, uh, his employee, Jim was, uh, talking with another man in the neighborhood who was a believer and, uh, on company time. And he'd been there for half hour or so. So brother Hammer walked by and he just got to the point where they were talking. And the brother that was speaking with, uh, Jim, he said this, he quoted this, he said.
00:40:26
If he hath wronged thee, or oath the aught, put that on mine account. Isn't that nice? He said to Brother Hammer.
If he owes, if he hath wronged thee or oweeth thee aught, put that on mine account.
He said to brother Hammer, I've been taking up a lot of his time, but you put that on my account, I'm going to pay for this call. I'm going to pay for this time that this man is spending. Well, Jim, Jacqueline got saved, got saved by the grace of God and his wife got saved. Some of his family are saved and they still go on. Some of them still work in that area. But I just tell the story, you know, because there was such a bond, such a relationship between Brother Jacqueline and his family and umm, the employer and employee relationship.
There was such love, there was such kindness, there was such a bond. It was hardly, I could hardly say that it was an employee and an employer. And at the funeral, Brother Hammer's funeral in January, when he went home to be with the Lord, this man came to the coffin as he saw his former employer and he wept, he sobbed, he sobbed. This was a man that had been a real influence in his life and he got saved and he was living a life that was useful.
To the Lord, you know, everyone of us as employees or employers need to conduct ourselves in such a way that, uh, there will be glory brought to God. Well, the last one is in verse 10 says finally, my brethren.
Be strong in the Lord none of the other relationships if there's problems in some of the other relationships if we're dishonouring our parents, if we're really going on badly at home in one way or another in the workplace, the relationship with our brethren won't be right won't be right. We need our brethren. We need to go on faithfully with those of like precious faith and to we know that I don't know that this is really applicable in connection with the the relationship.
But he does mention my brethren, and in very real aspect here he mentions the brethren after he mentions all these other relationships.
Do you thank God for your brethren?
I find myself, you know, I've been on the road for a month and as I pray for my brethren back home and I remember where they sit in the rows.
Where they sit, and I pray for them one at a time by name. I love my brethren. I'm so glad to be here at this conference. We desire to be a blessing to our brethren, don't we? And so we need to make sure that those relationships that we have are maintained to the glory of God and that we have a high standard for those relationships. And then there's going to be the ability to walk with our brethren in a proper way. Let's just sing #67 in closing.
#67.
Like the O Lord.
How Wanderers fair forge.
Members are.
Our life divine to the.
We came to the.
Earth of.
Nowhere.
And with that.