St. Louis Conference: 1997
Table of Contents
Hebrews 12:1-4
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On earth. On earth, the song begins. In heaven, more sweet and loud.
#80
on earth, the song begins.
Oh man, I'm crazy. Love everything.
For one hour.
To hear the Lord.
Oh Lord, is there anything I ever thought?
The 12Th chapter of the book of Hebrews. I know it's a chapter we often take up on an occasion like this.
But as that chapter opens, it presents to us Christ in glory. And really what we need, brethren, is a fresh glimpse of the man in the glory that we might be preserved and encouraged.
In the path of faith, the few moments that remain.
Hebrews, chapter 12.
For seeing we also are accomplished of all, with so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily be set off. And let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the change, and is sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Or consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest he be wearied and faint in your mind, ye have not yet resisted under blood, striving against sin, and ye have forgotten the excitation which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.
For whom the Lord loveth he chasing us, and scourge with every Son whom he receive us? If he endure taste, name, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chasing us not? But if he be without chastisement, whereof all our partakers, then are you ******** 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 in the feeble knees.
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And make straight paths for your feet, like that which is lame, be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed fall 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 he saw.
Who for one more will of meat sold his birthright for you know how that afterwards?
When you would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, though he thought it carefully with tears. For ye are not come unto the mouth that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and templates, and the sound of a trumpet, in the voice of words which boys say they heard, and entreated that the word should not be spoken to them anymore, but they could not endure that which was commanded.
And so much as a beast touched them on, it shall be stoned, or thrust through with a dart, And so terrible as the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear, and quaint. But ye are come on to Mount Zion, and under the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the first born, which are written in heaven and to God.
The George of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the mediator of the new Covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speakers better things than that of evil, see that ye refuse not him that speaketh, for they escape not who refused him to spake on earth. Much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven.
Whose voice then shook the earth, But now he has promised saying.
Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word yet once more signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as the things that are made, that those things which can't be shaken may remain, wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved.
Have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.
For our God is a consuming fire.
Chapter is directly connected with the chapter before, because in the chapter before he has given us a list of men and women who live by faith for God's glory, against all kinds of odds and difficulties, showing us that it's on the one hand that it's never been easy to live for the Lord, but on the other hand that the resources have been there.
For God's people in any dispensation, but as soon as he completes that list of these men and women.
And it's a tremendous list given for our encouragement. He immediately takes our eyes off that list.
And he directs our eyes into the open heavens to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The one and the only perfect one. Whoever passed through this world in the path of faith and service and never digress from it. And to my own soul, it's just as if he says, I've given you this list in the 11Th chapter to encourage you, but they're not the object for faith. There's only one object for faith. And so my thought in suggesting this chapter, brethren, is that we might, during these meetings, lift up our eyes by faith into the open heavens and be occupied with the one that God would always occupy his people with.
An ascended, arisen, ascended, and exalted, An exalted Christ.
At the right hand of God, and that we might be encouraged to fix our eyes and our hearts and our gaze on that blessed one, that we might be preserved in the path of faith. It's difficult times, I agree, But the resources that you and I have in this one this afternoon, the same limitless supply that's been always available to the people of God, may our hearts be refreshed and encouraged in Him, and our feet preserved in the past.
Only one.
Risen man in the glory.
One he's the only one that's completed the whole course.
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We're in it. None of us have finished it yet.
And he showed us where it went to, to the father. What an encouragement it is to look up and see that man there.
Follow after him as Paul says.
For their sin around us.
The sin.
Which does so easily beset it.
Anyone here that say that that doesn't happen to you?
We're tested down here.
My dad used to say that. God.
Made man with a heart so big the whole world couldn't fill it.
And then he brought an object before that the heart can't take in, and that's Jesus.
He gave us, giving us too big an object for us to comprehend, but all to see him by faith. Then this 22nd verse on down, just to brush your head a little bit, you get.
What faith brings us to And there's a list there of eight great things.
You and I, as we go through it, ought to try to enjoy those eight wonderful things that we have by faith.
Is that the way we have those things? Plan the 22nd verse on.
They belong to us by faith, don't they?
They're cure they. Yeah. And I'm thinking that.
Right from the beginning of the Epistles and it's oh, it's really not an epistle. It's more however he brings a person of Christ, a glorious person of Christ before who being the brightness of his glory or the effulgence of his glory.
And.
By whom although He made the world, created the world of him.
Who, being and.
When He had by himself purged our sins, or made purgation for our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high the work of.
The work of creation was a divine work.
But the work of.
The work of salvation that was a divine work which only he himself.
Could, could accomplish, but as soon as it's over, as soon as it's done, he sits down at the right hand of the majesty in the heavens. And this is the object that the Apostle said before.
These Saints trying to lift them above this scene.
And.
How blessed it is to be occupied with Christ.
As you think of all that, we meet during the day, whatever circumstances we are in home, school, work, on the road.
But to be able to rise above it all and have our eyes fixed upon him there.
That it led to these Jewish people that the Apostle Paul was writing, and they were used to having materialistic things connected with their worship, the Temple, the priesthood, the fine music.
All the finery that went with it that the natural man could.
See and appreciate but in Christianity.
All we have, I shouldn't say all we have is everything, brethren. What we have is only apprehended by faith. There is no fine building that characterizes Christianity that is visible to the human eye. There is a building, but it's not visible to the human eye. But it's all apprehended by faith, and it's so important to get a hold of that here in this chapter were looked at is in a race we're passing through this world.
We're going through it, and it's a race that has already been run by the one who occupies the highest place in the universe. He ran it, he finished it. He is there in the glory, and now that is the object that is set before us to run as well. Lord, help us to in this materialistic age that we live in, Brethren, I don't think material things necessarily.
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Have to be.
Weight as it mentions in verse one. But I think we all can readily confess that they become weights in our running this race, and it's important in the measure that we can to recognize them and to lay them aside.
The value of the object set before us gives value to those things that are down here in this world sometimes. Say, if a man is going to run a race, somebody steps up to him at the last minute and offers him a bag of gold.
If he really wants to run that race, if he has his heart set on winning the prize at the end of that race, he's going to toss the bag of gold aside just as fast as he would toss a bag of garbage aside.
Because it has no value in connection with winning that race. And that's the point that's so important to get before our souls get the object before it.
One of the old brothers who?
In the office to try to remember this that.
Everything.
That you have that.
That you will always have. You have thy faith. The world passed away and it's lust there out. That's what Bob is telling us that we get her. We need to get our thoughts as to value connected with eternity. Not this world. God gives us nice things in this world. I just think of they have that hymn. Oh, that hymn begins down here. We're going to have that up there. We're getting some wonderful things in our training down here.
As God's children.
Hebrews is a wilderness book, the wilderness book. And that's why we have the Tabernacle and not the temple. Jehovah was journeying with his people, but as wonderful, isn't that to think that he would come down and have a he wanted a tent that he could journey with his people, and so he mixes himself up with everything in their life and our life too. Everything.
He loves to be such a help and an encouragement and a friend and that's and that's what he is along along his wilderness along this wilderness way. They it was only 11 days journey from Egypt to Canaan. We read by normal travel but there was a difference between the journey that God's people took and the people of the of the world and that is that Jehovah was journeying with them.
And the Lord is with us on this journey. We are on our way. He is up there in the glory, waiting for us. But He's down here with us, journeying with us all along the way. And how blessed a companion, how blessed a friend he is.
Helpful. And I've enjoyed in that connection how that when Israel was not very long into the wilderness, they became discouraged. They began to look at their present circumstances. They began to look back to Egypt, and they cried to Moses, And Moses cried under the Lord. And it's interesting what it says there. The Lord told Moses to tell the people to turn around and look out over the wilderness. Why? Well, they were looking in the wrong direction.
And when they turned around and looked out over the wilderness, what did they see? Was it to see all the things that were in front of them, all the difficulties and the hindrances that no doubt were going to present themselves? Oh no. When they turned around and looked, it says they saw the glory of the Lord revealed in the cloud. In some way Jehovah was pleased to reveal himself to them in the cloud. And with that vision before their souls, then they could press on even amidst the difficulties when they lost sight of that who was amongst them and the end of the journey.
Then they became discouraged. They murmured, and they complained, and they found fault. But as long as they had this before their souls, and as long as they had the end in view, they were encouraged to go on.
Because I believe, brethren, that faith always needs an object. There's no such thing as blind faith.
I've heard people say use the expression faith is a leap in the dark. That's not true. It's true. Abraham went out not knowing whether he went. But I believe, if you notice in the 11Th chapter, all those who lived by faith for God's glory, they all had an object We read of those who didn't receive the promises, but they saw them afar off and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Moses endured us, seeing him who was invisible.
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Even Abraham, who went out not knowing whether he went it says he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. And so all those that live by faith, they had something before their souls. I say faith always needs an object, and our brethren are never given to us as the object for faith. They're given us an encouragement. And it says of those who have gone on in the past, whose faith follow, but they're not the object. There's only one perfect object, brethren, one who began and completed the path of faith and perfection.
And God has seated him at his right hand as the object. And I might just say this too, that it was helpful when I was a little younger, in looking at the book of Hebrews, to realize that in the book of Hebrews we have the heavens open to us so that we can look up. When the Lord Jesus was here in this world as a man, there was a perfect object in this world that was worthy of heaven's attention, and the heavens would open up, and all heaven would gaze at that perfect man.
And a voice would declare, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. But the Lord Jesus is not here in this world the way he was when he walked amongst men. He's returned to the glory. And I believe Hebrews opens up to us the heavens, not so that heaven can look down now, but so that we can look up by the eye of faith, it's true whom not having seen, we love. But brethren, we see him by the eye of faith. And that's why I believe that four times in the book of Hebrews you have the Lord Jesus.
Seated at the right hand of God, our brother Dear has mentioned one of them in the first chapter.
Where he seated, having made a full atonement there he's having made the purification for sin.
He sat himself down at the right hand of God. I'm quoting from Mr. Darby. Then in the 8th chapter you find him seated as our great as our High priest. There we find that that again the heavens are open, and we realize that we have one who's living to make intercession for us, sympathizing with us in our weaknesses and in the trials that we pass through. And we sometimes sing. His hands are uplifted in sympathy and love. Then in the 10th chapter he seated, having offered himself as the perfect sacrifice.
Who, when he had offered one sacrifice for sin, forever sat down on the right hand of God.
And then here in our chapter, he seated as the object for faith. And it's not so much he's the author and finisher of our faith.
But he's the author and finisher of faith, and as such, God has set him there as the object for your heart and mind.
There's some.
This verse one, brethren.
Says Let us lay aside every weight.
I feel this deeply in my own soul. I hope no one gets the idea I'm pointing the finger, but.
I just do feel, brethren, that we have gotten under the weight of the way of living that we have here in the United States, and it is important for us to get the goal before our souls and then to do some practical, positive laying aside, evaluate things in our lives. Our lives get so cluttered, brethren. I have to say for myself, there's times I have to sit.
Back and evaluate things one by one in my life. There's things that are not wrong in themselves.
Perfectly right, perfectly good and wholesome, perhaps, but they don't help me run the race. My life gets so cluttered that I cannot run very easily. We need to get the goal before us first of all, that glorious person of the Lord Jesus, and then to evaluate each things as each thing as it comes along. There are also the sin. It says that so easily deceptive, and it's true.
Then really trips us up, brethren, and we need to judge ourselves constantly. We living in a world that is increasingly difficult to get through, but it is not impossible. There was one who went through it before us. There was one who knows every circumstance that you and I passed through. He went through it in complete perfection. And where is he now? He's won. He won the race he's at. He's in the glory now. We run after him.
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You and I can never get to a point in our Christian pathways where we say nobody understands the difficulties I face. Rather, and that is not true, there is one who ran that race, who understands, who knows he made it. And if he made it, then that's our object brethren. We can go on after him, but it takes some real practical sacrifices times.
Laying aside.
The way Lord help us to get into His presence to evaluate.
In our lives, the things that so clutter and do not let us run like we need to run.
The race that is set before us.
Pass through anything in the path of faith and service down here.
That he himself as a man hasn't passed through, and that's been a tremendous comfort to my own soul children. He knew what it was to be a boy and grow up in this world, young people. He knew what it was to be a young person. He knew what it was to be misunderstood. He could say reproach hath broken mind, heart. He knew what it was to be weary and thirsty and hungry. And all the things that you and I passed through, all the things that we feel in the past of faith and service.
Brother Bob has said has passed through it before us, and now he's in the glory, living for us. And there he is as the object. And I don't believe there's ever. And I just echo what Bob has said. I don't believe there's ever any good reason that we can ever give to God for any failure or compromise in our lives. We might give lots of excuses, but we'll never give a good reason because we have all things that pertain unto life and godliness.
But I would just say that the Christian race is not the 100 yard dash. It's not the Sprint, it's the marathon. And that's why it says here, let us run with it ought to read endurance, The race that is set before us, when the athlete goes out to run the Sprint, he puts everything into those few 100 yards or meters because in a few moments the race is going to be completed. But when the marathon runner goes out to run.
He doesn't put everything he has into those few first few 100 yards. He has to learn to endure. He knows that the race is going to last for quite a while. There's many miles ahead of him, and he's trained to to pace himself and to endure and so on. Brethren, the Christian race is a race of endurance. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, but it's not in our own strength, because it says even the youth shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall.
Natural strength, even of youth, isn't enough to run the path of faith and service through this world. We can only run it in the measure in which we're drawing on the resource we have and in the measures we've been saying, in which we have the perfect object before our souls.
The thing about the Lord here.
In doing what he's doing here, he had a work to do, he says. How am I straightened until he accomplished?
He was God's son, then sent down here from the Father to die, to redeem us, to get us to God.
What a work he had and he knew about it when he was here in his youth.
Somebody around him or his parents.
I guess maybe it's his mother, thy father and I sought thee thoroughly, referring to Joseph.
The Lord changed that, said Wiste. Not that I must be about my father's death.
He didn't forget what he came for. God had sent him to be the savior of the world.
Oh, he knew what that meant in the.
88 Psalm.
Prophetically, he says I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. She knew some issues. He knew he was going to die, but he had to wait till he cut to be a full grown man to be tested like Adam was a full grown man.
Adam never was a boy. The Lord was. He knows what boys are like. He knows what it is to live in this world as a boy. All the experience the Lord had that he might be a faithful and merciful high priest, but he had something before him. So it says here in our second verse.
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Our second verse.
Looking unto Jesus.
The author and finisher of faith.
Who, for the joy that was set before him, he endured the thought.
You and I need a goal before our soul. We need a joy, a real motive, and the little thing God gives us to do in our daily life, in our family life, in our assembly life. There's something to do, and some have some very hard jobs to do, and it's good if we can have something beyond that.
And look for it well, the Lord here, he says, The joy that was set before him endured the cross.
What it was for the Lord to die.
Wasn't joy to die. It was joyous set before him of getting his work done and getting back to the Father's house. These things come, begin here. Let's go to the second of Acts to get the Lord using.
The scripture using the 16th Psalm.
To bring in what the Lord's work was. It was death. It was death and resurrection, So.
In Acts 225 we get these verses. They are so nice to see what David has written.
David speaketh concerning him. I foresaw the Lord always before my face.
For he is on my right hand that I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad. Moreover, also my flesh shall rest in hope. Resurrection.
Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell or hadith.
The place of departed spirits you remember the Lord turned to the one thieves that believed that today shalt thou be with me in paradise. That's hell from this translation. That's Hades. That's the place of departed spirit. The Lord spirit was there at the same time the believing thief was there.
And it wasn't left there. Resurrection comes out, and there's a whole known thing now that will not leave my soul in hell. Neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. His body didn't corrupt.
Raise as soon as possible according to the time schedule.
Thou hast made known unto me the ways of life. This is resurrect. This is where it comes from. From God. He brings it in. Christ brings it in.
Thou hast made known to me the ways of light.
Now look what it says. Thou shalt make me full of joy with thy Countess. That's the Son talking to the Father and looking to the time when he's going to go back. When he did go back, there isn't man into the glory with all that work done. Well, it's the biggest work that's ever been done, and nobody else could do it. But he did it. But he had that motive before, and he had that joy of getting back to the Father's house. He knew where he was going to go.
Well, we know where we're going to go layside every weight.
And look up at that one that's gone up there, because just as you're as Jesus has arrived in the Father's company.
So shall we get there? He'll bring us there. The scriptures are so easy to take 14th of.
Of John.
I am the way, the truth and the life. Jesus says that that's what he is.
A lot more. No man cometh unto Father, but by me You're not going to get to the Father of Jesus. Don't bring you, but he will bring you just as sure as he's gone there. So these things are so comfortable when we see them in the Scripture and the reality of the Lord going into these things and having a joy before him as he tried the earth.
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30 more years amongst men.
With all evil and sorrow around him, he wept. He wept over the city. He wept at the grave of Lazarus. Oh, what a savior.
So he had a joy before him in order to go through the course that he finished, and he finished that he'd gone up there.
Well, it was a joy of doing the Father's will. They carried him on.
In some recorded and they're the Lord, there's a very, very wonderful Psalm.
It's Messiah speaking, and he speaks about how that I have about the Lord always before me. And there is this dependence, his faithfulness to God. But then he has, He has there's something else, there's a little remnant there. And so he loves to. He speaks about those in the He says in that wonderful Psalm, he says.
They.
To the Saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.
Well, now he identifies himself with those for those Saints who are in the earth.
And we see that we see that at the Jordan when he went there to be baptized of John.
And he sees those little remnant coming there to be baptized. That was the first step.
In the past and getting back to the Lord, it was the first step of repentance. It was a baptism of repentance. And he says I'm going down there and I'm going to identify myself with them and I'm going to encourage them in that. They're taking that first step and so well, he.
Thinking how?
The Where are that people down here now whom He And whom He finds all His delight?
And he identifies himself with us. We don't find him calling anyone.
My brethren, until after his resurrection, after his death and resurrection.
And he says go to my brethren, he said. Well, it's wonderful that.
He identifies himself with us as we are identified with him. Wonderful.
They that are the sanctified one and they that are sanctified are all of 1 So so how how precious is this association, this the Lord would identify themselves with you and me, who by grace have trusted Him as our Savior and He's and He's journeying with us along this wilderness and.
The Spirit of God. He sends the Spirit of God down here into this world to make Himself precious to us as we journey on as here.
Is that 16th Psalm? And suggest a few thoughts about it. See what you think about it. It's so charming. The 16th sound.
We have heard statements like this.
God had one son he loved so much. He wanted a whole lot more like him. Well, I believe that. And if he picked that teaching into this verse, Psalm 16 preserve you, God, for indeed do I put my trust.
Oh, my soul.
Thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord. Now look what he says, my goodness extendeth not to thee seemed like a private conversation between the Father and Son to me. Whatever you think and what was going to happen, God couldn't extend his goodness to Jesus and let him go to the cross.
But that was in the determined council on Four Eyes of God, that he would go to the cross. So God let his Son go there. His goodness didn't extend to him on the cross.
Judgment. But the words are so wonderful.
There's a **** there in the third verse to the Saints.
That is, his goodness extendeth to the Saint that are in the earth.
And to the excellent Now what it says, I think is charming, in whom is all my delight, I think, if you look at the translations about the Lord and the third of Matthew, and a few other places.
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Let's let's look and see what it does say in the in the third of Matthew to get it right.
We have been given to misquote some verses frequently.
And we ought to get it like it is.
In the third of Matthew and the Lord coming up out of the waters of Baptism.
The last.
2 verses and Jesus.
When he was baptized.
Went up straightly out of the water and lo, the heavens were opened. Just somebody's referring to that just recently.
Under him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove.
And lighting upon him.
And lo, a voice from heaven say now look what it says.
This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
Then say Almighty. Well, please.
God had to leave that.
All my delight to get the Saints there, right alongside the Lord, and that's his joy in going back into heaven. He's gone there, but he.
Looked at and enjoys it as the whole thing. All the children brought in their twos. You get in a second chapter of Hebrews. So the blessed work of the Lord is the divine thing, and you can't limit it. He brings us all in, and when he gets us all in, He says it's in in whom is all my delight.
Then put us above. The Lord doesn't put us under him. God pleased with his family.
The no, I think a remark he makes, he says. That says clear to me as a noonday sun.
That Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Son of God of the New.
And how precious it is to.
Follow him through Scripture.
The Old Testament Scriptures and and and here in Matthew 3 this is the first time we get the Godhead. Is it not so first time we get the Trinity together?
A word in the third verse. Consider him.
How simple. The teaching of God.
Consider him. We get that statement more than once in Hebrews. Consider him. What do you think about?
Do you think about him? Oh, we ought to think about him more.
I like the way the translation phrase here. I've mentioned it a number of times, but it says reduce your thoughts to him who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be wearied and faint in your minds. And really that's what we need to do, whether Don was mentioning in the address.
Self centeredness of our society. Do think of ourselves. People measure things by themselves. Here is something that goes directly contrary to that rhythm. Reduce your thoughts to him. Oh, they didn't treat me right. Reduce your thoughts to him. Oh, but they spoke bad about me. Reduce your thoughts to him. We need to have that constantly.
Impressed on our hearts, if they spoke badly about me, brethren, they spoke far and worse about one in whom was no guilt at all. They condemned him to the most awful death, the worst in just as possible, And brethren, the idea of having our rights that is infected us. Brethren, it is not Christ what did what happened when the Lord Jesus.
Was accused he was as a sheep before her shears. Dumb, He opened. Not his mouth. Where is that spirit, brethren? That's what should characterize. And if our hearts, our thoughts, are reduced to him, we're not going to be talking about ourselves. We're not going to even be thinking about ourselves. And that's so important in the ongoing pathway of faith if we're going to get on.
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We get snagged with ourselves, but let's get beyond ourselves. Let's get to that man that is completely perfect, the one that God is well pleased with.
And so if we're going to run rightly, we're going to have to reduce our thoughts to him, it's it's sometimes we talk about weight control programs, brethren, we need thought control programs too, to reduce our thoughts to him. Just challenge yourself sometimes when you're thinking a thought, maybe thinking pretty hard about some brother or some sister that you think hasn't treated you right.
Chances are, you're thinking about yourself and that's why you have those hard thoughts.
Reduce your thoughts to him.
Christ is everything.
Maybe we ought to increase our thoughts to him.
He's everything.
Where it says here, two of you going back, looking unto Jesus in the well, in this epistle, he seeking to set the heart eyes of the Jewish believers and his and I believe that follows all through this epistle.
But he is a.
Takes up the question of takes up angels. Angels had a lot to do with the with the law. The law was given by the disposition of angels. And well then how much above and beyond all angels is is is is Christ the Son of God Or then we get the priesthood brought in. It was during the wilderness journey that Aaron was established as the high priest of his people.
In a very marked way, and.
But how that Aaron and all his the ironic priesthood, how it all passes up.
Off the scene, as it were, but I shouldn't say it all times off the scene, but oh let's see, Priesthood of Christ is so infinitely higher.
And until and from one thing to another until finally it says, Looking under Jesus. Under Jesus is everything. And this is the one looking off unto Jesus of me.
Have so many times in the book of Hebrews. In fact, I believe 13 times the word better.
Because he takes up, as you say, every portion of the what they had under the Jewish order of things, the Levitical order. And he brings out it's right how it was, right and proper in its place, ordained of God. But now he says, you have something far better. You have the one of whom these things were just but pale reflections and feeble foreshadows. You have Christ himself, but sometimes illustrated it this way when I was engaged to the One who later became my wife.
There were, I think, about nine months between the engagement and the marriage, and the one who had promised to be My wife lived about 2000 miles away. And in those nine months we didn't see one another very often. But I had a large photograph on my desk in my room, and that photograph assumed a very important role in my life because I didn't yet have the one of whom that photograph was a picture of. And so that photograph meant a lot to me. But after I married my wife.
You'd be very surprised if that photograph still had the same importance if you came into my home and saw me more occupied with the photographs than with the one who was now my wife.
You'd say there's something wrong. Not that I've thrown the photograph out. I still have the photograph hanging on my wall, and I still value that photograph. But now I have the one of whom it was a picture of, And we have the one of whom these things in the Old Testament were just pictures of. Not that we set aside the Old Testament. We need those pictures. We need those illustrations. Very important. We'll never really understand the truth of God if we don't go back and take up these illustrations in the light of what we have revealed.
In the New Testament, we need to bring forth the Old because of the New as we're exhorted in Leviticus.
But we have the one now of whom these things speak of. He's the object as we've been having. We're to consider him, to have him before our souls. That's why it says in Colossians that your it ought to read your minds on things above where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Brethren, this is a day when the enemy is so busy to bombard our minds with every kind of distraction and thought, so that we don't bring into captivity every thought under the obedience of Christ.
To distrust us from that glorious object, to fill our minds. And I say this as a warning to those of us who have children.
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When we send our children to school, we need to be very, very careful. I'm appalled at how many things are being done in the school under the guise of relaxation and things that may sound very good on the surface, but when you check into it, it is seeking to empty the minds of the children and fill them with things that are not of of Christ and according to the truth. We need to be very, very careful, and we need to be.
Exercised.
That we would fill our children's minds with the Scripture, with Christ. Not that having it in the mind is enough, but I believe the entrance of the truth is the mind.
The dwelling place is the heart, but the entrance is the mind. Let's read the word of God ourselves.
Let's read it to our children. Let's have it before us in the assembly that we might indeed consider this blessed One.
The one who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame.
That would allow I would like to before we leave these first verses.
Go back to some things our brethren have said, and I have particularly.
The younger ones on my heart.
We've been talking about running a race and discarding weights that hold us down. And we've been talking, and I think rightfully so, about the fact that the Lord Jesus has gone before us. And so we have one that has felt these things. And now, without any thought of being light or irreverent brethren, let's for the young people that are here and the younger ones, let's look at that for just a moment, because it's true and yet the world we live in.
Is a completely different world than the one that existed when this blessed book was written.
So that things that we young people, older ones, each of us in our jobs at school have to deal with, did not exist. It was mentioned that the Lord Jesus knew what it was to grow up as a boy, and again, without any thought of being light, perhaps younger sisters are saying, but does he really know what it is to grow up as a girl, What that's like in this world? Well, what has occurred to me as we've been hearing these things?
Is that what our brothers brought out just a little bit back? And I'll just quote the verses and I think Hebrews 10, I come to do thy will. Oh God. Now you may have to deal with computers, and you may have to deal with school functions, and you may have to deal with jet airplanes, and we may have to deal with driving cars and technologies and all sorts of things that were absolutely not in the minds or thoughts of anyone living in these days that we're talking about here that are recorded in the word of God.
Does the Lord Jesus understand? He surely does, because his motive was to do the will of God. And if that becomes whatever you have to face in your home or at work or in school or wherever it is, in your neighborhood, with your friends, with your companions, if you face things and you think. But I don't see in the word of God that this issue, this particular thing I'm facing, is addressed. How did the Lord deal with it?
And I say reverently, he didn't deal with computers. I just use that as an example. But he did this, and he did it perfectly. I come to do thy will, O God, and that is the way that you and I can have the wonderful sense that if we have that desire in our hearts, we have this perfect example before us, the one who said, if I may put it this way, I'd rather die than go against the will of my father.
And he did. He endured the contradiction of sinners onto blood. It was more important to him to obey and submit to the will of God.
I might say than to live. And so he went to the cross, and he fully.
Fulfill the will of God. So if you and I, beloved brethren, young people and all of us, if we face issues and that thought comes into our hearts. But this didn't exist back when the Bible wrote, but I come to do thy will did and it did. Imperfection and that can guide us in perfection today. So that when your face with something in school or I'm faced with the decision about a job, change all of the things that are woven into the fabric of our life when we're faced with those things.
We have that perfect example, the example of one who only did the will of God, and that is the way.
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I believe, brethren, that we can know how to walk through this scene and find that the Lord Jesus.
Fully does enter into every detail of everyone's life perfectly, for he always was doing the will of the Father. And then I was thinking, and I won't belabor this, but you know, in the Gospel of Mark is one place and I would like to turn to that just for a moment. Chapter 6, I just want to make a moral application in in light of what I've spoken about, about the Lord Jesus perfectly fulfilling the will of God as he went through this world and that being the way that we can have the comfort of knowing.
That He entered him fully to all those things that will face us. We go through this journey. He sends some to his disciples of 12 out, and they're going to go on a journey, just like you and I are on a journey.
Now there is a specific I am going to just make a moral application, but he gives them three things for that journey.
And it's all that they need. They need a staff, they need sandals and they need a garment.
They need to be supported. They need to have the ability to walk, and they need to have the ability to be protected against the elements of the world. And so the Lord sees to it that they have those things as they go on that journey. Now, beloved brethren, we're not here today and no one has suggested and I appreciate what our brother Bob has said about the the society in which we live in yet.
To realize that things don't have to be a waste, They may be if they're used.
In submission to the will of God, they may be the things that I find will support me.
Allow me to walk through this world and allow me to go through it, protected from that which is going to defile and corrupt and to give a testimony as a believer. Those are things that are between the Lord and a submitted soul. Who can say, I come, I want to do thy will. And so, beloved young people, whatever you're doing, let it be. Based on what your blessed Lord Jesus did, the will of his Father. I go to my father and your father. You know him as your Savior. His father is your Father, and it's about in submission to His will.
And then to find that the Lord says those three things will not be waits in your journey. If you use them in submission to my will, you won't find the staff. The sandals and the garment await to the race. I want you to run. But if you're going to use them properly and they're not going to be awake, they need to be used in submission to my will, as I was in submission perfectly to my father's will.
Weights are that have influence.
In our lives, aren't they in like we were mentioning, like you mentioned, they are not necessarily wrong things in themselves, but they affect it and I think sometimes at a job for instance.
It's necessary. It's important. Scripture speaks that say that profess the faith, provide for their own. If they haven't done that, they're worse. They've denied the faith. They're worse than an infidel. So we need to have a job.
But the point is, does the job command me or do I command the job? I think that's the question we have to ask ourselves. Is it a weight that controls me or is it something that I can control myself? And things change so subtly sometimes in our lives, we get under it and perhaps take it on in the right way at the 1St, and then later on it becomes a weight to it. And we need to evaluate these things from time to time. I think just.
Point of further clarification that I'm not contradicting anything you said, Doug, but in connection with the world, it has changed.
In an outward way, but I think you can say that the fundamental principles of the world are the same.
When the Lord was here, like it says in one John, all that is in the world.
The lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. Those are the same principles upon which this world operates today as it has ever operated on the outward circumstances. That's what sometimes confuses us. That has changed, and that's what you refer to, isn't it?
Touches each thing in Hebrews.
01:00:00
And it.
It's interesting in Hebrew because the things that are set aside or.
Improved you might say put on different grounder originally given by God what is harder to set aside than something God gave originally. And so the Lord Jesus comes along and each time he touches something it becomes either perfect forever or better.
Wonderful to see that when we come to.
This chapter.
In verse two looking unto Jesus.
Would you say in verse two an object at the right hand of God?
But when you come to verse 3, it's more a.
More a backward book.
Of that which took place during his time here below.
We think of center taught and by nature we have the instinct of self preservation.
Speak of the instinct.
Peter says.
To him you know all that shall not be, the Lord has to say, Get thee behind me, faces.
There could be nothing of the thought of self preservation, which is which is natural to man, but.
The wonderful things that God had originally given, set aside, or made better, or perfected forever, and this wonderful object that the Father's right hand. And now we look back and we see this object in His life below, even setting Himself aside. I don't mean that there was sinful self in Him, but His perfect delight in the will of God.
To become to be capable of that, and to go into that and to resist. And the blood.
Striving against sin, certainly not in himself, but he came to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. What an object for our hearts, and what an example.
He is here in the first.
Person before us in his service that we are to consider in chapter 3.
1St just a good verse for us anytime. Wherefore holy brethren and brother, if you're one of the brethren, you're one of the holy brethren. God does his work right? And consider the Apostle Now that's the sent one. The Father sent the Son.
That's the reason there's No title author fixed to this book because it's looked at as the Lord's apostleship. He was the apostle sent down here to do his work. Now he's the high priest going up. So it is service then and now. And our chapter brings in the cross work largely what a, what a, what a thought we got for our soul, who he was, who he is and what he has done.
You have it developed in Philippians chapter 2 where he says let this mind be in you.
Which was also in Christ Jesus. And then he goes on there to tell us of who this person was from a past eternity. But then he brings out his pathway, and he begins with a remarkable statement. It says, who made himself of no reputation. We've been saying that the natural man puts him, draws a circle, puts himself in the center of that circle, and does everything for himself and to draw attention to himself. But here was one brother.
The very Son of God walking in this world, and he made himself of no reputation.
Most people have a reputation for something. It might be a good reputation, it might be a bad reputation, but he thought no reputation as a man in this world. When I read this, I think of the time when they came to the Lord, and they accused him of two things, he said, they said, Thou hast the devil, and thou art a Samaritan. And when he answered them, he only answered the charge of having a devil, because that was bringing into question his deity. And he answered them on that account, but when it was the charge of being a Samaritan.
So I can put it this way. That was a slur on him, on him as a man, because, as the woman at the well said, the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. They were, so to speak, a despised people, and they sought to put the Lord Jesus as a man on that level. He never answered them on that. You get it again in Peter, where it says, who, when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. Brethren, are we willing to do that in our lives?
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Somebody says something against us. Somebody does something against us. The natural man wants to lash back. The natural man wants to get that all straightened out. But do we see in the Lord Jesus this precious example of the one who humbled himself, the one who didn't answer back, the one who committed himself to him that judgeth righteously? We see something of that spirit with Paul who said, I know who I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed unto him against that day.
You think of the Corinthians. They were treating him miserably. They were questioning his authority as an apostle. They weren't supporting him like they ought to have been, Paul said. That's all right. I just commit those things to the Lord Jesus. I know there's a day when things are going to be straightened out in the light of his presence. Are you and I willing to just leave it? Well, brethren, he's left us this example, and he made himself of. No reputation took upon him. The form of a servant was made in the likeness of men, but he went lower than that.
He became obedient unto death, but even lower than that, even the death of the cross, not just obedient unto death, but even the death of the cross. And I want to stress this one point before we move on, that the Lord Jesus never digressed from the past that the Father had set before him, never digressed from his joy and desire in fulfilling that work. For a moment. It's true. He prayed in the garden and said, If it be possible, let this cup pass from me. But he immediately says not my will.
But thine be done, we digress. I digress often from the past, but there was one who never for a moment digressed from the past, and as a result, now God has given his Amen to the work and set him at his own right hand.
So beautiful. The Lord Jesus there in the garden of Gethsemane with that cross before him, all that it would mean to him and how he shrunk from that. If you're mentioning Jim that there was perfection in his person and it couldn't be otherwise, that he would all that was within him, holy Son of God, would shrink from the thought of contact with sin.
And that sin, all our sins were laid upon him. Just to think of that. I mean, when he thought of it, when he contemplated it, that that was a head for him. Everything that was within him shrunk from it. And yet, in complete submission and subjection to the will of God, he says, not my will, but thine be done. And I think it's so beautiful to see. And Luke's gospel is where you get that suffering seemingly most intense.
In the Garden of Gethsemane it is the only gospel that mentions that he sweat, as it were, great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And in the Luke's gospel is where when you get to the actual forsaking of God.
The three hours of darkness. There is no cry from the blackness. Why? Because it was so settled in his own mind as a man to go through with it in the subjection that the cry isn't given there.
What a wonderful object we have, brethren. What perfection ought to be more occupied with him? It is as we are more occupied with him that it will transform us as well. The Lord help us to get our eyes up into the glory unto that man who went through it all.
We are sanctified unto the obedience from Jesus Christ.
The mayor of that obedience was the father's will of them.
If you can measure it.
It was a father's will. If it would be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. There was no answer.
And yet the fact that there was number answer, that was the answer.
Employee says now. And so the measure of his obedience to his father was the father's will.
01:10:00
There was no other way that the will of God could be completed, the will of the Father could be completed other than He rise from Gethsemane, go forth to pilots judgment hall, and from pilots judgment hall go forth bearing His Cross, and take up the work of atonement of redemption there on the cross.
And it was alluded to earlier, but I think it's precious to see that the first recorded words of the Lord Jesus in the New Testament.
Are the verse that I believe our brother Buchanan quoted. Wish ye not that I must be about my father's business. Those I say, are the first recorded words of the Lord Jesus in the New Testament, and the last recorded words of the Lord Jesus before he yielded up his breath to God, where it is finished beautiful. To think that this work was before his soul, and at the end of it all he could say it is finished, bow his head, and lay down his life. Everything had been finished to the satisfaction.
And to the glory of God.
He never despises. He could despise the shame of the cross, but he doesn't. Never does he despise the cross himself.
He could despise the shame of the cost and reproach of it.
Not to cross itself.
The joy that quite a bit is mentioned been mentioned already, but the joy that was set before him.
Of that moment when he went back into the glory of God.
Having finished the work, what a glorious moment that must have been. No human eye there to witness it, but we have little hints of it in Scripture. Here's one. Another one has been suggested in Psalm 24, and I just love to think about it. The end of Psalm 24.
There's a challenge given to.
The Ever, the Gates and the everlasting doors.
Verse seven of Psalm 24, lift up your head.
O ye gates, and be lift up ye everlasting doors, and the king of glory shall come in. Who is this king of Glory?
The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord and mighty in battlefield figurative of that time, when the Lord Jesus having won that tremendous victory of Calvary, once goes back into the glory, and he has the right to go right back in and set himself down on the right hand of God. Second time that challenges given lift up your head so ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors.
And the king of glory shall come in. Who is this king of glory? The Lord of hosts.
Post there's going to be hosts of others within and that's that coming day when we will all accompany him.
As we are introduced into the Father's house, he is the King of Glory. But what must have been the glory of that moment when the Lord Jesus ascended from this earth into the Father's presence?
Having accomplished that work perfectly. What a glory at that moment.
We have a little.
In Ephesians and here in Hebrews connection with what Bob has said.
Because in Ephesians it says God has sediment his own right hand, That is the resurrection, the ascension, and the glorification of Christ. If I can put it this way, it was God's Amen to the work of Calvary. It is the proof that God is eternally satisfied with what his Son accomplished here in this world. But in Hebrews, as Bob has brought out, if you notice in the first chapter in the third verse, it ought to read, he sat himself down and sometimes illustrated it this way.
When I was in business, I would sometimes be called to do a job for a large company or corporation, and I would go in and service or install equipment as was needed. And then I would usually have an interview with the man who hired me, be he the owner, the president of the plant foreman. And I would be taken into this man's office to sit down in his presence, to go over the work and to present my invoice. But when I would be taken in to sit down with that man, it was rarely with a feeling of real confidence.
Because there was always in the back of my mind that maybe the job hadn't been done to his satisfaction. Maybe I'd left something out. Maybe I hadn't included something in the job that he thought I should include. I say it was rarely with a feeling of real confidence, but I just think of the blessed Lord Jesus as he returns to the glory. It's true God set him at his own right hand, but in Hebrews, here he set feet himself down in perfect confidence, brethren, knowing that everything had been accomplished to the glory and satisfaction of God.
01:15:30
He knew that not one thing of the work given him to do had been left undone.
He could say with perfect confidence. At the end of those hours of darkness, it is finished. Sometimes my I give one of my children a task to do, and they come and tell me they're finished. But when I review the task, it may be finished to their satisfaction but not to mine. But all I say, speaking carefully, the Lord Jesus, as he entered those courts of glory, as he entered the presence of the Father and sat himself down, all he knew, that everything that God had set before him had been done.
To God's satisfaction. Oh brethren, what a blessed person we have before our souls this evening.
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Problem with my clown again and now I'm up to date alone.
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That's right now.
Hebrews 12:5-13
Reading
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To bear thy yoke, and learn of thee that we may rest, obtain 174.
Jesus God.
And I want to read just two words from the middle of verse 8.
Mark Chapter 9 in the middle of verse 8.
Jesus only.
Spray.
G 12 verse 5.
And you have forgotten the excitation which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not all the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked him for whom the Lord loveth he chase not, and scourge with every son whom he receive of if he endure chase, name God deal with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chased? Not, but if he be without chastisement, whereof all our partakers?
Then are you ******** and not sons? Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh, which corrected us. We gave them reverence. Shall we, not much rather be in subjection under the father of spirits, and live for they barely for a few days, chasing 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.
Grievous nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Wherefore, lift up the hands which hang down in the feeble knees.
And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is laying be turned out of the way.
But let it rather be healed, while 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 more slow meat sold his birthright. Where do you know how that afterwards, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected?
00:05:01
For he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
For ye are not come under the mouth that might be touched and that burned with fire, nor under blackness and darkness and Tempest, and the sound of a trumpet, in the voice of words, which voice they that heard and treated, that the word should not be spoken to them anymore.
They could not endure that which was commanded, if so much as a beast touched the mountain that shall be stoned or thrust through with the dark. So terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear, and quite.
But ye are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God.
The heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels.
To the General Assembly and Church of the first born, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, And to the spirits of just men made perfect. And to Jesus the mediator of the new Covenant, to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of evil, see that you refuse, not him the speaker. For if they escape not who refused him that spake on earth.
Much more shall not we escape. We turn away from him that speaketh from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth. But now he has promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not yours only, but also heaven. And this word yet once more, signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as the things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire.
But brotherly love continue.
Chapter between the Giving of the Law and what we are come to in grace.
I like to go back in these first four verses, 3 verses.
Review just a little of what we had.
Especially.
That word? Nothing.
In the second chapter, turn to the second chapter of Hebrews.
Our eyes are given to us as God.
Are the two channels.
Two avenues for God to get to our souls. He's interested in your soul and my soul.
And those two avenues get into our souls.
Well, what does God want us to get a hold of in this book we have?
Spoken yesterday that in a way the Lord Jesus is the apostle. He is the writer of this epistle. It's Jesus and it's the wilderness book. We were told that yesterday. So we have the Tabernacle in the parts of that. So it becomes very practical and the portion we read is very, very practical.
But in the second chapter and the.
Ninth verse, there's the other word that describes what we do with our eyes.
We speak.
Now who do we see? That's the important thing we see.
Jesus, oh, what a beautiful expression. And who is Jesus? He was the one who has made a little lower than the angels. You know, as you sit there, your level of creation is not a lot lower than the angels. We'd like to see angels and have the power that they have got, but we're just a little bit lower and.
Jesus.
Passed the angels by.
He came down from heaven and passed the angels by. There is no salvation for demons, angels who have sinned. There's no mercy for them, just judgment. Now that's a great thing. When you and I think of our level of creation, God has a way to redeem us, and it took a person to do it because.
00:10:08
And the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die sin brought in death.
For what stops seeing them? Well, it's there. You never saw a dead person sin, and you never will.
But the Lord came and he died to put away our sins and to give us life, to come into his family, to be trained as children. That's what we're getting in these verses we just read, trained as children. God has his children down here and he has a hard time with some of them training them, but he doesn't give up.
So looking under Jesus is a little bit more intense than see Jesus. You remember. Let's turn to 1St John and see the first verse of First John. How the?
Lord was revealed to us.
And it was through the Apostles I John one.
That which was from the beginning. This is a person. This is Jesus.
Which we have heard, Oh yes, they heard the Lord, which we have seen with our eyes. There's the eye coming in.
That is John Peter James Matthews. They.
Heard the Lord, they saw Jesus with their eyes.
But then he developed it deeper.
Which we have looked upon. That's the intense occupation of the mind.
To try to grasp who Jesus was, they just looked at that man.
And they did it so that they could write about it for us to have.
So Hebrews takes up both these verbs.
That the eye has the power to do.
To see and to look upon. So I think it's nice that in the second chapter it's the word scene in this chapter.
Looking unto Jesus and as we considered yesterday.
He is the beginner, the author and finisher of faith. Leaves a little word hour out.
He tried the whole course of faith. He was the dependent man who could give expression to the.
16th Psalm.
Not defend himself before his enemies Dependent, fully dependent man.
The finisher of our faith, that is. He trod the whole course and has finished it. As we remarked yesterday, there is one man in the glory. He's he's there.
He's there. He's the only one that's there to get there. There was the whole of his course of faith.
We remarked on that yesterday. You don't need to go over that again, but it's good that we've had it and.
The cross comes in in the second verse and then the considering him.
In His course the opposition of mankind about it.
Then the fourth verse, ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.
This tells you and me that we have not been martyred. Some of the prayers this morning were about the martyrs, and there are many of them if we can.
Believe some of the statistics.
More martyrs in this century than all the rest of them put together. Well, that's men's data.
But that's the kind of world we live in. But you and I have been preserved.
And we have been brought into a company.
Peter describes it as those who have obtained.
Like precious faith with us, the apostles. That's what we've got, brother.
As the apostles faith that was given to them, they wrote it down and gave it to us. So John says that which we have seen, that's that person, those apostles, they saw him, they heard him, they saw him and they handled him of the word of life and he has life and he gives life. Have you got it? You got to get it from him. And then when you're born into God's family, the change comes here in our chapter.
In verse.
00:15:00
Believe because before that, Jesus is before us and we're looking upon him.
He's the object at the end of the way, he's the one before the soul, but he does not stay there in verse.
5.
He had forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. The Lord Jesus never needed any exhortation. He was a perfect son. But we are imperfect. We have the life of Christ, but we have the old Adam life that wants to go its way. So you have not you have forgotten the exhortation which the speaketh unto you as unto children. My son Now now the relationship is as a son to a Father.
So that's what we're getting here. It's practical. We ought to walk as children of God.
Behave as Christ obeyed. Follow his steps who did no sin.
So that's the introduction to this.
Portion we have read.
Chastening. We usually think of it in terms of punishment, and that's certainly part of it.
There are times when I need to chasten my children. I need to punish them because of something, some disobedience or something that they have taken up. But I believe in Scripture, the thought in chastening is more than just that. It's really the thought of child training. I say that because when a trial comes into our lives, some or into the life of another, sometimes our first reaction is, well, this is God dealing with us because of some failure or sin in our lives.
Well, that may be true, brethren, but I often think of what they said when they brought the blind man to the Lord Jesus.
They said, who hath sinned, this man or his parents? That he was born blind? And the Lord Jesus said neither this man nor his parents, but that the works of my father might be manifested in him. There was glory going to be brought to the Father in the Lord Jesus healing this blind man. And so it wasn't the direct result of some failure in the life of the blind manner of his parents. And so I just say that because sometimes that's our initial reaction now. It's good when trials come in our lives or circumstances.
That we ourselves be exercised because sometimes it is a result of the chastening hand of God in that connection. But I believe God allows things in our lives for many other reasons. Sometimes it's to protect us from something. Sometimes I speak to my children and deal with them not because they've done something wrong, but to keep them from doing something wrong. I warn them and I seek to guide them and bring some circumstance in because I know if I don't.
It's going to lead them on a path that will be difficult, lead to some problem. God often allows things in our lives to preserve us. Sometimes, too, he allows things to prepare us that we might be used in blessing to others. You get that thought. I think it's in the first chapter of Second Corinthians where he passes us through a difficulty so that we ourselves can comfort other. We can comfort others with the same comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
So I only point this out. We're sons of God, and God loves us and he deals with us as his children, as his sons.
Because he loves us. And let's remember that brethren. And as we take up these verses that bring out the this chastening or child training, let's remember that we have one and a father who knows all about us, a father who loves us through and through, and a father who's dealing with us for our good and blessing. Sometimes we've heard it said that everything in our lives is working out for a purpose, and that's true. But I believe it's more than that. Sometimes I might have a purpose in the family.
Have some plan, but it may not be really a purpose of blessing. It may be just for a selfish motive to get something for myself, but not only is God working everything for a purpose in our lives, but it's for a purpose of blessing. And we need to remember this at all times, that every circumstance in our lives is allowed of God the Father, and it's allowed for a purpose of blessing if we're exercised by it.
Do with God, and I think that's so important to get a hold of. Sometimes there's a tendency in our lives to look at circumstances and blame a certain set of circumstances for the way things have turned out. Or perhaps some person that we don't feel as treated as exactly right. They haven't understood us. But, brethren, we have to do with God in every single detail.
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Life's experience down here comes directly from the hand of God, and it's so important to get that straight.
And I think that's why we are called at the beginning of this chapter to fix our gaze at the Lord. On the Lord Jesus everything comes directly from Him. No trial can ever come our ways, except at first be allowed by the hand of the one who was pierced for us. He loves us, and it's His love that allows the chastening notice verse six, whom the Lord loveth each hasteneth.
And scourge it, that's even stronger every son whom he receiveth.
Still remember brother Eric Smith telling about one time when he was amongst the Indians in the South of Bolivia. He was taken with a heavy fever and laying there in his bed quite ill and one of the poor Indian brothers came and sat by his side for a long time, didn't say anything.
And finally, he said.
Brother Smith, the Lord must love you.
Real life, all right? Why do you say that, brother? He said.
Whom the Lord loveth, he chases said.
He I really think I'm so blessed, brethren, to get a hold of everything comes directly from the hand of the Lord, and if we can just get a hold of that a little bit better, brethren. There's so much emphasis in our society, and I suppose it's the way of life, that when there's a accident, a problem.
We analyze it to try to find out how we can avoid it the next time.
But so often that leaves God completely out of the picture and in the life of a believer, brethren.
There is one factor that if we don't get it straight, nothing else will be right. And it's the fact that we have a loving father that allows every single detail in our lives. So we have two reactions in verse five wrong reactions, but I'm sure we can all relate to them.
My son despise not the chasing of the Lord. That's one way we handle sometimes, to chase me.
We despise it. In other words, we just act like, oh, that was nothing, no problem.
It was an accident. Oh, Insurance will take care of it. No problem. We'll soon have it all fixed up. Be careful, brethren, to recognize the hand of the Lord, no matter how minute it might be. It comes from his hand. And to despise it may mean that the Lord, to get our attention, may have to speak a little louder. He doesn't want to. He speaks.
In gentle tones at first, if we'll have ears to hear what he has to say but the other.
Reaction is nor faint when thou art rebuked of him, and that is another of our fleshly reactions to the chastening of the Lord. It happens and we think, oh, this is just too much. I cannot handle this. I'm not going to be able to take this that's fainting under it if the Lord has seen fit to put a certain difficulty into our lives.
He will sustain us there, but he means us to listen, so may the Lord help us not to give way to.
Despising his chastening, nor feigning under it. But like our brother was saying, if we go down to verse 11, we have the proper.
Reaction for every believer under the chastening hand of the Lord.
And that is to be exercised thereby. In other words, when it comes, is to simply say.
Lord, you have your hand in this. What do you want me to learn in this? That's the proper attitude for us to be exercised. There's something you mean for me in this sometimes. Like our brother Jim was saying, it's not necessarily that we've done something wrong, but as Jason, he might be to help us, to keep us from something wrong. The Apostle Paul had a thorn in the flesh. It was the Lord's discipline in his life.
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Why? Because he had done something wrong. No, it was that he might not be exalted. That's why when he had the abundance of revelations that he did, there was danger that he would be exalted. And so the Lord gave him a thorn in the flesh so that it would not happen. He didn't sin, but it was to keep him from that. And so it's the Lord's hand in every single detail of our life down here.
Oh, it's wonderful to get a hold of that brethren. It makes life, and even the trials of life so meaningful if we can just realize that it's his hand in every detail.
The story of Joseph seems to me to be just a marvelous illustration. Brother Bob, of what you and Brother Jim have brought out. You think about Joseph. A dear brother was sharing something about that with me yesterday at lunch, and it's really lovely to consider that.
Joseph was loved by his father. He, perhaps was the, you might say in one way the only obedient son that that Jacob had of those twelve sons.
But in any case, what did Joseph do in terms of evil and wickedness, to cause him to be sold as a slave and end up as a prisoner eventually in in a prison in Egypt, and done anything? He had been obedient to his father, he had pleased his father. He had gone out to look after the welfare of his brother.
He had sought to walk according to whatever he knew that would be pleasing to his father in submission to his father's will. What did it cost him? He became a slave, taken away from his family. Why did that happen? He ended up in prison, as I say, lied about, falsely accused. Why did that happen? Well, it was because Joseph was eventually going to be used in a marvelous blessing for.
As a very brethren who were so I had, so I'll treated him well. Brethren, perhaps we have to hang our seds and say at least I do that often. It's not so with me. It's there's a need to be when the Lord allows something in our in my life. But let's not forget that that we have a a beautiful examples in the word of God. A very thing. Our brethren have been talking about those who have gone through some severe fire. What did Daniel do?
To cause him to be carried prisoner. What sin did he commit? We don't know of anything. He was a young man, perhaps a young boy.
When he and his three friends were carried captive into Babylon, it was the sins of the fathers, the sins of the leaders of Israel, that had caused them to have to suffer that.
But what a blessing he was, and what a testimony to God he was there.
In submitting to the hand of God and then being used in blessings, so.
We don't like the pressure, at least naturally speaking. We don't enjoy the the feeling of the fire, you might say when the when the refiner is purifying the silver or the gold. It's not a comfortable thing to the flesh. But there's something that the Lord is working out in that beautiful tapestry. I say reverently that he's weaving of our lives and not all of those threads are comfortable circumstances and and happy events.
There are trials and there are difficulties caused by my waywardness sometimes, other times caused because in the end the Lord has a purpose of blessing, not only for me, but perhaps for others too. And if there's a trial in your life.
And the Lord is causing pressure in your life. Maybe someday that very thing will end up being a blessing to me.
So we have to see that, and that will help us, I think. Or it should help us not to faint when we go to the Lord and say, Lord, why is this happening? And I say for the young people too, Why have I been rejected by this friend? Or why isn't this working out? Why aren't my career plans going the way I want them to? Why is it so difficult to get along and to seek to go on in the assembly? It's such a little one here and I feel so alone. Why? Why? Why? Just consider Joseph.
Consider Joseph. The end was a marvelous blessing for the people of God. And that's not just for the older brother in here. That's for everyone of us, from the youngest to the oldest, that we go through those things in God's perfect ways.
That there might be blessing you have another Job, because we find that there were four things in the first chapter that characterized Job. God himself said that he was a perfect and upright man. He feared God and he astute evil. But God was seeking to do a further work with Job and seeking to teach him lessons in his schooling, and it took 30 some long chapters for the for Job to come to the end of himself.
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But what was the result? Why he gave him twice as much as he had before. And when he learned the lessons, it says that ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord. The Lord was seeking to do Job good at his latter end. But I'd like to just say this too, to go back to the example Bob used of the Apostle Paul with that thorn in the flesh. Because I just say this, that we're not always going to see the removal of the difficulty.
Paul prayed three times that that thorn in the flesh would be removed and the Lord said no Paul, I'm not going to remove it.
I'm going to leave it for a purpose of blessing, but, he said. I'm going to give you what is needed so that you can live for my glory.
And the blessing of the Saints, even in the trial. And so he said, My grace is sufficient for thee.
My strength is made perfect in weakness, so it's not that we may see the removal of the difficulty this side of glory, but if the Lord leaves that difficulty, then be rest assured it's for our ongoing good and blessing. And it's nice to see the spirit of the Apostle Paul in his whole life, because when he was a prisoner of the Romans and a prisoner of Nero, he never spoke of himself in that way. It was true he was a prisoner of the Romans, but he always referred to himself as a prisoner of the Lord.
That is, he recognized that the Lord was the First Cause and that the Lord had allowed this.
And submitting to it, then he was used in much blessing. Think of the blessing that comes from the epistles that were written. Because the wrath of man shall praise thee and the remainder of wrath, thou shalt restrain no doubt the enemy thought, If I can get Paul locked up in prison, he isn't going around preaching the gospel and encouraging the people of God. But God had something far greater in that Paul realized that he was a prisoner of the Lord, and he was used in a mighty way to write those epistles that were not only a blessing to those Saints they were directed to at that time.
But we hold them in our hands to sat this morning, we've received blessing. The Saints, all down through the ages, receive blessing because of these beautiful epistles that were written when Paul was in prison. And so, brethren, he has a purpose for us in our lives, for exercised by those things that he allows. If we seek by grace, and it's only by grace to learn the lesson, then he has a purpose for us, a purpose for our own souls, and, I believe, a purpose of blessing for others as well.
That in the chastening of the Lord.
If we can recognize perhaps what has been our failure, that God can come in.
Even in our failures and turn it to blessing. That's how great a God we have, brethren. And Paul might have reproached himself for going up to Jerusalem when the Spirit distinctly told him not to go through his servants, through his other servants, but it really was When he simply accepted what resulted from his going up to Jerusalem, his imprisonment, it really resulted in greater blessing than he could have ever imagined.
And so sometimes people get under the weight of a mistake they made back in their life, I say.
Recognize the mistake if you've made it, but leave it in the Lord's hands. He's able to take that mistake and make it a greater blessing than you can ever imagine.
Another thing, brethren, I think we need to see here is that.
Excuse me, The thought escaped me. I just said stop there.
Who has foresight in all these things to be?
Over us. God doesn't just chasing us in hindsight after we've made a mistake. But He knows everything about us. And He said to Peter, I have prayed for thee. He prayed before Peter had his failure. The Lord saw that coming and he warned Peter about it. And and so, brethren, that's our God. He knows all this about us. He's superior to all our circumstances and He He only allows it if we.
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If we get cast down afterwards when the hand is, the Lord is upon us. By then. It's really doubting that he knows and has allowed the best and even the governmental things that may be left on us later on. That's part of his hand too, and he could remove that thorn in the flesh if he and Paul afterwards, if he saw that Paul didn't need it anymore. What what peace there comes in and entrusting in the Lord.
So you have the two opposite reactions here in this verse five. I think of it as a superiority complex that is despising it. When we despise something, brethren, we we think we have some certain understanding about it and we look down on something else. But brethren, we couldn't despise what God does. He's so superior.
Feigning under the opposite, it's also distrusting God really giving up when we can't do it ourselves. We we kind of tend to give up. But that's when faith really should, should come into action. Again, trusting the Lord not to faint just to go on. He'll give strength, he'll care for us even if we don't understand. The whole subject here of discipline is in this place in Hebrews is really based on.
With the understanding that an older one would have on, as do things. And certainly our God is much wiser in all these things than any of us.
As we have in in verse 9 the father of spirits and there wasn't really.
Anything you could look at in the life of Job that was out of place was there. But there was something that God saw in his spirit, and we need to remember that He's the father of spirits, and maybe we don't see anything outwardly wrong in our lives, but God?
Who knows everything about us like was just said, and does all things for our blessing.
He being the father of spirits is going to deal with our spirit if it's wrong. And job, he got a pretty.
You might say upset at God in a way, justifying himself because of what God had done to him.
But God knew what he was doing and brought Job where he should be in his spirit. And that's what God is doing in our lives. He's dealing with our spirits.
What he is dealing with. But there are points in our lives that he may not show us in this life. Brethren, the full picture we're going to see at the judgment seat of Christ. I think it's important to see that.
The wise.
And the questions that we have of what has taken place in our lives, we may get some part of it down here, but it really remains that coming day to see the whole picture. So if you don't understand why the Lord has allowed something, remember he's not only preparing us for life down here, he's preparing us for that coming Kingdom.
And it's only going to be in that coming day that we're going to understand fully.
What he had in mind in allowing the disciplines that he has allowed in our lives.
I love what Paul says to Timothy in two chapter of two Timothy, where he says, remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel. In other words, at the end of the Lord's life, if you would have looked at it as a mere human, you would have said looks like complete failure at the end of the apostles Paul's life again it looked like failure all in Asia had abandoned him.
There were just a few with him, and he was waiting for the Roman sword to take off his head and you might say, complete failure. He says, Remember, Timothy, the answer is in resurrection. That's where we're going to get the full answer. And so if you don't get answers to your questions about the hard things that have taken place in your life down here, take courage. Trust in the Lord. He has your good in mind. He has proved how much He loves you.
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By dying on the cross. And so if we don't get our questions answered here, remember he knows what is best and will allow nothing but the best in your life and mine down here.
We owe Job a great debt. How much we are indebted to Job?
No one suffered. I don't believe any man suffered like Job did. And yet what a blessing.
All that Joe went through his whole testimony. What a blessing has been to the Saints of God ever since.
And so this is not only an individual thing. God made Jason one.
But it may be not only for himself or you and me, but it's for others to learn from.
And so I always, I can't always, never forget that that we owe Job a great debt.
One day we'll thank him for it, one day we'll tell him so.
I was thinking too.
In this thought that has been expressed about not knowing all.
The Lord Jesus himself said, what I do, Thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter. And there may be those things in our life, but those are comforting words. They're from the the Lord himself. And we will see someday all us, as we have said all, how the beautiful fabric of the life that he has put together has worked perfectly.
But we see a beautiful, practical example of it in the life of the apostle Paul. We've been speaking much about him.
And I confess, beloved brethren, I know very, very little about this. But to me it's a very awesome thing. The Apostle Paul said to uttered these words that are recorded in the word of God, Be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. And then a little later, he said, I believe God. When did he? When did he say those things? In the midst of one of the worst storms that has ever been recorded on the pages of any book written in the history of the world. They were in the midst of a horrible storm.
Out in an ocean or out in the sea, Paul being taken prisoner and taken prisoner, you might say, naturally speaking, because, as has been pointed out, he didn't heed those loving warnings that were sent to him by the spirit of God through his brethren. Then also out there because the shipmaster wouldn't listen to Paul. So it was a sad tale of not listening to good advice. And there they are, out in the middle of the ocean. The sun hasn't shown all hope that they're going to be saved is taken away.
Everything. Everyone has given up except Paul. What does he say? Be of good cheer. Why did he say that? Because he knew there was one who had perfect love, perfect wisdom, and and and knew all that was going on and was taking him somewhere. And he rested in faith on that so he could say in the not after the trial was over, not after he understood how it was all going to work. And this is what I know so little about myself, brethren, but in the midst of the worst part of one of those trials.
He said Be of good cheer. I believe God.
Forward to once. So I heard it several years ago, but it went like this absolutely tender, absolutely true. Understanding all things, understanding you infinitely loving intimately. Near this is God our Father. What have we to fear? So I think it brings before us, you know the love that God our Father has for us. And I believe faith always interprets.
Trials by His love, and realizing that all has been designed for our good and for our blessing. And even though we may not understand.
We can trust the Lord, can we? And somebody who is saying how that?
The circumstances of life may not change.
But the Lord is able to give the grace to surmount circumstances that perhaps.
Seem so difficult, I think of what David said there in Psalm 18, he said. By my God, have I leaped over a wall.
Well, I think sometimes trials, circumstances of life, they perhaps mount up before us as a wall and seem to hinder our progress and our happiness and so on, but.
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It's not true that God is able to help us to leap over.
And to rise above those circumstances, and perhaps one way is by recognizing that.
His will is sovereign and it's perfect, you know, because David said in the very next breath, he said, As for God, his way is perfect.
In recognizing that God's will is sovereign and that his wisdom is perfect.
And his love is perfect. I believe it's that which enables us to to rise above.
The circumstances of life.
Verse of our chapter. It's a good one for us. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits, and live?
What does that mean and live? Let's turn to the.
Timothy.
Six. It's the same subject we've been having here.
Connection with eternal things and temporal.
Call writing to his son Timothy.
And calling him a man of God. Would you like to have that title?
I'm sure everyone would.
611 of First Timothy But thou, O man of God, pleased these things, and follow after.
Righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, or really lay hold yourself on what is really like.
We have.
To lay hold on eternal life that's given us, that is, make it our own and our enjoyment. Well, who is it that has brought us to this? And who is over us? The Father of Spirit. And he wants every one of his children to really live the life of Christ down here.
So we're having him as the one to look to and it gets very practical.
And it's such a rewarding thing and.
As was said yesterday, this is the wilderness book.
And.
In Deuteronomy 8, the Lord reminds those children who were in the desert.
After they had gone through it, why they were brought there. There were two things they had to learn, and we don't want to miss those. There's nothing like our lifetime down here. Our 40 years is our lifetime and we're in this wilderness journey. The Lord leads us here. He'll get us all out at the end.
Some of them live a long time and others a short time, but it's it's all a wilderness journey. Well, he led them.
Those 40 years he humbled them that he might prove them.
That they might know what was in their own hearts. God exposed it, just like he took all those chapters to expose Job.
Some of us have been here a long time. We've had a lot of things exposed, but that's only half of it.
The other is who led thee and fed thee to know what was in God's heart, that he would do them good at their latter end. That's what's before us. The end of the Lord is coming, brethren, and it's where Christ has gone. This chapter points these things up very nicely.
For us, the reason why chastening is brought out in this chapter.
The purpose of it, in the emphasis given to it in this specific chapter, is given in verse 10 that we might be partakers of His Holiness, and then the 11Th verse, the Fruit of Righteousness.
I'd like to comment on that a little because I think it gives a certain important emphasis to what's being brought out here.
He's speaking to son. It's not in this chapter to children that are being addressed, but it's sons. We hear the expression like father, like son. God has a certain character and he wants his son to have the same character and so he brings before us Jesus in this chapter, who is one who was a perfect son.
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To a father, he was one who endured the contradiction of sinners against himself.
He was one that resisted unto blood. Now, brethren, are we like that?
Are we holy in that way that we endure the contradiction of sinners?
Do we partake in that in a practical way in our lives? It's God's purpose and will that we learn that. And so He brings us under His hand as sons, those who He would have to be like himself. And He puts us, every one of us, under the chastening hand, to teach us in such a way that each one of us will be like Him. It's not partakers of His love. It's not partakers of His grace.
That is brought before us. His grace is sufficient as needed in our lives, to sustain us. His love is the hand that is behind the chastening. But He would have us now, not just when we get to heaven, but now to walk in this world as His sons, as those that are like Him in our character before all men. And so as a result of that, as necessary, He puts His hand upon us.
And he brings things into our lives that we might be partakers of His Holiness.
Mentioned that these verses.
Are very practical.
And I wonder if we could just mention not to go off on a sidetrack, but something it seems to me is very practical in the 9th and 10th versus.
It says in the ninth verse. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us.
And we gave them reverence, or in the new translation, moreover, we have had the fathers of our flesh as Chasteners, and we reverence them then in the 10th verse. And I'm also going to read this out of the new translation, for they indeed chastened for a few days, as seemed good to them. Well, it seems to me there's some practical exhortation for.
If I can say it this way for kids and for dads.
You know the children that are here, and I appreciate very much Brother Don, what you said about the father and the son. The father seeks to bring the Son to mold the son into something that he has formed.
And that's a special thing. And in that sense you might say morally, boys and girls, both men and women, are seen as sons in that sense. But.
The practical thing is the first thing we do when there's some chasing or discipline.
From Mom and dad is that we want to rebel against it and we don't feel very kindly dispositioned, naturally speaking.
Toward our dad, if he's administered that discipline. But here's a very good, simple, practical word for the children.
The fathers, your dads, when they administer the discipline, what's your response? Think of it. We referenced them. That's a word that we could say is called respect, submission and respect. And you may not understand or appreciate or like what your father, what your dad is seeing, important and good to do in your life, but the word of God isn't talking to old people here when it says we reference them. That's a little practical word for the young people, the children here.
That that is always the attitude that you should have towards your parents in these things. That there is a reverence and a respect, even though it's in view of a discipline. But then it goes on and there's a little practical word to the dads.
And that is For they verily, for a few days, chastened us after their own pleasure. It's not the thought of fathers enjoying something. It's what they felt before God was good and proper that they needed to do for the blessing of their children. But what I think is really striking is for a few days, Oh dear, Dad, you don't have those kids. But for a few days, don't, don't overlook.
The vital, critical importance of discipline and training. I'm not talking about punishment all the time, just like our brethren have talked about. It's more than just if I can use this word. It's more than just a spanking or something. It's the whole realm of careful discipline and training. And dads, You've got them for a few days.
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In the in the if, I can say it reverently in God's calendar, that's all the time.
You have those dear little treasures, for don't neglect this vital thing.
Of discipline and chastening. You and I are under it. And could we have a better example than our Father, who is perfect in His ways with us, you say. Well, I don't know exactly how to do it. Sometimes I feel like I'm failing. Well, that's true, we do. But we couldn't have a better example than our own God. Wonderful God and Father, who individually in love and that we might be formed into that which is pleasing and glorifying to Him, knows how to order the circumstances of our life.
That that might happen, That we might be molded while beloved dads. That's your example, too.
You and I are not perfect. We have to hang our heads and say how often we fail. But for a few days you've got those dear treasures. Use those days wisely.
A little bit too about love in regards to all this. We're living in a society that doesn't understand discipline, and it's probably the most misunderstood subject in in our practical lives, discipline. But love is the basis of it. That's verse 6 and we we're thankful. We have a God who loves us and he never chastens because of love. That's always the motive.
But we're living in a society, brethren, that where it's difficult to chasten your children in public, almost impossible sometimes. There's a lot of confusion between abuse and godly chastening. That's not understood, and I think it's good for us to be sure we understand it. Abuse is not done in love, is it? Chastening is done in love. And they can be misunderstood. And it's becoming more and more difficult.
And we as parents shouldn't give up discipline because the society we live in doesn't understand that we we need to understand and we need to show that love. It should be felt even at the time when the discipline is is administered. And and if we haven't built that basis of love, I don't really think that there's very effectual chastening in whatever we do.
But where there is much love.
Very little chastening is necessary oftentimes.
In the pipeline.
Find ourselves, I believe too, as fathers, we have a responsibility with our children to open the word of God and show them from the word of God why we carry out discipline and chastening in the family in the way that we do. I believe this is very, very important because I believe, as Brother Doug says, that discipline and authority on every level is being undermined. I don't believe we really realize when we send our children and young people off to school, just how undermined these things are.
I've sometimes told this little story, but when I sent my youngest, my oldest daughter, off to school at five years of age to kindergarten, about a week later at the dinner table, she announced to me, she said, you know, Dad, you're not allowed to spank little girls. I thought they weren't long undermining that and getting that message across to the children one week in the school system. And that message had been conveyed well. The evening reading that evening took on a little different character than it usually does.
Because I believe rather than we need to open the word of God and show our children why we carry these things out. They need to know these things on a scriptural basis. But I just enjoy in this verse we've been meditating on how he says for our prophet, I have to hang my head and say that I don't always discipline my children for their profit. Sometimes it's just for myself. Sometimes I want to sit down and read in the evening and they're making a noise and around and I say go out of the room, go to your room and read. Well, that's not for their profit. That's just to get something for myself.
But isn't it a great comfort, as has been already been brought out, that this one who knows us through and through, He chastens us? Indeed, but He chastens us for our profit. There's never anything allowed in our lives that isn't for our profit. If we're exercised by what is allowed for our profit, that we might be partakers of His Holiness.
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Isn't that wonderful to think that when we get home to the glory and we sit down there?
In the presence of our blessed Lord Jesus, one thing that will impress us is the holiness.
The holiness of that place where holiness shines brighter all will be one of the wonders of things in a world which is full of corruption and evil and unholiness. Oh, how wonderful it will be to be home. And but God is seeking to be make us in down here like his Mr. Hale used to tell us, He's seeking to write Christ on our heart that we might be partakers of His Holiness. And there's one thing that goes with holiness, and that's happiness.
Happiness. I remember something struck me some years back. I used to watch an old couple going down the sidewalk opposite our home and about the same time every afternoon. And I learned that they used to go down to the local Dairy Queen and get a their favorite.
Their treat and but the old man was always about a step behind the old lady, and there they were.
And hobbling down the street. But she always took the lead. And I wondered about that. And I thought. And I found out that the old man was practically blind. He was blind, just practically blind. But he can see enough to see her. And he followed her where she was. Why he followed right along behind. Just just a step behind. And so I remember reading something. A ministry from my brother. Always both.
Premier 100 years ago.
He made this, he said. Holiness and happiness walk together.
Holiness and happiness walk together. Happiness is but one step behind.
Well, I thought about that old couple and I said what a lesson that is, that is for me.
Where there is holiness, happiness will be, will follow close behind.
That I'd like to read in connection with what was said about disciplining children.
That could easily be taken wrong by the world in which we live in, but it's so important.
Proverbs 23 verse 13 and 14.
Withhold not correction from the child, or if thou feedest him with the rod, he shall not die.
Thou shalt feed him with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from hell.
Not a strong word, and it really speaks to our heart as parents. How is the soul of that child to be delivered from hell?
It's from learning in this life, from his parents that evil ways bring pain, bring things that are not pleasant. If he learns that from the parents, he will not have to learn.
At a later date from the authorities of the land. He will not have to learn at a later date yet from the God of Heaven that bad ways bring bad results. Oh how important it is to learn that lesson as early as possible. I'm sure that the world around us would interpret this verse as abuse, as Douglas saying.
But, brethren, it's the wisdom of God for us, and it's important that we realize perhaps it's going to be that we're going to have to control ourselves in public and get along with our children and deal about these things. It's wisdom. It's between discipline is between the father and the child. And sometimes we do it in public and maybe.
These things that are happening are going to have to make it careful to be alone with our children to administer this discipline, but it's important that we continue to carry it on.
I know of a godly mother.
Who has a boy?
2 1/2 years old.
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And one day she was having trouble. Most of the time the boy is pretty good, but he just couldn't do anything right over and over again. He had to be spanked and corrected. And it was all done in love.
And finally, in her desperation, the mother took that 2 1/2 year old boy.
Set him down in front of her and read to him Ephesians 6-1 and two children, 2 1/2 year old boy, children, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right honor. Give forever to thy father and the mother, which is the first commandment with promise. I thought that was so nice to have the love brought in and the youth. It's surprising how smart our kids are.
And so we bring the word before them, even though they can't read well. When it was over with, the little boy looked up, his mother said.
God. You knew that word came from God. Reverence, you know.
That it may be will and.
Good.
There's if you be without chastisement and this part whereof all are for takers, brethren, we all are under discipline at the hand of God, and this is in this particular chapter. It's discipline from the Father. It's what we all partake of. So I can't look out and point the finger and say that brother's under discipline from the Father.
No, brethren, we all are partakers. If we do not partake, there's a question perhaps whether we really are a son in that family or not in the family of God. But otherwise, brethren, every one of us experiences the discipline, the chastening hand of God. I think it's good to realize that that word disciplined, sometimes we we connected with punishment but really comes from the same root as disciple. And it's really teaching. It's bringing a a person along in a certain course in a right course. That's the thought of discipline. It's not negative really.
Chastening is perhaps corrective, but discipline is more the thought of deciphering, bringing them along in a rate course.
See, because you. I believe at least that that helps us to understand the 12Th verse. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down in the feeble knees. Well, there are there are those who faint and and and one knows something of that himself. As you go through trials and sometimes the trials get heavy and you just feel so down and and you're not supposed to and you know that the Lord is there but you get down and it's so wonderful then when there's another.
Now brother or a sister who comes along and somehow by their actions or their words.
They come and they lift up those hands that are hanging down on those feeble knees. How can they do that? Because of what our brother Bob has brought out, that they too realize they're an object of God's discipline and chastening. And they've been through it, perhaps, and they've been blessed in something. They've gone through something. Now they're able to come to me and help when my hands are hanging down and my knees are feeble. And then I go on and I see a brother or a sister, and they're going through something.
Someone has helped me. I see that the Lord is there for me and He's working in my life for blessing. Now I've been encouraged a little bit. Maybe I can go to that one and help their hands and their knees. But if you, if you have no thought or no experience of going through this and you feel this is for those who may I say reverently, well, these are for the good people that don't have to be punished. They're the ones that know we all go through this and it's going through it experimentally or experientially that allows us then.
If we're properly exercised, yielding the peaceable fruit of righteousness, then we can go to someone else who's weak and feeble and stumbling under a discipline or a chastening, and we can be used in blessing.
A very important thing I think in assembly principal.
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As we were younger, we have fathers in our assembly. Dear young people.
They are responsible. We should learn from experience from those with Gray hairs. And we can sit under the ministry, we can sit in the care meetings, we can understand the exercises that they have for the sheep, and we can learn them only better as we sit at their feet and as we see them go on, brethren and young people especially.
We have to understand.
That there is order in the House of God.
And where are we going to learn these things? We're going to learn them from our fathers. And we should be thankful that we have those who have have taken interest and carried on and carried the torch. If the Lord leaves us here, we're going to have to carry the torch on. Young people, young brothers, young sisters. Yes, it takes brothers and sisters, but may we listen and may we hid to them and may we understand.
That is for our care and for our admonition. We may not like it, but set in quietness and learn at their feet, and learn the ways of God more perfectly. And then when they're gone, how often it comes to me? Many times. Or if we only had brother so and so here. Well, we have to search the scriptures, and not only that, but anything that we do within the assembly.
From the word of God, and may we be established in that, and we're going to learn those at the feet of our elder brethren and their fathers, and they have a care for us. And even at my age, I realize that there are many things yet to learn, and those of us are older in the assembly.
Brethren, take these young people under your arms, take them and work together and encourage them in the things concerning the assembly and the exercises for the care of the sheep.
David had to learn how to take care of the sheep, and that's why he was so prominent and that's why he was so useful. But may we may we be exercised older brothers, younger brothers, We go on together in the assembly. But these are things that we learn. But we can only thank God for those that have taken the time and showed us the way more perfectly.
6th of repeated.
Could you give us a word on the 4th verse?
Disciplining and love.
No, I don't think so. Not for you.
And ye fathers, provoke not your children.
To wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. I think what was said earlier about all this discipline, love, and it's in our chapter, fathers.
They have chastened us, but let it always be done in love.
Some fathers have campers.
I suppose most of us find that out, so we have to be guarded. And I think this verse is a guard. He fathers, provoke not your children to wrath.
A hasty answer provokes wrath.
Wait on God, My own mother would make me kneel down.
And she would pray with me.
And in tears she would say to me now, this is going to hurt me worse than it does you.
Now that's not dealing in a provoked way. Well, I think it's easy to see, isn't it, Edgar? That's what it is.
That was bringing out. I've often thought of a little example in Utica, in the assembly at Troas in the third loft, because I've often thought as Eudicus, who we're told there is a young man as he sat down in that window and began to nod off to sleep. I've often wondered if there hadn't been someone, perhaps an older brother in the assembly there, who could have gone to him and put his arm around him and encouraged him out of the window in love, perhaps offered him a seat over where he was sitting.
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If it wouldn't have saved Eudicus that bitter fall down to the level of the street. I don't say that to excuse Euticus in any way. He ought not to have sat in the window. He ought not to have wearied of the ministry of the Apostle Paul. But I've just thought of that, and I just encourage my dear older brother and speak to those of us who are younger. We need counsel, we need guidance, We need that shepherding care that the members should have the same care one for another. And I've been thankful for brethren who have spoken faithfully to me.
Who have instead of letting me go on some course that was going to lead to some detriment in my life, have come in faithfulness. Maybe it hurt at the time, but faithful are the wounds of a friend. And so I just say that too, as a young brother to encourage those who are older. And as those of us who are younger, we need to submit. We need to recognize that God has authority. When you go to work for a corporation, you don't start at the top. You start at the bottom and you work up. And there are different men when they form a company or a corporation.
They recognize there's need for authority on different levels, Sometimes said Would God run something more careless than humans?
Oh, no, He recognizes this. And we all then, too need to recognize that there are different needs. There's those of us who are at different stages in our growth, spiritually and physically, and the Lord knows as a shepherd how to care for each of his own and to deal with us. It says in Isaiah 40 he shall feed his floss like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs in his bosom and carry them in his arms, and shall gently leave those that are with young. That is, he doesn't treat each one in the same way. Even in his chastening, He doesn't treat each one of us in the same way. We're all individuals.
Well, we need to learn that as brethren too, that we would seek the good and blessing of one another, and discern that there are different needs amongst the people of God.
This discouragement, as seems to be in verse 12, indicated that brother Doug has talked about that a little bit, is to lift up and to do that work as well. When we see someone under the a real trial, it is to come and to say brother, take heart, it is the Lord. He doesn't mean to do you harm, He's only thinking of your own good. To encourage in that way as such an important work as well.
Sometimes we judge why the Lord may be allowing the trial in their life of that person's life, but we need to leave it between the Father and the Son of times, and just simply seek to encourage them to receive it from the Lord. And then, like it says in verse 13 as well, speaks of the lame making straight paths for your feet, that that which is lame be turned not out of the way, but let it rather be healed.
A lame person is one you might have to go up and take their arm and help them to walk. It takes some patience. It takes some real care to go to a person like that and to get them walking in a straight way again. And here we have the lame being healed. I think this is nice. It shows real grace working with those that are under the discipline. We're all under this discipline. But, brethren, we proved I trust in some measure in our lives.
That the Father's discipline is for our own good, and so we need to encourage those that we see that are under a real trial at this time to take courage. That it is the Lord that He only has our good and blessing in mind. That's all, brethren. I'd like to reread that 13th verse our brother Bob has been sharing thoughts with us on, and I'm going to read it wrong. Make straight paths for the lame's feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way. It's not what it says.
Make straight paths for your feet. That, that which is lame. We can't afford to look at someone and say they're under trial. They sure failed and I want to go help and I have to bring myself into this and I have to be walking a straight path in order to help those that are failing or laying. So it's very pointed here. It's looking at myself 1St and making sure I'm walking according to the to the thoughts of God.
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And in communion with the Father. And then there will be a path that that which is lame and small. I was thinking of what our beloved brother Clem was sharing with us about that dear old couple. Well, that Lady who was leading her dear husband on the sidewalk wasn't wandering all over the grass and off into the curbing, so he'd stumble. She was walking a straight path that he could follow so he wouldn't be turned out of the way. How important that is, brethren, that we are exercised about ourselves and our walk. And as our brother Loder brought out, very, very importantly, I think that those who are those spiritual fathers who are in that place.
Have that exercise on their heart in order to help the beloved younger ones, and how good it is that the younger ones appreciate those fathers.
But oh May God grant that the fathers make straight paths for their feet.
We get a nice example too. With David. There's a very interesting order to what happened in connection with Ziklag. David was discouraged. It was a real trial for him. But what did he do? He knew where to turn and he encouraged himself in the Lord. He got into the presence of his God. And what was the result of him? First of all, himself getting into the presence of the Lord and encouraging himself in the Lord. Why? Then he went down and encouraged the men that were with him, and as a result there was a great victory in Israel that day.
But it wouldn't have happened if David had tried to go down in his own strength and gone down and thrown up his hands and said, well, we'll just have to do the best we can. No, he got into the presence of the Lord 1St, and that's the order, Brethren, if we're going to encourage one another in the Lord and be a help one to another, it's only in the measure in which we ourselves are in the sanctuary, in the enjoyment of the Lord. Again, when you get it with the truth of foot washing, it's only I can only wash my brethren's feet.
Measure in which I let him wash my feet, because when the Lord Jesus washed the feet of the disciples, then he said wash one another's face. Left that which is lame, he turned out of the way.
Seems to me that that's the lame are all of Adam's race he got that poison in.
And to him it was said.
The woman's seed shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
There's no one of Adam's race that can walk straight down here.
And so we have to get turned out of the way.
Where am I going?
To.
Be.
On your heart while.
Will run.
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I don't know if you're wild World.
Hey, Cortana.
Where is my wish? Me la ha ha ha ha.
Our friends today, we don't know if you need anything.
In life.
Breathing. Why not drive?
There you go. And I know.
Verse 18.
And everything is thanks. So this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. And then over in Jeremiah 2911.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, say of the Lord, Thoughts of peace and not of evil, give you an expected end.
Hebrews 12:14-29
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Do we have one day?
Man right. Free praise and fire.
All over your soul who has granny big heart.
And grace and service shrine.
Praise all the work shall grow.
Drill, Better life, Sing today.
Hebrews, Chapter 12 Starting with verse 14 Fall 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 out, trouble you, and thereby many be defiled, Must there be any fornicator or profane person, as Esau, who for one Morse of meat sold his birthright?
We 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.
For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor under blackness and darkness and temples the sound of a trumpet, in the voice of words, Which voice they that heard and treated, that the word should not be spoken to them anymore, They could not endure that which was commanded. If so much as a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust through with dart. So terrible is the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake.
What you are come under Mount Sinai, and under the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the first born, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new Covenant, to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of evil.
See that ye refuse not him that speaketh, for they escape not who refused him to spake on earth. Much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth, But now his promise, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word yet once more signifies the removing of those things that are shaken.
00:05:11
As of things that are made, but those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire.
With all men.
Were talked at very diligently in the scripture.
And Holiness, we have had that positive exhortations for us.
Let's seek to do it without which no man shall see the Lord, and then this 15th verse.
Is one that we ought to pay attention to because of the natural tendency to not to want to forgive our brother.
That's one of the afflictions amongst brethren when there is not that forgiveness.
And it takes diligence to get down there.
And find out where that root of bitterness is. But I want to take up this 16th verse right at the beginning, lest there be any fornicator or profane person as Esau who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. Now if we go back to Exodus chapter 4 and we know the story without referring to what happened.
How that Jacob tricked his brother?
Brother coming home faint from a trip and.
Jacob had sod pottage made some some kind of bean soup.
And foolishly.
Isha thought. Well, I'm just going to die if I don't eat.
He.
Who has cunningly tricked, I believe, by Jacob to selling his birthright?
What was his birthright?
We're getting it here in our chapter.
We're going to that.
But in Exodus chapter 4.
We see that God honored that sail.
Jacob, the cunning bargainer.
He had bought.
The birthright of his older brother.
And the Lord recognized the sale, talking to Pharaoh.
About Israel.
Who was in ******* in Egypt? The Lord. Thus saith the Lord.
Israel is my son, even my first born.
No doubt about it, the sale went through. Now what was happening when the Lord came here, He was on earth, the King, the Messiah. He had come to the Jews.
There he was.
The Messiah.
They made the most miserable bargain it's possible to make. They could have had the Millennium under the Messiah if they would have taken that man.
They thought no, we leaders, the Pharisees and scribes and so on, who had a place given to them.
Under the Roman Empire, they recognize it and they kind of liked.
They had as.
Their position?
They had a position under the Romans and they wanted it.
And here was the time.
When the Messiah was here to be presented to the remnant of Israel who had been brought back there.
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God was going to give them their Messiah. He was prophesied in the Old Testament.
Even the Samaritan woman knew about the Messiah coming. He was here and.
They were given a choice, those leaders of Israel.
Sub having the Messiah for the king and they said no, we have no king but Caesar. They left themselves under slavery of a worse than than Pharaoh, so that was a fatal loss.
For that nation at that time, that's what this brings up before us.
Profane person. Just take anything he wanted.
Who for one morsel of meat sold their birthright. For a few passing carnal privileges, they sold their Messiah. That's what happened. So this, this comes in, in this book to tell us really what the guilt of the Jewish nation was.
Course there's going to be a result for the world.
That crucified the Lord and for the.
Nation of Israel that was there then, they said.
His blood be on us and on our children, and they have had that blood in about the year 70 AD, when Jerusalem was destroyed.
But they've returned, they said. His blood be on us and on our children, brethren, the children of that generation.
Which hasn't passed away. Same kind of people are over there now.
Waiting for the final judgment that's going to fall not only on the Israelites that are over there and the Jews as such, but the world. Because when Philadelphia is addressed, she's taught. She's told about the.
Time of great tribulation which is to come upon all the world to try them that dwell on the earth. Now your way and my way of escape from the seven years of the great tribulation, the only sure way is to take the Lord Jesus as your savior. The only sure way for the nation of Israel over there to escape the judgment is going to come is to confess that Jesus is Lord, the Lord said to them as they were rejecting Him.
Henceforth he shall see me no more, until he shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
What people have to do is to confess that Jesus is Lord, be they Jew or Gentile. So these remarks here are quite strong, I think in this chapter of.
Hebrews.
That to maintain holiness that we are exhorted to in verse 14.
That it would be necessary to have some strong rules and regulations or laws, but that is not what produces true holiness.
It is speaks about that holiness in verse 14 without which no man shall see the Lord. Pretty solemn to think about brethren. And it's practical. It's following peace with all men and holiness that's practical in our lives. How is that produced? By following a set of rules and regulations. That is the natural tendency of our hearts. We're going to have to in our group now. We're going to have to set up some rules.
And nobody is allowed to violate these rules. That does not produce holiness. And so in the next verse it shows the way true holiness is produced, looking diligently, lest any man fail, of the grace of God. It's the grace of God, the sense of his grace, that will produce holiness in our lives in a right way. And I often think of, if we understand the grace of God properly, sometimes people present the grace of God.
That God just kind of looks over our sins and passes them over.
And in Jude, it speaks of those who turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness. In other words, they make it an excuse to continue to sing. And this is heard in religious, so-called evangelical circles. God is merciful. He'll, he'll bear with your sins. You can go on and sin a little bit. It's making provision to continue to sin.
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With the excuse that God is gracious, that is not understanding.
What the grace of God is when I stand at the cross of Calvary?
When I see that glorious Savior hanging there on that cross for me, giving his life the eternal Son of God, going through those hours of intense agony under the judgment of God to expiate sin from before the face of God, and then say, well, God's gracious I can go on sinning. We really don't understand grace yet.
No. To understand grace brings the sin question into proper perspective, and you cannot be careless about sin in your life and understand grace at the same time. The two things don't go together. It's not produced. Holiness is not produced by the law. That's the natural tendency of our hearts, but it's produced by a right understanding of what grace really is.
Now in Titus and it might be helpful just to read those scriptures.
In Titus chapter 2.
He gives a list of things here that Grace teaches us.
Titus chapter 2 and verse 11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation.
Hath appeared to all men teaching us, These are the things that grace teaches us.
Teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age. And I've appreciated the fact that it's in this present age that is right where we are now. And if we have a true sense of grace in our souls, brethren, then grace is teaching us to live soberly, righteously, godly. In this present age we can never look around and say, well, things are too bad.
We can't go on with those things, no. When does it? Where does it teach us to live in this way?
It teaches us in this present age, right at this present time, right in 1997, where we where we are, we find 2 here in the verses, the two verses that we opened up with in the book of Hebrews. There are three things that are brought out, and I think the order is very important here and we ought not to miss it. That is, first of all he says follow peace, but it's not just that we follow peace. But then he immediately says and holiness.
Because, brethren, we can never have peace at the expense of righteousness and truth, because that's compromise.
And so it is true, we're to fall of peace with all. But holiness must be maintained, The standard must be maintained. The Spirit today in the world is well we can meet on a common ground, find some common denominator, and we can go on in that way. But that's not according to the word of God.
When Paul wrote to Timothy in the second epistle of appalling days of breakdown in not only in the world and in government, but even amongst the people of God, then he tells him there what to follow. He says follow righteousness, faith, peace, love with those that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. It's a very important order to that list. If I'd been writing that list, I probably would have reversed the order and put peace and love at the beginning. And that's what people want to do today.
And forget all about righteousness and faith. And so we need to be careful, follow peace.
But then it says with and holiness, and then he brings in the grace of God.
I was struck to realize that those verses that we often refer to in Matthew 18.
That bring before us the Lord, speaking in anticipation of the formation of the Church.
For they bring before us the instruction to go on in that which was going to be established and was established in the book of the Acts, speaks there of the function and administration of the local assembly. But what do we find beforehand? We find that the whole first part of the chapter is taken up with the subject of humility, and the whole last part of the chapter is taken up with the subject of forgiveness. Isn't it interesting that the function and administration of the local assembly instruction in that regard is Couch?
In those in in between humility and forgiveness, it's like the gas and oil that makes the machinery run properly.
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You might have everything in perfect order, but if there isn't, and you might have a very good engine. But if you don't have gas and oil, it's not going to run smoothly and properly. And so I think it's very, very instructive. And brethren, there needs to be the exercise of grace, with each one of us being gathered to the Lord's name brings us into a relationship closer than any relationship outside the family tie. Here on earth. Large day morning, there's going to be a loaf on the table, and in that loaf we recognize every member of the body of Christ.
And we practically express this truth when we meet together. And to remember the Lord in that way on the ground of the one body, we're brought into this closeness of the closeness of this relationship, rather than if there isn't grace exercised in each one of us. There's going to be difficulties, there's going to be problems. And so I just point out the order. Peace, yes, but then holiness and grace.
That you refer to rather, Jim. I think it's so important too, to recognize that grace sets before us an object. And how is it that we can indeed deny ungodliness, worldly lusts, and so on? Well, I believe it's because God puts before us the person in work of his beloved Son, that which truly satisfies. That's what is far better than.
What this world has to offer and so.
We have looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the Great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. He is the object. Isn't he great God and our Savior Jesus Christ who gave himself for us. This brings before us the sacrifice and it's the love of Christ, isn't it? It really constrains us to walk to please God.
I think we need to focus on that work that was accomplished at the Cross.
No greater love has a man than this, than that a man lay down his life for his friends, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, or a special people zealous of good works.
So here we have the good works coming in. It's a result of an appreciation of what Grace really is.
It's verse 15 is put in such an interesting way of our chapter. Rather than looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God, it's so important that we continue on. Not only we have been saved by grace, but every step of the way home. We only can go on if there's a sense of grace in our souls that we can continue. We don't only receive the grace of God.
At that moment when we have been saved, but it's all the way home, It's a display of his grace that takes us every step.
And the moment we lose the sense of that grace, there's fertile soil in our hearts for roots of bitterness. They will grow fast in the soil of a heart who has lost the sense of the grace of God. We stand there.
Only on the grounds of God's unmerited favor. Even as believers in the Lord Jesus, the Lord help us to keep that before our souls. It's just so easy to get away from that and start setting up, perhaps unconsciously, even in my heart, what I think my brother ought to measure up to. Brethren, we are here only on the grounds of His grace. It doesn't mean.
Like it's been brought out that we compromise the standard of holiness, not one wit the Lord Jesus did not do that on the cross of Calvary. He answered fully to all the claims of the holiness of God.
But, brethren, we stand before God on the ground of pure sovereign grace.
Shoes drew near to God through the law, and they stood there on their own righteousness. Their approach was made known to them how they could draw nigh to God.
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Once a year go into the Holy Place and so forth, But we've been brought into the presence of God, brethren. And what is it that's brought us there? It's Christ.
And it's grace that brings us along with him to have us there. We lose a sense of that grace and then we start finding fault with our brethren. Roots of bitterness grow, grow in our hearts, and it spoils that. And so there's a danger with this. It it costs Christ very much to bring us there. And if we lose a sense of that because we didn't do anything to get ourselves there.
And therefore we have no claims to look down on our brethren, or to to despise.
As it follows on and be profane, I think it's easy for us brethren to become like Esau or to.
To let roots of bitterness grow up when we lose that sense of our grace.
There in verse 17, it says for ye know how that afterward there's an afterword, and we have to recognize that in our lives and with things in this scene, there may be something that seems like it's acceptable. And her brother brought out. It was a very meager thing that Esau wanted, but he was hungry and he was willing to give up everything to get that food. And there was a momentary satisfaction that there was an afterward, too.
And that's a solemn thing to consider, brethren afterward. Let's let that thought.
Serve to kind of be a little break. As we go through our life of seeking to walk through with the Lord and we're presented with this thing and that thing, we we need to remember that what we take up with and what we become involved with, what we do. There's going to be an afterward.
To realize the government of God is a very real thing in our lives.
And everything we do has a consequence. We often quote that verse in the gospel, and rightly so. Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. But brethren, we need to apply that to our own hearts. That's true of us. If we so to the flesh, we're going to reap. To the flesh there's a consequence, and we may even be happily restored to the Lord in our own souls. But I think you get examples in the word of God that really speak to us, for instance with Abraham when he sinned.
He was restored to the Lord himself, but Ishmael and his descendants became the constant enemies of the people of God.
When David was restored to the, was sinned, and restored to the Lord, we find that a sword never departed out of his house forever. And what has struck me recently is to realize that when things are allowed in my life, and when, and two, when roots of bitterness are not judged, and those roots grow, not only do they have consequences on my own life, but they have consequences on others, and particularly on my children.
And I want to just say a practical word to those of us who have young children here, because what has struck me is that sometimes we as brethren may.
Ice and over something, some difficulty, some little problem between Brethren and we may Eisen over it and go on without really judging it, But that root of bitterness is there. And I don't know too much about gardening and that kind of thing, but I do know the longer you let that root grow the weed root of that weed, the harder it's going to be to pull it when the time comes.
But brethren, if we let that root grow, it will have consequences even on our families. And I have seen in my short history that sometimes things are not taken care of between brethren, just kind of ice and over and brethren go on. And then that route of bitterness is passed down to the next generation. And when it comes out, rather than it defiles many, the longer that route is there, the worse it's going to be when it finally comes out.
And it needs to exercise those of us who are children are who our parents, I should say, who are fathers and brethren. Let's be careful too what we say in the ears of our children concerning our brethren. If things have to be taken up and discussed for the Lords glory, let's not do it in the ears of our children. Let's not. Let's be careful that there would be nothing passed on to them that would cause them to think I'll of the people of God, or would cause the seed of any root of bitterness.
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In our children and young people.
Verse 16.
Sin of fornication and profanity. They really relate in other in the sense that they are treating things that are really sacred as if they were only common. That's what profanity is. And young people we are separated unto the Lord both in body and spirit. We are separated unto the Lord.
To take that which is separated to the Lord and to mix it with those who are not believers in the Lord Jesus is not a positive thing. It will bring extremely negative consequences. And we need to be warned. We're living in a world that unholy mixtures are countenanced and encouraged. But God's, the principle of God's Word is separation to the Lord.
Fornication ignores that profanity is dealing.
With what is sacred, as if it were common, as we've already mentioned, and in connection with what we've had brought to our attention, especially with the precious ministry of the word of God, we need to value it. Not just because our fathers value it, but we need to set our feet down and enjoy it and appreciate it, not sell it. Esau took that birthright that was rightly his. It was his God-given heritage, and he sold it for a massive body.
That was all that it was worth to him. He didn't care if he lost it.
Brethren, that is profanity, and we need to be careful in view of the God-given heritage we have.
Of not doing the same thing.
Then it says in verse 17, and it's been commented on already. I'd just like to.
Mention here you 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, like to draw attention to the parentheses that Mister Darby puts into his translation. For he's found no place of repentance is in parentheses. What he sought was not a place of repentance, brethren.
Sought was.
A was the blessing. When it came down to the blessing at the end of Isaacs life, when he said he was going to bless his son, then remember that Jacob took it by guile and deceit, and he came back and Jacob had already gotten the blessing. And then Esau wept bitterly, not because he had repented.
Not because he was seeking repentance.
Esau never repented.
Esau never repented. He didn't seek repentance. What he sought with tears was the blessing that he lost because he had despised the birthright. And there will be consequences if we don't value what God has given us.
Contrast between what's?
You're not Come to verse 18 and.
What he are come to in verse 22?
I say the contrast is as great as possible.
We find judgment that the law brought and the eternal blessing that grace brought to us.
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But every blessing is on the ground of grace, and whether it's us in this dispensation.
Or anybody in any other dispensation. It's always been on the grounds of pure sovereign grace.
That's what Mount Zion is. Zion is the undeserved favor of God, God coming in and acting in His wonderful grace and brethren. I just say again, we need to have a real sense of this in our souls. And it will be true too, for the nation of Israel. They will be blessed in a coming day when Zion is addressed, when the lamb comes and stands on Mount Zion. And they themselves will have to realize that if there's any blessing for them, it's on the grounds of pure sovereign grace.
They failed utterly under the law at Mount Sinai they said all that the Lord our God hath commanded that will we do. But it wasn't very long till they broke the 1St and greatest of all the commandments, and Aaron set up the golden calf, and they worshipped that, and they failed utterly under the law. Even today Israel is trying to work out their own piece by piece, packs and summits and negotiations and all the things that they think they can do.
In their own strength, Is it going to work? Is all that the allied forces in the UN can do going to work? No, it's never going to bring about peace. They rejected the Prince of Peace and chose a man that was characterized by rebellion against authority and violence and corruption. And that's what they've had ever since. Because his brother Buchanan said they brought down his blood not only on their own heads, but on the heads of their of their children. And they'll never have peace again till the shout of a king is amongst them, until the Lord Jesus has his rightful place.
And they're drawn around him, but they will realize in that day that it's nothing of themselves.
They'll realize that it's on the grounds of pure sovereign grace and brethren, as we go on in our lives, we need to realize this more and more.
Is there a desire in your heart to follow the Lord in any measure? It's God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
When we get to glory, we'll have nothing to boast in save the grace of God that not only saved us, but preserved us every step of the wilderness journey. I believe that's why in Revelation 4, the redeemed, after they have received those rewards, those crowns, what do they do? Oh, they just cast those crowns back at his feet because we'll realize the full import of the verse I just quoted. It's God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
They don't want to get away from our chapter, but just for the sake of the young people sometimes illustrated it this way.
Suppose you give a cup of cold water in the name of the Lord. First of all, he puts the desire in your heart to give it. Then he provides the cup of cold water. Then he provides the opportunity to give it in his name. And then he says, I'm going to reward you for it. Well, brother, no wonder we'll cast our crowns back at his feet. We'll realize it was just the sovereign grace of God. Well, may this, may this sense of grace deepen in our souls now that we might be preserved and that we might go on.
And it will make a difference in our relationships, one with another. In the measure in which I realized the grace of God to me, then it's not hard to show grace in my relationships to my brethren.
Testament for the Jew, didn't he? And these verses here 18 through 21.
But. And God wanted to draw near to his people. How wonderful it is that God wanted to draw near, but His Holiness and righteousness became an obstacle. Or that is their lack of it. God hasn't changed. God is still the same holy God that he was on Mount Sinai. The Christ has made his fit and brought us, hasn't he? So, but that doesn't change the fact that God's holy and so we read these verses there. That's why the contrast is so great.
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It even says Moses, and I don't think we can find fault with Moses, but he exceedingly feared and quake the leader. So they never got there, did they, under that ordeal. But we have brethren, we we lost sinners. We've been brought near. God still the same holy God without, without.
It says the verse we had follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. That's still true.
God hasn't changed, but he's opened up the way, and Christ has brought us there, and He is our righteousness. Well, there ought to. It ought to produce that holiness and peace.
In US, practically here. And so we long for that, don't we? We're learning about that now. When we get home to glory, there's never going to be someone that mar that peace and holiness.
Had a lot of meaning, perhaps more so to the Jewish mind than maybe so much to us. But it is figurative, of course, of law and grace, as has been mentioned, but the way he puts it in its setting. Sinai, Blackness. Darkness.
Tempest. Sound of a trumpet. A voice of words that they couldn't listen to. It was too much for them.
And if it's a matter of standing on the ground of our own merits before God will never make it. And it's interesting in the Old Testament, there in the book of Exodus, when the law was given, it didn't seem to be this way until the people said.
All that the Lord hath said, will we do? They put themselves on that ground before God, and then immediately the Lord says, set bounds to the mountain. Don't let anything break through. If anything breaks through, it's going to be killed immediately. That's law. Oh, thank God, brethren, we do not have to stand before God on that ground.
That is not where we are. Come. Thank God for it, but I love that. So beautiful in verse 20. But ye are come unto Mount Zion. Here's where we are, brethren. This is our place.
You remember when David had sinned in numbering the people.
And the Lord had sent.
The pestilence among the people, and the Angel with his drawn sword.
Was going through the land, slain those that had to be killed as a consequence of David's sin, and he comes to Jerusalem.
And it's beautiful to think about. And it repented the Lord. Why did it repent the Lord? Because of his grace. They deserved to suffer it too. And the Lord said, stay now thy hand to the Angel that was destroying. And David was given to go and offer a sacrifice in the threshing floor of Aruna the Jebusite.
And that is the site of the we know. That is Mount Moriah, the site where the temple was built. God centered the place where the Lord was to dwell in the midst of his people. This is where we have come. This is the place for God's people. This is our place, brethren. And oh, how wonderful it is to realize that we deserve that sort of judgment too, but because of that sacrifice that was offered there.
There is now another ground upon which God can accept us, and we are accepted in the value of the person and worth of our Lord Jesus Christ, That sacrifice that he made on the cross of Calvary. That's Mount Zion.
And that's why this is the place that the Lord has chosen as his habitation.
It's a place that man cannot forfeit the blessing. Now under the law, man forfeited the blessing that God wanted to give. But now God has established a form grace, under which man cannot forfeit the blessing he cannot shut down.
The flow of the grace of God that flows out limitless, today and always will.
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In our chapter.
And turn back to it. I want to read that phrase.
It says.
In verse 18 for a year not come on to the mount.
That might be touched well.
You know, the thought, it seems to me, is as Brother Bob you were bringing out, if someone were to touch that mouth, it was death back there at Sinai. And so the bounds were set up, and it, whether it was a person or a beast to touch the mount where God was displaying His Holiness in, in all of its awesomeness.
Meant death. Now in Mark I've often connected this I just it's just as precious to my own soul. Mark Chapter 9, the disciples are up, and we have several of their a couple other accounts of it. But in March Chapter 9, the disciples are on the mount with the Lord Jesus and he's transfigured in his glory. So there's a display of God's glory too. But what does it say there? It says in verse nine of Mark Chapter 9 and as they came down from the mountain.
What happened when the Lord Jesus came down from the mountain? The one who displayed that?
Glory to his disciples and that same glory that was displayed there to the children of Israel. Why it wasn't that it might be touched and there was death, but he came down that he might be touched and there was life. And it's just lovely. We're talking about grace here is the here is the fulfillment of that imperfection in grace. I say in in just in principle the Lord Jesus as it were comes down from the mountain the one who in.
Exodus. Their display, that full awesome glory of God in the blackness and the thunderings and the lightning and the fire and all that display of holiness. Now he comes down, and that mountain that might be touched to have death is so precious. He comes down and it's an invitation to touch him, that there might be life.
Thou little phrases.
That are mentioned from verse 22/23/24 to meditate on brethren. This is where we are come to think about oh the place that has been brought, we brought been brought into by Grace. Just like to mention that it's interesting in Mr. Darby's translation.
As you go through that list, it's divided into 8 distinct things, and they're all set off by a semi colon.
You have come to the Mount Zion semi colon, and to the city of the living God heavenly Jerusalem semi colon, and to myriads of angels, the universal gathering, semi colon, and to the assembly of the first born who are registered in heaven semi colon, And to God judge of all semi colon, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.
Semi colon and to Jesus mediator of the New Covenant semi colon, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh speaking better than Abel.
Well, I'm sure there's much to meditate on there, and we want the help of our older brethren.
In thinking about these things that I have so enjoyed, the thought that this is where we have come, this is our place. Just think of it. The city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem. This is where we have come, brethren. It's nothing down here to be enraptured with. Here is that city that evidently somehow Abraham got a glimpse of and never was more than a Pilgrim and a stranger down here because.
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He looked for a city whose path foundations, whose builder and maker was God. Here is this city. We've come here, brethren. This is our place. This is our eternal home. Is this interesting to you young people, this heavenly city? Or is there some city down here that interests you more than this city? Oh, to have hearts enraptured with that heavenly glory.
I don't think we have enough of the sense of the what we're called to to heavenly glory, brethren. If we get a glimpse of it, it would really make us pilgrims and strangers down here. Abraham was a wealthy man, materially speaking, but he was never more than a Pilgrim and a stranger dwelling in a tent down here. Why? Because he was looking for that city. And that's what's going to have an effect on your life and mine to get a glimpse of that city.
Remember asking a brother out in California is now with the Lord.
Brother Dan Jacobson the.
The visiting one time. And I asked him about those that have gone on before. I say I ask him, do you think they have any knowledge of what's going on down here in this world? And he thought a little bit. And he said, you know, I think heaven's glory is so great that earth and all its glory just kind of fades into the background. And I really believe that's true, brother. And if we can only get a glimpse of what's beyond.
It would make us pilgrims and strangers. It's not that somebody is going to be down here.
Coercing us forcefully into a path of being a pilgrimage stranger, it will make us because of the exceeding glory of that day. This is where we've come, brethren, to the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, to enjoy it. Do we rebel over those parts in Revelation that speak of this city?
This is our place. This is our eternal home.
The young people read Pilgrims Progress, like we did when we were growing up. But in Pilgrims progress you find two men who were on their way on a journey to the Celestial City. I believe their names were Christian and faithful, but I've enjoyed how the Christian and faithful came to Vanity Fair.
And I believe that John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrims Progress, was trying to picture draw an illustration of this world as he wrote a Vanity Fair. Because as those two men passed through Vanity Fair, there was one kind of thing offered to them on every hand. Come and join us in this. Come and indulge in this every effort made to get them to leave the King's Highway and to stop and enjoy the pleasures of Vanity Fair.
But as you read that, you find that those two men go by the King's Highway and they're not turned aside by what is offered them in Vanity Fair. Why? Well, it's just as Bob has been saying. They had a vision of the of the Celestial City. They had that before their souls. They had an object. They had a goal before them. And with that, before them, they could say we're going on to something far better. It's not that. The things of Vanity Fair.
Didn't appeal to the natural man, but they had something far better.
And they knew that they were going on to that. And it's interesting that little expression that Bob quoted.
Strangers and pilgrims. It appears twice in the word of God, once in connection with Abraham in the chapter previous in our Epistle and also in the Book of Peter. And it's interesting that it's always quoted strangers and pilgrims, sometimes said to the young people that when God gives a list of two or more items in scripture, he doesn't do it. I speak carefully, haphazardly. There's always an order to the list he gives. And it's not the thought of pilgrims and strangers, but it's strangers and pilgrims.
Because we'll never be a Pilgrim if we're not a stranger, that is, if I can put it very simply, a stranger is one who doesn't belong. A Pilgrim is just passing through. When I cross into the United States at customs, the first question they always ask me is, what's your citizenship? And I tell them I'm a Canadian. And as soon as I tell them I'm a Canadian, the next question is, how long are you going to be in the United States? Because they recognize that as a Canadian citizen.
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I'm a stranger in the United States, and as such, I'm only here for a little time. But suppose I take out American citizenship now. When I cross, I say I'm an American. They don't ask me how long I'm going to stay, because now I belong in this country. And, brethren, we need to realize that we are strangers. We need to have the heavenly city before us. We're fellow citizens with the Saints and of the household of faith, and with that before our souls. Then it will give us the proper character of a Pilgrim that is one who's just passing through.
One who is going on to something far better. And when the children of Israel came to the land of Edom, they said to the king of Edom will pass by the King's highway. We won't turn into your fields. We won't go into your vineyards. We won't partake of all the joy and sustenance of the land of Edom Will. We're just Pat. We're strangers here and we're just passing through. Well, brethren, as Brother Bob has said, may we have the heavenly city before our souls. That's what gave Abraham the characteristic of a stranger and Pilgrim on the earth.
Of Genesis. And we would ask our hearts, young and old here to just do a little comparison. Now, a reality check. Sometimes it's called In the World. Let's do a little reality check. Turn to Genesis Chapter 4.
And let's remind our hearts of that which we know well, the First City.
That was built by man in this world, Kane City, and we'll just read in.
Chapter 4 and verse 20 and Ada Barejabal. He was the father of such as dwell in tenseness of cattle.
His brother's name was Jubal. He was the father of such as handle, the Arpan, the organ and Zillah. She also bare two volcano instructor of every artificer in brass and iron. Well there was the first city and into it was brought everything that might somehow give man happiness and satisfaction apart from God. It had a lot of things in it. Now let's turn to Daniel and see the glory of the of man's city in Daniel, The book of Daniel, chapter 5.
We've seen the possessions, the things that are involved in that city, and you can see that tonight in Saint Louis or any other town or city in in the world, those things that answer to Kane City morally now in Chapter 5, or rather I should say Chapter 4 of Daniel Nebuchadnezzar.
Has built this city and in verse 29 it says Now this isn't Speaking of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar at the end of 12 months.
He Nebuchadnezzar walked in the palace of the Kingdom of Babylon. The king spake and said, Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the House of the Kingdom by the might of my power and the honor of my majesty? While the word was in the King's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, oh, Nebuchadnezzar to thee it has spoken. The Kingdom is departed from me, and so on. So there's this great Babylon, this great system in all of its glory and splendor. And it was taken away in a moment from man. Now let's look at the value of man's city.
In chapter 4 of Luke.
Chapter 4 of Luke and our Blessed Lord Jesus, perfect man out in the wilderness undergoing these.
Temptations at the hand of the Wicked One himself and verse 5. The devil taking him, our Lord Jesus up into a high mountain showed on him all the kingdoms of the world and what was their value in a moment of time. Now that's the best the world has to offer. All that was in Kane City, all the glory and splendor of Babylon. It could be viewed in a moment of time. Now here's the reality check we've been reading about the city of our God. Which do we want?
Is there? Think of it. Is there any comparison with man, with all of his plans and efforts and all of his glory? What can that do in comparison to what you and I have been brought to the city of our God? Is he going to be able, I say reverently, to build and provide something greater, more satisfying, more glorious, more splendid than all that man could do? You know he did. Why is that, then, that we want to go through this world?
And allow ourselves to be so easily attracted to this thing that passes in a moment of time when we're on our way home to the city who has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
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Let's look at that city in Revelation 21 just to get our sights set. I know we can't go into much detail in this chapter, so tremendous, but it should thrill our hearts, young people. We should meditate on it sometimes. It's said that.
The glories of heaven are so far beyond our comprehension, and it's true.
That there's no way that we can understand it. And sometimes we just turn away from being occupied with it. But there is a lot that is said in scripture. And if we meditate on it, compare scripture, brethren, we can understand much about this heavenly city. We are going to Revelation 21 and verse nine. There came unto me, This is the Millennial day.
The city and the millennial day. There came unto me one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials full of those seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hit her, and I will show thee the bride, the lambs wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.
I don't know that I understand very much about this brethren, but I want to express a few thoughts that I've enjoyed here so much about this city. It says descending out of heaven from God. How do we understand that? Doesn't say that it arrives at earth. But what I like to think is that there's the in that millennial day, there will be the communication between the heavenly and the earthly. Today we do not see the heavenly. It's.
It's hidden from our eyes. We only view it by faith. We get a glimpse of it in the scriptures, and that's what makes us pilgrims and strangers here. But it's by faith. But in that millennial day, the heavenly Jerusalem will be visible from this earth. The kings of the earth and the nations of the earth are going to walk in the light of that heavenly city.
And it says it's descending. It's Jacob's ladder, it's the angels of God ascending and descending.
The angels in the Old Testament time came down, and it was not a.
Totally rare thing for them to come and have a meal with Abraham. The Lord himself with two angels came and had a meal with Abraham. It didn't seem to be a strange thing to happen in the life of Abraham.
There was that communication. But as man gets farther and farther distant from God, those things have become rare things in our life. We don't know much about that. But in the millennial day there will be that communication. The Lord Jesus said in the end of John's gospel. Henceforth shall ye see heaven opened, and the Son and the angels ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. What is that ladder? It's the Lord Jesus.
It's by means of him that there will be that communication between the heavenly and the earthly in that coming day and that tremendous to think about.
And then it says here in the verse 11 having.
The glory of God. Think of it. We who were destitute of the glory of God now brought into a position where we are clothed in the glory of God, having the glory of God, And it says.
And her light was like unto a stone most precious, even unto a Jasper stone clear as crystal. Well, there's a lot that could be said about this heavenly city. I just like to whet the appetites of our young people to to think about, to meditate. This is where we've come.
And I say, how can you dare get enthralled in anything down here in this world?
When we have something so tremendous in its glory before our souls, this is where we are, young people. This is where we have come. The Lord grant that we get enthralled in this heavenly city, the new Jerusalem.
Very simple and easy to enjoy.
This is the last time that God puts I will in the Bible.
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God has been put to work by man.
He looked at Adam and says it is not meat that man should grow alone. I will make him unhappy for him. That's the first time he puts I will in the Bible and this is the last. The bride, the Lambs wife. It seems to put special emphasis upon the glory of what God does the last time he set the work and he wills to do something.
Like chapter 21 of Revelation before we go back to our chapter.
In the 1St 8 verses we have the eternal day.
These first 7 verses, the blessedness of the saved in that eternal day in the verse 8 is the misery of those that are in the lake of fire. But in verses one and two we have eternity.
After the Millennial day has run its course, the heavens and the earth that we now know gone.
Dissolved and it says I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the 1St heaven and the first earth were passed away.
Where is no more see and I John saw the holy city there It is that city again.
It's eternal, brethren. This is not a city of the earth that's going to pass away. It's something that's going to last forever. New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God.
This is the eternal day. But there's through all eternities, those two spheres of blessing, the heavenly and the earthly like to share with your brethren what I did get. Also with your brother Dan Jacobson out West. He was saying that he got it from someone else. He said Brother John R Gill was talking one day about future events.
And on the table.
Where he was addressing the group, he had a cup and a saucer. And he said, now I want you to think of this cup as the heavenly and the saucer on the table as the earthly. And he put the cup behind his back and he said, this is the way it is. Now all we see is the earthly. That's all we see, that saucer on the table. Then he brought the cup out from behind his back and held it up over.
The soccer And he said this is what it will be in the millennial day.
The heavenly Jerusalem visible over the earthly.
And that will give the light to that to the earth in that day. The kings, the nations of the earth, are going to bring their glory and honor to it. It doesn't say into it in the new translation. It is to it. They will bring it to Jerusalem and to that city. But then he set the cup down on the saucer and he said that's the eternal day, heaven and earth together.
Forever. Never again a taint of sin to impede anything.
From the holiness of God's letting his free grace flow out for all eternity.
And that's why you get in the seventh verse the sixth verse of chapter 21.
I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
Doesn't say of the water of life. It's of the fountain. What is the fountain? It's God himself. You know, you might think it a little bit strange that it mentions thirst in connection with that eternal day. I remember another brother commenting. I enjoyed his comment and he said this every desire that we could ever have through that eternal day, completely, fully satisfied in the fountain of the water of life.
Forever.
Of the light.
Revelation really, in a sense, falls short of what it really is.
I say that because I used to wonder why in the fifth verse, he said write, for these words are true and faithful. You might say. Well, did God really need to put that in? We ought to accept what is described here as being the word of God. But it's to me, it's just as if, as the Spirit of God and I speak carefully as the Spirit of God seeks to grope for some human language to give us an inkling of what it's going to be like in that day, he says, Confirm to them that this is really the way it is.
01:10:31
And, brethren, it's going to be far beyond anything we ever imagined or could even take in. Now, I might describe my home to you in Smiths Falls, but you've never seen my home. And as my wife sometimes accuses me, I have a tendency perhaps to exaggerate. And so you've never seen my home. And you might hear some very wonderful things about it. But suppose you have opportunity to come and see my home. Maybe you have to shake your head and say, well, it wasn't everything he said it was going to be. It was.
And so we tend to do that. But when we see that city in that day, oh, we're going to realize that we only had an inkling of what was, of what it really was, because there isn't human language to describe it. But I believe, too, the crowning feature of this city is the presence of the Lamb in the midst.
We speak about all these wonderful things, and rightly so, and they all have symbolic meaning and so on, and they're given for our instruction. But I say, brethren, the crowning feature of that city is the presence of the Lord Jesus as the Lamb. That's what's going to occupy us for eternity, brethren. That's what's going to captivate our gaze when we get one glimpse of his lovely face. Are we going to take our eyes from him for all eternity? Oh brethren, we're going. He's going to captivate our hearts and our gaze. And I have no doubt we will.
Recognize the those things that are around us. We'll have intercourse one with another two and all this. But I really believe that it's the presence of the one in the mids that's really going to take our full attention because four walls and fine furniture don't make a home. It's the presence of those that dwell there. Again, with my house in Smiths Falls, I have I'm thankful that I have a comfortable home, but when the end of a trip is drawing near and I'm heading towards Smith's Falls.
What is it I'm looking forward to? Am I looking forward to being back in my comfortable home? Well, that may be part of it. But what I'm really looking forward to is seeing my wife and children. They're the ones that make me long to be there in that house in Smith's Falls. If my loved ones weren't there, it'd just be another house. But of the what makes a house is the home is the presence of those that dwell there. And so, brethren, we're going to be gathered around himself.
And I say again, no doubt we will be aware of all these beautiful things. But let's remember that he's the one that's going to be the center of it all, brethren. May he so captivate our hearts now that we would have him as our object, as we will without hindrance in that coming day of glory.
Looked up and saw Jesus standing with the heavens open.
The account says he saw the glory of God.
But when he talks, he only talks about I see Jesus.
And in our chapter to that brethren, we have a number of things mentioned.
Tremendous things of glory.
One here, another. One of the things that interests me a lot is the myriads of angels. Think of it those unfallen creatures maintained by the power of God in their sinless state.
Myriads of them think of it here we sinners saved by the grace of God, and yet we have a place closer than those myriads of angels.
And then the assembly of the first born who were registered in heaven. I'm reading from Mr. Darby's translation.
Think of it when all God's people.
Like, as men mentioned in the address this afternoon, to have a heart for all God's people. But think of that day when they're all going to be gathered. Not one missing every one of God's people will be gathered. Brethren, isn't that wonderful to think about? At the coming of the Lord, our gathering together unto Kim, they're going to be gathered everyone. And it's it's a tremendous thing to try to to think of that day when all God's people are going to be gathered together in one.
01:15:03
To glorify his name. But then we come down to the spirits or no, it's a.
To the to God the judge of all, to the spirits of justice men made perfect, and to Jesus.
Mediator of the New Covenant. That's the central part here. Like you were mentioned in Jim. That should what should be what enthralls us the moment we get called home? It's going to be to see Jesus at any moment now, brethren. The trumpet may sound, and it's going to be from one moment to the next, face to face with Jesus, the fullness, the effulgence of that eternal glory.
It's almost more than our poor hearts can take in, but it does something to meditate on these things, brethren.
Think of it, brethren. The Abel's blood was shed.
Lord said that he better turn to it and quote it right in Genesis chapter.
Four I think it is.
And it says.
Verse 10.
The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. God is talking to Cain. The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. What was the crying for us, Crying for vengeance. Judgment was going to come. What is the blood of the Son of God that has been shed? Crying for? That's blessing For those by faith who believe in employment says, how much better. Infinitely better, brother, infinitely better.
As to where this innumerable company of those come from?
That were come to were not left in doubt if we go to the second chapter.
Hebrews.
We see God's plan to set man up.
In the second chapter of Hebrews.
Verse 5 Unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come? Whereof we speak that that says a lot, That says the millennial world is not going to be under the dominion of angels, but it's going to be a man, the man Christ Jesus?
Thou mayst him a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death. Thou crowded him with glory and honor that.
Set him over the works of thy hands, God has determined.
He says in the second Psalm. Prophetically I have set my son upon my.
Holy Hill and science, God's man is the one that's going to live. It's not going to be the angels in those days.
So they're called in. The innumerable companies are called in when the Lord takes over the throne.
The angels don't have that kind of a work to do anymore.
We as men may have something to do under the Lord, but.
It's wonderful to think that God gained the victory.
It looked like Satan had when he tricked man and brought sin in and lowered the whole creation, the groaning creation that still groans. We're weary of the groan, but it won't always be so.
So there are the angels, and meanwhile they are ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who are, who shall be the heirs of salvation. That's the end of Hebrews 1. So we should find A use for the angels, and it's comforting to think that they're angels. The child's Angel does behold the face of your Father, which is in heaven. God uses them, but he didn't design the world to be under.
Angels. He gave it to the first man, He lost it.
The second man has regained it to the glory of God and added the 5th part all his glory were trying to talk about.
It's wonderful to contemplate and to see how these things come out in this book of Hebrews.
Unto the end of the chapter and it's.
Just to kind of comment on these last verses, it's so beautiful. It's whether we're talking about the.
What the blood of Abel spoke about. And then he says this kind of continuing, that in verse 25 see that you refuse not him that speaketh, And he speaks of the him that spake on earth, and those that refused to listen, they did not escape. And now the voice speaks from heaven, and it signifies the removing of those things that are shaken, as those things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
01:20:13
And then comes the exhortation in verse 28. Wherefore we receiving a Kingdom that cannot be moved? Everything around, brethren, is changing and changing fast. There is no steadiness in anything around us except what is based on God's precious word. Heaven and earth are going to pass away. But he says my word shall not pass away. Sometimes I say, when we face our lives on the word of God, we are treading a place that is more sure than the ground we are stepping on.
It is more sure, O brethren, young people base your lives on the word of God.
It's the Kingdom that cannot be moved. And then the exhortation let us.
Have what Zeal?
Let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. There's such a thing as godly fear. To fear God is important even in our days. It's not something limited to the Old Testament, the fear of displeasing God. We need that godly fear, but it's grace that gives us to serve God.
With reverence and godly fear, so there is still a path of faith and service for us.
Well, we wait that time of which we have been speaking in this meeting, and I think that's important as we're about to leave these meetings, Boys and girls, young people, we all have a path of faith and service for Christ. And the exhortation in Romans 12 is, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your intelligence service, we have an intelligent service to render to God.
And no matter how dark, the day with Christ before us as the object with a vision of the coming glory.
We can go on in that path of faith and service that he's marked out for us in His Word and brethren. It's the only happy path for us. It's the path of fruit and blessing and joy and happiness. There's no happiness if we choose our own way. But He has this path for us and we can go on. Because the supply of grace and the supply that we have in Christ is as limitless as it ever was, if we're willing to draw on that supply.
Until we're safe home in the glory.
Appendix.
Microscopes and Magnify the Lord With Me
Children—W. 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.
Good morning, everyone.
We certainly would like to welcome.
Each and all to the Sunday school here this morning I noticed on the schedule this is.
Referred to as a meeting for children, so I'm thankful to see some boys and girls here this morning.
And it's nice to see older ones, too, that come out for a meeting like this, because I suppose in one sense, we're all children here this morning, aren't we? We're all children of men. Well, we'd like to sing some songs, and we want to sing as many as possible in the time allotted. So I wonder if anybody has a song they like to give out. Who would like to put up your hand and.
We'll try to sing as many songs as we can.
Anybody have a song here this morning? OK, which one would you like? That's Clayton.
44.
24.
#24.
OK, let's sing the first and last verses of the songs so that we can sing a few more #24 the first and last verse.
We know that you're surprised.
We're all reaching out, which is like this world.
Let us go, River. I am.
What will you do?
OK anyone else have a song?
34, OK #34.
Precious, precious blood.
Rebels stand for me, ratchets. Much as much as much as I'll tease them and turn off her.
We're singing the first and last verses so we can have a few more choices. All right, Who else has a song?
Anybody else have a song?
OK. I'm going to come down off this platform here. Which one?
Number one, OK #1 almost persuaded.
Almost persuaded now still to live.
00:05:03
Follows her sway.
Cry to receive.
Now, I suppose to play God's nearest Golden Globes.
Turn down the way.
Cheers.
Whilst there is poised on here now.
Falling on, my dear.
OK, which one would you like?
4444.
#44.
Into the tent where?
Nobody ever has sold it to me.
Tell where I am. Tell you I am salvation, Salvation story before and the Lord.
Children can say all the children of men. Nobody ever has told me before.
The last words of his breath, just as he entered the valley of death. God's friend is sun. Do so ever send me.
That I am sure that receptive for me.
Tell my name.
Again, salvation story recreational.
I can say of my children of men, nobody ever has so many people.
OK, we have time for.
More songs? Anybody else have a song?
Anybody else?
How about somebody in the back? Hey, I see some boys and girls out there in the back one here. Jesus loves me. OK, that's number 40 on our hymn sheet Backpage #40.
Jesus loves me beside you, for the Bible tells me so little What's new in me? Long they are, everybody is strong. Yes, she's a slots me Yes, she's a ***** me.
Yes, it's a squash. Me Alive tells me so.
Lost me? Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so. Can you have a simple question? Who can tell me?
How do I know that Jesus loves me?
00:10:02
Blood on the cross, OK, because he shed his blood on the cross. That's very good. I'm going to give out some pencils here this morning.
Well.
OK, Mr. Curley is inviting the boys and girls to come up front and I think that would be very nice because we have seats here that are just waiting to be occupied.
Good point.
I don't like to take.
The time to walk all the way to the back, boys and girls, because our time is limited here this morning. OK, here's a couple that have responded. Here's another girl. How about some more coming up now? We always appreciate response to invitations.
OK.
How about are there some boys back there that are going to come up front?
You want to come up?
OK, well.
As we progress during this meeting, if you'd like to come up front.
It might improve your chances of getting a prize. Okay.
In a little song we sang how it is that we know that Jesus loves us.
And it's very personal in the song. How is it that I know that Jesus loves me?
Now we had one good answer.
Because he shed his precious blood on the cross. I think that's beautiful. OK, what do you think?
Yeah, that's right. The Bible tells us. Tells me so. OK, let's have another song. Anybody else have a song?
14, OK #14.
Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing part? Are you washed in the blood of the land? Are you, boy, trusting in His gracious? How are you watching the blood of the Lamb?
Are you lost in the blood? In the soul flexing blood?
When the Friday.
White, good and white in the blood of the land. Who will your soul be ready for the mansions bright and be washed in the blood of a man.
Are you born in the world?
And my soul cleansing blood.
Are your garments artists? Are they white as snow? Are you watching the blood? Can somebody tell me?
How white?
Do we become?
In the eyes of God, when we are washed in the blood of the Lamb, How white Clayton.
Very good, whiter than snow.
We sang this song white as snow, but the fact is, we're whiter than snow. Isn't that nice? That's beautiful, isn't it? OK, anybody else have a song?
Anybody else? I think we have time for about one more.
OK.
#12.
Just as I am who is without 1 sleep.
But I was watching.
40.
And thousand.
To the heart.
00:15:07
I.
Just as I am.
I love I am stronger real yourself.
Well, perhaps boys and girls, we could just set our hymn sheets aside because we want to talk a little bit this morning from God's precious book, the Bible. And it's wonderful to be able to sing these songs. And all these songs are based on God's precious word, the Bible. And we can learn so many wonderful truths, can't we, by singing these songs? Well, let's first of all look to the Lord for His help in prayer. So let's just bow our head.
Yesterday morning.
We were in a home where.
Up over to sink.
There was a verse and the verse.
Was this?
All magnify.
The Lord with me.
O magnify the Lord.
With me. And you know, that's a verse that I've been thinking about.
And.
That word magnify though that might have.
Something for us this morning, you know, boys and girls.
We read in God's word about magnification and I wonder if somebody can tell me what does the word mean? Would anybody hear this morning? Have any idea what it means?
To magnify something.
Yeah. What do you think?
Yeah, to make it bigger. Very good.
You know boys and girls.
What are we wanting to do here this morning?
We are wanting to make someone.
Bigger.
In our eyes.
And who is that person?
God, exactly. That's who I was thinking about.
Well, I think they should give a pencil out for that.
You know, I felt perhaps that these pencils would help us.
To make God.
And you know.
Who is God?
Down at the end.
God the Father. That's right, God.
Father is God.
What about a name? Can you tell me a name?
Jesus. That's right, Jesus is God.
And in all, poisoned girls in older ones this morning.
Jesus.
Is the one who is the only savior.
For you and for me. And the Lord Jesus is the Son of God.
He always was the son, but he became a man.
And on the cross he suffered on the cross for you and for me. The Son of God loved me, and he gave himself for me, and that's Jesus. Now we want to speak about him this morning. We want to magnify. We want to make him big in our eyes.
Now you know man has been interested in magnifying many things.
00:20:03
And I have here in my pocket.
Something anybody know what this is here?
What? Yeah, that's right. This is a magnifying glass.
You know, this magnifying glass is very interesting. I can take that glass and I hold this right up over my hand here and I can see things with this magnifying glass.
That I couldn't see without because I see these little pores and little hairs coming out of the pores.
And it's very interesting.
And you know, there's.
Behind this microscope, see.
And when men look through microscopes and if they would look at a piece of your skin, they would see more than just pores, hairs, they would see perhaps little cells building blocks in the skin. And that marvelous What God?
Has done for us, giving us skin.
To protect our bodies. And you know, these microscopes only show us.
More of God's handiwork, but then you know you can go in the other direction.
And you lookout into space, and man sees a little speck of light out there, and he wonders.
What's this speck of light out there in space? And So what does he use to look at that speck of light and to make it big? Anybody know what he might use? He doesn't use a magnifying glass or a microscope. What what do you think? What does he look through in order to see what's out there?
Yeah, that's right, a telescope.
This summer we had the privilege of holding some meetings.
Gospel outreach there in upstate New York and.
You know.
At the time of those meetings, I picked up a calendar in the community and this calendar indicated what was happening in the community at the time that we were holding the meetings for the boys and girls sake. And I looked in here on this particular day. I looked and it said here on August the 13th.
Check out The Sun.
At 10:00 in the morning, check out the sun.
SUN and then it said learn how to safely view the sun with amateur astronomer Jack Hogan. Well you know this man, Jack Hogan, he was the very person that we were renting a campsite from and I found it interesting that he was holding these classes in order to.
Look at the SUN.
While we were holding classes to look at the Son, that's why we were having the Bible hour there in Saranac Lake, in order that we might focus on not the SUN, but the one who made it, the Son, the Son of God. And we had the privilege of telling the boys and girls about Jesus.
And so, you know, after Mr. Cogan, he showed us some pictures that he had taken out there in space, and it was marvelous to see.
What these stars look like through a telescope, the result of so many colors out there, and it looked like little explosions out there of colors, and it was just marvelous. But the sad thing is, Mr. Cogan, he said, I haven't seen heaven.
No, in fact, he actually thought heaven was a state of mind. You know, it was something that you just thought in your mind. But you know, boys and girls, heaven is a real.
Place.
Just a real place, as Saint Louis is.
Here in the state of Missouri. And so is hell. Hell is a real place too. Well.
This morning we want to magnify God. We want to magnify the Lord. Does anybody know who it was that said those words will magnify the Lord with me?
00:25:02
And let us exalt his name together. Would anybody know who it was that said those words?
David, very good.
David was one whose desire it was to make much of the Lord, and in fact, in one place he said, my eyes are ever toward the Lord.
He wanted the Lord to fill his vision because the Lord was so important to him. Is the Lord important to you, boys and girls? Now we read about those.
Who?
Would not magnify the Lord in fact.
They magnified themselves.
One individual who comes to mind is Pharaoh. Do you remember Pharaoh in how he.
Held God's people in ******* back there.
In the book of Exodus we read about Pharaoh and how that he was such a cruel.
Boss terrible taskmaster and I think it was mentioned in these meetings that he took the straw away from the people in order to make it harder for them to build the bricks.
And they still had to make just as many ****** without the straw because he was so cruel.
And you know, when Moses brings before Pharaoh the thought of letting God's people go, you know what Pharaoh said? He said, Who is the Lord? That I should obey his voice?
And let the people of Israel go. I know not the Lord.
And he had no desire to know the Lord because he thought he was so important. He didn't need anybody else. He didn't need the Lord, He said I wouldn't obey him.
I just do what I please. I don't want to listen to anyone else. And so he thought himself to be so important, you know? And in his own eyes, it was.
I, I I.
But you know, at the end of that poor man was we read how that God miraculously brought his people through the Red Sea.
And then what happened to Pharaoh and his armies?
At the Red Sea, who can tell me?
They drowned. That's right.
And.
In the sums we read about how that Pharaoh and his hosts they were overthrown.
And dear Pharaoh's body was, I suppose, were ushed up on the banks of the Red Sea. That was the end of a man who magnified himself, who made himself big in his own eyes, and makes the Lord so very little.
But you know, there are many, many cases in the Old Testament of those who magnified.
Themselves. Sennacherib was another. We heard about him yesterday. Sennacherib sent his armies up against Judah, Jerusalem, God's people. Hezekiah goes to the Lord about the situation. But you know, Sennacherib, he exalted himself against the Lord, and he says, you know.
I am so powerful. I've been able to overcome these other nations. Their gods haven't been able to deliver them. And so I don't believe your God.
Will be able to deliver you.
But that was a big mistake that he made, a big mistake.
We heard how that God sent an Angel in one night. That Angel killed, destroyed. I believe it was 185,000 troops. The Assyrians there they all they did just like Pharaoh and his hopes.
There's the Hostess Snacker did what happens to snack rib?
Is murdered by his two sons later on.
There was a man who magnified himself.
Instead of magnifying the Lord. And what about Nebuchadnezzar? He was another one, you know, Nebuchadnezzar. He looked out on this big city of Babylon, and he says, you know, this is Babylon, this great city that I have built.
00:30:01
For my own honor.
And he was so proud about what he had. But, you know, God.
Had something to say to Nebuchadnezzar. Let me just turn over here to Daniel because we want to make sure that we do look into God's Word during the course of this little meeting here. What happens to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel?
Chapter.
4.
Daniel, Chapter 4.
Verse 30 The king spake and said, Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the House of the Kingdom?
By the might of my power and for the honor.
While the word was in the King's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar 2D it is spoken, The Kingdom is departed from thee.
And they shall Dr. thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the peace of the field. They shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee.
Until thou know that the most High ruler in the Kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And so Nebuchadnezzar, he ends up eating grass just like the oxen, and it says his body was wet with the dew of heaven.
And is here. It grew out all over like eagle's feathers. What a sight he must have been a just.
Looks like a.
I don't know. What do you look like? He was just covered with eagle's feathers. And then he had these snails, apparently his fingernails and toenails perhaps too. They just grew and grew and it became like bird's claws.
There's a man here that is so proud of his Kingdom.
That he thought he had made, and now he's reduced to a beast of the field, a creature like this. But you know, God wasn't done with Nebuchadnezzar, because Nebuchadnezzar it tells us.
At the end of the days lifted up his eyes unto heaven, and so on, and he blessed the Most High.
Nebuchadnezzar came to realize.
That it was the Lord alone who ruled in the kingdoms of men. And in the last verse what does he say now? I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.
Those that walk in pride he is able to abase. Well, we see here that to magnify oneself.
Results in very, very sad consequences. Over in the New Testament we read about a man Herod, and he made a speech, and the people were so awed by the speech that he began to worship this man Herod.
And they thought he was a God, and Herod was here accepting this worship. But what happens to Herod? He tells us he's eaten with worms.
That you thought to magnify himself? What was the end destruction? Well, these aren't very happy stories, are they, boys and girls? But we want to now turn over to the New Testament and we're going to find here.
That.
We have those who did indeed magnify the Lord. Now there were others in the Old Testament that magnified the Lord. Moses, he says, the Lord is triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider, he's thrown into the sea. David magnified the Lord.
And you know what David said? Let all those who love God's salvation say continually the Lord be magnified. That David was one who?
Realize that he made mistakes and he had failed, and he was willing to acknowledge his sin and to acknowledge that it wasn't.
Really. In him to walk according to God's Word.
He needed the Lord and he put his trust and confidence in the Lord and recognized, I believe, that salvation is of the Lord.
Now there was another man in the Old Testament.
And this man, I wonder if you can tell me who it is that said those very words. Salvation is of the Lord. Anybody know who said that? And in this way he magnified the Lord. He, he made the Lord.
00:35:06
Big, you might say.
And himself small.
Who was it that said that at first he went his own way, and he thought that he knew better than God and.
But he was reduced to.
I'll give you a big hint. He was swallowed by a great fish. OK, I see quite a few hands go up now. All right. What do you think, Jonah? That's right. And you know, down there in the valley of that great fish, Jonah felt so helpless. That's the most miserable place you imagine you could think of, down there in this slimy, cold belly of a fish. What could he do now? The only thing he could do was pray. And he did pray. And, you know, those beautiful words came forth. Salvation is of the Lord.
And then the fish vomited him out right onto the dry land and.
I just love those words. Why don't you hold up the hand and we'll try to say those words on the fingers of one hand. You ever did that? Well, count the thumb as a finger. OK. All right.
Salvation is of the Lord. See, salvation is of the Lord. Jonah magnified the Lord well when we come over to the New Testament.
And.
I'll just turn first of all to Luke. I know the time is.
Hastening by but.
You know the Lord Jesus came into this world.
Born of a virgin and Mary says in Luke chapter one.
My soul verse 46 My soul does magnify the Lord.
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God, my Savior. And then she continues to describe how great this one is, the Lord. And then we come to the next chapter in Luke, and we find the Angel of the Lord saying, unto you, is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. The Angel magnifies the Lord. And then we find a multitude of the heavenly hosts praising God, saying glory to God in the highest on earth, peace, goodwill toward men, the angels magnifying the Lord.
And later on the chapter, here's a man by name of Simeon. He's waiting for salvation in Israel, and he takes up the little Jesus. Yeah, the little baby in his arms. And what does he say? Now let us thou.
Verse 29 Lord, now let us, thou thy servant, depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to light in the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people.
Israel. And so as we read through the Gospels, we find that there were those.
Who made much of Christ? That little baby grew up as a boy. He was the same age as you boys here.
Same age as you girls and he grew up, he became a man.
And there were those that appreciated the person of the Lord Jesus. You know, John the Baptist, he was one who said these words. He must increase and I must decrease.
And you know, in John chapter one, we find that John the Baptist, he says over and over, I think three times.
Is preferred before me?
What does it mean to be preferred? Does anybody know what it means to be preferred?
Some of you went to the continental breakfast this morning and there was quite a few different.
Pastries there. And you might say, well, I prefer this doughnut instead of this bagel or whatever. What does that mean? Yeah.
For his opinion ought to be preferred yet to life. Yeah, that's right, to like something better. And you know, I think what John was saying was that the Lord Jesus, he was the best, that he's far better than I am. In fact, John says, you know, he's everything. He must increase and I must decrease. And so, you know, John, he put, could we say the magnifying glass?
On Jesus, and he sought to make Jesus appear.
Wonderful. Great in the eyes of the people.
John the Baptist.
00:40:02
Well, you know, we could refer to so many more who magnified.
The Lord. But our time is open, boys and girls.
I asked you this morning, who is it that you want to magnify it?
You want to magnify yourself or magnify the Lord. To magnify the Lord is to mean to put one's trust in Him and to accept Him as Savior. And to first of all, admit I'm a Sinner.
You won't go to the doctor unless you feel you're sick. And I don't think anybody goes to the Savior unless they feel they're a Sinner. They need to be saved. And you know, when we acknowledge we're sinners, we've become very, very small. We have to. You can't take pride in sin.
Really not and you make much.
Of the Lord Jesus. Have you done that? Have you come to Jesus?
Have you put your trust in Him? We heard already in these meetings how important it is to be saved now. Now, the Lord didn't come last night. He didn't come early this morning.
And he hasn't come yet. But he could come.
Before the start of the next meeting. You know this is serious and if Jesus were to come and you were still sitting here in your seat, boys and girls, after his coming.
What would you do?
You know this used to strike terror into my soul. I can remember sitting in a seat like you years ago.
I didn't have the assurance of salvation and the thought of the Lord's coming. It struck terror in my soul.
But now I look forward to His coming. I know the Lord Jesus has washed my sins away.
You know, it's so easy to be safe because Jesus took the workout of it on the cross. He suffered.
Under Christ. And he was punished for my sins and yours. If you trust him and his precious bloodshed there can wash all your sins away. So that I want spot remains. Yeah. Jesus wants to save you. He wants you to come to him to come now.
Acquaint now myself with him, and he wants to be magnified.
In your eyes and mine and you know, boys and girls.
I brought something else here.
This is something true that magnifies of course, and you know I can look through this here.
And somebody back there, maybe I can't see too well like this, but.
If I look through here, I see Mr. Cell back there. Not a problem. But how do we see Jesus? You know, we can't look up there like this and see Jesus, I like to think.
In order to look up and see Jesus, in one sense we have to look down. What do I mean by that? We have to look down into this book because this book is like the magnifying glass on Jesus. This book makes everything of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ and the work that he has accomplished for God's glory. And so as we look down into this book and we read this book.
Makes nothing of ourselves and everything of Christ.
Over in Europe, I understand there's AI think it's a cathedral. You walk into this cathedral and.
You look down into a mirror and there in that mirror you see this beautiful painting.
With all its beautiful colors and all. But where's the painting? Well, it's actually up on the ceiling, but you can see.
What's on the ceiling by looking down this mirror and you know, I believe you and I, we can see what's up there by looking into this book. And that's why this book is so important. This is the word of God.
No, we can't be saved apart from accepting God at His Word. And we hope that you'll do that, boys and girls, and we hope you'll do it now, if you're not already the Lord's, well, perhaps we'll just close with prayer.
Gospel
Gospel—D. Nicolet
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We open our meeting this afternoon with hymn #242, hymn #242.
Speaks a hymn that speaks about the.
Power of God in verse one. The love of God in verse two and the.
Presence of God in verse 3.
So we'll sing hymn #242 and I'll read the first verse. Sing aloud to God our strength. He has brought us hitherto. He will bring us home at length. This the Lord our God will do doubt not, for his word is stable. Fear not, for his arm is able. #242 Sing aloud to God our string.
He will bring us all that way.
There's a lot of God will do.
Now that's all on his way to save her.
Can I turn your son, you say?
Perhaps not. A brother can start us with a different tune if possible.
And I.
Will Islam?
To God's prayer, I swear.
The Lord.
I would like to begin by reading some very well known scriptures.
In One Corinthians to begin with First Corinthians chapter 4.
First Corinthians chapter 4.
And verse.
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15.
For though ye have 10,000 instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers?
For in Christ Jesus, have I Begotten You through the Gospel Now. The Book of Hebrews, chapter 13.
And.
Verse 7 Hebrews, chapter 13 and verse 7.
Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you, the word of God, whose faith follow.
Considering the end of their conversation now to second Timothy.
Chapter 2.
Second Timothy Chapter 2.
And.
Verse.
Two Second Timothy 22 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. And one final passage in Second Timothy also verse three, and the last two verses 16 and 17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God.
May be perfect thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
I was encouraged and rather sobered this morning.
By the prayer that our brother Doug offered and he mentioned in that prayer, in the prayer meeting this morning about the spiritual heritage that we have, the books of ministry that are there available to us.
And prayed that we might not overlook that that we might take advantage of such a treasure.
And then during the reading meeting, Brother Loader shared some ministry about the importance of valuing those that I'm going to refer to as spiritual fathers.
And that we might draw close to them, and two that they would be encouraged to draw close to us. I have read these verses simply as an application. The first verse referring to fathers the the the group of two verses in Second Timothy.
Referring to those that have gone on and left us a heritage, those that shall be able to teach others. And there will be, if the Lord leaves us here, we trust those that still will be able to teach, and then finally the word of God itself. And what I have on my heart this afternoon is to talk about these three, I think most vital influences that today in the admitted weakness we may find ourselves in.
In the dark days that we are living in, that we might recognize once again the vital importance of spiritual fathers and mothers too, the vital importance of our spiritual heritage, that treasure House of truth that is available to us, and finally the absolutely vital importance of the Word of God.
Those things are going to have an influence on us, and if they do not have their proper influence in our lives, individually and collectively, then it won't be long before the world comes in with its influences which deaden and darken and divide.
I recently was at a seminar at the college where I teach, and I was struck by a comment that the presenter made concerning the delivery of education to students today.
And I'm not an expert in these things at all, but he said, according to this presenter. He said that if students are not influenced to want to learn by the time they're in 3rd grade, it's very difficult to get them to want to learn after that. By the time they're in 3rd grade, they have to be influenced to want to learn.
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In the days of the Cold War, the Communist Party boasted.
Give us your children for the first five years. You can have them for the rest of their life.
The influence that they wanted to instill, they recognized, had to be done at an early age. And so the world is very, very, in one way or another, very, very aware of the importance of influences. I wonder, beloved brethren, if we're aware of the vital importance of these influences that we've talked about our spiritual fathers.
And I say again, mothers.
Our spiritual heritage and the word of God, we take these things for granted.
But I wonder if we really see the absolute vital necessity.
Of those influences and how important they are in our lives for good.
For blessing or if we turn away from them, if we despise them.
For real sorrow.
What I would like to look at for a little while today.
Are the lives.
Of three kings.
In the Old Testament.
That I feel present very, very clearly both the positive and the negative effects of these three influences that we have talked about. Now, when I say negative effects, understand what I mean by that is the effect of.
Despising those influences, that is, there are.
Three lives that at least have come before me in a very particular way.
Of kings of Judah.
Who early in their life were influenced by one of these three things, and influenced for great blessing?
A father, a spiritual father, you might say. A spiritual heritage.
And the Word of God, and in each of these cases.
There was very marked and very wonderful blessing while those influences were allowed to have their effect.
In the reign of those kings.
But sadly.
We also are taught a very solemn lesson. I believe, in each of those three lives.
For we see that each of these 3 kings there was that which came into their lives which neutralized.
Those very wonderful and positive influences and did it.
To the hurt, the sorrow, the detriment of the Kingdom they ruled over.
And to their own lives. And so this afternoon, while I want to encourage us and we.
Want to speak very simply and simple, and seek by the grace of God to seek to glean some simple practical.
Lessons from the Lives of these kings I also want to leave.
Not a negative feeling, but a warning, a sober warning for my heart and for your heart that we cannot lightly deal with these things that God has given us for our blessing. We cannot lightly look on these things and handle these things.
And in a sense, despise them without it resulting in great hurt and great damage.
Let's turn over to begin with.
To two chronicles.
And we're going to look at the influence, the wonderful influence.
Of a spiritual father and a spiritual mother too.
In the life of a king.
Second Chronicles.
Chapter 24.
Second Chronicles, Chapter 24.
We'll just read a couple of verses and stop and consider some things. The 1St 2 verses, Joash was seven years old when he began to reign and he reigned 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Abaya of Beersheba and Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. And we want to talk about Joash for a little bit.
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But I first went to mention this.
That, as I'm sure many are aware, as you read through the history of the kings of Judah and Israel.
You will find one thing, I think in every case I believe it's so. That was written as a characterization of these kings. You will find, I believe in every case, a characterization that says he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord or he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. One of those two things characterized the reins of every king.
Of Judah and Israel. And more solemnly, I think it's a word that ought to go as a real arrow to my own conscience and heart. Beloved brethren, I will leave it to the Spirit of God to apply it to any here. But I think it's very solemn that after the day of Solomon, when in rebellion those 10 tribes.
Went out and rebelled and split from.
The House of David. And they had set up those two centers of worship, and Dan and Bethel, I believe it was.
As far as I am aware, never again did those 10 tribes referred to often as the.
Kingdom of Israel, or the tribes of Israel after that split, Never again do you read that once they had a king reign over them, of whom it was said he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. Once the rebellion came in, and they left in rebellion God's established authority center that which God had set up. They never again had the privilege of a king reigning who did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. It's very, very solemn.
Our own thoughts, our own ideas, our own rebellious wills, if left to go into their full play, will bring nothing but grief and agony and sorrow. And not only to myself, not only individually, but to others too. Well, we're going to talk about 3 kings who were kings in the tribes of Judah, who also had some kings who did evil.
But many of those kings had this wonderful characterization.
They did that which was right in the sight of the Lord and when I'm going to make some very simple moral applications.
And so I want to say that many sitting in this room, men and women, brothers and sisters, young and old.
Morally qualify to as in the characterization of a king that is.
That many sitting here, you might say.
Are ruling as responsible before God for your life.
And the decisions that you make and what you do and what I do are not only going to affect our individual happiness, but that will affect those around us, our families, our loved ones, our assemblies. All of those will be affected by the way you and I live as responsible in our lives before God, that is, you might say, morally.
Live as a king to rule in our lives before God.
And we can rule, you might say, and carry on in our responsibility, doing that which is right in the sight of the Lord.
Or that which is evil.
Is so solemn. Beloved brethren. There are no Gray areas. There's no 5050. They were pretty good. But no, they either did right or they did evil.
May God help us this afternoon to have our consciences very, very tender. Now we read of Joash that he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. And I want to look at Jehoiada the priest as a spiritual father, one who gave counsel and guidance and leadership to Joash, who began to reign at a very young age. You know, I can't tell you this afternoon. God alone knows.
When you may begin to bear special responsibility in your life, but you can read through the stories of the kings of Israel and Judah, and they began their reigns at many different ages, some very, very young, like Joash, some older in their 20s.
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And so the age varied. God knew when each one was going to begin to bear responsibility as a ruler.
Before him, this young boy began to rule at a very early age, and there was one who filled the position of a spiritual father to guide and to help him. And as long as that influence was there, there was blessing. But now I want to stop a moment because I said spiritual mothers too. Let's go back and see about that.
In chapter.
22.
Second Chronicles, Chapter 22.
And.
Verse 10.
But when Appalia, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, and that he was killed under the under, you might say the judgment of God aloud by or used in the tool Jehu or Jihu, who came in and executed this, a very solemn judgement on all of the House of Ahab. And those who had any relationship or had formed any alliances with Ahab and Ahaziah was one who had done that.
Formed a friendship or an alliance and he was killed. And so when Athelia his mother who I'm not.
Clear. I think someone can help us, but I think he was. She was a relation of Ahab. Am I seeing any heads nodding? I I don't know, but I think there was a relation there. But in any case, a wicked woman. A wicked woman, and she kills all of the rightful seed that should have been able to be raised up to reign in the stead of Ahaziah. But verse 11. Jehoshabiah the daughter of the king.
That's the daughter of King Ahazi, I take it, the rightful king.
Took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the King's sons that were slain, and put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. So Jehoshabeth the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada, the priest, that wonderful here was a couple who was united in their exercises before God.
Jehoiada and his wife, Jehoshima.
And so she took that little baby.
Seeing the potential that was there for the deliverance of the people of God from this oppression.
Realizing the importance of what it meant to keep this child from being slain by this wicked woman.
And she hid him for six years in the House of God.
Mothers. Spiritual mothers.
You cannot begin, I believe, to estimate the value, the pressure that you have, not the pressure, I should say, but the impressions that you will make.
On those who can eventually be raised up to be deliverers of the people of God.
This child was hidden, and this child was hidden in a wonderful place, the House of God. I won't, for the sake of time, go much further. We'll leave it trusting the Lord to apply that in any way that he sees fit. But for the mothers here, and those dear sisters who would seek to be spiritual mothers in the assembly, here's a wonderful principle to learn how to hide.
From the influences that would destroy.
Those who will eventually come to years.
And lead in blessing God's people, she hid this little baby.
For six years in the House of the Lord, she was one with her husband. In that exercise it is so precious. Can two walk together except they be agreed? Dear parents, dear brother and sister, you seek to bring your children up. You seek to be a help to the younger ones in the assembly. It's wonderful, don't give up. But oh how important to walk in unity of spirit and mind. Before the Lord, they were both walking with a similar exercise.
To hide this child, to preserve this child, that God's people might be blessed. And so the day came, and here is Jehoish.
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Now verse three is an interesting verse. And Jehoiada verse three of chapter 24, we're back to now.
And Jehoiada, This is the priest, the wife of the dear woman who hid this little one. Jehoiada took for him two wives, and he begat sons and daughters. Now, at first glance, that seems rather strange. We know that even though God allowed multiple wives, we believe, and I think I feel rightly so, it wasn't God's necessarily his order, nor his desire.
That there be multiple wives, but he allowed it in the Old Testament.
But here is a spiritual father who is taking two wives.
For this young man.
What I want to suggest in a moral application only.
Is that he knew that this young man was going to have to lead the people of God, and he needed guidance, and he was balanced in that guidance that he was going to give in the way in which this king was going to bear fruit.
For God's glory. It was not A1 sided thing and I want to be very very careful about this.
But I want to speak now for a moment to those who are spiritual fathers and spiritual mothers.
There are many things that are important for.
We who are younger and are coming into that time of responsibility in our families or in assembly, in the assembly, many things to learn and to understand. But how important that those who would seek to help, form and guide lives do it in a balanced way that they understand the importance of living to God's glory in this world.
While enjoying for our blessing our place in heaven, seated in heavenly places.
We're there. We're to be occupied with that. It ought to be the joy of our hearts to think about all the stars in the Lord Jesus Christ.
But we also are going to get up if the Lord leaves us here on Monday morning and we're going to go back to work and back to school.
And back to our neighborhoods and back to our jobs and our activities that we have to go to our schools.
And we need to be able to walk for God's glory and bear fruit in that world in the same way that we walk in the enjoyment of all that we have in Christ.
In glory, seated in him in heavenly places. And so I want to apply this.
In that way, I think perhaps it could be applied this way also that Jehoiada saw that though the Kingdom was divided.
He did not, and I think I see this in many of these kings and many of the godly people in this day.
Whenever possible, though, the Kingdom was divided, and there were the tribes of Israel and the tribes of Judah, that even though that was so, there was a acknowledgement that if things were according to the mind of God, they would all be one. It would be the Kingdom of Israel with all 12 tribes. And so he may have been doing that too, to exercise this King's heart, to realize that though he was king over those two tribes.
That God's thoughts went further than that for God's people, beloved fathers and mothers, spiritual fathers and mothers.
As you work in the assemblies where you are seeking to guide and counsel the younger brothers and the younger sisters to to mold them, to see them grow in the assembly, what an important, precious thing that is that they might see the beauty. We might all more daily see the wonder of being gathered to the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ, but along with that, that we might see that God.
Has.
A church, the Lord Jesus Christ as a body in this world and I was so appreciated just for a simple example before we move on, I so appreciated this morning.
The prayers of our brethren, praying for brothers and sisters in Christ that you and I will probably never meet.
Who, as we're sitting here in comfort, are being tortured, persecuted, suffering horribly because they belong to the Lord Jesus. They aren't all gathered to the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, but they belong to the body of Christ, and they're precious to Christ. And there was fruit. I believe, in the prayers that went up praying for the whole Church of God. Well, I go on and leave that. I only say that this spiritual father, I believe, was very, very wise in the application I'm making and that he.
00:30:18
Allowed that the heart of this king would have balanced affections and that fruit would be born.
Out of these balanced affections for the blessing of God's people, well, now the test comes and we see that he gathers the priests together. Verse four. It came to pass after this that Joash was mine, the Lord. You see, something wonderful is happening here.
It didn't say. Jehoiada told him to repair the House of the Lord. That was something that sprung from the heart of Joash. It was the fruit of the godly counsel and guidance of a spiritual father. And his first thoughts in expressing exercise was that that which belonged to Jehovah might be put back in order.
For the glory of the Lord and that wonderful to see that the first evidence of fruit and exercise was that the House of the Lord where worship could be offered to the Lord, would be put back in order. That was the that was the fruit of the work of a spiritual mother and a spiritual father. Well then it goes on and we won't go through all these verses, but I think there's something very interesting in verse 6 and I trust because I don't.
I want to be careful, but verse 6 And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said to him, Why hast thou not required of the Levites?
To bring in out of Judah, you know, earlier.
The king had given them commandment.
To go out and get what was necessary that this house could, that the Lord's house could be repaired.
Now he calls for Jehoiada and he says why haven't you required this to go forward?
Now look at verse 8. This is, to my soul, exceedingly lovely. And at the King's commandment, they made a chest. I'm going to reread that. And at Jehoiada commandment, they made a chest. You know, I rather imagine that one of the most difficult things for fathers and mothers and spiritual fathers and mothers is to have the God-given wisdom to know when to allow an exercise to rest solely with the one that you're guiding and working with. It's as if Jehoiada was saying.
Yes, I could tell. I could go out and I could stir the people up and they would give and I could spearhead this. But Joash, it's your exercise and I want you to follow through now before God in reality on your exercise. And if it's your exercise, you give the commandment.
You go ahead with this. It was a time of allowing growth.
Can I talk to you today, conscious in my heart, my beloved brethren?
Of a failure that I have been as a father.
In this very thing.
But if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God.
Who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not.
It requires an immense wisdom that a Lord alone can.
Give to see and exercise beginning in.
One of our children, or someone in the assembly that the Lord has laid on our hearts to help to see that exercise beginning to stir, and to have the wisdom to let it grow on its own, knowing when to counsel and knowing when to keep our hands off. I don't know much about gardening, but I've learned from what few feeble attempts I've had that usually when I start messing around with things that are growing, they end up not growing very well.
And I don't say that we just let people go and do their own thing. But what an immense wisdom Jehoiada used here to allow Joash to move forward on his exercise. As if to say Joash, this is your exercise before the Lord. You were the one that was reminded rather to repair the House of the Lord. And that's a wonderful thing. But I'm not going to carry your exercise for you. You're going to carry that exercise.
But it doesn't end there, because the wisdom that was used knew when to allow Joash.
To move forward, and it also knew when Joash needed help. Let's look a little further.
The money is coming in in abundance now and it says in verse 12 and the King and Jehoiada.
00:35:02
Gave it to such as did the work of the service of the House of the Lord. You know Jehoiada would by nature.
And by his age and all have a much better understanding who were.
Responsible, worthy, dependable workmen.
And so now there is a time when he again can be giving guidance.
To Joash. And so while it was Joash exercised to repair the House of the Lord, while Joash gave the commandment to get the collection to bring the money in, when it came time to use that money wisely as a wise steward, we might say Again, Jehoiada is there for guidance and counseling. Our brother talked this morning about learning and care meetings, Beloved brethren. It's true. I've heard a brother saying I believe it, that sometimes you learn more about the workings of the assembly.
Simply sitting in a care meeting and listening to the brothers who have the responsibility before God of seeking to give guidance to the assembly. You can learn more about the workings of the assembly from sitting in those meetings and perhaps anything any other way. I don't say that's the only way, but it's a wonderful way, and here was one that was giving guidance now when it was needed, Let's look further.
Then it says verse 14 and when they had finished, that's the Workman. They brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada. So Jehoiada is still helping in the stewardship of the things that belong to God in the repair of this house. The exercise was Joash.
The guiding to help him do it. In a way it was glorifying to the Lord Jehoiada was involved in.
And so it says, they burned. They offered burnt offerings in the House of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada. But.
What a solemn word. What a solemn word to find in the word of God but.
Jehoiada waxed old. Now I want to speak to myself and those who are younger here, young brothers.
The world has a saying I think is very appropriate here. That's getting old.
Oh beloved brethren of my generation and younger generations.
Don't allow yourself.
To look at spiritual fathers and get tired of their exercises.
And get tired of their desiring and seeking to help to let them get old and die.
The influence of Jehoiada got old and it died, and we aren't going to spend more time. I want to move on, but I want to say it brought horrible tragedy to Joash and to his Kingdom, a man who had done that which was right in the sight of the Lord.
The influence that had helped him to that point, he got tired of it.
And he listened to something else.
And he said, you know.
These old folks don't understand.
And we can do it better.
And it destroyed his Kingdom, and it destroyed him.
Does that mean spiritual fathers and mothers never make mistakes?
Any father or mother in here would stand up and say of course not, we've made mistakes. God knows.
But spiritual fathers and mothers, beloved younger brethren, if they are in your assembly or you have contact with them, value them and listen to them and cling to them. And if they make a mistake, go to the Lord about it. Don't let them wax old and die in your heart.
For the final result was Joash was assassinated.
And it happened when he was very, very sick.
How sick?
Christians can become who say I'm not interested in the counsel of those old folks anymore. They don't understand.
Beloved young people don't listen to that, don't buy that. Maybe they don't understand because they don't live the same life you do, but they understand something else. They understand the God who knows all about you and who loves you, and they've lived a life that has great value. And you listen and ask the Lord to help you. Apply to your life and to my life and to the assembly life those lessons that those spiritual fathers and mothers would seek to give you.
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For your blessing, don't allow the thought. They just don't know what they're talking about. I'm going to tell you something. They do too.
And you need to go to the Lord and ask him to help you understand what they're talking about.
Don't let him die now. We're going to move very rapidly. I want to go to the next king.
A very well known king.
Hezekiah.
And his story starts in.
Chapter 29.
Now here, we're going to not be looking at the influence of spiritual fathers and mothers. We're going to be looking at the influence of the spiritual heritage. Or you might say spiritual, if you will, forefathers, Those that have gone on before, remember them.
Who have the rule over you and follow their faith. So Hezekiah began to reign verse one when he was 5 and 20 years old and he reigned 9 and 20 years in Jerusalem and his mother's name.
Was abide you the daughter of Zechariah real quickly, mothers.
You read through 1St and 2nd Kings, First and second chronicles and count the number of times.
That the name of the mother was mentioned of the king who began to reign. Don't ever think, mothers, that your input is not vitally, critically important to what happens to your children.
And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David, his father, had done. We're going back to the very beginning. This is a grandfather several times removed.
But Hezekiah's exercise went back to one who was a man after God's own heart.
And he looked at that, and he said this one. David, the man after God's own heart, walked in The principles and the truth. And I want those things to affect my life.
And over and over again. And I haven't made a deep study of this, but over and over again.
In this account of Hezekiah, you find references to David. Notice for instance, quickly in passing in verse 24 of our chapter.
We'll begin with that in the middle of the verse. Well, we'll just read the verse. The priest killed them.
And they made reconciliation with their blood upon the altar to make an atonement for all Israel. There it is the whole nation of Israel. God's beloved people were in view because they were in view and they were God's beloved people during the day of David. And though this, all this division had come in, they were still God's beloved people. Now go down to verse 26. The Levites stood with the instruments of David. Verse 27, the end of the verse. And the thought is I'm going to read the thought there.
And when the burnt offerings began, the song of the Lord began also with the trumpets and with the instruments, or the ordinances of David king of Israel, And then down in verse 30. Moreover, Hezekiah the king and the Princess commanded the Levites to sing praise on the Lord with the words of David.
The instruments of David, the instructions of David, the words of David, A man after God's own heart, was that treasure House of truth.
Important to Hezekiah.
Oh beloved brothers and sisters, is that treasure House of truth important as truth for our minds? It's meaningless.
But is it important to go back and do we value?
The heritage that has been passed down and I want to ask and I don't even know who asked this question today in reading meeting.
I think it was in reading meeting but it was a very searching question and the thought was.
What you do about what you do with your free time tests, where your heart is when you have free time.
Which I admit is very rare in our lives today, but when there's some free time, is it spent reading?
00:45:00
The truth that has been passed down to us, the truth in itself, as it became with Hezekiah, can be a real stumbling if we're not careful, But oh how important it is. I want to encourage the one standing here first of all, and each of us, man and women, brothers and sisters, young and old.
To ask the Lord to grant a stirring in the heart, to go back to the first principles of David and value that heritage that God has given to us.
I think we little understand. I don't say this to build up in pride or anything, but I think we little understand the kind of intellect in this world today that puts so much pride and stress on intelligence. I think we little understand the immense, vast intellect of the brethren that God used and stirred up, not because they were smart, but that intellect was laid, as it were, as a sacrifice before God, and he used that.
The brethren that you and I, their words that roll off our tongues so easy. Wigram bell at Darby, on and on and on. We say these names. We we talk as though that's so important. Well, we thank God for those men. Those are men who spoke fluently, Hebrew and Greek and on, and they could read it and they could decipher it. These were intellectual giants.
And God used them. And what are we doing with it? I can't read Greek, I can't read Hebrew.
But I can read when the time is given, the writings of those who could.
And who in submission to the mind and will of God gave us a treasure house?
What are you doing, brothers and sisters, with that treasure house?
Umm, real quickly we'll just, you know the story as well as I do. Hezekiah got sick.
And the Lord healed him wonderful, wonderful mercy of the Lord and the king of Babylon.
Sent Hezekiah a letter and a present.
And Hezekiah.
Instead of using.
All those things that David his father had used himself, the instruments and the ordinances and his words and all those things that should have kept Hezekiah separate and you might say, ruling over all the those influences. Instead, Hezekiah got real proud and he threw open his door and he said to the world, the religious world, if you will, look at what I've got.
And it no more was something that was effective in his life and in his feet. It was a source of pride. I've got the truth.
Is that all it is, that we have our shelves in our homes with a lot of J&D work and and Mr. Kelly work and Mr. Wigram writings and we say we've got the truth.
What good does that do?
If you're not reading it and walking in it. If I'm not reading it and walking in it.
Is that why it was given to us the display to the world and to say to the religious world, we're the truth?
You know what's not, brethren?
And it all got taken away from Hezekiah, from his descendants. He lost every bit of it. Or his descendants did. Oh beloved brethren, the truth is there to be read and walked in, not to be held up as an object to display before anybody else in this world.
And finally in closing, we could go on, but I want to go on to the last Josiah rather.
I.
Verse 34 Chapter 34.
Here's another very young king, 8 years old.
And I'm just going to say, because of time, that Josiah did not have the same privileges and support that Joash and Hezekiah had in their days. There were men and women of God who supported and encouraged the exercises of those kings.
That we could go back. We won't. But in Hezekiah history you read of the rejoicing of the people at the.
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Institution of the Passover and all that went on that was restored. And it said, the people rejoice. The people were involved and they were one with their king. Not so with Josiah in Josiah's day. It was an individual exercise of faith on Josiah's part and.
At least in the account in Second Chronicles, you almost read in vain to find one time when he was encouraged by the people he was ruling over. That's very much like the day we live in now. If you and I, beloved brothers and sisters in Christ, if and those of you who are young as well as those who are older, if we're going to go on to the for the glory of the Lord Jesus, we thank God that he has brought us to where he is in the midst. And so we enjoy that fellowship.
But it's going to be largely an individual exercise of faith as an overcomer.
To walk in this day of Laodicea that we are in, to see to it that that Laodicea in spirit doesn't take our hearts over. And we sit back and we say we've got it all together. We got the truth, we got this, we got this, we're all right. No, it's individual faith and energy, but let's quickly look at Josiah life.
E2 breaks down the idols, and you can read that account over and over. It's his exercise.
But then we find this happening and I want to dwell just a bit on this In closing, they go in and they repair the House of the Lord. And in verse 14, when they brought out the money that was brought into the House of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found in the New Translation that is the book of the law of the Lord given by Moses. As far as I know, I'm going to make an assumption here. The word of God in the days of Josiah was down to one copy.
They found the book.
Of the law of the Lord, and it had been put away and hidden. It was number longer even known.
In his day.
The most vital influence you and I can have in our life, the people of God that had been given the law and it was down, as far as I know to one copy. And then it goes on and it says, and he'll Kai answered and said the shape and the scribe. I found the book of the law, the Lord in the House of the law in the House of the Lord and he'll kinda delivered the book to Schaffen, carried the book to the king and brought the king word back again saying I found the book of the law of the Lord.
I just read that wrong, didn't I?
What was Chaffin's message? The law of the Lord. The law given to Moses. A book was found.
And what was uppermost in Shafin's heart?
All that was committed to thy servants, they do it, and they have gathered together the money that was found in the House of the Lord, and delivered into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen, all the busyness that was going on, doing this and doing that, and beloved brethren.
I feel that's a real danger today. I thank God for any effort anyone makes to seek to serve the Lord.
But that was uppermost in God's word was secondary. It can't be that way.
God's word has to be first place in our lives, and then we have the proper direction and guidance and wisdom to serve Him acceptably.
But here there was all this energy and movement in shape and saying, oh we've done this and this and this, and then he says.
Then shaping, the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah. Now listen to this carefully. The priest hath given me a book.
And that's in the original it was the book, but in Chaffin's mind, it's just a book.
Beloved young people, what is the Bible to you this afternoon?
Is it just a book? Beloved brethren sitting here, Is this precious book just a book?
It is the book.
Not a book.
And chaff and Reddit before the king. While we know what happened, the King is deeply affected by that. And in closing, we'll just say.
That Josiah went forward faithfully knowing that the judgment of God.
Rightfully deserved was going to have to fall on that people but it didn't turn him aside. An individual faithfulness, beloved brother and we live in a day that we all recognize and admit the judgment of God is about to fall on this thing called Christianity.
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And you and I need to move forward to God's glory according to the word of God.
And let that influence our lives.
As we move forward until we hear his blessed voice calling us home. And what happened to Josiah?
He was helped as long as he was ordering things.
There was exercise in that Kingdom and then the king of Egypt was going to go up to Karchimish up here.
And he's going to pass through Josiah's land on the way up there, and Josiah decided he was going to get involved in the affairs of the world.
Now the book he had just been given, had he read it carefully, would have told him stay out of the affairs of the world.
But he said, I'm going to go fight with his king and the king the world himself said, What are you coming down here for? To fight me. This isn't your battle. God has told me to hasten up to take care of this thing. What are you coming here for, Josiah?
What are we doing busying ourselves in this world?
And I'm not here to set a list of rules of what we can and can't do. That's between you and your.
God, and it's between me and my God. But we better be before him very carefully about whether or not we are here to fight the enemies of this world, or if we're here to walk through this world as pilgrims and strangers with our battle in heavenly places.
Josiah had a bad conscience. You know when you turn aside from the word of God, you're not going to have a good conscience. How do I know he had a bad conscience? He went down to the battle disguised. He figured, well, they, you know, in a in a battle in those days they went after the king, and the king wore his garments and everything. And they said, there's the king get him and the army will fall apart. So he disguises himself. Did it work? No. He was sore wounded.
But then we find out he had more than one chariot. He was so unsure of what he was doing that he had to take an extra chariot down just in case.
So he could escape out of what he might get himself into. It didn't help. He died.
And it says they lamented Josiah because of the godly influence he had. And you know.
As far as I know, Josiah was the last godly king that Israel had before they were carried into captivity.
Oh, had he only allowed that influence of the Word of God to preserve him throughout all of his life?
Well, there they are. Brethren, you and I need the influence of our spiritual fathers and mothers. Let's value them. They may not have all the answers. They may not understand fully all the exercises we're going through, but they're there for our blessing. Let's not turn aside the influence of spiritual fathers and mothers, and let's let the influence of our spiritual heritage really practically affect our lives.
And let's let above all this precious book be supreme in our life. That's great.
Father, we thank thee.
The Heart of Man
Address—D. Rule
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Afternoon by singing together #52 Lord, we are thine thy claims we own ourselves, to thee we'd wholly give.
Reign Thou within our hearts alone and let us to Thy glory live #52 Someone started for us, please.
Once the forego.
Slaves of sin.
Got the hiding?
Let us get God.
And make thy spirit.
Wow man.
400 and four we realized.
I cry and cry.
I my this way.
And all my great love.
Straight away.
Would you turn with me to Proverbs chapter 4?
We're going to speak this afternoon about the heart.
I've heard it said that the Word of God teaches us two things.
It teaches us God's heart and it teaches us our own hearts. And while in one sense in my own soul it would be a joy, perhaps greater joy to speak about the heart of God, I believe it perhaps is the mind of the Spirit this afternoon that we consider more our own hearts.
Proverbs chapter 4 and verse 23 we read Keep thy heart.
With all diligence.
For out of it are the issues of life.
Your life and mine. The central issue of our life really, and how we live concerns our hearts. It's been said that what controls your heart controls your life, and whatever it is this afternoon that is in control of your heart, it's really that which is in control and the guiding factor.
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Of your life and the word of God brings before us the fact that.
There are all kinds of hearts, and I suppose it's true in this way that.
You and I as creatures are composed of a body.
A soul and a spirit, and the spirit that we have is that part of us which makes us conscious of our God and able to communicate with Him and receive from Him.
We're not like a dog or a cat which has no spirit and has no consciousness in it of a God and no relationship directly with God.
But we also have these bodies of ours, which are the vessel.
The temple, if you will, in which our souls and our spirits live in this life.
What we associate our souls most directly with, As it's been said, it's the.
It's the place where our emotions, our feelings, our desires reside.
And we know that when we talk about the heart, we're not talking of in scriptures generally about this physical organ that we have in our chest. But, and I think it's of God and the world recognize it as such. Whenever people talk about the heart, they're talking about their affections, their feelings.
And it's in that sense I believe that we would speak about it this afternoon.
Each one of us has in our part of our being, perhaps is an expression of our souls, a heart.
In which we're able to feel and sense things. Even God himself talks about his own heart, in which God gives expression to that which is within himself, his own feelings about things. And so here it says, keep thy heart. You know, that implies the responsibility.
Sometimes people say, well, I I just can't help it. That's the way I feel.
I want to suggest to you this afternoon you can help how you feel. In fact, you do have a responsibility as to your feelings and especially the affections that you have in your heart. Here it says keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Man gives his heart to certain things and man restrains or withholds.
The giving of himself and his heart to certain things. So it's an important subject for us to consider and we're going to look at a number of individuals in the Word of God and see how God examines things and looks at their heart.
And lest we think the whole subject is found in Jeremiah.
Where it says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. I'd just like to comment that.
That's not the whole picture as God presents it to us. God talks about lowly hearts. God presents to us devoted hearts.
Evil hearts, hearts of unbelief and so on to make us understand that perhaps what we have in Jeremiah, I think it's chapter 17 where it says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. It is to remind us and bring before us the fact that when man's sins.
He spoiled everything about himself.
When man sinned his very nature.
Was spoiled, it was corrupted, and that which flows from the natural man.
Comes from a spoiled nature.
And that affects the affections of his heart as well. And so even they can be spoiled and they can't be trusted either. Sometimes a person will trust, we say, their feelings. You can't trust your feelings in that way. You have to go to something that is superior to them, that is uncorruptible, the living Word of God.
And allow God by the Spirit to work at the same time, while the natural heart of man is spoiled by sin.
When you go to the New Testament in the book of Galatians where it talks about what the spirit does in the Newman it says.
The fruit of the Spirit.
Is love.
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And so we have hearts.
That come from, can I say, the nature which we have received through the Lord Jesus Christ, that the Spirit works in that work, right?
That the spirit produces their love as it should be, in its perfection and in its purity.
But let's turn over for the first consideration of hearts to Second Timothy.
We don't want to spend all our time looking at the negative side of the subject, but turn over to Second Timothy.
Chapter 3.
This is the day in which we're living in 1997.
That God is describing to us and he tells us a little bit about the character of the heart that's to be found in 199897 as well. Chapter 3 and verse one. It says this know also that in the last days perilous times shall come for men.
Shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters proud, and so on.
Verse 3. Without natural affection.
Chapter or verse 4 Traitors, heavy, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof from such turn away.
Now here I believe we have something that would help us to describe the character.
Of the heart that is to be found.
In a very general way in this world, and these people that were being written to here, some of them were professors too in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we need to be not just kind of say it's those people out there, but we need to, as it were, take this to ourselves and make application of it this afternoon to ourselves. He starts out by saying men shall be lovers of their own selves.
That is, the heart today is taken up with itself.
Man is self-centered and he puts himself 1St and he puts the desires of his own heart first. He sometimes says.
And I've heard people that have done evil things saying, well, I have to look after my own well-being 1St and if I'm not happy, no one around me can be happy. And so I'm going to do this thing in order to make myself happy and then I'll be able to have proper relationships with other people. That's not a wisdom from God.
As the human heart speaking to itself and saying me first. And so man is a lover of his own self.
Three without natural affection.
It's a sad thing.
To me, particularly sad when a father or even more a mother.
Doesn't bear natural affection for their children.
That allows something else in this life to gain the ascendancy for them, that it has a greater claim on their hearts than the God-given affection that should be there for the ones that God has given to them to raise for himself in this world.
But that's the modern heart, if you will. And then it says.
On lovers of pleasure More.
Then lovers of God.
That's the heart of the United States.
We live in a country that is pleasure mad.
Perhaps the most one, if not one of the most important industries in the United States today is the entertainment industry.
In this country is totally given in many respects to entertainment.
Something that will give pleasure to the natural man, his heart, and if it has to be as you will, a choice made between.
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God and pleasure.
So, sadly, pleasure often takes first place.
And that's the natural modern heart pleasure. Not always something that's bad or evil in its nature and in itself. But here the choice is.
Pleasure first, God second, and it's coupled with having a form of godliness.
But denying the power of it, that is, it can be mixed with our Christian life that we will have an outward form of being godly, of being orderly in our lives, and people can see us and we go to meeting and we don't do certain things that others would look upon and we ourselves would look upon as evil or wrong.
But when it comes to that which really has a grip on our heart.
And can I say to you as a little test?
Perhaps the greatest point at which the test comes is when you have what we call free time. We're not talking about the duties of life, but we're talking now about can I say when you have choice of your time and how you're going to use it? Is it for something that will give personal pleasure, or is it first for God? It isn't that God won't give joy and pleasure in that which we do, but.
What comes first for us?
Let's turn over to the first example of an actual person in First Kings chapter 3.
This is Solomon.
And I suppose if we were to ask ourselves this afternoon, you think about it for a minute. If someone were to ask you and say to you, what was it that Solomon asked for?
What would you tell him?
What was it Solomon asked for? Did he ask for wisdom? No, we didn't.
Here's what he asked for.
First Kings chapter 3.
And verse 9 Give therefore thy servant.
An understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and evil, for good and bad. For who is able to judge this thy so great a people. And the speech pleased the Lord that Solomon.
Had asked this thing.
And verse 13.
And I have also given the.
Verse 12. Excuse me, Behold, I have done according to thy words, Lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart, so that there was none likened to thee. Neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee.
The point I want to make is that wisdom, knowledge, understanding of things is not enough to walk properly before God.
You cannot separate many things from your heart, and here we find that.
Solomon asked for an understanding heart. You and I are moral creatures. We are made that way. We're not just flesh and blood. We're not animals who have no moral component to their nature. We are moral beings, and all that we are and ever will be is associated with our being moral.
Creatures.
And God part of that.
Is our affections our hearts and what we are in our hearts.
Before God is of importance to him. And when Solomon asked that he might be able to judge the people, he wasn't asking to be a judge.
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In a courtroom with lots of wisdom to make determinations between two sets of facts.
And decide which set was correct. But he asked.
For an understanding heart, we see an outstanding example of it when the two harlots are brought before him and.
They have the one living child, they're both claiming the child, and they come to him for a pronouncement in the matter.
And Solomon given of God, an understanding heart opens up.
In a remarkable way what was in their hearts. And so judges the matter.
He shows that one of them had a hardened heart and was willing to divide the child.
But the true mother could never do that, and so she was willing to give up her own child in order to save its life.
And so it exposes what was there in the heart, and Solomon makes.
The correct moral judgment in the matter.
And our lives are lived with constant daily choices requiring a moral judgment before God. And the only possible way that it can be rightly made on a daily basis is if our hearts are right before God.
Now you might say, well, I'm saved. My heart's right. That isn't the point. It requires a constant.
Dependence in the presence of the Lord, because a little later here in the 8th chapter.
In fact, let's turn over to learn a further lesson from Solomon. I think it's chapter 8 in chapter 8, Solomon.
Is speaking to the people at the occasion of the dedication of the temple. And he finished his prayer and now he's blessing the people at the very end of this dedication ceremony. And he has lifted up his heart to thank God for his goodness to the people and the bringing of the Lord into their midst and so on. And he says at the very end of his blessing of the people in First Kings chapter 8 in the last verse or no verse 61.
He says to them, Let your heart therefore be perfect.
With the Lord our God to walk in his statutes and to keep His commandments.
As of this day, that was a gracious thing of Solomon to say, and it was an important exhortation to them. He said let your hearts be perfect. And may Solomon's words speak to us this afternoon as well, the absolute importance in our our lives that we walk before God with a perfect heart. And So what happens to Solomon himself?
Verse Chapter 11.
It says.
In verse one. But King Solomon loved many strange women.
And verse 411 Four. For it came to pass that when Solomon was old.
That his wives turned away his heart.
After other gods.
And his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
Solemn, isn't it, brethren? We're all ages here this afternoon. Some very young, perhaps young enough that what I'm saying doesn't mean much. It's over their heads.
And the practical value of what said this afternoon rests with the parents of those children to live with proper heart before them, that they receive the benefit, but those of us that are of understanding age.
Here was a man that God gave an understanding heart to.
But something came in later in his life, says when he was old. Perhaps he had lived many years properly with a right heart before God, and was able to properly judge the people and keep them in a straight course. But something came in to draw away his heart, the many strange wives. And I would say also even more seriously than that.
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And it greatly burdens my soul even to speak of it.
But those that which took away his heart also brought him into idolatry.
So that there came something before his soul instead of his God.
And really, in his failure, his people followed and failed.
And it led to the division among the people of God that took place.
In Second Kings.
So we too need to remember whether we're old or whether we're young.
The importance of that which governs our heart and if we allow, as older ones, other things to come into our heart.
It can be that which draws away our souls from the Lord and later on.
That which?
May bring dishonor and sorrow.
To all the people of God who follow us.
Let's turn over or backwards can we will to First Samuel, chapter 13.
And consider for a moment.
David.
Here's the occasion when the prophet Samuel is speaking to David.
Or I should say to Saul.
And Saul is at this time.
The desired king of the people.
And yet Saul Samuel the prophet says to Saul in first Kings chapter 13 and verse 13. And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly, thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee. For now with the Lord have established thy Kingdom upon Israel forever. But now thy Kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has saw him a man.
After his own heart.
And the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people.
Because thou has not kept that which the Lord commanded, they the Lord has sought him a man after his own heart.
I just put it before you, brothers and sisters, May this be the desire this afternoon of your heart and mind.
That when God is seeking a man.
Woman after his own heart.
That he'll stop at your door.
May it just be the prayer of our souls. Here was a man that when the Lord wanted somebody to represent his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
For him before the people.
He found such a man and the person of David and.
He passes by all David's brothers, other people that were greater, perhaps in responsibility at that time in the land, among the people.
Because God was looking for something in the heart, not education.
Not leadership abilities. God can give those as needed for such a work that he may have for one or another.
But what God really looks for is a submissive, responsive.
Heart Saul, outwardly was a choice man.
If you had gone down the street.
Of Israel at that time and you were looking for a goodly looking person that stood out among the people and was admired by them. You would have stopped at Saul's door.
He was, by the description that God gives us an amazingly He was stood above all others in height and stature. In ways of valor. He showed himself to have a measure of it as well.
And he had the desire to rule the people and so on, and he was willing to work diligently for it. Everything outwardly was admirable.
But God. But God was looking for a man after his own heart.
And we thank God in a perfect way of what David speaks of. God found such a man in absolute perfection in his son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Let's turn over for a verse or two in the New Testament and.
John's Gospel, chapter 15.
John's Gospel chapter 15 and verse nine. It says, as the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you.
You, ye and my love, if ye keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love.
Even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love.
We might look at the 10 commandments and think of them as particularly outward.
Responsibilities that man had toward God and toward his fellow man and in fact, concerning those outward things, when we read about the apostle Paul, he no one could have found fault in how he kept them. He knew in himself only one of them that smote his conscience is coming short. And that was the matter of being covetous. But God presents the law to us in such a way that the whole law could be summed up in in two statements.
I think the 1St 5 commandments of the law could be summed up in the words Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.
With all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. And the 2nd commandment that would summarize the second five of the 10 was Thou shalt love thy neighbor.
Thyself.
That is, you cannot separate pleasing God.
From what's in the heart?
And the true.
Heart that satisfies God is the heart that is as it says, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart.
Because of our fallen Adam natures, as children of Adam's race, we're not capable of doing that. But here we have the Lord Jesus speaking to his disciples, and he's bringing before them that which the Christian today does have the capacity to do.
And that is to love God and keep his commandments.
It's the obedient heart. And really, that's a true mark of a Christian.
Is one who has an obedient, submissive part.
The unbelievers heart is in a state of rebellion.
The contrast sometimes people, they know somebody wants something.
And they automatically want the opposite.
That's the state of the heart, a rebellious heart.
Every parent in this room understands that in its simplicity. When you say to a little child, no.
There's something in that little child that almost automatically responds yes.
That is, there is a natural rebellion.
To authority.
And beyond just commands a submission of heart to them, to the one that expresses their desire. And so here we have put before us the example, the importance of having obedient and submissive hearts. It's a Christian responsibility, and it will flow from a new nature in which the Spirit of God is.
At liberty to work and delight our hearts in God. And so the Lord Jesus could say, I delight, I delight to do thy will, Oh my God. And so he found in him a delight to do the will of God.
Now turn over with me to Hebrews chapter 3.
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Hebrews chapter 3 and verse 12 it says.
Take heed, brethren.
Lest there be in any of you.
An evil heart of unbelief.
In departing from the living God.
Just read this verse particularly because it shows how involved our hearts are in every aspect of our lives, including our faith.
An evil heart of unbelief.
Now each one of us, by God's grace, he says He's talking to the people he addresses here, isn't he? This isn't a gospel meeting being addressed in these verses.
But he says, Take heed, brethren, that is those who were professedly on the same position as he who was writing. He says, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief.
In departing from the living God.
It's a solemn thing to turn away from God in unbelief because it affects the heart.
Among other things of the one who does it.
You know, if you go over to Exodus, which we won't take the time to turn to, but there we have the example of Pharaoh, and we have Pharaoh's heart on display for us as an example, as an object lesson to us. And God says to Moses, the Lord says to Moses, Moses, I want my people to leave the land, and I'm going to have you guide them out of the land of Egypt. And so you go to the Pharaoh who's in charge, and you tell them to let my people go.
And so he goes, and he speaks to Pharaoh, and he tells him to let his people go.
The Lord had given Moses a number of signs that he could do to show Pharaoh that the Lord meant business and that it was the Lord really who was speaking to him to let the people go and not just simply Moses idea of the matter. And so he goes to Pharaoh and we see as the story progresses, if you follow it carefully, that there's a process of rejection and unbelief taking place in Pharaoh.
And as the process continues, he hardens his heart. Pharaoh hardens his heart against the word of the Lord. It was an evil heart of unbelief. And the process continued until finally we learn in the New Testament, not in the account in the old, but we learn from the New Testament that finally God in himself judicially put his hand on Pharaoh and sealed what was happening and hardened his heart.
He said, as it were, Pharaoh, you've gone too far, you've hardened your heart too long. I've given you every opportunity and you've said no. And so God steps in judicially and pardons. Pharaoh's heart seals that hardening and there's no change in the man. I hope there's no one here. That's that these meetings and listening to the word of God.
And not allowing it to have a place in you, in your heart.
Because if you do, the tendency in your soul will be to harden it.
And next time you come to the next set of such meetings if there isn't a response with you.
You can turn it off. You can tune it out a little more easily.
Until that process continued and you can listen with no conviction in you.
But what is being said to you is from God himself, you can end up in the end, like Pharaoh.
When the Lord puts his hand down and says that's enough.
And then there's no further response. God speaketh once, yeah, twice, and man perceiveth it not.
Now I'd like to consider.
The most delightful heart of all to me.
But before I do, in order for us to understand it a little better, we're going to look at Mary of Magdala's Heart. But before we look at it, let's turn back to Psalms 55.
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The 55th sum.
The Lord Jesus this afternoon wants to have a very personal.
Individual.
Relationship with each one of us.
Continuously.
The Lord values our friendship, our fellowship.
The response of our hearts to himself. He feels it.
Personally, this afternoon, the condition of heart of everyone of us.
And its nearness to Him. He loves us with an unchanging and an everlasting love.
But at the same time, the Lord Jesus feels.
In a very personal way, in a very individual way, the state of your heart with himself at this moment.
And here is a man, I think, whose heart is given to us.
Or at least the response to a man's heart is given to us and how he felt it. And that is how the Lord Jesus felt the treatment.
That he got from the hand of Judah.
In his hour of need.
Here it says in the 55th Psalm, verse 12. For it was not an enemy that reproached me, then would I have borne it?
Neither was it he that hated me.
That did magnify himself against me.
Then I would have hit myself from him.
But it was thou.
A man mine equal. My guide, my acquaintance.
We took sweet counsel together and walked unto the House of God.
In company.
Didn't that solemn? There were two people, and as it were, it weren't enemies. There weren't swords out, but there were two souls walking together.
They go to the House of God together.
They have, as it were, companionship together. They eat at the same table. They speak about the same things.
But in this one man.
He felt it, he said. If he'd hated me then I would have hid myself from him.
Old brethren, may the Lord stir in our hearts not a lukewarm. I wouldn't suggest these words apply to anybody in this room in this way, but they ought to speak to us in a way that would want us to have a nearness.
Of fellowship.
With the Lord Jesus and I want to turn from them to an account of a woman.
That, to me, shines above every other at the time of the Lord's greatest need.
She outshines Peter, she outshines John, she outshines everyone.
Not in any public display. The account is rather can I say has to be looked at very carefully even to notice it.
But it's the account of devotedness in the heart of one person for the person of the Lord Jesus. And your life and mine may not be noticed, and it's not important that it be noticed. But oh, may we for God's glory, give him something of the pleasure and the joy that must have felt in his own heart at this time. And he responds to it too.
In his.
Responses to this woman.
Just to follow the little history of it, let's go over to the New Testament, to the 8th chapter of Luke's Gospel.
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Luke's Gospel, Chapter 8.
And verse one. And it came to pass afterwards that he went through every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the Kingdom of God.
And the 12 were with him, and certain women which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, and Joanna the wife of Chuza, Harrod, Stewart, and Susanna, and many others which ministered unto him of their substance.
This woman was of a little village on the Lake of Galilee, the Sea of Galilee.
A little to the South of where the Lord Jesus.
Was much of the time when he the events recorded of him in the gospels?
The apostles Peter and John and James and Andrew, those that were fishermen.
Lived on up the same coast a little farther north of where she lived.
And here was a woman whose heart had been under the control of Seven.
Devils. But when the Lord steps into her life and sets her free, her heart.
Affections are changed and she becomes one of a company of people.
That traveled with the Lord Jesus as he went from place to place, and particularly as a sister.
It was her place.
To minister of her substance, to meet his daily needs. And so she travels with him, and she keeps his company in a very quiet way, obviously. But her heart was won. Now these women and the apostles traveled together up to Jerusalem, and there the Lord Jesus is taken before Pilate and condemned.
And he's taken out to be crucified.
Mary is there along with these others who stand at first, according to the record given to us in a couple of the gospels. There's Calvary's Hill, there's the three crosses, there's the Lord on one of them, and it says the woman beheld him afar off, and so on. No doubt the soldiers were close by the cross, those in authority, and the people were sitting around watching him there.
And these women and others stand, perhaps at the back of the crowd, and they are watching the events that take place.
But then from the record that's given to us in John, I think it's Chapter 19 or 20. We'll look at it, John, Chapter 19.
Sometime during this period.
On several of those who were standing afar off separate themselves from the others, and they walk up to the cross.
To come close to the presence of the Lord Jesus there.
And this is what's recorded verse 25 of chapter 19 of John.
Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister.
Mary, the wife of Cleopas and Mary Magdalene.
When Jesus therefore saw his mother and the other disciples standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy Son. Here were a few that came up close enough that the Lord Jesus, from as he hung on that cross, could speak to them.
And he entrusts his mother's care unto John.
And we just have recorded one who was there in the devotion of her heart, Mary Magdalene. I'll turn over to Matthew's Gospel to follow the little bits and pieces of that story.
27.
Chapter.
In the 27th chapter of Matthew's Gospel.
We read verse 59.
Joseph. When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a linen, clean linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out of the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre and departed, and there was Mary Magdalene.
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And the other Mary sitting over against the sepulcher. Doesn't it touch your heart, brethren?
Hear the Lord Jesus is taken down from the cross, and Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus.
Come, and if we look at all the accounts, we see that the others as well, they follow as a procession together to the sepulchre, to the garden, and there the Lord Jesus is placed in the tomb. The door is rolled, or the stone is rolled to the door.
And they go home, They depart. But the Spirit of God is pleased to tell us about two sisters who don't leave.
The last we see of them on that day is seated.
There was Mary Magdalene and the other Mary sitting over against the sepulchre.
Dusk is coming on. The darkness is falling on that day, the end of the preparation day before the Sabbath. And here's these two women. Everyone else is gone. The darkness falls, but the devotion of heart is such that they're seated there.
Now.
The next day is the Sabbath day, and it says tells us that these sisters prepared spices and rested, waiting for the liberty of the next day in order to go back to the sepulchre and anoint the body of the Lord Jesus.
The Jews are more active on the Sabbath. They should have been quiet, but they're busy going to.
Pilate and asking for more soldiers or soldiers to be assigned to the tomb so that nobody can steal the body.
But I'm going to read chapter.
28 Here in Matthew, in the first verse and Mr. Darby's translation, it says Now late on Sabbath, as it was the dusk of the next day. After Sabbath came Mary of Magdala and the other Mary to look at the sepulchre.
Here we find this devoted sister again on the Sabbath day.
In the evening.
The day closed at 6:00 PM and the next day started it at six and went through the night as a Jewish days ran.
And here she is late in the afternoon, and the other Mary, and they've come back.
And there they are again, alone, undoubtedly, at least as far as the record given to us.
And waiting and watching. That's the motion of heart to the Lord Jesus.
I'll turn over to John's Gospel.
John's Gospel chapter 20 in the first verse.
The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark.
Under the sepulchre.
If you read the other accounts, you'll find that it says of some of the others that came to anoint the body of the Lord Jesus, the sun having risen.
But here we find this one soul whose heart is so attached to the Lord Jesus that she doesn't wait for Daybreak. But the Spirit of God is pleased to tell us that she gets up when it's still dark, and she goes to the tomb.
And she finds the stone rolled away. She finds that the Lord is not there.
And she runs to tell Peter.
And the other disciple we know, who is John, that in her understanding of her mind.
He's been carried off and she doesn't know where, so she runs in her haste to tell him and in her desire, I think, to get back, to be as close as possible. She returns to the sepulchre and she remains there because that's the last place where she had seen him, and she has nowhere else that she wants to be. When we read of Peter and John, they come running as well, and they look, they go in, they examine things.
And it tells us of John. He believed it's the first instance of anyone who.
Is recorded of having believed in the truth of the resurrection. It's John. He was one who lay on the bosom of the Lord Jesus and was close to him in his heart and affections.
And he shines in that. But nothing else, nothing else will satisfy this sister's heart that she just sits there. She wants himself.
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And she doesn't know where he is. And then we have which we won't take time to look at. Our time is really gone, but the Lord Jesus responds to that heart.
And he comes to her, and he enlightens it.
And he satisfies the affection. She had a truly understanding heart. She had a devoted heart. She had a heart that in practice, nothing else would satisfy but this one person. And brethren, she has the joy that she did. She did. She satisfied his heart. It be true with us. Let's pray.
Gospel
Gospel—R. Thonney
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Let's start our meeting this evening with #25 on our hymn sheets.
#25 life at best is very brief.
Like the falling of a leaf, like the binding of a sheaf.
In time Fleeting days are telling fast that the die will soon be cast and the fatal line be passed. Be in time #25.
Fly.
Like the lighting of the sheep.
You along your way you may find open game and your pride because to play.
Great God.
I miss life swiftly quiet and judgment full Gronoid through the arms of Jesus life.
May be.
Oh my, great to count the cost and the rail line may crawl and you feel like priceless. So we lost.
Re in the heart.
Grace.
Oil avoid some reason.
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Shall we pray?
And sing it together #8.
Shall we go to go?
Shall we hear the stranger's clowns? To my whole beyond God's heart.
Yourself God, me, His Gloria's His glorious, glorious God.
And of course, Jennifer Savior's love.
I want to be speaking hard and free to know.
The artist things of sin as God.
He will watch you. The wires direct snow. Yes, we'll turn. Your name is glorious. It's glorious.
Stop me gallery of listening to his strongly.
Let's turn to John's Gospel, chapter 14.
John's Gospel chapter 14 and verse one.
The words of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you.
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I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also, and whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas said unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way.
The truth and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Is read there for the moment. Last night we heard the gospel preached from that verse in First Timothy chapter one and verse 15. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
That was his purpose of his first coming into the world. God has come into the world in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Think of it. The eternal God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ came.
As a man into this world was born in the same way that we are born into this world he was born.
Through the Virgin Mary he came into this world, and He came to save sinners. That was His mission. The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world, 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, that's why he came into this world, is to save us. And we heard the gospel story.
Presented on that verse last night. Oh, what a story it is.
Of that savior God walking through this world.
Through the weary paths that we go through Indiana, this world, we cannot say that our God doesn't know what it's like to be a human being in this world. God became flesh and dwelt among us, and now he does know what it means. He was tired down here as a man. He was thirsty. He knew what it meant to suffer like no one else in this world has ever suffered.
Because at the end of his 33 1/2 years of manifesting, on every hand.
What our God was like.
Why he was taken outside of the city of Jerusalem and nailed to a cross. I've tried to imagine sometimes what it must have been to have nails pounded through your hands and your feet, and to hang hour after hour on those nails.
I don't think we have much idea of what it meant, the pain that he went through, Some of you perhaps have suffered pain in one measure or another, but none of us have ever known what pain was like. He suffered on that cross, not only the pain, the physical pain, but the pain of rejection, he said. Reproach has broken my heart and I'm full of heaviness and I look for some to take pity. And there were none.
And for comforters. But I found none. A broken heart is terribly hard to deal with. The Lord Jesus knew what that was, but that wasn't the worst of it. When He was on that cross during three hours when God veiled what was taking place on that hill of Calvary outside of the city of Jerusalem was the worst suffering that will ever, ever be known.
That was when God took the load of our sins and laid it on Jesus.
Somebody had to pay the price. God cannot pass lightly over your sin and mine. Somebody has to pay the price in full if God is going to extend free and full salvation to whosoever will believe. And Jesus paid the price in full. We heard last night as well that before he gave up his life, he said it is finished, the work is done.
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Jesus died. His precious blood was shed to wash the sins of mine, the sins of years away.
Jesus was buried, and he rose again the third day.
And then God, after 40 days of being down here in this world.
Of men received him back up into glory. There is a risen man in the glory of God tonight. A man of flesh and bones sits at the pinnacle of of all authority tonight, higher than the highest heavens is a man. Oh, it's a glorious story. A man that is looking down at you tonight, powerful to save.
Who knows exactly the state of your heart before God, before him. You can put on a front with me. You can probably fool me pretty easily. You cannot fool God. Impossible. He sees you. He sees the need of your heart right now, and he's powerful to save. And my purpose tonight in this meeting is to talk about four words that we have.
In these verses that I've read at the beginning of this meeting, and there in verse three, those four words are words that the Lord Jesus said and they have not been fulfilled yet. He said, I will come again. He came once to die. He came once to save lost sinners. Jesus is coming again.
Oh, what a glorious hope belongs to the believer in the Lord Jesus.
But our desire is for those here this evening who may not be ready.
Who may not have accepted the Lord Jesus as their Savior. You must meet the Lord Jesus sooner or later. You can have him. You can know Him tonight as your Saviour. But if you refuse to know Him as your Savior tonight, you will know him. You will meet Him in that coming day as your judge. When He sits on the throne of His glory, or when he sits on that great white throne judging the dead. You will.
See Jesus, you will meet him. You cannot escape.
That encounter with your God, it's impossible. Impossible. Jesus is coming again, he said. I will come again. All his promises are sure. He's never failed in fulfilling his promises. There are some of them that are still future, and this is one.
Jesus is coming again and I want to speak briefly.
On the two parts of his second coming tonight and how they reflect on a person who perhaps is here but not having received the Lord Jesus as their Savior. You are in a very dangerous position right now. And I ask you right now at the beginning of this meeting, you don't have to wait till the end of the meeting, but if you haven't really accepted the Lord Jesus as your Savior, you have an opportunity to do it right now.
Right there where you're sitting. Open your heart to the Lord, Accept him. He says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and Sup with him and he with me. It's a matter of you simply saying I will. I accept the Lord Jesus.
As my savior.
To all them that received him.
To them gave he power to become the sons of God. How do you receive the Lord Jesus? It says at the end of that verse. To them that believe on his name, simply trust him. Simply believe on his name. That's the way to.
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Receive the Lord Jesus Christ, and I ask you, if you're not ready to, don't wait even to the halfway mark of this meeting. Do it now.
It's not necessary even to get down on your knees right there where you're sitting. The Lord Jesus is seeing you, and I ask you simply to open up to Him right now where you're sitting.
But I want to talk a little bit about this, first of all, the first part of his second coming, because he's coming not exactly to earth. He's coming in the clouds of heaven. He's coming to the clouds and he's going to come. Maybe we should read that portion in First Timothy, First Thessalonians, chapter 4, how it's going to take place. I know most of us are pretty familiar, but it's good to be reminded again.
The way our Lord Jesus is going to come.
To take away from this world all those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. First Thessalonians chapter 4 and verse 14.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, Even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent or go before them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven.
With a shout with the voice of the Archangel.
And with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Here is the first part of His second coming. It says the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout.
A shout of power, because that shout is going to awaken all those.
Who have died from Adam on down, or we can say from Abel on down because he was the first we have recorded that died.
From Abel on down, all those are going to be awakened from their.
From their death, from their sleep of death, and going to be raised. And then it says with the voice of the Archangel.
Angels in Scripture are known not so much for their intelligence but for their power, and an Archangel is one who has more authority in the angelic hosts.
And so with the voice of the Archangel, he's coming. And with the trump of God.
You know, in the first Epistle of Corinthians it speaks of the last trump that this is going to take place.
This resurrection.
And in the Roman army, according to the way I understand it.
There was 3 trumpet blasts given for the Roman hosts to March. The 1St trumpet was get your things ready for the March, the 2nd trumpets blast was get in rank to March and the third final last trumpet was.
March.
In figure, the first two trumpets have already sounded. We have ample warning.
In scripture that we need to be ready, get our things ready to go.
The second get in rank. We need to walk amongst other believers. If we are believers in the Lord Jesus, keep rank with them. Only the last trumpet remains to sound and then it will be from one moment to the next March.
Down in Bolivia recently.
And I was talking.
To a young man who is living in a way that he knows he shouldn't be living.
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He is allowing things in his life that he knows are not right.
And I said to him, What if God had said?
I'm going to give you 5 minutes. I'm going to sound a trumpet from that trumpet's blast. You'll know that it'll be 5 minutes until the Lord comes again. What would you do in that 5 minutes?
He said. I guess I'd have to do some repenting.
But you know there's not going to be 5 minutes. When that moment comes, it's going to be the trumpets blessed and that's it.
From one moment to the next.
The Lord's going to come and there's not going to be any.
Five minute. There's not going to even be a one minute warning that it's going to take place. This part of the second coming of the Lord Jesus is not connected in Scripture to any sign that has to take place. This could take place at any moment.
You know, we talk about it oftentimes and what I fear.
For myself, that it becomes so much knowledge that I accept. Yeah, that's true.
But I don't let it affect my ways.
You know, there's a little text we have.
In our home.
On the wall of the kitchen that says don't go anywhere.
That you would not be one would not want to be found when Jesus comes.
Don't say anything that you would not want to be saying when Jesus comes.
Don't do anything that you would not want to be doing.
When Jesus comes, do you really believe that?
What scripture is telling us that it could be at any moment? Do you really believe that?
I must say it comes as a serious challenge to my own heart at times. If I'm not going to believe it, I'll have to pitch the whole book.
I do not see any other option than to believe it. It's going to happen. One of these moments, one of these least expected moments, it's going to happen. Jesus is coming again.
I don't know how to reach out and awaken.
I just, I just really believe that here in the United States, we've been lulled to sleep.
We have learned to.
Listen to these things. But our life just kind of continues merrily along the same channels that it ever did.
How we need to be awakened. You know in the 25th of Matthew's Gospel, the Lord Jesus talks about 10 virgins.
Five of them had oil in their lamps, figurative of true believers who have the Holy Spirit burning in their lives, and five of them didn't, figurative of those who were the professors.
But did not have the oil in their lamps, did not have the Holy Spirit burning in them. And you know what it says? It says they all slumbered and slept. They all did. And I fear that that's what's the case.
Even amongst those who are real believers were asleep.
We don't really truly believe this. If we did it would show more in our lives. Sometimes. Say you don't have to answer with your lips if you believe the truth of his coming. Again, your actions show if you believe it.
And that's the truth.
Dear friend tonight.
The Lord Jesus has said I will come again, He's coming again, and that moment's going to arrive when he's going to descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, with a trump of God. And there's a first. The dead in Christ shall rise first. All the dead in the world that have died with faith in God are going to be raised in a moment.
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In a twinkling of an eye. Because it's not a question of lack of power with God.
He's going to raise the mall. Where are they all? I don't know. I've been through cemeteries in South America and walking through the Andes.
Where the bones are lying on top of the ground and I often wonder if some of those bones.
Bones of people who have believed the Lord Jesus Christ? I don't know.
God knows some people have been drowned at sea.
Where are their bodies now? I don't know. But in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, they're going to be raised incorruptible. And then it says.
Then we which are alive and remain right now we are here, alive with physical life. We remain still. If the Lord comes during this meeting, we will be those remaining ones.
Shall be caught up together to meet the Lord. Shall be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
This part of his coming is only coming to the clouds and we're going to be caught up. That's what the word rapture. Sometimes we use the word rapture. Rapture simply means caught up. Lord rapture perhaps isn't found in Scripture, but it's in that word caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. That's the portion of every true believer in the Lord Jesus.
Are you a true believer? Have you settled the matter of your soul's salvation?
Again, I say you don't have to wait any longer in this meeting. You can do it right now where you sit. I really, truly fear that this is going to find some people.
Still asleep, not ready for that awful moment. Perhaps persons who have heard the gospel all their life. Perhaps children who have heard and understood.
The message of the gospel and one morning you will wake up and there will be nobody around in your house.
Nobody left.
And you will wake up to the awful reality that the Lord Jesus has come. What happens if the Lord comes during this meeting?
There's somebody going to be left sitting there.
One moment to the next, you're going to look around and you'll see people's things lying there, but you won't see anybody left. Are you going to be left sitting in this room? And that moment comes. If you don't know the Lord Jesus, you will.
But I want to go on to talk about the other part of the Lord's second coming, and Scripture speaks an awful lot about His coming. When He comes to set his feet down on this world on the Mount of Olives, His feet are going to come down. That's where he went up in Acts chapter one. When he was taken up into heaven, the disciples were looking up into heaven.
An Angel stood by them and told them.
Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who ye have seen go up into heaven will so come in like manner as you have seen Him go up. That's not the rapture that they're referring that He's referring to, that they were referring to there. That's His coming back in power and glory to this world.
And he's going to come back from the same place that he went up. He's going to come back to that same place. Scripture speaks an awful lot about that coming. That part of his second coming is connected with all sorts of signs.
And.
Happenings in this world.
That coming and some of those things we are beginning to see today happen in this world. To me, it is incredible that we are still here in this world that.
The nation of Israel was formed next year. It will be 50 years that the nation of Israel was formed.
That the European Common Market is in place what is now called the European Union. Recently in South America, I met with some folks who know some people in Israel and heard through some friend of theirs that.
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In the European Union, one of the men was speaking and he said.
What people don't realize is that the European Union.
Is not going to be a democracy.
It is going to be governed by 10 appointed men. This has already been established. There will be no elections for the governing body of the European Union. All the nations that want to join can join if they meet the conditions.
We're seeing these things develop right in front of our eyes. These are things.
That are definitely connected with his coming in power and glory.
I say, I want to say before we go any further and deal with the matter of His coming in power and glory.
That you have an opportunity now to receive the Lord as your Savior. Now is God's time. Now is the accepted time. Now is the day of salvation. Don't put it off, please. You don't have any guarantee that tomorrow there will be a chance for you. It's now and when God says now.
You are directly challenging God.
When you say tomorrow, don't do it. I plead with you to be serious with God.
Now is the time.
But the Lord Jesus is coming back again, and after he comes, the door of salvation is going to be closed to those who have heard the message of the gospel and have not received it. Maybe they've rejected it openly, maybe they've neglected, maybe they just put it off. But saying you have every good intention to receive the Lord as your Savior on down the line a little longer.
And the Lord comes tonight. Is there going to be another chance afterwards?
That's something that I'm sorry to say that I've heard amongst people that are.
Termed even evangelical that there will be another chance. I want to say that Scripture is very clear as to that point. It says in Second Thessalonians chapter 2 That if they received not the love of the truth, God is going to send strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned. Who?
Had had not pleasure in righteousness.
But had pleasure and unrighteousness and not quoting it exactly. But God is going to send strong delusion. There will not be another chance for those people who have heard understood God's offer of salvation.
And rejected it. Now is God's time, and that's why we're urgent.
And that you should accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior tonight. Want to go over to?
Verses that deal with his coming again and 2nd Thessalonians chapter one.
Because it's coming. That is extremely glorious associated.
With judgment, but extremely glorious. I just thrill in my soul to think that I am going to be one of the eyewitnesses of the introduction of God's man into this world to reign in righteousness from sea to sea. I'm going to see it happen and everyone who is here who is a believer in the Lord Jesus.
Will also be there to see it happen. What a tremendous future we have. But here's what the apostle Paul says about it in chapter one of Second Thessalonians and verse 7, the middle of the verse when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels.
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In flaming fire.
Taking vengeance on them that know not God.
And that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord?
And from the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified in his Saints, and to be admired in all them that believe, because our testimony among you was believed in that day.
Here is his coming when he comes back to this earth in.
It says when he will be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels.
You ever seen an Angel?
I don't suppose most of us have ever seen an Angel. There are people that think they've seen an Angel. They're spirit beings that can appear at times, but in that day there's going to be accompanying the Lord Jesus when He comes back from heaven. Mighty angels. Think of those beings in the Old Testament we read in one showdown between the Syrians, and I think it was at the time of Hezekiah.
They challenged Hezekiah and Hezekiah's God and an Angel of the Lord went out into the camp of the Assyrians and killed 185,000 in one night. If one Angel is able to do that in one night, here is the Lord Jesus coming back.
With his the with his mighty angels. So the glory of that moment.
Fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh what a day that's going to be. You know, God would have been righteous after the world treated the Lord Jesus the way they did, taking the blessed Son of God, the greatest expression of the love of God. They took him and they nailed him to the cross. They gave him the worst death they could possibly give him.
God would have been righteous.
And completely destroying the human race from the face of the world.
But he didn't do it. He turns around and says the death of my son now is the means.
That salvation can go out everywhere throughout this world. Salvation full and free.
But man continues to reject, not only reject.
But he flies right in the face of the God who made him. He blasphemes him. He is still at enmity with God, and there remains no other.
Option but awful judgment. The Old Testament it tells us that God's strange work is judgment. God does not want to judge man when he prepared the lake of fire.
He did not prepare it for man. It was prepared.
For the devil and his angels, those fallen angels that rebelled directly in the face of God, he prepared that place for them.
But the person that continues to disobey the command of God to repent and believe the gospel will find himself as well.
In the Lake of Fire.
With his company, the devil and his angels in outer darkness, in torments where they worm dies not.
The worm is the consciousness of that person, and you will have your memory through all eternity to remind you that you had an opportunity to receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior.
And that's just gonna eat you up right from inside, through all that eternal day.
And he says, where the fire is not quenched, the torment, the abject torment of the soul who is outside of God for all eternity. God is light, no light there.
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The blackness of darkness forever. God is love. No love there.
People talk of being with their friends in hell. There's no friends in hell just to inflict.
More torment. It's awful to think of what scripture speaks of hell.
It's not a very popular subject in today's world, but I was reading the other day that verse in Proverbs chapter 15 and verse 11 it says hell and destruction are before thee eyes of the Lord.
How much more the hearts of the children of men.
God knows the awfulness of that place.
And he longs for you who are not saved. He's looking at you now. He's saying, what can I do? How can I get the message across to that person out there who still won't listen, who still won't come?
How he longs after you. He knows how awful it is. You know Satan has power in this world to blind men.
It says in Second Corinthians chapter 4 the God of this world in us with a small G indicating that it is.
Satan, who is the God of this world, has blinded the minds of them that believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine into them.
But you know, Satan's power to blind men is only in this life.
Beyond this life.
He has no power to blind any longer, and as soon as you leave this world, you're going to realize the awful reality of it all.
Remember a story that I heard when I was young? It impressed me of a man who had on his farm.
A litter of puppies.
And.
They were nice little puppies, but.
It was too bad as they were growing and as time went by, they never opened their eyes. Never opened their eyes. He waited and waited and thought, well, I'll wait another day or two, see if they open their eyes. They never opened their eyes.
And he said, I guess these puppies are not going to be of any worth. And he took them. He had an old onion sack there and he put them in the onion sack with.
Some stones and took them out to a pond he had and rode to the middle of the pond.
Put the sack over the edge, lift and drown.
And as he they were, he led him over and let him go. They were going down.
He saw the puppies eyes open as they were going down.
And you know, that's just exactly what's going to happen to you if you're here asleep in your sins. Satan has power, tremendous power, to delude people, to keep them asleep.
To not open their eyes to the reality of what we're talking. But the moment you pass from this world, your eyes are going to open to the awful reality of what we're talking about. It talks about a rich man in Luke chapter 16.
And a beggar, the beggar's name is given to us.
Lazarus the rich man, although he probably had a lot of people that knew him in life when he lived, his name is not recorded because in God's books what counts is faith, and this rich man did not have faith. But it says the time came when the rich man died and was buried.
And immediately it says and in hell. He lifted up his eyes.
Being in torment the moment you close your eyes and death hear.
Your eyes will open on that side of the veil in torment. If you don't know the Lord Jesus is your secret. What do we say these things to you for? To scare you? No, not to scare you.
Necessarily, but to tell you the awful reality that lies ahead for you.
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If you do not receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior, we plead with you to wake up tonight.
This is what God says. It's not what we're saying. Let's go to the Book of Revelation to read a little bit more about this coming again of the Lord Jesus at the end of the tribulation period. Because after the Lord Jesus comes to take his own home to heaven at the rapture, according to our understanding of Scripture, there's going to be a time of approximately.
Seven years, perhaps a little bit more.
And at the end of those seven years, Jesus is coming to this world.
Coming again. And here we have the account of it in another place. Revelation 19, verse 11.
And I saw heaven opened, and the old White Horse.
And he that sat upon him was called faithful and true.
And in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire.
And on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself.
And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called a word of God.
And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses.
Clothed in fine linen, white and clean, and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treaded the wine Press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vestion, on his thy name written King of kings and Lord of Lords.
And I saw an Angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls.
That fly in the midst of heaven, come and gather yourselves together.
Under the supper of the great God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army.
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that brought miracles before him.
Which he had deceived, With which he had he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast.
And them that worshipped his image, these both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceedeth out of his mouth. And all the fowls were filled with their flesh. Oh, what a glorious picture is painted for us here, something that is still to take place.
In that tribulation period it is called. It has different names in Scripture.
It's called the time of Jacob's trouble, but the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 24.
That will be a time of trouble that this world has never seen nor will ever see again. The we are and people don't realize that. Even Christians don't realizing we are standing on the very edge of the worst judgment that this world has ever seen. I've often thought of the terrible confusion that must have rained when it started to rain. And Moses, I should say Noah was in the ark.
With his family and how people must have rushed to get up into trees at first and then to run to.
Mountains to get up as far as they could, how they must have fought with each other to get up to the tallest point of the mountains. It was too late. They were all had to die. But it's far, far worse that the judgments that's going to fall yet upon this world that's still future. And we're right on the edge of its starting. This is what Scripture tells us. I believe it to be true.
And there's a lot of others who believe it to be true. And I trust that there's nobody here sitting in this room that will have to go into that time of awful judgment on the earth if you should happen to last to the very end of that time, those seven years, that time of great tribulation.
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This is when the heavens open, finally, finally.
After all the slaughter, after all the pestilence, after all the famine.
Finally, God's answer, the heavens open, and out of heaven comes a White Horse, and he that sits on that horse is holy and true, and his name is given. The Word of God gives a number of names. Here in verse 16 he says he's King of kings, Lord of Lords. No doubt can be left in our minds that this is the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
But think of it, it says in verse.
19 I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army. Think of it. Man's heart has not changed through those 2000 years of the history of God's grace to this world. When the Lord Jesus comes back again to this world, they're going to gather together all their most mighty armies.
They can gather together their missiles.
Their whatever weapons they have of mass destruction.
They will have no effect to this one who sits on that horse.
With the sword of his mouth, army after army is going to fall before him.
And then he's going to.
Sit on the throne of His glory in all nations are going to be called to stand before him, and he's going to divide between them as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats, and the sheep on his right hand are going to go into millennial blessing on the earth.
People who have heard the gospel of the Kingdom because they never had a chance to hear the gospel of the grace of God.
Who accepted it are going to go into the millennial earth in blessedness. And then on his left hand are the goats. Those that have heard the gospel of the grace of God and have neglected it or rejected it. Perhaps some person who is sitting here tonight.
And still hasn't accepted the Lord Jesus Christ. You'll be there. Perhaps at that moment, if you survive the awful, awful times of tribulation, you will be there. But what does He say to those on his left hand? Depart from ye, ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. The end for those who do not receive the Lord Jesus as their Savior.
Our time is up.
I just want to, with all my heart, plead with any person.
Who still hasn't received the Lord Jesus as your Savior to do it tonight? You still have a moment to do it.
If there's any question after the meeting that anything that's not clear, any doubt that you have?
Either myself or anybody.
In this room that does know, the Lord Jesus is happy to speak to you, to try to clarify things in your soul, but I ask you not to put it off. The coming of the Lord Jesus draws nigh. It's going to happen. One of these days it will happen.
Accept the Lord Jesus as your Savior tonight and be ready.
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. Let's pray.
Looking Upon Jesus
Address—L. Smith
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.
We.
Wander around.
Shall we ask the Lord's blessing?
How thankful we can be.
For the encouragement from the Word of God that we've enjoyed at these meetings.
Let's look at a verse in John chapter one.
Verse 36.
And.
I was thinking.
Here we've had all this Wonderful.
Spiritual food for our souls.
And it's going to be true with each of us.
There's an Ant.
There is an and. What will we do with this now?
And.
There's the rest of today. Sometimes we see the little saying today is the first day of the rest of your life.
Sometimes we see the little saying today.
Every day is a chance for a new beginning.
But when we have food from God, it's wonderful if the and in our life.
Glorifies God more.
If in just if, instead of justice hearing something that tickles our ears, there's something that comes into our hearts with transforming power.
This verse says and looking.
Perhaps everyone here can see.
Some of this is better than others.
But even a blind man with spiritual eyesight can see.
If you're yet in your sins.
You're not seeing things that God.
Want you to see?
And you need the Savior.
And there's a lot of places you can put your eyes nowadays.
Some of them are very defiling.
Some of them will undermine everything you've heard in these meetings.
But this says.
And looking.
Upon Jesus.
That where my eyes will be.
Tomorrow, the rest of the day. So where your eyes will be.
There's a pure bright object for our hearts.
Dear Saints of God.
Looking upon Jesus as he walked.
He could say I do always those things that please him. What a man.
Oh, we have an object for our hearts, don't we?
Looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith.
Behold the Lamb of God.
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Here's the young man.
Perhaps 30 years of age.
John didn't know him before.
But now he knows.
He says he's the lamb.
Of God.
Oh, what an object for our hearts, and what a provision for our souls.
One that's come into the world to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
We live in a world that increasingly.
Puts everything before us so constantly.
Junk mail is bad enough.
If you thought you had to read it all.
But there's all kinds of things, isn't there?
But here's an object that will never defile you. Never.
Pure bright object.
Let's look at Hebrews chapter 12 again.
Can you turn the morning mic up?
They can try to talk louder.
Hebrews, chapter 12.
We had in verse two looking unto.
Jesus.
The author.
And finisher of faith, this whole book of Hebrews.
Its major subject is faith, isn't it?
Christ of God, we mentioned that.
As he touches each thing, it for the first time becomes better or perfect.
And the very things that were originally set forth of God to tell man.
By a shadow on earth, The figure of things in the heavens. God.
By his blessed Son touching them sets aside. By glory that exceeds.
Each thing.
Brethren, if he can set aside.
That which was by divine instruction.
Because Moses was told, see that you make everything according to the pattern on the mount.
If he can set that aside.
That Christ may be all. How much more can set me aside? Christ may be all, How much more can he set you aside? Christ may be all. And in this chapter we've read about the different things we go through, like chastening and scourging and so forth, because he wants Christ to be seen out of the vessel.
Let's go to verse 18.
You're not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire under blackness and darkness and Tempest.
Sound of trumpet and voice of words and so forth.
Verse 22.
But you are coming to Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels.
In Acts Chapter 7, Stephen says.
That you have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.
Let's turn to 2nd Corinthians 3.
It speaks here of the giving of the law in verse 7.
As the administration of death.
Written and engraving in stones, it says, But if the administration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away, how shall not the ministration, the spirit, be rather glorious, or exceed in glory? The one is introduced with glory.
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The other.
Exceeds in glory.
For subsists in glory. For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth administration of righteousness exceed in glory, even that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect.
By reason of the glory that excelleth, Oh dear Saints of God.
God has connected us by faith in the Lord Jesus with a glory that exceeds all that was ever on that mount.
But the God you and I know desires to have his heart known.
In this earth.
And he uses men.
Failing though they may be.
To let his heart be known.
There's one man, another is written, He's been on this earth that might commend the place, and he's not here. Jesus is in heaven.
The rest of us are failures.
Sinners redeemed by grace at the best.
But there's a God in heaven who wants his heart known.
If we were to turn to Isaiah 58, I would encourage you to peruse that chapter.
Because.
There Israel had.
Gone over their religion for centuries and they get down to where they're fasting and afflicting themselves and God's disgusted with it.
And you find in its context, what he wants to have displayed in their life is his character.
That's what was displayed in the early church, wasn't it?
Well, this administration.
That subsists in glory and exceeds in glory is the very thing you and I have been called to share.
And I was thinking, let's look at Proverbs chapter 29. There's a verse there.
Verse 18.
Says this the first part of the verse where there is no vision.
The people perish.
Where there's no vision that people perish.
What we've had before us in these meetings we've had.
The heart of man brought before us that we're responsible.
To control our thoughts.
What our hearts are going to take up with, we're responsible.
We should be careful to be taken up with that which is of God.
In.
Isaiah 33.
This is a day I believe coming in Israel verse 14.
The sinners in Zion are afraid. Fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites.
Now, when the Lord manifests himself to that nation.
They dare not just be playing around about knowing God. There has to be reality.
If you've been here these days where we've been privileged to be under the word of God.
And there's no reality in your soul.
This could apply to you, especially if the Lord comes immediately.
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Fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites, but then this question is asked, Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? That's not hell.
As God.
Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? The answer is he that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly, he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes.
That stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil. He shall dwell on high.
His place of defense shall be the munitions of rocks. Bread shall be given him, his waters shall be sure.
Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty. They shall behold the land that is very far off.
Talk about vision. Isn't that a wonderful vision?
To see the King in his beauty, to behold the land that's very far off. We've had Abraham looking for that city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Why, How wonderful that is.
But it says in the end of Hebrews 12 for our God is a consuming fire.
I don't know how many of you have been near a big fire.
It's pretty scary, isn't it?
To have those billowing flames and that black smoke and that terrible crackle and the very breeze that it creates, it creates, you know, forest fires create their own winds As soon as they get up to a plume of 20,000 feet, they can be very strong winds.
But our God is a consuming fire.
We read God is a spirit.
Isn't it amazing?
That the grace of God.
Can bring the poor lost Sinner.
To be at home in the presence.
His own presence.
Our God is a consuming fire to go through this chapter we've had.
And realize that we who were once lost in our sins are now redeemed by the blood of Christ.
And at any moment, we'll hear his shout.
And we'll rise.
Out of this world into the presence of our God, and be forever free from the presence of sin, and be absolutely at home there, Moses said about that place on the mount he was exceeding.
I exceedingly fear and quake, and you and I are brought by grace to not fear Quake.
The elders in Revelation.
If you look at them in the various places, they're never disturbed.
They are at peace.
They know what's going on.
Isn't that wonderful? Representing believers, I believe.
God wants to have his heart known in this world. I want to look at a few young men. Let's turn to Exodus 24.
Verse one.
And he said unto Moses, Come up unto the Lord, thou and Aaron madab in a Bayou, and 70 of the elders of Israel, and worship, be afar off, and Moses alone shall come near the Lord. But they shall not come nigh, neither shall the people go up with them.
Verse 9 then went up Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and 70 of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel.
There was under His feet, as it were, a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were, the body of heaven in his clearness.
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Marvellous upon the nobles of the children of Israel. He laid not his hand. Also they saw God and did eat and drink. This is an amazing sight.
In a lost world, a nation entrusted with testimony of God.
Verse 13 And Moses rose up, and his minister Joshua, and Moses went up into the mount.
Of God. And he said unto the elders, Tarry ye here for us, until we come again unto you.
Forsake of time, I won't read it all.
Verse 16 In the glory of the Lord abode upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. And the 7th day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud. And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel. And Moses went into the midst of the cloud and got him up into the mount. He was in the mount 40 days and 40 nights. Let's go to chapter 32.
Forsaketh time will just say Moses received those 10 commandments.
The Lord tells him to get down, that Israel had defiled themselves, and in verse 19 came to pass as soon as He came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing Moses. Anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and break them beneath them out.
Well.
What a time.
Chapter 33 and verse 3.
The Lord says I will not go up in the midst of the Lord of stiff necked people.
Verse 7. Moses took the Tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass that everyone which sought the Lord went out unto the Tabernacle, the congregation which was in the camp.
So the law.
That he received on those tables of stone got broken.
He doesn't appear to be commanded to break them, but in his anger he broke them, and his anger was correct.
Verse 11.
Moses has gone out to the Tabernacle. Cloudy pillar descends in verse 9.
And in verse 11, the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.
Isn't that marvellous?
The Lord speaking with man as his friend.
And he turned again under the camp, but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed, not out of the Tabernacle.
Moses, evidently.
Appreciated, Joshua.
But I was struck with this next verse. Moses said unto the Lord, See thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people, Thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me.
Moses is called the meekest man in all the earth, and I think this verse displays that.
He could say, well, I really like this young man that serves me, can't he lead the people?
No.
He says, Thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me.
We've had several of our older brethren here with us. Some have already.
Left for home.
I want to ask you, dear young man, if the testimony to the Lord's name were left up to you.
Would you?
Lead the people of God to His glory.
Could you, like Moses, be willless?
And listen.
Or things from God.
00:25:00
Can you bring a message to the people of God?
That is meat in due season.
It's a question for my own heart. It's a question for anyone that desires to serve him in some measure.
He is worthy, dear young brethren, young sisters, mothers.
I was thinking of this difference.
It gives us their name specifically then when up Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and 70 of the elders of Israel.
Nadab and Abihu went up on that mount. They didn't go up as far as Moses did.
But they saw His glory.
Will glory preserve you?
What did they do?
A little later they offer strange fire, and fire comes out from the Lord, and.
Their cinders.
Oh our God.
Is a consuming fire.
Is there any room for self will in the Church of God?
Do you get to approach God the way you will?
Or is it going to be according to his word?
Do we fear before him?
That there might be that which is acceptable to him.
No doubt we'll learn what the flesh is. No doubt like we've had in the very tenderness of Hebrews 12, chastening, maybe even scourging because He wants us to be partakers.
Of His Holiness, that he might have representatives here below that can tell out his heart.
To lost mankind, to weary Saints.
We read about the hands that hang down and the feeble knees. I was trying to think, Don't they take a rock and let Moses sit on it?
And Aaron's on one side holding up a hand and her on the other, and there's a battle going on down there.
As long as his hands are up, the battle goes on.
We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual wickedness in high places.
If your heart as a redeemed child of God.
Lays hold of the spiritual conflict that's going on in this world.
So that you stand for God.
And you hold forth for him.
It'll be more exciting life.
Than anything this world has to offer.
And it might just be between you and the Lord.
It's well worth it.
Laid amateur by hue were exposed, I should say. They had the testimony of the glory of God. You've come to these meetings. There's an end in your life.
Every life here.
Where is it going to go from here?
We sang of our blessed Lord Jesus, unmoved by Satan's Wiles or suffering, shame and loss.
Thy path, uncheered by earthly smiles, LED only to the cross. What are we expecting?
Some of our brethren are suffering.
Persecution and death.
Sometimes it's so simple.
But I wonder if we'd be confused by the simplicity of the situation.
You're meeting with the Word of God.
And the Chinese police raid the house and they find the Bible and they line you up and tell you to spit on it.
And if you spit on it, you can go out the door.
Some sister comes along and picks it up and wipes off the spit and kisses it.
00:30:02
And in their normal manner of execution, a little gunshot to the base of the brain and she's gone.
Don't take powerful doctrine.
Does it? What's it take?
A love for God's Word.
If persecution were to break out in this land, then it could well do that.
Will need vision.
We need it anyway.
Vision that beholds the Lord in glory.
My, this feast we've had these last couple days, don't you wish you could share it with every believer in a persecuted land?
You know their hearts would be thrilled to hear this.
Exodus 33, verse 16.
Wherein shall it be known here that I and Thy people have found grace in Thy sight? Is it not in that Thy thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and Thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth?
Think of that 40 years.
Pillar of cloud by day.
Pillar of fire by night and they got so used to it.
They hardly cared.
And Iraq followed them with water wherever they encamped.
Miraculous, we say.
Do we become so familiar?
With God's Word and God's truth and meetings.
That we lose that cutting edge in our soul.
Where Christ is all.
How are you going to be distinguished from other people?
The presence of the Lord.
Nate Abbott and by who saw glory?
But you wonder if they apprehended.
Presence.
Of God. Likely they didn't.
Or they would never dare approach.
The strange fire.
And if you and I get into the presence of God.
In our souls.
The last thing we're going to try is something of self will.
Verse 18 And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. I just broke the stones.
It doesn't say that, does it? But I added that to say the stones have been broken.
He's got to get it again.
But he wants to see his glory.
And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee, and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious.
And will show mercy on whom I will show mercy, he said, Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live.
The Lord said, Behold, there's a place by me, thou shalt stand upon a rock, and it shall come to pass, while my glory passes by, that I will put thee in a Cliff of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by. And I will take away mine hand, and thou shalt see my back parts, but my face shall not be seen.
The Lord said unto Moses, hewed in two tables of stone, like unto the 1St.
Here's a manifestation.
Of glory.
That apprehends the person, the presence, and it comes between breaking stones and hewing stones.
It comes between God said you're stiff necked, I can't go with you. And he says if you don't go with this.
How are we going to be different than anybody else?
You know what really distinguishes a Christian?
Though very poor I may be at it is something of Christ likeness.
In our ways.
Many years ago I was in Hong Kong.
The US Navy and a fellow said I'm going over with you, Smith. They recommended in that city not to go alone.
00:35:00
When he was a Catholic man.
A married man and he wanted to go with me. I said I'm just going to a Christian book room.
You probably find it a little boring now. I'm going with you. So we went.
We got there and Sister Helen Willis.
Was there in several Chinese refugee artists were painting scripture texts, watercolors, and I had a little moment when I could say this man doesn't know the Lord, he's Catholic.
Well, not that you can't know the Lord of your Catholic, but that's about all I had time to say. Well, I wandered around and looked at these other artists working and dear Sister Willis sweetly gave him the gospel while we were in that book room. I don't know how long we were there.
When we left, we walked out in the.
Courtyard And she opened the gate and we went out on the street. She bid us goodbye.
And we hadn't walked far. And this man said to me, you know, she's just like Jesus. You never want to leave her.
I thought how sweet.
That's for God, isn't it?
What a sweet savour.
There can arise for His glory.
So Moses sees this.
Awful sight as he comes down from the mountain, he breaks the stones and he says.
Oh.
You've got to go with us.
He says.
To me bring up this people now not let me know whom thou hast send with me.
Well, there's a land of promise.
Some of our older brethren have already passed on.
Will he send you?
To bring forth words that are words in season for his dear people.
How young should you start?
Can start with a verse.
All that at any age.
Maybe you visit an older sister or brother in a nursing home.
Before you go, you have prayer and you say, Lord Jesus, just give me a verse that will be encouraging to them.
You go there and maybe you give out the verse. You don't know if it did much good, but they give you a verse that really encourages you.
It may start quite small.
But make it your life habit.
This takes place.
Verse 4 Moses goes up into Mount Sinai again to receive this rewriting.
Verse nine He says, If now I found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee, go among us.
For it is a stiff necked people pardon our iniquity in our sin, and take us for thine inheritance.
Oh, how wonderful.
What an intercessor.
And he's prophesied, saying, A prophet like unto me, shall the Lord your God raise up from among your brother?
That's Christ, isn't it? The Christ of God.
God had to say, a man cannot see my face and live.
Well, let's look at 2 Corinthians 3 again.
We read about that fire on that mount, that glory.
Verse 7. Here we read that glory was to be done away.
It was a glory of condemnation, glory as it was.
Verse 11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth.
Is glorious.
All the magnitude of blessing that's now been poured out in the risen Son of God.
And so it says in verse 12, seeing then that we have such hope.
We use great plainness of speech.
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Such hope.
Now if we go back to verse 6.
The Apostle says, Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament?
Not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For this letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life for 17 Now the Lord is that spirit.
And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's liberty, but we all with unveiled face.
Beholding the glory of the Lord are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as.
By the Spirit of the Lord.
Oh, what a transforming thing.
There's a man in the glory who has utterly glorified God in every respect. God found all his delight in him when he walked on the earth. That man found all his delight in the Father's will.
That Will took him to the cross.
There he laid down his life.
There his blood was shed, and he was taken down and buried, and it was not fit. The grave should hold him.
Though he rises from among the dead, Mary Magdalene was mentioned in these meetings.
We don't see her as a real intelligent person.
About what was going on.
But all the heart.
That wants its object. If you and I have a heart, the once its object, and that object is the Lord Jesus in glory at the Father's right hand. That's vision.
The brother that faces the wall in China this afternoon.
And gets that gunshot to the base of his skull.
What a price, because Jesus means everything to it.
The rapture happens. We're going to see him in a moment.
Dear young people.
Do I have such a vision of what God is up to in this world that its glory?
Means less and less and less.
And the glory that we are called to means more and more.
He was quoted of John Baptist. I must decrease. He must increase. I must decrease.
In Hebrews 12, that chastening less scourging.
Is to help us decrease.
That he might be everything and all the glory that he's called us to, to look in that face of the risen man, the man who is so happy to be there, knowing that all power is given unto him in heaven and in earth.
On the end of Matthew he turns and says, this is the way it is. Go ye therefore.
Teaching, baptizing, preaching.
Why?
There are eternal destinies ahead, heaven and hell.
Those of us who know the Word of God and the message of the Gospel have this opportunity, don't we, to spread its truth.
How wonderful.
If it's power arrests a soul.
From eternal damnation.
Into the very presence of God.
If it doesn't, where will they go?
Right off into hell.
Eternal torment. Awesomeness.
I'd like to look.
Well, I mentioned Joshua, some young men.
Moses wanted to know who the Lord had sent who would help. Later he reveals to him, Joshua, you put my charge upon that man.
The Lord tells him, and he leads the people of God into the land of promise.
Let's look in First Samuel chapter one. You can only touch upon a few points.
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I hope we're familiar with this story because I don't have time to go into it in detail. We know about Hannah.
Here was a woman who was barren.
She was the wife of a Levite.
And she had no children.
She seemed to discern.
The State of Israel.
And she asks the Lord in verse 11.
She vows a vow. O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look upon the affliction of thine handmaid, and Remember Me, and not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life. There shall no razor come upon his head.
This request is blessed.
And this request is honored.
And a child is born, and a child is presented to the Lord.
In the context of these next few chapters, you can peruse on your own.
There are two other men, Hofmey and Finnehas. There's also a priest named Eli.
If we look.
At these leaders, Moses and Eli, and we look at glory and its effect on these people on Nadab and Abihu.
What glory do we get in Samuel's day? Things are so weak.
Like I said, is there a purpose in the heart to serve the Lord acceptably and come forth with words of deliverance, words in season for the people of God? How did it start with Samuel? It started with his mother. Isn't that marvelous?
You dear parents, what a privilege you have to take this inheritance from the Lord your children, and to seek to put into them that which will be to the Lord's honor and glory.
Well, she brings this little laddy.
With a rather good sized offering in verse 24.
To Shiloh, not because it was such a place of marvelous order.
Perhaps she sensed that the only deliverance is a man child that's holy for the Lord, and so she presents a little Nazarite in verse 26.
27 Pardon me.
For this child, I pray.
The Spanish says for this Nino, this infant, I prayed this little one.
Interesting.
And the Lord hath given me my petition, which I ask of Him. Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he liveth, he shall be lent of the Lord.
And he worshiped the Lord there.
Then we get a beautiful prayer.
Of henna.
Verse 11 after that volcano went to Raima to his house, and the child, the little child Nino says in Spanish, did minister unto the Lord before Eli the priest little boy here to day.
Little girl.
You know there can be purpose in your heart.
Even now, to serve the Lord acceptably.
That's wonderful, isn't it? Why did he take up the little children into his arms and bless them?
Well, really, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, and the children are surely part of it. Who has more right to bless and have blessing from His creatures than the Creator?
So here's this little child ministering unto the Lord before Eli the priest, verse 18.
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But Samuel ministered before the Lord, being elhoven.
Is really what it is in Spanish, girded with a linenie font.
Now he's grown a bit.
But he's got on those priestly garments. That's what's important, isn't it?
Well, he grew before the Lord, verse 21.
Remind you of the Lord Jesus doesn't it grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God and men would get it. In verse 26, child Samuel grew on and was in favor both with the Lord and also with men.
Well, in the third chapter.
We get this statement.
That Samuel did not yet know the Lord.
Verse 7.
But here he is. He's in the right place.
He has the right clothes that a priestly aspect.
His parents involvement, his mother vowed him and his father didn't disavow her vow. So it stood.
It says in verse three, air, the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord where the ark of God was and Samuel was laid down to sleep. You know, in the new translation it seems like things had gotten so.
Out of order that maybe he actually laid down right in there with the ark in the holy place, I don't know.
God allows some interesting things in days of terrible weakness.
You and I live in a day when we say, well, the Lord Jesus is in the midst, You little boy, little girl, young people, we have this privilege.
Of being where the Son of God is in the midst. You dear older brethren up in years, think what that's going to be to hear that shout.
And you won't be gathered to any different person there than you are here. Isn't that wonderful?
All his Saints will be gathered unto him.
Marvelous.
Samuel's there, the lamp hasn't gone out. Evidently they're in the purpose of practice and letting it go out. Awful.
But the Lord comes four times. He calls him.
You know the story, perhaps I trust you do, But in verse 21 it says that Lord appeared in Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. And dear young people, that's my encouragement to you this afternoon, all of us, dear Saints of God.
This word of God.
The face of Jesus Christ reveals unhindered glory to the redeemed child of God by gazing upon him. There's the transforming.
From glory to glory, Marvelous.
This says in Shiloh by the word of the Lord, started out with a mother's desire, ends up with a man that all Israel knows. He gives a word in season to his people and God establishes a link through this man.
Before he obliterates Elis house.
You see, it's necessary for God to use men to speak to men.
I mean, that's his desire. He can speak without men, but he generally uses men.
And his spirit and so my desire for you this afternoon. We could have discussed our time has gone off me and finnehas these men knew.
The place they knew the presence.
Had visited that it was just habit.
They would haul the ark into battle and lose their lives.
It even says the Lord was minded to slay them.
So we have some young men to look at, and I want you to look at the right ones and follow their faith. We've had Nate, AB and a Bayou Joshua Samuel Hoffman, Finesse.
Oh dear young people.
Be before the Lord and He'll reveal Himself to you in His Word.
He wants to do his work. We've had the verse before us.
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About.
Always abounding in the work of the Lord.
That's needful, isn't it?
And there's a rest coming.
God's going to rest. We got into Hebrews 3 just a bit on one of our meetings.
Hebrews 4 There's a rest coming. God's going to rest, and each one of us who know the Lord Jesus are going to rest.
In God's rest isn't that marvelous? And it says in one place he will.
Rest in his love.
Shall we sing verse #222?
Everlasting glory.
God and God.
Will dream to live with joy, I pray.
What and what is it?
I praise God.
Slave.
Should have thrilled.
Call.