St. Louis Conference: 2001
Table of Contents
Hebrews 11:1-6
Reading
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Pain and the apex.
Oh, Jesus, friend of.
Our heart hears no hearts.
For your name.
Why the? Why? Why?
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For every.
Regular.
Nature.
For every sword is crap.
Here in Christine falls how many times?
Your help and why everyone else?
Normal care of all the prayers.
I cry. Oh Lord.
Jesus.
Is Chapter 11 which.
Has quite a bit about Abraham as well. Brethren seems like it's.
A portion that would be suitable for the time we live in.
We need to be strengthened in the principle of faith, and that's what this chapter deals with.
And that be suitable?
Hebrews Chapter 11 Did you read the whole? Is the whole chapter body thought now?
Perhaps down through verse 19 for the present.
Chapter 11 verse one. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, for by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous.
God testifying of his gifts, and by it he being dead yet speaketh by faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death, and was not found, because God had translated him. For before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him, For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
By faith, Noah being warned of God if things not seen as yet moved with fear.
Prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should, after received for an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in the tabernacles, with Isaac and Jacob the heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed.
And was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful, who had promised, therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky and multitude, and as the sandwiches by the seashore innumerable. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
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For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned, But now they desire a better country, that is an heavenly. Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God. For hath prepared for them a city by faith. Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac, and he that had received the promises, offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called.
Accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure.
These two verses of chapter 10 perhaps help to get the.
Picture that.
We have in Chapter 11, says the just verse 38.
Shall live by faith. That's the principle upon which.
The just live and it's the principle that characterizes God's people. And as we have in verse six of our chapter, without faith, without that principle of faith it is impossible to please God. And then it says in verse 39, we are not of them who draw back into perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul. Because in the book of.
Hebrews. It contemplates the possibility of those who were professors amongst God's.
People, perhaps not real, and they would.
Be perhaps?
Tempted to turn back again to that which they had come out of Judaism. That is what is called apostasy. And brethren, we are living in the days of apostasy of giving up, and we need to be encouraged to go forward, to go on in the pathway of faith.
Faith does not go forward based on what it sees.
And we are living in a materialistic world where people gear themselves and guide themselves by what they see in the world around. That is not the principle of faith, That is the principle of walking by sight. But what pleases God is faith. And faith is always based on the word of God, on some communication of God from God.
And so that's what we see in this chapter that there were those.
That cloud of witnesses of faith in the Old Testament that did not have the revelation of God that we have in our hands, and yet they acted in the most marvelous way on the principle of faith, of trust in God and in His word. So these things are here to encourage us to walk that pathway while we're down here in this world.
You say the revelation that we do the word of God in our hands and a man in the glory, which the next chapter brings before us as the object for our faith. Yet they did have light to act upon. And I say that because it's true. Faith takes those steps, not knowing what's ahead. But faith always has an object. And I think we'll notice as we go down these individuals that are listed here in this chapter for our encouragement that they did have an eye to the future.
They did have an object on the and light on the horizon. I say that, brethren, because I've heard people use the expression blind faith.
I don't believe there's such a thing as blind faith in the sense in which we're talking about it in the word of God.
It's true. We're going to notice Abraham went out not knowing whether he went. And step by step, day by day, he walked by faith. But he did have an eye to the future. He looked for a city which hath foundation, whose builder and maker is God. But brethren, if we only have our eye on the present, we're not going to live by faith. If we're just looking at things materially, as Bob has brought before us, we're not going to seek to walk for God's glory with the end in view.
Sometimes has been said and I think it's a good illustration that a young person perhaps goes off to school.
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And maybe their living conditions aren't just what they're used to or what they would like. Maybe they give up or think they sacrifice a number of things. They have a very limited budget. They don't go out with their friends when they'd like because they stay in to study. Why does a young person do that for three or four years?
Well, they have an eye to the future, they have a goal in mind and if you talk to that young person, he or she would say.
Well, when I get my degree, things are going to be better. My living conditions are going to be better. I can do some of the things I want. I'm going to get a job and and I'll have a few more things and so on. But if that young person doesn't have the future before them, it says in Proverbs, and I think it applies to every aspect of our lives, naturally and spiritually, where there is no vision, the people perish. If we only live for the moment, brethren, we're not going to be encouraged to press on in the path of faith.
And so as we go down this list, I think it's nice to see that it is faith that gave substance to the lives of these individuals. And that's really what the opening statement of this chapter is referring to. Sometimes I've heard it referred to as a definition for faith, but I think the best definition of faith is in John's Gospel, where it says he that received his testimony that receiveth his testimony, hath set to his seal that God is true.
Unquestioningly taking God at His word and resting upon it, trusting him. But what I believe is brought before us here is that these men and women that are listed in this chapter, there was substance to their lives. Their lives had purpose and meaning, and what gave their lives purpose and meaning was the fact that they lived by faith.
18 of 2nd Corinthians 4.
While we look not at things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen.
Are eternal God has marvelously worked.
For every child of God to give him the gift of faith.
For by grace are you saved through faith, not of yourself. It's the gift of God.
Not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast my efforts.
Should be motivated by.
My object is Jim was just saying the object that God has set before us. Abraham had the land, what whatever it was that God gave to him.
Was at the other end, not on the Emerald Crescent.
Which was a fertile land, but that often barren land near the Mediterranean Sea. It was but now extremely fruitful, and one and soon it will all be fruitful and will not go into the prophetic word. But God has given us to believe God.
And as Dawn brought out.
Abraham was a friend of God, and I'll tell you what, so am I and I am conscious of it that God is my friend and.
I am his friend.
He He leads and directs according to the purposes of his own will, which who has all power, all wisdom He has. He is righteous, and He's holy. Who else would you have?
To direct you and lead you other than such a person as this He who created heaven and earth with objects in view.
For all eternity.
Now that's what that's the one I'm looking forward to being with and like.
Started talking. It's so excellent. By grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourself. It is the gift of God. That's where faith comes from. It's a gift. We can't even claim credit for that, the whole thing. Galatians takes up a relationship on that basis and says ye are all the children of God. By faith in Jesus Christ bring us into that relationship. That's the importance. He that cometh to God must believe that he is.
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We've got to start out believing that he is. He's the eternal God. There's no past.
And future with God He is the eternal present God he is.
Not he was or shall be. He is, and he's a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Are you seeking him? We should be.
But it comes. I think it is good that verse in Romans 10, it says faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So how is it that God communicates faith? It is through His word. Therefore it is so important to use the word in gospel preaching. It's not so much the explanation of the word that.
God uses. It's the hearing of the word that God uses to communicate.
8 And thus life to lost guilty souls. So faith is an interesting principle that that verse you quoted in 2nd Corinthians 4 says, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. How do you look at something that is not seen? It's by faith, and that's what we have in our verse one of our chapter here.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen in other words.
We open our Bibles and we read about Jesus.
The glorious Son of God, after he died and rose again that he ascended up on high.
And it is sitting at the pinnacle of all glory and power.
And Might and Dominion. Do you see him there, brother and sister?
Yes, we can see Him there. It says we see Jesus crowned with glory and honor. How do you see him? Not with these physical eyes, but with the eye of faith. It becomes so real to the soul when we read it in the scriptures that it is we are actually seeing him there.
Faith apprehends it that way. Faith is the evidence of things not seen, so you cannot see him with your physical eyes. But because of what scripture says, we see Jesus crowned with glory and honor. That's the principle of faith.
In that connection to go to first Peter chapter one for a couple of verses.
Maybe just to get the setting of what I'm going to read here, we know that Peter is writing to the Jewish believers, and they were used to that which they could see. Everything under the Jewish economy, including their worship, had to do with that which was tangible, and they had to do with their earthly inheritance, the land again, that which they could see and their senses could, they could feel, they could smell they and they could hear and so on. But here they were scattered now.
They've come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. They put their faith and trust in him.
And now they had lost, shall I say, everything in a temporal sense, and it must have been very difficult. And they must have wondered really what was happening here, had they missed the mark in some way. And so Peter writes to them, and notice what he says in Well, I'll read the last two verse 2 words of verse 7. Jesus Christ, whom having not seen ye love, in whom, though now ye see him not yet believing, ye rejoice with joy, unspeakable and full of glory.
Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
And so he brings before them that there's something now that is theirs that can't be taken away from them.
But it's not seen, as you say, with the natural eye. The Lord Jesus is seen with the eye of faith. Henceforth know we know man after the flesh, though no, we knew him after the flesh. Henceforth know we him no more. We don't know Christ here on earth, like his disciples did when he walked amongst men. But is he any less real to us than he was when he was in the midst of the disciples? Brethren, I trust not. I trust. He's very real to the eye of faith. And so this is where Peter directs the.
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These ones that were scattered and had lost the temporal mercies, we might say, the things that they did see, he says. You've got something far better. And if you if you have that before you, then you're going to rejoice with joy, unspeakable and full of glory. How could they rejoice? They were going through what Peter refers to in this chapter as fiery trials. I say they lost everything you say. I've lost everything you say. I'm going through a fiery trial in my life.
But brother, sister, you can look up, be occupied with Christ and the things that are ours eternally in Him.
You've never seen your blessings, your eternal blessings, but they're very real and precious to the eye of faith and to our hearts. And you can, it will give, as I said earlier, substance to your life. You can rejoice with joy, unspeakable and full of glory. I want to point out one more thing in these scriptures in Peter that we read, and that is that again, he brings the end of the thing before them. Sometimes in Scripture, salvation is looked at as the end of the thing, the fruition of it all.
We have the salvation of our souls here. We're saved from wrath through Him. But there's an end that's coming, an end in view for us. It's the salvation of our bodies now as our salvation nearer than when we believed. And so he says in verse 9, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. In other words, he says, you can go on with Christ as your object. You can go on rejoicing and believing amidst fiery trials as long as you have the end in view.
And, brethren, I can't stress this enough. As we take up the subject of faith, we must have the end of the in view. Paul gave up things. He gave up present advantage. Why did he do it? He was pressing toward the mark, and he had the prize before his soul. And the prize in the Christian life is always Christ.
Ills. Faith never fakes.
Could we turn to Forgive me to have a cook?
To have a cook saw.
Michael Naam, Habakkuk.
The last verses of Habakkuk.
Could anything look be more hopeless?
He says, 71St Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labor of the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat. The flock should be cut off from the field, and there should be no herd in the stalls.
Yet.
Oh, this is wonderful. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation.
The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like Heinz feet, and he will make me to walk upon my high places now, he says to the chief singer On my stringed instrument. There, he says, Put that to music.
An Old Testament St.
Wonderful.
That is something that is so important for us to get ahold of us, the younger ones. For us who are older, we need to be reminded of it too, rather than what we have in Christianity is not seen with the natural eye.
In fact, as the apostle is writing here, to these Hebrew believers like has been mentioned, they had an outward form of religion. They had a beautiful temple covered with gold and silver and precious stones and and.
Fine wood. It was all something to be really appreciated by the natural eye they had.
The priesthood. They had beautiful robes, they had music that was beautiful with the instruments, instrumental music that was all something that could be appreciated by the natural man. And they had incense burning in their beautiful smells.
All those things were connected with Judaism, what we have in Christianity.
There's nothing of that. Absolutely nothing. What is the attraction in Christianity?
But the person of God's beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, That is the central.
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Attraction. Can you see him with your natural eye? No, you cannot. And it's interesting to me sometimes to watch people come in, sometimes to the meeting room where we gather and remember, brethren, it's not the building that makes the place. It's not the people that are there necessarily that make the place. It's the person of God's beloved Son that makes the place. And when they come in so often, it's interesting to watch them. They look around and they say, where is the altar or where is the preacher?
Or who is in charge here? They're looking around for something visible.
You're going to get disappointed if you look around for something visible. What is characteristic in Christianity is that which is not seen. And so we have to go by the word of God. We have to act according to its principles. That is what is characteristic in Christianity.
Circumstances or instances in our lives to bring the truth of these things home to our souls. And after my father passed away about a year and a half ago, his children had the monumental task of cleaning out a large four bedroom home with a full basement and two sheds on the on 2 acres of ground. And my father was a collector of everything that was useful and not useful.
And there was 51 years of accumulation in that home. And as we got rid of it and most of it, I'm afraid, went in a couple of dumpsters or out to the garbage and some of it we were able to sell. But, you know, I thought of it in connection with my mother because as she watched this, it was a lifetime of accumulation gone in just a few weeks. And I thought of that verse in Timothy that says we came into this world with nothing and it is sure we can take nothing out.
And I thought at the time, wouldn't we be a sad people if all we had were the things of this earth to cling to now, brethren? Not that we despise the mercies that God has given us, and God has given us many mercies in a land like this. We're enjoying some of them here in this building this afternoon, and we don't want to despise what God has given us in a temporal way. But, brethren, those things are not the bottom line. And if the Lord leaves us here, I'm going to have the privilege, Lord willing, of being at a conference in a month or so where we're not going to have.
All the things that we're enjoying today, and it's a good experience, because it makes you realize that again, we're appreciative of what our brethren have provided for us here, and the Lord has provided for us here in Saint Louis this weekend. But, brethren, when you sit down with those who have nothing of this world's goods and open the word of God, it's the same truth in the same bundle of love and fellowship, with the same hope and the same goal and the same person before our souls. And you say yes.
Who are those things that we have? In a temporal way, They are temporal and transient. And I've realized more in the last year or so just how temporal and transient those things are. This world clings to them. But, brethren, we've got things that are eternal. We've got things in Christ that we can enjoy now by the Spirit of God, from the pages of the Word. And those are the things that we're going to enjoy for eternity. Brethren, let's by faith hold up, lay hold of some of those things.
This weekend, as we have the word of God before us, because I say this is what's going to rejoice our hearts.
One of the things that we could consider that would be good for us to remember, I think Brother Bob, earlier you alluded to this, The day in which we live is a day which is very visually oriented and everything around us that the world sets in front of us is really set forth in a way to attract our eyes. Once our eyes are attracted and it's got our attention, our hearts get wound up with what we're looking at.
It's the very antithesis, it's the very opposite of faith. But that's what the world works on. And it it has struck me as I've been sitting here that the first two boys born in this world are an example, the first man born in this world came.
Brought an offering to God.
And what he brought to God was an offering that was from the fruit of the ground. He worked very hard, and those who were farmers here no doubt can far better imagine than I can what it must have been in that pristine day some 6000 years ago to work the ground and to bring forth an incredible bounty. It must have looked very beautiful. It must have looked very satisfying, beautiful fruit.
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Perhaps flowers. I don't know what Cain brought, but he brought it, says the fruit of the ground. He was a tiller of the ground he was seeing with his eyes, and the results must have been astounding. What did Abel, his brother, bring? Brought something that had nothing to attract the eye to a dead animal. I say that very carefully, because we know what that's a picture of. But there was nothing there for the eye, the natural eye to look at, to get attracted to. Well, today, beloved young people and all of us, the world in which you and I live is a world that sets all sorts of things.
Before your eyes to attract your eyes, your natural eye, and it is so prevalent. We live in such a visually oriented world. Everything is fast and moving and bright and colorful and incredible images that that just even a few years ago would be impossible to be seen. But that kind of spirit has its hardening effect on our hearts and if we're not careful as Christians.
We can become, without realizing it ourselves, naturally visually oriented, so that without even realizing it, we begin to lose the joy and the beauty of walking by faith, of acting, engaging our lives, and ordering our lives based on what we don't see.
But what we believe and are convinced of through the precious word of God, but we have to remember.
That it's still Cain's world. It's a world that presents things that look astounding and we get caught up with them so easily. But that's not faith and beloved young people all that you're hearing. Remember this to the natural eye. To what? The world?
Presents to attract your attention. These things are not going to seem interesting or attractive. They have to be.
Attracted by the spirit of God working in the heart. That man that represents, you might say Abel, it brought something by faith that was dead, because by faith he looked beyond, and really he gave up everything this world could offer. When he brought that slain animal, Cain was saying, I can continue tilling, and I can continue bringing more and more beautiful things. I can continue working. Abel said it's all over. It's all over for me. I've got to bring something else.
And it is, brethren. If we're going to move ahead, if we're going to go on in real joy, we have to recognize that what we see visually with our eyes is not what God is looking for and not what he'll give us, but it's what we don't see with our natural eyes. And faith enters into it, and faith lays hold of it, and that's what's precious.
Look at it from God's perspective and that is to see how he values our faith. The trial of your faith, which is much more precious than gold that perishes. God values the faith of a Saint of God. And in the second verse of our chapter it tells us that for the elders of through it for by it the elders obtained a good report. And it's interesting that this statement is repeated at the end of the chapter where they didn't receive the promises.
But they obtained a good report through faith. And if you just go back to the 10th chapter for a moment, it says in verse 35, cast not away. Therefore your confidence for of such for such which have great recompense of reward, that is God values every time you and I rest in Him, put our full confidence in him, take a step in our Christian pathway by faith. He values it so much, brethren, that I believe he jots it down in his book of remembrance.
And he'll give us a reward at the judgment seat of Christ. They obtained a good report through faith.
So what stories told, and I rather enjoyed it, of a sister who was lying in a hospital bed in a convalescent hospital and a brother went to see her and she said to that brother she said, you know, there's nothing here I can do lying on this hospital bed to obtain reward, nothing I can do for for Christ. And he quoted her The verse we read in the 10th chapter cast not away your confidence, which have great recompense of reward.
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And a sister lying in a hospital bed maybe can't raise her arms or her head.
But just resting in his in the confidence of himself, having that faith that he knows best, that he's working all things, that is to his heart. Brethren is valuable. He appreciates that faith. So we've been Speaking of it from our standpoint. But I think it's good to get his perspective, Brethren. Isn't he worthy of our confidence? We've trusted him for salvation. I don't suppose there's a person here who knows the Lord as their Savior.
Who wouldn't say, Oh, I'm trusting him by faith for my salvation, but brethren, if he's worthy of our confidence for salvation?
Isn't he worthy of our confidence for every circumstance of life? Can't we trust him no matter what comes? And I know that's easy to sit here and say this afternoon we're in good circumstances, Many of us are enjoying good health and it's easy to say these things. But, brethren, when we read of these individuals, and as we go down this chapter, we're going to find that they weren't always in the best of circumstances. There were difficult things. There was opposition.
And yet they triumphed for God's glory by faith, against all kinds of odds and difficulties.
And through all kinds of circumstances and trials and the work of the enemy.
Because, brethren, we can do it in his strength.
Lest begins with the creation.
How God framed the world, I know. I used to wonder when I was young, why some of the older brothers spoke against evolution so much.
But when my soul got a hold of the purpose of God in creating everything, it gives reason of being. There's a reason of being here and everything of creation that God made. If you lose that, where do you have in your soul to go to your?
If we are just a random chance of being here in this world, what does anything matter anymore? It's just chance anyway, if that were true. But God has given us a purpose and he's told us why He created these things. And so that makes it important for us to to read His word, our Creator God, and to see that it says in Isaiah He created it not in vain, that is, empty or without purpose.
There's a reason for it, and he's still in control. People spend a lot of time trying to discover how the create the worlds were created and they haven't found out, and I don't believe they will because it was made from things that do not appear.
And it's only faith that can reach out and lay hold of something.
That does not appear, and So what an advantage we have as Christians to.
To be able to go beyond when anything tangible existed.
That God had a purpose of blessing and to know Him. And so how wonderful for us to be able to exercise this faith in what he has told us and to live our lives in conformity to that. That really gives us substance, that really gives reality to our our our living. And people that look at us are going to say, wow, that.
Person really has conviction of what he does and they don't may not understand why the Christian does what he does. They probably won't understand because they don't see these things that we see by faith. And it all started in the very beginning. We're not an afterthought. God had all this ordered out from step one on.
That everything that we gain by faith, we're going to take with us.
We're going to take with us. We're going to leave behind everything tangible down here. We're going to leave it all behind.
But everything that we've learned of Christ.
And his word to His word, We're going to take it with us. Wonderful. Everything of faith abides. Everything of Christ abides. Everything of the first man fails.
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Everything of Christ abides forever and every and this. All that we have and all we are is what we have gained through faith. Gained through faith a given of God a wonderful and to think I heard a brother say one time he's young fellow said to me one time I wish that I lived in the days when the Lord Jesus was here on earth. I'd like to follow them around and see it well.
We have by grace, through faith we have the word of God.
We're going to take that with us. But everything that we've learned of Christ, we've learned through. We learn through faith. And we're going to take it with us and we're going to enjoy it, and we're going to enjoy it with him forever.
We've got the Holy Spirit, we've got the earnest of the inheritance that's greater than all the inheritance. We've got that and he goes when we go.
I like the way it puts in this verse three through faith. We understand it's often been said that faith is not reason.
Not unreasonable. It is by all means reasonable to believe God. If God is who He reveals Himself to be all powerful, all knowing, all always present in every place. What difficulty is there in our minds to believing that He spoke the whole universe into existence?
There is no difficulty. The difficulty is when we try to define God.
And so it's so important that we realize that this the story of creation, I think it's so important, like Doug was mentioning, the fact that there is purpose in creation, there is purpose for the existence of every human being born into this world and create evolution. The teaching of evolution takes purpose away from young people and it's sad to to me to see.
Intelligent, bright young people.
But who have been taught these lies of Satan, that they have absolutely no purpose for their existence. There's a girl down in California I heard about, she got a very high score on the SAT college entrance exam and I don't think anybody had gotten that high ever before. Somebody interviewed her and asked her, what is your purpose in life?
She says. I have no idea what my existence here is of all about.
And that's sad. But when we know that God created us. He created us for a purpose. Somebody made these chairs in this room. Why did they make these chairs? It was for a purpose to have people sit down on them. When God made you, when He made me, He made us with a very specific purpose in mind. If you are here this afternoon, remember God has purpose in mind for you. But God framed it according to His word, and I like to refer back to.
Psalm 33 in connection with this.
The world were framed by the word of God in Psalm 33 and verse 6.
By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made.
And all the host of them.
By the breath of his mouth.
Verse 9.
For he spake, and it was done, he commanded, and it stood fast. And so isn't it wonderful, brethren, that the universe that God made is framed. It's made in a specific order. God is a God of order.
Perhaps not. Like perhaps like it has been said that we don't understand very much the composition of the universe, how it functions, astronomers try to theorize about how it works, and they're just theories, sometimes very interesting theories. But brethren, we know a God who said it all in order.
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By the word of his power. Think of the power that was unleashed when he spake and it was done. The whole universe was created by the word of his power. What a wonderful thing to know this God. By faith we can know him.
We can actually know more than the most intelligent scientists.
Who depend merely on outward evidences for.
Their thinking?
Bring something out of nothing. And I suppose to create in its strictest sense is to do that, to bring something out of nothing. You mentioned these chairs that were sitting on, but this chair in front of me was was made and the person who made it had to have some material to begin with. It's made of some metal, some hardware, some upholstery, whatever is inside, Some wood, I suppose, some foam. But those materials had to be gathered together.
And then the person who made this chair had the skill and the knowledge and the equipment to assemble them. But think, as Bob has been saying, here's one who spoke and it was commanded. He brought the worlds into existence out of nothing. And brethren, God doesn't answer all our curious questions as to creation, because if he answered all our curious questions, we wouldn't need faith. By faith we accept the fact that he the worlds were made were framed by the word of God.
And so he doesn't answer all our curious questions, but he does, in his word, record just enough so that by faith we can grasp hold of this grand truth that he is not only the Creator of the universe, but He's the Sustainer of it. Everything today is being held in its proper order by the Word of the Lord. He's upholding all things by the word of His power. He didn't just create by the word of His power.
Upholds and sustains it in the same way. And that's really the thrust of that verse in Colossians that says by him all things not just consist but subsist. Everything works under his direction and according to his order, because he is maintaining it and sustaining it. But I would like to say something in connection with what has been mentioned about evolution, and that is that if man can convince himself.
That these the creation came about by some process of evolution or whatever.
Really, what he's doing is discrediting his his responsibility to his maker.
Brethren, if we accept the Genesis account of creation, we must also accept the fact that we are responsible creatures. We are responsible to the Creator. And I believe that that's why when Adam was placed in the garden in creation, there was that tree in the midst of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that he was not to eat of, and the fact that that tree was placed there and he was not to eat of it, was to be the recognition that Adam was responsible to his Creator.
Adam failed in his responsibility to his Maker, and man has been trying ever since through these kinds of things, evolution and whatever kind of theories they propagate to discredit his responsibility to his Maker. If he can tell himself he dies as a dog, he has no responsibility to his Maker, and so accepting by faith that Genesis account of revelation, Genesis account of creation, necessitates the accepting of the truth.
That we are responsible creatures to God, and we are.
The Lord Not only did he create the universe, but he sustains it by the word of his powers. He sustains it. What about when he was there on the cross?
Was he not sustaining the universe then? All through, all through those hours on the cross? Wonderful, wonderful old mystery divine.
The first verse is a.
Relates to the end of the 34th verse of the previous chapter.
Ye have in heaven a better and enduring substance, but it's a substance that can't be seen except by faith, And they have started out well. They had took joyfully in verse 34 the spoiling of your goods. Those were things that they could see.
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But the danger was, because of the opposition and the difficulties of the way they were going to give up what faith had begun. By faith they had begun to do. And the Lord had given them the promise that verse 37 yet a little while and he that shall come, will come, and will not tarry, but our life is cast.
In this time, expressed as a little while in how many of us in our life as believers have witnessed a good beginning in the life of a soul? They threw over those things they had so cherished and claimed to, and they started on this path of faith. But things that we're seeing turn them side might not have been material. Things might have been you, or it might have been me that they got their eye on, and what they saw turned them aside.
Well, what is going to preserve the believer in until this time, when he that shall come, will come and will not tarry? What is going to preserve us? It's the activity of faith. The expression we understand is the word we apprehend. That simply means that it becomes a reality to us. It becomes something that we can lay hold on.
And so as we think of this substance that's in heaven, or just this substance that it becomes a living reality to us.
And we're willing to endure the opposition. We're willing to overcome the faults of others or the pressures of the world, the allurements that we sung, or worldly pomp and glory. Your charms are spread in vain. But some of us have to say, you know, I don't know that they're entirely spread in vain. For myself, I walk down to the lunch room for coffee here, and I see a football game, and I'm attracted to that. What is it? It's worldly pomp and glory.
And it could well turn my heart aside and and make shipwreck of my life of faith well these in our chapter.
They still haven't received everything. They're still waiting with us, that without us they're not going to be yet made perfect. And so we have need of patience, as this book brings out. It begins with telling us we do have a rest. They remain at the rest for the people of God. But now we must labor, and we do that labor by faith. And so as you begin your life together, I was thinking of it in connection with marriage.
You've never seen A at least I've never seen a wedding where the bridegroom comes down the aisle looking glum and the bridegroom standing up there looking weary of this.
Event No. There is all hope and expectation. Yet you see those same marriages? They don't.
Go on to the end. Why? Because the principle of faith is lacking somewhere in their life. That ability to lay hold of what has substance to it, and we're turned aside in our pathway of faith. And so these that we are reading about in our chapter, they got to the close of their life and God gave them a good report card. And that's what we want in our lives.
We want at the end of our life to have a good report card, and so the apostle probably Paul. We assume and are fairly confident that it was he. He selects these people who overcame on the principle of faith, and they got a good report card.
We've had about Abraham and Moses, but you have Enoch mentioned there. In verse five. Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was not found because God had translated him. For before his translation he had this testimony that he pleased God. The Lord had brought before us in the end of chapter 10 that we're going to be translated to.
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But what's on the burden of the spirit of God is that before we're translated, he wants us to have this testimony that we have pleased God. And so it's occupied with this time that the Spirit of God calls. A little while, and it becomes quite a long journey where faith is not active.
Nice to consider a.
The much discussion has been made. Well, how did Abel know what to bring to God? And the suggestions have been made that he, God had clothed Adam and Eve with the coats of skin of the animal that had died. And that's very lovely. I believe it's true. But regardless of what else it was able believed God's testimony, He believed that the God that had made something out of nothing.
In the creation of the world, And so when?
Cain slew him. He went to a place where substance is not in existence. That is, he's not alive. People would say what a waste. A young man died not having a family, and what good is he? But God uses him as a perpetual witness to something lived that was worthwhile.
And he gives testimony as the first one who died and went to the place of unknown at that time. He's a continual witness now to that there is something beyond just material, the material. And so he is, God uses him. It's it's, it seems to me that these are kind of like stepping stones here for faith as we as we go on our Christian way.
And he becomes a witness.
In his death.
He still speaks. We don't think of dead people speaking, but what he does.
He believed what he believed in. He died for.
And that's about as strong a testimony as you can get.
He believed in something so much that he died for what he believed in. That's faith.
The next man didn't see death and so it's the opposite.
We're introduced to the creator God in verse 3. But that's condemnation. If we can't go on to a Redeemer God, and we have that with Abel. He he discovered the one who created the world, and his father had plunged into death that that God was a Redeemer God too. And so we need that deep sense in our souls, in our relationships with each other, that.
We now belong to a redeemed creation, a redeemed people.
And a new creation that's going to come, but that's God in his two characters, Jim said. That if we acknowledge God.
Then we have to acknowledge we're responsible. But if we acknowledge that we're responsible, we have to acknowledge that it's all over for us based upon our responsibility unless there is this Redeemer God.
I think I've been asked Henry or the putting the two things together just go to the 4th chapter of Revelation because.
I think you see this in the 4th and 5th of Revelation and see what the end result of this is when the scene of glory bursts forth. And yet there is a striking contrast here. I might just say in a general way, in the 4th of Revelation you have his right and title as to creation, he's the creator, as we've been saying. And in the 5th chapter we have his right and title as to redemption and notice the difference here. Or something that's striking in the end of chapter 4.
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The 10th verse. They cast their crowns before him, and they say, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive. Now notice this three things, glory and honor and power. Now three things giving testimony, divine testimony to the fact that He's creator, because it says for thy and for thy pleasure. For thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
But shall I say as they praise him as on the grounds of creation, as far as his right and title as creation, There shall I say 3 notes of praise here. Three things that are mentioned, glory, honor and power. But now go to the fifth chapter, where you have something even greater, shall I say, And that's redemption. And now the redeemed are praising on that basis. And of course it's the blood of Christ which takes us back to Abel's sacrifice. That's why it wasn't acceptable sacrifice.
More acceptable than Cain's because there was the shedding of blood. And notice what it says in verse 12 as the redeemed praise now.
Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive. Now let's count these things.
Power that's one, and riches that's two, and wisdom that's three And strength that's four And honor that's five. And glory that's six and blessing that's seven. Now, brethren isn't that higher than we had in the 4th chapter. Doesn't that go beyond what we have? The three things that we had in the third chapter when it was a question of creation, When it comes to redemption, it shall I say, not 3 notes of praise simply, but there are 7 notes of praise.
And so I think it goes along with what our brother Henry has been bringing before us.
Thought before we move on, Brother Doug said that of Abel.
That he died.
As it were, he died for something he believed in. And that struck me because in a practical application, that's what faith beloved young people, is going to cause you and me to do in some measure in this world. And I don't mean physical death. Although while we're sitting here in this very beautiful and comfortable place, our brothers and sisters in Christ in some parts of the world right now are being put to death for their faith in Christ, and in some places, in incredible numbers, are being slaughtered.
So there is there is still today that reality of physical martyrdom.
In this world, but in the world that you and I live at least in this day that we are aware of.
If we really believe the word of God by faith, there's going to be in a measure.
We're going to taste death too. And what I mean by that is you may, because of faith, give up a position that you could really get ahead in this world. You may not take the most advantageous route in your life all the time, because faith is telling you something else. So that there is he that loveth his life shall lose it, but he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. There is, in a way, faith the the not, perhaps.
Taking the advantage that you could take of the world's ways and what it holds out and what it offers.
And so you might say, well, perhaps you've heard this before in your own life. You've decided to follow the Lord, and perhaps not taken.
A path that would be very advantageous and someone would say you know you're really wasting your life doing that.
To do that, to give up that ability, I think of a sister, and I'll be very.
Unspecific, but I remember this sister, when she was young, was told by one of her instructors in school that her desire to be married someday and to raise a family, to stay at home and raise a family, was a terrible waste of her life, given her options and her abilities and what she could do with her life in this world. Well, may I say, she died for what she believed in, in a measure.
And so we're going to do that, aren't we? In some measure, as we seek to walk by faith, if it really is real to us, we're going to find out what it is in some measure to die for what we believe in.
Not just in passing with Abel and Cain, because Abel, as we were have been saying, died for what he believed in, but this remarkable statement is made of Cain. He went out from the presence of the Lord, and he built a city.
He raised up that which was tangible. He built a city, which speaks often in Scripture of man and his pride.
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But he lost in his soul a sense of the Lord's presence. Brethren, if we just want to cling to things down here, if our whole goal and object has to do with the tangible things of this life, we're going to lose in our souls too, a sense of the Lord's presence, And perhaps not in the same sense that Cain did, because the Lord never leaves his own. But I believe it's a solemn thing to consider.
Well evidently heard from their parents the story of how they were placed in the garden of Eden, and how they fell and what took place and how God had cursed the earth. And faith always acts in view of the revelation from God that is given and.
Abel acted according to what he had been told that God had said. He acted and covered.
Himself with the blood of the Lamb and Cain acted. Ignoring what God had said, He brought the fruit of a cursed earth. He in effect said, I don't believe that that's cursed. I think it's plenty good enough and that's what I'm going to bring. And that's the difference between a person of faith and a person that acts by sight. You're going to act by sight. You cannot please God.
So these are really important principles, I think in connection with.
Are standing before God. We must go by what God says, not by what it appears to us.
And in our day, it's scary to me when I look around and see how people.
Make their judgments based on how they see it.
And they say, well, the way I see it is just as good as the way you see it.
I say if it's a matter of just you and me, well, you might be right in what you say, but it's not a matter of what you and me think or say. It's a matter of what God has said. And you cannot ignore what God has said and prosper in your soul. It's impossible.
There, Bob. But I wonder if we could consider that again. You consider what what Cain brought, and you say it came from a cursed earth. And that's surely true. And God could never accept it, because not only did it come from a cursed earth, but it was the fruit of his efforts to to bring something acceptable to God. But natural sight, I want to say this again, beloved young people, natural sight would have looked at that. I want you to imagine in your mind those two offerings.
And I don't want to. I don't want to get, you know, fanciful here, but I want you to think about that. Here's a dead, bloody carcass.
And here's a basket of the most gorgeous, beautiful fruit.
What's going to seem to the natural eye, more acceptable? And that's why real Christianity, true Christianity, beloved young people, is so despised and so hated.
Man's version of Christianity is very acceptable today. But the Christ of Christianity and true Christianity looks to man's natural eye the way I say very reverently and very carefully. That dead bloody animal looked that Abel brought to God. What does he think he's doing bringing something like that? Look at that beautiful fruit that Cain is bringing. That's got to be more acceptable. No faith sees beyond that. And I just say again, the beloved young people.
Don't allow your heart to be taken up with what is so subtle it affects us all.
What things look like on the surface. Because the reality that faith sees a God-given faith is the opposite always of what man sees apart from God. And man will never consider that a dead Christ on the cross is bloodshed is what is the only acceptable remedy and approach to God. He'll never accept that naturally. Only faith can accept that.
Hebrews 11:7-16
Reading
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Praise ye, the Lord again, again.
Praise ye.
Lord.
We pray.
Joy.
Think it well to start with verse seven of Hebrews 11 and read through verse 28. And should the Lord leave us here, the next reading meeting we could read to the end of the chapter. Would that be suitable?
Hebrews, Chapter 11.
And we'll begin reading.
At verse 7.
By faith know of being warned of God, of things not seen as yet moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out. Not knowing whether he went by faith, he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country.
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Dwelling in Tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob the heirs with him of the same promise.
For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Through faith also Sarah herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful. Who had promised, therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as a sand which is in by the seashore innumerable. These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off.
And we're persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from once they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned, But now they desire a better country that is in heavenly. Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, For he hath prepared for them a city by faith. Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac.
And he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called, accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from whence he also received him in a figure. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.
By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph and worshipped leaning upon the top of his staff. By faith Joseph when he died, made mention the departing of the children of Israel, and gave commandment concerning his bones. By faith Moses when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child, and they were not afraid of the King's commandment. By faith Moses when he was come to years.
Refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughters, choosing Rabbi to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, For he had respect under the recompense of the reward.
By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who was invisible. Through faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the first born should touch them.
Comments on these first four that we get in this chapter here. I believe there's a sequence here, an order is there not? This isn't anything new, but we get an able. Do we not see the life of the life of faith here portrayed?
In these characters, Abel, he realized his need and he brings a lamb. This is a suitable offering to Jehovah. He realized his what he was before God, and he brings a lamb. Well, how wonderful it is No good. It is one in the life of faith if we learn early.
To.
Bring to be before God and to learn what Christ is, and that we need Christ and we need him, and so he is our righteousness before God. Well.
I don't know how far, we don't know how far.
Abel saw in these things. But anyhow, it's a wonderful the next thing we have. He was a man of faith. But.
Cain He was number man of faith. There was number faith in Cain. And then we get.
Enoch.
Eno. And in Enoch we think of him as a man who walked with God. He walked with God.
For he says, after little Methuselah was born, he walks. He says 300 years he walked with God. Well, that was a long walk, wasn't it? But it was just a day at a time. He went on with the Lord. He went on with God. And when did, where did that? Where did that walk end? It ended. We've gone. It ended. God says we're Enoch, You come home with me, I'm going to take you to be with me today, tonight. And so Enoch went home, and we never hear of him being back.
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Back again, he walked with God. How wonderful it is, the walk of God. And one day soon, there once we're going to be called home, to be with the Lord, and how good it is if we learned to walk with God like Enoch did it, says he.
It says he bore if he got sons and daughters, not only did he have.
Methuselah, who lived the longest of any man. Not only did he have, but he has sons and daughters. But it was a wicked world it was, and he realized he didn't want his Memphis law or his family to to go up and be one of those in the wicked world that would come under the judgment of God. We read elsewhere that Enoch, oh, that he prophesied that behold, the Lord cometh with 10 thousands of his Saints, or his marriage of Saints.
Execute judgment on the ungodly. Well, that was several thousand years after he was gone. Do we learn that? But he saw that things are not going to go on like they are, and things are not going to go on in this world that you and I are growing up in.
The next thing ahead of this world is the judgment of God. Well, then the next we have is, is Noah. Well, it says Noah. He also walked with God, but he, he was one, had an eye on the future. He moved with compassion, prepared an ark.
To the saving of his house he saw what was coming, and so he prepares an ark. And he wanted his family and his wife and his his wife and his family all safe when that judgment fell. And so he prepared an ark for the saving of his house. And so how good it is how when we learn to.
Have the salvation of our souls, sure, so that we won't be.
Carried away in the judgment of God, how wonderful it is. So we have an order here, and then it goes on.
He goes on to Abraham and, well, just just not just one. Thinking about those, those four, those first four, how there there's an order here and it really portrays Anna.
In a way, the Christian life, the Christian life and it ends, ends in the glory with Christ. One day soon the Lord's going to come like.
Enoch, he he didn't. He never saw death. And many of us, some of us, we may not see death either. But anyhow, we're going to be the Lord's coming and he's going to call us home. We're going to be with him. And we're we're all through down here in the end of the third chapter of Revelation where we get the end of the church. Down here, there's a, there's a there's a closed door. There's a closed door.
And the Lord Jesus is seen as standing outside that door.
Is that before all I stand at the door and knock?
Anyone will hear my voice and open the door. I will come in with him and Sup with him. And then the very next verse in the 4th chapter, we get an open door, an open door, a door open in heaven. And we hear the voice. I hear a voice saying, come up, hit her, and then that's the last of the church. That's the last of the world we'll see of the church down here, the church is.
He's going is seen in heaven from then on. Oh, what a what a future.
To be, to be suddenly called up, hit her. To be with Christ and to be in the glory with Christ forever. Well, just these few thoughts on the life of faith that we have sort of portrayed here in these.
In these four particular ones.
Don't they? That it is possible to live for God's glory even in difficult days, and to live by faith? Because from Able to Noah things only got worse in this world, and were given in Genesis some inkling as to how bad things were before the judgment fell. That is the the flood in Noah's day. It was wicked days. Days no doubt parallel to the days in which we find ourselves here.
In the year 2001 and brethren, we might look around at the darkness of the day, and I don't want to minimize that. It is a dark day. The enemy is busy, and scripture prepares to show us that things are going to get worse and not better in this world before the judgment, the final judgment falls. But brethren, we don't have to give up. We don't have to say it's too dark. We can't go on. And when we come to the last church that our brother was referring to, Laodicea, there in Revelation 3.
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Still, in Revelation 3, despite all the condition of things that had come in, there was an overcomer.
And, brethren, we can still be overcomers, not be overcome. That's what these men of faith were. They were overcomers. They lived by faith, and they triumphed for God's glory against all kinds of odds and difficulties. But not only do these examples show that we as individuals can live by faith in dark, difficult days, but they show that there's a path of faith for our families as well. Brethren, we can raise children and young people in this world for God's glory, not on our own strength.
And if our children have any desire to please the Lord, it's only the grace of God. I can't reach down in the hearts of my children and young people and create a desire for the Lord. We have responsibility as parents, but only the Lord is the one that can reach down in their heart. But brethren, that's what he delights to do. And the days are not so dark that we can't raise our families for God's glory. And so I think as we go down, continue to go down this list, it's nice to see that and to be encouraged rather than that we can go on, Noah went on.
To the very end. And he prepared an art to the saving of his not just himself and his wife, but to the saving of his household.
Particularly to the children, young people regarding verse 6.
And as a matter of fact, I don't know what the verse is for tomorrow, the Sunday School, but this is a good verse. If you don't have your Sunday School paper, this is a good verse that took.
With in the morning, but without faith, it is impossible to please God, please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
What a tremendous verse of scripture, a word from God to my heart to begin with, to every one of us to hear this, to hear God speak such a marvelous word without faith. Believing God, it is impossible to please him.
It is impossible to please him without believing what he says.
Trusting him for what? He says. It's true and.
He cares for you. He cares for me, and he watches over me and nothing touches me. You but what his hand of love and power is in it.
He that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder.
Of them that diligently seek him, there is a matter of diligence.
That is important for us, each one of us, to seek the Lord.
What is the mind of God in this matter? What would the Lord have me to do? Where would the Lord have me to go?
Trust him. Absolutely. Trust him for whatever is ahead and he will be sure to reward you. He is a rewarder of them that diligently seeking.
I'd like again connection with Enoch.
It says he walked with God.
What does that mean? Is it possible for us to walk with God today? What does that mean?
Let's have some thoughts about that, because I think it's so vital for our days.
I think it's beautiful. This is just one suggestion, Brother Bob and I I too would be happy to to hear what others have to say. But there is something very precious. We talk about Enoch walking with God, and we get that in Genesis, But here.
It says of Enoch.
That he was translated.
Because before his translation he had a testimony.
The testimony was that he pleased God, and so whatever is involved in walking with God.
Whatever that involves, we know for certain that it is a path which, if I can say it this way, brings God's approval. That is, it's pleasing to God when he looks down and he sees one who's seeking to walk. And I tend to think personally, in just a simple way, that that has a lot to do with what we often hear. And we read in the word of God, walking in the fear of God, not being scared of God, but walking with a sense of.
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Who it is that we're responsible to and that we walk in a sense of the.
Responsibility. We have to be pleasing to him to satisfy his heart. And so in this chapter, when it talks about faith, what we learn of Enoch is 2 Things. He was translated and it was because he had pleased God. We turned back to Genesis and we found out how he pleased God. It was in his walk. And so beloved young people we talk about these things. It's a very real and practical thing. We've often heard it said, haven't we? Faith is an action word.
And.
James talks about that. You know, show me. You show me your faith. I'll show you my faith by my works, that is.
What a believer does is that which is a confirmation of the reality of his faith. And so Enoch's walk was a confirmation of his faith. Whatever that walk was, we know that one thing he did was he prophesied. As our brother Clem brought out, that was one thing he did. He was speaking. But it's very wonderful to realize, as again our brother Clem said that was thousands of years later, that we learn.
That Enoch prophesied. First of all, we learned that he walked before he talked, and after we learned that he walked, then we learned that he talked. And so it's important, isn't it, brethren? If we're going to please God and beloved young people, it's not just what you say that's important, obviously. But what's important is that the confirming of your faith is your walk as a Christian, and to do it in a way that that you have a concern for what is due to the honor and glory of the one who thought upon you from.
Past eternity.
And sent his beloved son for you and for me, that he might have us with him as his children.
And so we need to be very, very concerned to connect our pleasing of God with our walk first. Then there's room for talk. But may the Lord help us to be concerned about our walk.
To enjoy just sense of the Lord's presence with us every day of our lives. And we can and we ought to covet that for our souls. I say a conscious sense of the Lords presence with us as we take those steps of faith step by step every day. But we're not going to enjoy it. To enjoy that His presence we must walk in obedience to the word of God. The Lord Jesus, of course, is the perfect example of one who walked through this world, and it was not an easy pathway.
He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. There were a lot of ups and downs in the pathway of the Lord, but he walked in the conscious sense of the Father's presence with him. Why? Because he walked in obedience to the Father's will. He said. I came down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And if we choose our own path, if we choose our own way, the Lord is not going to leave us. He'll never leave us nor forsake us. But, brethren, we will lose in our souls a sense of the Lord's presence with us.
We will not be walking with God like Enoch did. He walked in the conscious sense of the Lord's presence.
Now there is a sad contrast between what we have been saying and what we have in the life of Jonah. Because there came a time in the life of Jonah when he decided he had enough of the path of the Lord's choosing for him. Isn't that sad to think that someone and he was a prophet, He was a child of God. He really was the Lord's. But he came to a point in his life where he decided he was going to choose his own way. And there's a remarkable statement made in Jonah, one concerning the choosing of that pathway.
It says he rose up to flee. Notice this from the presence of the Lord.
Now we know from reading the story the Lord didn't forsake Jonah. And the Lord worked in a wonderful way to bring Jonah back to himself. And he did raise him up and use him to finally deliver the message to Nineveh. But there came a point in his life where he was number longer walking with with his Lord, no longer walking in the sense of the Lord's presence with him. You see, with David, I like that verse that says that I may dwell in the House of the Lord not forever like you have in the end of the 23rd Psalm.
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But that I might dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life, that's enjoying the Lord's presence every day of our lives. That's the 27th Psalm. And notice what it says there one thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after it takes energy of faith, as someone has already said. But if we have that energy and that strength, that exercise of faith, then no matter how dark the day, brethren, we can walk with the Lord in the sense of His presence.
Of Enoch walking with God is in contrast to what Cain did, he says. Cain went out from the presence of the Lord and built a city. And I believe that when Enoch lived, that city had grown to be a developed thing in the world. And there was. That's what people live for until God destroyed the world with the flood and the Enoch lived shortly before that.
At least relatively shortly. And so it's God took him up when he walked with him and made him a witness of how God can give deliverance for those who believe God. We we live in a similar time, brethren, when the world is dressed up and we're waiting for the Rapture, do we really believe that it's worthwhile to walk with God?
There's a real lesson here for us. God rewarded Enoch for walking with him by taking him out. And that's a lesson for us. The world is attractive and we look out there and when Cain built those cities there, I'm sure there was much development that was attractive in those days, but it was all in independence of God and but.
Enoch believed that it was better to walk with God, and he, God proved him true and he rewarded him. So that's a reward out there for us too.
To read the scriptures daily, dear young people and us who are older as well. I don't mean just read it in a mechanical fashion, but really spend time consciously in the presence of the Lord reading His word. I have to confess often times in the morning when I take time to read the word. Sometimes I go through a whole chapter and as I get to the end of the chapter I said no. What did I read?
Just seems like my mind was helter skelter on so many different things that I really wasn't listening. Whatever he said to me there didn't get through and I have to go back and take time to listen.
Until his voice comes through, it's important we live in such a cluttered world, such a busy.
Pressured society.
That we don't listen sometimes and part of.
Walking with God.
Is being quiet.
To listen to him speaking to us, and then to take time to speak to him.
In prayer, oh brethren, what a tremendous privilege to come before God. Sometimes when I kneel down, try to take a little bit of time just to get my soul a sense of the place I am coming to in spirit. The throne of God, the mercy seat there is, where millions and millions of angels appear as well.
Even Satan appears there.
Before the throne, and I have liberty boldness to come there.
As well. Or give us a sense, this is no light thing.
This is a tremendous privilege, brethren. And yet, in our daily walk down here in this world, it doesn't seem that dramatic, that important. And that's what impresses me about Enoch's light. Enoch didn't do any tremendous acts of courage, of slaying a giant or or being cast into a den of lions like Daniel was.
What did he do?
He walked with God 300 years. How impressive that is. Dear brother. Do I know what it means to walk with God for one day? I don't think I can take it a day at a time. I'd have to take it a step at a time, brother. That's the way to walk with God. If you're going to take a step, dear young person, dear older brother, to take it in the consciousness of the Lord, right there. If you don't understand, if you don't know, ask him.
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To give you understanding, he's there for that. And that's what's so wonderful about Enoch. He walked 300 years right into the glory. And that's going to be the story for some of us as well, because it says there's going to be some of us who are alive and remain till the coming of the Lord. We will not see that as Enoch will be translated. What a tremendous thing.
I think of the Rapture brethren and how we're going to be called into the glory. I say, how in the world can you understand that? By mere human reason. It's just way too beyond us to grasp that you can only understand it by faith. God speaks of it very clearly, and we can accept it because God tells us about it.
Remember.
As to reading the word of God, maybe a remember your own brother told us one in the meeting.
He says if I don't read two or three chapters in the morning, he says I'm starved. Well, Lord, for many of us can maybe read two or three chapters in the morning, and anyhow. But I remember Mr. Hale saying, he said that would be better for us if we just read a little and meditated on it. Just read a little and then meditate on thinking. Mr. Potter used to say that meditation, he says. It seems to be a lost art among us, a lost art.
Meditate on the word of God.
The time.
In reference to what's been said, I was struck Brother Doug as you were speaking. And I've never never seen this before, but just a little practical thought along this line. We've been talking about Enoch walking with God, and you mentioned how Canaan Cain went out from the presence of God. But there's all the difference in the world in the 2 words that describe their actions. It says Enoch walked with God. Cain dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden.
You know, there's such a thing as being earth dwellers in spirit. That is we get settled down in this world and we, without realizing it, tend to look at this world as our horizon and this and this is what the world is. This is all that those apart from Christ have. They're dwelling here. You know, we said earlier, faith is an action word. And I just want to add, while we don't want to take away from the thought of dwelling at the feet of the Lord Jesus in its proper aspect and enjoying his company, we're walking because that's what pilgrims do. And the minute we stop walking and start dwelling morally.
That we're like Cain and we can't be pleasing God. This isn't the place he wants us to dwell.
He wants us to walk through this place. He wants us to have that sense that we're going through as we're going to read here, as pilgrims and strangers, but not as Cain, who left the presence of God and quit walking. He started dwelling, and what an incredible system he's built in which men can dwell. And it's not surprising that men take an immense amount of pride in what they've built, But it's a system to dwell in apart from God, with no thought of God and seeking to find satisfaction.
Apart from God for us.
Faith gives us to not dwell here as earth dwellers, but to get busy walking.
And stay walking until he calls us home.
That spoil our communion or interrupt our walk with God are not always things that are wrong in themselves.
But I believe, brethren, we need to be careful in the day in which we live, that the busyness of life and the activity, that and hustle and bustle all around us don't rob our times of enjoyment with the Lord Jesus. It's interesting with Mary, when the Lord Jesus came to the home in Bethany and Luke's Gospel and Martha complained, Mary sat down at the feet of Jesus to hear his word and Martha complained. It's interesting what Martha said to the Lord Jesus.
She said to the Lord Jesus, Carest thou not that Mary, Now notice this?
Hath left me to serve alone, and I would suggest that when the Lord Jesus entered that home.
Probably both sisters were preparing for the arrival of the Lord Jesus, and there no doubt were necessary things that need to be done. When you have company in your home, the sisters know there are necessary things that need to be done in preparation for company, and they were no doubt those sisters preparing a meal together and getting the house ready. But when the Lord Jesus entered that home, Mary said, Now I'm going to leave the work. And, brethren, if we're going to take time to read our Bibles and spend time in prayer has been brought before us, we're always going to have to leave something.
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There's a little hymn that says take time to be holy, speak OFT with the Lord.
And we're going to have to take time. And maybe you're going to have to let something go, not something that's wrong in itself. But, you know, David in the Old Testament was a very busy man. Read the life of King David. He had wars. He had domestic problems. He had family problems. He was a very active man in the service of God and as king of Israel. But I like this little statement about David. He sat before the Lord. Isn't that remarkable? He took time from all the activity and things that were right and proper, the administration of the Kingdom and his service for God.
And he took time to do what? Sit quietly in the presence of the Lord? You ever just sit quietly in the presence of the Lord? You know, if you're in the presence of someone you love and the feeling is mutual, you don't always have to be saying something. You just sit, and you enjoy their company. Maybe you drive along the Interstate with your wife or with your husband. You're not always talking, but you're just enjoying the company of being together with one another. And David.
So comfortable in the presence of his God.
Sat quietly, and I suggest that above all things, David coveted a sense of the Lords presence with him in his pathway of faith and his service for God.
Brethren, there's no more blessed portion for us. Yes, activity is important. You go to school.
You go to work, you have your service for the Lord, maybe in the assembly, and so on, but take time to sit in the conscious sense of the Lord's presence with you.
Very, very.
Went to first John chapter 5.
Bring out another aspect of the matter of faith.
First John Chapter 5.
And verse 9.
If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater, for this is the witness of God, which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God, hath not hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life.
And this life is in his son. He that hath the son hath life.
And he that hath not the Son of God, hath not life. I just want to bring out the fact that.
They're in the mind of man, and it's easy to accept the thought that.
Faith is a leaf in the dark. And sometimes people say, well, you're going to have to wait and see whether what you believe is true about God until you die. And then if all the things we're talking about are really true or not, that's the day we're going to find out that's not true, and that's not the way God has presented it to us. Faith has to be because.
With respect to God, because it's the way in which we honor him when God says something.
When God presents himself in a certain way, He's honored. If we accept that, if we say that's true. But when we and this is the point I want to make, when we say it's true, God confirms to the soul the truth of what we believed. We do not wait until we leave this world to find out with a confirmed sense that we're going to heaven.
I can say with all conviction that I'm just as sure I'm going to heaven as I am, that I'm sitting in this chair.
And why do we have such a confirmation? When I put my trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, God says I'll confirm that trust. I'll put eternal life in you. That's my witness to you that what I have said is true. When I believe the gospel of my salvation in Ephesians one, it tells me you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. That is the faith that believed in the gospel. God confirms that in my soul and says.
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I'll put my spirit in you, and that spirit is going to witness to your spirit that you're mine.
And so you will have the confirmation of what you believed in yourself.
And by example, what we see in the first four particularly.
There are four people, and they're brought before us in the sense of wanting to have a relationship with God or not in the case of Cain.
Abel brings to God a sacrifice. God witnesses to that faith in Abel and says I accept that Abel knew it, Cain knew it. Everybody knew that the faith that Abel had was accepted of God because God gave a witness to that fact by accepting the sacrifice with Cain.
God's non acceptance of it was the proof that it was not an act of faith.
And God said no. And God is witnessing to us that he sees when there's faith.
Or where there's not faith and he's going to confirm it or he is not, he is going to reject it. When you get Enoch to me, it says he had this testimony. God testified, if you will, to the life of Enoch that he accepted it.
And I believe Enoch had a sense of it in his soul, because when you go to Jude.
Where you have a little bit more about Enoch, you find out that he prophesied.
God confirmed that Enoch was walking with him, and he may be the first person in the Bible that's spoken of Indiana prophecy.
As having speaking the mind of God to man, God gave testimony to Enoch and to everybody else.
That he was walking with him, and he says, Enoch, I have something for you to tell the rest. And so in Jude we have Enoch prophesying. Noah might have worked every day on his ark, but the day came when Noah had absolute certainty in his soul that his faith was of God and acceptable to God. What if you'd been there the day that Noah got out of the ark and you said Noah, Do you really believe it's true what God had to say about what he was going to do?
He'd say obviously, of course he was the only person living with his family at that point. God gave complete testimony and what God is doing in this chapter for us this morning, as he's saying everyone to every one of us. I'm witnessing to you that the path of faith, if you trust me, and then the four it's it's coming to God and being acceptable to him And from Abraham on, it's the journey itself to go on in it.
And live it.
But God is saying to us, these are my witnesses to you. Are you going to accept them, or are you going to come to me as they did? Are you going to walk with me as they did? If you do as you walk, I will walk with you and confirm in your heart that this is truly acceptable to me and that you are honoring me. And I will reward you for honoring me by accepting what I say is true.
And Noah were lived in the general time of the flood, and of course Noah went through it. But I think it is interesting to see the difference in the way faith manifests itself and the different ones that Enoch was taken out before the flood happened.
Noah was a man of faith as well, but he was preserved through the flood. And so it's a picture, perhaps typically, of Enoch, the church, who will be taken out before the Judgment Day falls on this world. But there will be those of faith during the great tribulation period that will be preserved through it to come out, as Noah did in the new earth.
They will come out in the millennial Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Both are manifestations of faith and how God works in different time frames. It is beautiful to see, but it is faith that God honors. I think it is so important speaking about Noah, though in a practical way. I think it is beautiful and an encouragement for us who are parents and have children, to see that what's?
00:45:21
Verse 7 speaks about is not the faith of Noah's children.
It speaks of Noah's faith.
Now that his children had faith, it was evident because they were grown men, they had their wives and they entered the ark. But what it speaks about in verse 7 is Noah's faith, and the way it speaks about it is interesting. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house.
So Noah acted in a way that made.
The way possible for his children to be saved, No, could not save his children. But he could in faith act in a way that would prepare them a way to be saved. And I think that's something for us as parents to think about. We cannot save our children, but we can prepare by which they can be saved. And that's what Noah did and it was not as has been said.
An easy task that he had before him to build that ark.
It was a big, big project. And he didn't just sit down on a chair and cross his arms and say, well, if God wants to save my family, I guess he'll save them. No, he had to get up and he had to work and he worked laboriously and he built the ark in which his family could be saved. Brethren, this is an encouragement to those of us who have children.
To count on God. But it is not just sitting down and crossing our arms. It is to the work, brethren, It is. It is the labor of faith. Show what you mean, what you say you believe. Show it in your actions. So this is what Noah did to the saving of his house.
First three men of faith. 2 Just to follow up, like you say, Bob, we have with Abel worship, we have with Enoch communion, and we have with Noah service. And I think this is a great encouragement to those who have families, because we might say, well, how can we serve the Lord with a large family to raise. But what is our sphere of service? Brethren, our fear of service is our family, and he prepared an arc here to the saving of his house. But I would like to just say this, that while God honors the faith of parents and he honored the faith of Noah.
Yet we don't inherit faith, and there's a contrast, is there not, between Noah and the first family?
The two brothers that we've mentioned, Cain and Abel, they were brought up in the same household. They were brought up under the same circumstances. They no doubt both had heard of the coats of skin that had been prepared for their parents as they were driven from the Garden of Eden. But what happened? One had faith. Abel had faith and Cain did not. They were brought up in the same household. I say under the same circumstances, and so I just point that out to show.
If there's a young person here, a boy or a girl, it's wonderful to grow up in a Christian home.
It's a privilege, young people. I wish I had valued more when I was a young person and a child. But it is a tremendous privilege, and to look back on a godly heritage such as Timothy had in his day is a tremendous thing. But you don't inherit faith. You must make it your own. The the God deals with us as individuals. Yes, he honors households, and we see that all through the word of God. He worked in households.
And honored the faith of parents. But these things have to come right down to the individual. And Timothy, in his day, though he had had a godly heritage, he was told, Continue thou, Timothy. You're an individual, as it were. You're on your own now. You've got to buy these things, You've got to make them your own. And you've got to walk by faith, not simply because you had a godly heritage, but you've got to walk by faith now as an individual. So I think it's a solemn contrast.
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Contrast the first family with that of Noah.
Before we.
Move further into the chapter Jim, you would allow.
You said that the three.
Provide a picture, and they certainly do.
But I think that there that picture, if you would allow, goes a little further. The moral beauty of the order of what characterized these first people that we read about gives us really a wonderful picture of what.
The principles, if I can say it that way, that each of our lives ought to contain. And so I'll go back and just reiterate very quickly what our brother has brought before us, but I'm going to just read the words it says.
By faith, Abel offered. So here was the man that offered then, it says.
By faith, Enoch pleased, God offered.
Pleased. And then by faith Noah prepared. So there was one who offered. The life of faith starts with that, doesn't it? A proper relationship of worship.
To God. And then there was the pleasing. And I think that answers to what you brought out, the communion, the joy of that.
And then there was preparing and then we go on. Abraham obeyed. And so now there's obedience and he sojourned. And so when there's worship and there's fellowship and there's preparation, there's also what I would just say, I would just suggest this brethren, There's also the Philippians experience that is proper Christian experience walking through this world, and that's obeying and sojourning. We have a life that.
Until the Lord calls us home, we're to walk to His glory. And then when there's the obedience.
And there's the sojourning. Then we come to Sarah.
Who conceived and there's fruit. Well, that's the principles that we might say ought to be seen in our lives, starting with their worship and ending with producing fruit for you might say the glory of God. And these principles, these examples that are given us, we can apply, and we ought to apply by the grace of God and through his help and wisdom and strength to each of our lives. They're what normally, if I can say it that way, they're what normally characterizes faith. I fall very far short of it, but they're what normally characterizes faith worship.
Pleasing, preparing, obeying, sojourning, and conceiving, bringing forth fruit.
For him there was a call after the flood. God looked down and man's heart was still wicked. He said it's wicked from his youth up. And God said he would never judge the world again with a flood. But now what does he do? He calls a man out from all that. Abraham was called and it says he went out and brother. And that's something good for all of us to consider. We're in a wicked world as we're We've been saying it's not going to get any better, but we have a call from the Lord if you belong to the Lord Jesus.
You have a call to separation, and as our brother Doug said, Abraham obeyed that call and he came out.
Because, brethren, while we're still in this world, physically, we're here, sitting in these chairs at this hotel in St. Louis, MO. We're not home yet. We haven't been translated like Enoch yet. We're still here. But nevertheless, while we're still in this world, we're not of this world. We are a heavenly people with a heavenly calling. And, brethren, there needs to be that practical rising up, as it were. Like Abraham, it meant separation from family.
It meant leaving his home number doubt, many things that were very dear to his heart, naturally speaking.
And I'm sure as he left her the Chaldees, he must have felt it very keenly. Don't minimize that He felt it. And yet he had a call from his God, and no matter what sacrifice it meant, what separation of things naturally speaking, he was going to follow that call and to go out to be a stranger and a Pilgrim and to walk in faith day by day, brethren, that's what he wants. You're going to feel it. If you separate walk in practical separation, you're going to feel it.
No man having left father and mother and houses and lands and brothers and sisters, yet we feel it.
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Sometimes some of us feel it with natural relationships even. And yet what a blessed thing it was for Abraham, who walked in company with the Lord. Had that altered experience, the power of God in his life, in a very remarkable way. Was it worth it? Was it worth the the obedience? Was it worth going out when you talked to Abraham in glory? He'll say, Oh, it was worth every minute of it, minute of it, to be able to walk with his God as a stranger in a Pilgrim.
Being in love.
Stephen tells us that it was the God of glory that appeared unto Abraham, the God of glory. Abraham on a glimpse of the glory, the God of glory, and reminds us of the Apostle Paul. On the road to Damascus, the God with glory appeared to him. He never not left such an impression and never did he gave you. From then on he was taken to honor, to walk in the path of that of the God of glory, glory.
Never gave it up. And so was this which characterized Abraham, and he left home family.
Went out to a land that he didn't know where he was going but the God of glory had told him to where told him to go and so there's no question in his mind what to do. The God of glory well that we have seen we had a glimpse we trust of the God of glory, our precious Savior, the one who is down here in this earth. We enjoyed hearing about Abraham and how that the the Lord, the Lord had sat with him.
Enjoy the meal that he and Sephirah had supplied yesterday under the tree. They sat under the tree and and enjoyed that And so I wonder how wonderful it was. And then you'll read about how that we heard about how that Moses what a privilege it was that God spoke to Moses as man to man outside the tent. There he spoke to him.
God won't say the same Blessed God. Well, Mr. Darby, in one of his remarks he says it's as clear to me as the noonday sun. He says that the Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Son of God of the new. Jehovah of the Old Testament is the Son of God of the new. And to think that we have that same Blessed One. Harry was down here on earth as a man moving among men.
A woman was thinking of it.
What a privilege it was.
For Abraham God in his grace moved. He spoke to Abraham and he sat down and ate the meal that he would have and and he talked to Moses. But when we get into the Gospels, when we get into get into John, we we read about 1:00.
Who leaned on Jesus's breast? He laid his head on the bosom of that same blessed 10 How wonderful.
Abraham never laid his his head on the breast and bosom of of of the lower of of Christ, of the of Jehovah, neither Moses. But here we have but John, he says he laid his hand his head on the bosom of Jesus. All just to think that that Blessed One has come so near come so near to us, and he didn't like we can lay our heads upon his bosom.
That is. And one day soon we're going to be in the glory with them and we'll lay our heads upon his bosom. Yes, I'm sure we will. And we say, Lord, oh, how good, how kind, how wonderful without just have a Sinner like me. How wonderful it will be.
To eternal glory, aren't we? It says in first Peter 5 Abraham was called to go out into a place that she should afterwards receive for an inheritance. It was an earthly inheritance. But I've often wondered what it was that Abraham saw. Perhaps something like you mentioned that the God of glory appeared unto him. Perhaps he saw something of the city then. But it says he looked for a city which hath foundations. Who builder and maker is God.
And it was the appearance of that glory that made Abraham a Pilgrim and a stranger in the earth. It he was a wealthy man. He had 318 servants to serve him. I don't know that I've ever met anybody that's had that many servants to serve him, but he was a wealthy man. But he never had more than a 10th that we read about in In the Earth because he had seen something that called him beyond.
01:00:19
Earth's glory. He had seen the God of glory, and it is beautiful to think of it, Brethren. And the glory that we have been brought into, Brethren. The revelation that we have now in the times that we live in far exceeds anything that Abraham ever had. Shouldn't it be a challenge to our hearts to live simply down here in this world?
As simple as possible in our living habit. Still remember Mr. Lundeen saying so often, what's characteristic of pilgrims is that they have simple living habits. Oh, how complicated we get down here in this world, in our living habits to be simple. Because the glory is before us, brethren. That's what will make us pilgrims and strangers down here.
That contrast between Abraham and Lot isn't there because we, as we noticed, Abraham, he had a tent. We know he had an altar. He enjoyed communion and fellowship with his God. But you know, Lot, he had a vision too. But when he lifted up his eyes, he only lifted them up as far as the horizons of this sad world. And he saw the well watered plain of Jordan. And instead of choosing like Abraham for heavenly gain, eternal gain, he chose for earthly gain.
And it's very solemn because Lot, we know from the New Testament, was a true believer. He was a righteous man, and we know from the Old Testament that he was spared the judgment that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah. And every child of God is going to go before the judgment. The Lord said I can do nothing until thou come hit her, but lost everything He had built. For Abraham looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. But Lot ended up pitching his tent towards Sodom.
He ended ended up living in a house right in Sodom. He sat in the gate, no doubt involved in the politics and the decision making of the day. But I say he lived to see everything he worked for as far as this earth burned up and gone. And the poet put it something like this. He said only one life will soon be passed, only what's done for Christ will last and so lot will be in heaven. He'll have a portion. But he had a lot. He had a lost life down down here.
He lost, he lost everything and it was a very sad thing, even lost to his family.
As a result of it, just go to to jump to Exodus in connection with the glory of the Lord. Because I think it's very, a very important point. I don't want to belabor this, but just go to Exodus 16 for a moment because I think we see this in connection with the children of Israel as they made their passage through the wilderness. They were in a physical wilderness. They were strangers and pilgrims. We're passing through a spiritual wilderness. We're to have the character of strangers and pilgrims.
But what is it that's going to preserve us and give us that character? Notice verse nine of chapter 16 of Exodus? And Moses spake unto Aaron, saying unto all the say unto all the congregation of the children of Israel come near before the Lord. For he hath heard your murmurings. And it came to pass, as Aaron spake unto the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they look toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
The difficulty with the children of Israel, as they murmured and complained here, was that so quickly after passing through the Red Sea and leaving Egypt, they were looking back. In fact, they went back there in their hearts. Thank God they never got back there physically. But in their hearts they went back into Egypt. And what did that cause them to do? It caused them to murmur and complain, to blame the Lord for their present circumstances, but when they turned around here because they were looking in the wrong direction?
They were to be looking ahead, and when they turned around to lookout over the wilderness, what did they see? All the difficulties in the many miles that lay between them and the goal? No, in some way Jehovah was pleased to reveal himself to them in the cloud, and with a vision of that glory. They could take heart. They could say we're going on to something far better. And I believe brethren, as long as they kept that before them as they traverse the wilderness those years.
01:05:08
They were encouraged to go on. When they lost sight of that and looked around her back then they got discouraged and murmured and complained. And, brethren, as has already been said, this is what's going to preserve us, to go on to have a vision of the coming glory, to have Christ before our souls.
To as it says in Proverbs, I think we quoted it yesterday, where there is no vision, the people perish or cast off restraint. Why is it sometimes I don't act like a Christian because I don't have a vision of what's ahead and a vision of the man in the glory. If we're going to run with endurance, the race that is set before us, we must be looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of faith.
Brother Henry Lava.
With Abraham, we have a new race, you might say, of believers.
Noah concluded the history of the world, which then was that Peter speaks of and with Noah when he was born. His father Lamech said that he would comfort us concerning the earth that the Lord had cursed and his brother Bob brought out. It suggests to us the millennial blessing that the earthly people of God will be during the millennial reign of Christ, but with Abraham.
He begins a new race of believers in the world, which now is, and they have a peculiar feature about them, and that is they are living for the world which is yet to come and they're not interested and don't have their citizenship or their occupations or their habits of life connected with the world which now is. They're men and women.
Of faith. And so we have this new race of believers. You might think that they kind of end.
Down in verse 16 where God says now they they I believe a reference to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and probably even Sarah.
Now they desire a better country that is in heavenly. Wherefore God is not ashamed.
To be called their God, for he hath prepared for them.
A city, a city they never inherited down here. And I just would add this one further thought that while Noah built an ark to the saving of his house, I believe Abraham built a tent to the saving of his house, as is implied in our verse that they dwelt as sojourners in 10th and verse 9.
Dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. And so as fathers and mothers in relationship to our children, they should see that we're built, we've built a tent to dwell in, and that our hopes and aspirations are on hold. They're not attached to the world, which now is.
Relates to what Doug was bringing before us, the progression of words as to the matter of a moral progression in faith. Just like to notice one more in that set. It's in verse 10 in connection with Abraham. In the authorized version, it says he looked for a city. Mr. Darby translated translates it. He waited for a city.
I think that's an important characteristic of faith in the day in which we live. Henry just used the word on hold.
Abraham had received certain promises of God.
And then he waited. And we will find the same If we really walk with God, we are going to be in an attitude of waiting God's time. There are so many things in which I'm sure you when you got up this morning and got on your knees before the Lord and prayed, there were certain concerns that were specific to your heart and life. And yet in some of those concerns, faith says I'll wait on God.
And in due course there was the conceiving.
After the waiting in which there was fruit, and so many times when there's to be fruit, it has to be as the farmer knows, he sells his crop and then he waits for the rain and so on the sun. The work of God, if you will, that are going to result in the fruit. And so for us too, we it's so hard for us, naturally speaking, to wait on God.
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We're like the little child when the parent says, well, we're.
We're on our way to Saint Louis for the conference, and he's been in the car for 15 minutes. Are we there yet? You know? And then another 15 minutes down the road. Well, Daddy, are we there yet? It's just very difficult for children to wait. And we're children too, and at least many of us are. And we find it difficult to wait in faith upon God's time.
You feel that in first Thessalonians where it talks about the.
A work of faith, the labor of love. And Mr. Darby's translation translates the patience of hope as the enduring constancy of hope. Is that along the line of what you've been bringing before us?
There, I remember when I was a boy back in Mr. Crossley, he used to go around without the Lords work. He'd come into the schools and he'd talk to the children.
And remember one time he spoke of oh that Moses? No, excuse me not not Moses. But hey, Jacob, when and said he would serve Levin 7 years for his daughter Rachel. What he meant Rachel.
He kissed her first. It was love at first sight and he had to have her and his own seven years, he says. They went by so fast. They were just like days. It tells us this. They went by for the love that he had for her. And this old, dear old brother used to say that he helped the Lord Jesus has been He loved the church and he gave himself for it, gave everything that he had and she was the Pearl of great price him. But he he says that he's been waiting now for nearly 2000 years. But he he pictured it was like.
Like Jacob, they said, those days went by so fast for the love that he had for her.
Oh well, just to think of the love of the Lord Jesus has for the church for you and me, Well, it won't be long. Those that waiting time, the romance, the time of romance will soon be over. It must be not. And he's going to come and claim his bride. How wonderful that will be. It's often been mentioned that faith manifests itself not only.
In energy, but also in patience. And it is true, if you really trust God, you're going to be willing to wait for him to fulfill his promise. That's one of the evidences of true faith in the believer and.
We see it in Abraham. We see both those things. Here is the energy of faith to get up and to move out of his homeland.
Inner of the Chaldeans, and it's interesting here in this chapter Brethren Abraham didn't did have his faults, but it doesn't mention that this is what God sees in a believer. And I think it's so beautiful. Sometimes we look at each other and we criticize what we see, but it's not so much what we see, it's what God sees that is important. And so even in the case of Sarah here.
The case we read about yesterday in Genesis, it might not seem that there was much faith in Sarah, she laughed.
When the Lord told Abraham that they were going to have a child and it doesn't seem like there is faith, but there was faith.
Maybe it was only that which God could appreciate and it was through that faith.
That she had strength to conceive seed at that old age. And so it is with Abraham too. And sometimes we have our falterings, brethren, and Abraham in the Old Testament.
Fell for Sarah's suggestion that they have a child, that he have a child with Hagar. That was not the act of faith. That was the act of the suggestion of the flesh.
It was not simply waiting on God, but those things happen in our lives as well.
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But these things are not mentioned in this chapter because this is the chapter of faith, and God appreciates the faith that he does see and only he can fully appreciate it.
My son, my oldest son and his wife. Brian and Jody, our oldest son and his wife.
We're building decided to build a home and while they were waiting for that home to be finished, they moved into a little duplex apartment not very far from us.
And they kept it clean and they enjoyed living there, and it was comfortable. But that was always with the sense that there was something better they were looking for, and while they did the necessary tasks and undertook the necessary.
Things each day to take care of the place where they lived and to keep it orderly and neat. They did so in view of the time, and anxiously, I might say, in view of the time when they would be leaving that place for something much better.
Well, we're going through this world, and we ought to be walking through it in order and care. And God is a God of order. He's not the author of confusion. It ought to show in our lives, and there ought to be that testimony and even practical things. But there ought to always be the thought, no matter what. We're doing our jobs, our careers, in the way we order our lives. As our brother Henry said that we're raising up our family morally in a tent because.
There's something better that we're looking forward to, and may I say that we might be anxious to be there not only to enjoy that, but the one who's provided it for us supremely, the Lord Jesus.
The comments that have been made that the energy of the new nature is the spirit of God, and I just want to bring out the importance as we speak about the importance of walking the path of faith, that we do this in the energy of the Spirit of God and not our own energy. If we sometimes maybe we may sit down with the word or we have a time when we when we can.
Stand along with the Lord. And sometimes that as of where we reach down and and there just doesn't seem to be faith.
I enter in spiritual things. We have to be reminded that it's the spirit of God that's working within us, which produces faith, which produces the reality in our soul of spiritual things. I just want to bring in that thought that sometimes we might get discouraged and we look within. We see such so little faith. What's the power that produces faith within us? It's the spirit of God. And as we as we go through this chapter, we we have to say that we have something that these.
These faithful didn't have, and that's the indwelling Spirit of God. And so it's an encouragement to us. We don't have to draw on. We don't have to draw spiritual things from within ourselves. We we get this benefit from the Spirit of God who involves us, and it's an encouragement to comfort.
For our children and young people know where what we're building for too, don't they? They look at us. And I was thinking of it in connection with verse 9, where you really have three generations. We find Abraham, then we find his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob, and we find that there was an effect on on his son and his grandson because he dwelt as a stranger and A and a Pilgrim.
Because he he dwelt in intense and I think sometimes, and I can only say this for myself as a parent.
Sometimes when our children look at us, do they really see that?
They know what our goals are. They know what our aspirations are. When my children look at me, do they see someone who simply building for this world and placing importance on things down here, Or do they look at me and see a joy in building for eternity? I don't think we realize how perceptive our children and young people really are, and not only do they know that, but they know whether there's a joy in it or not.
It's a little different, but I sometimes said with my parents. When I was growing up, I knew not only what the priorities of my parents were, but I knew their joy in setting those priorities. It was never a question in our household on Tuesday or Thursday night, which were the weeknight meetings in Smiths Falls, was never a question of where we going to meeting. And it was never a question of, oh, it's meeting night again. I guess we better get ready and go.
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No, there was a joy with my parents. Not so much in what they said, but as I looked at my parents. Maybe I didn't always appreciate it at the time, but I knew that there was a joy in going to meeting. It wasn't something that they had to do because of some legal aspect of things. No, they wanted to be there. These were Knights set aside for the assembly to be in the presence of the Lord Jesus gathered around himself. It was their joy to be there, and it was their exercise to bring their family.
And I believe, if it's our joy, brethren, to walk as strangers and pilgrims, laying up treasure in heaven, building for eternity, serving the Lord, I believe that the Lord will take that and will impress that upon the hearts of our children and young people, so that that joy and exercise is eventually transmitted to them. If the Lord leaves us here, we know that we asked from death unto life.
Because we love the brethren.
What a delight it is to be at the Prayer meeting and to be at the Reading meeting and the Gospel meeting and.
The breaking of bread. Whenever the Lord's people come together, it's a delight. It's a pleasure to be with them. And we know that the Lord is there too.
I wouldn't put the brethren 1St and the Lord's second. The Lord, we're gathered to his name so that comes first. But I think it's a nice thought that we we an evidence of new birth is that we love to be with the brethren. We love the brethren. I think sometimes trade and I I'm if you'll allow me I'll speak very bluntly for a moment. Sometimes we've portrayed to our young people.
Now, please don't take this out of context or the spirit in which it's said. I think sometimes we portray to our young people that normal Christianity.
Is to get through school, get married, get a job, and settle down in a nice suburban area of town and attend all the assembly meetings. Now, brethren, there's nothing wrong with that. I'm glad when there's an exercise to be at the assembly meetings. I'm glad when our young people marry in the Lord. And whether it's school or our job, we need to do it as unto the Lord, and to do it heartily and that the Lord can use as a testimony to the world around us. But in a sense, brethren, that is not normal Christianity. Now that may be where the Lord has for you to serve him.
But, brethren, let's be exercised that there's more than just these things. I say again, we're here just for a short time. We've been talking about the coming of the Lord. I think we're just on the horizon of the Lord's coming. Things are getting worse and worse, Brethren, Are we exercised about those things that are going to abide for eternity? Are we exercised about those around us that we see on the way to hell? How many people do I meet in a day that never realize I'm even a Christian?
How many people do I pass and I never give them a gospel tract. These are people that are on their way to a lost eternity. What about our brethren that need encouragement? What about the tremendous needs? I know we're not all called to give up our secular employment and go to the foreign mission field, but what about the needs that are so tremendous in the world today and seeking souls and the need for literature and Bibles? Some can't keep up with the demand. There's no shortage of opportunities, brethren, and open doors in these last days.
Perhaps sad to say, there's a lack of exercise on our part.
To seek to meet those needs, let's be exercised about more than just the things that are temporal and even necessary.
#301.
And drop.
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To be safe in our place and building our worlds in our deep sins.
Wake up for it all.
Hebrews 11:17-40
Reading
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139.
This world is a world.
Where you want to regrow the water.
17 and read through the end of the chapter.
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Hebrews Chapter 11 beginning at verse 17.
By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac, and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called, accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph, and worshipped leaning upon the top of his staff.
By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel, and gave commandment concerning his bones. By faith Moses when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child, and they were not afraid of the King's commandment. By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.
Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. For he had respect under the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king. For he endured as seeing him who was invisible through faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the first born should touch them. By faith they passed through the Red Sea, as by dry land, which the Egyptians are saying to do were drowned by faith the walls of Jericho fell down.
After they were compassed about seven days by faith, the harlot Rahab perished not with them that pair that believe not when she had received the spies with peace. And what shall I say more? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barrack, and of Samson, and of Jeptha, of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets, who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions.
Quench the violence of fire, escape the edge of the sword. Out of weakness were made strong, waxed, valiant in fight, turn to flight. The armies of the aliens women received their dead rays to life again, and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings. Yeah, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were saw in asunder.
Were tempted, were slain with a sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goat skins.
Being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy.
They wandered in deserts and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.
And these, all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise.
God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us.
Should not be made perfect.
We've begun with in connection with his son.
Plus faith in resurrection, wasn't it? And we see the same faith in the Apostle Paul if we turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter one.
He had some rough times in his life, did Paul?
And he doesn't predict much of it.
But he had this trouble in Asia that he speaks about in Second Corinthians 1/8. For we would not brethren that have you ignorant of our trouble, which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure above strength.
Insomuch that we despaired even of life. But now here's his faith. We had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God, which raiseth the dead faith and resurrection. Beautiful to see that in Paul as well as in Abraham.
God just stayed. He always tests it as well, and that is not an easy thing, but it is something that happens in every one of our lives. And this is probably the most severe test that Abraham was put to. But he had proved God and had had a child when he was beyond that age, and Sarah also was beyond that age.
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He had proved that God was the God that could bring lifeout of something that was dead.
And so this test is so beautiful to see how he.
Responded when God said Abraham take your son, your only son, and offer him up for a sacrifice. There was no reasonings with God, There was no asking.
God saying you said this was the Son I was going to have.
Descendants like the stars of Heaven and the sand by the seashore. How do you ask me to sacrifice him? Not one word that we read of of reasonings. Simple implicit obedience. He gets up early the next morning and puts the plan into effect. Oh, brethren, this is beautiful. The simplicity of faith. If you really trust somebody, you're going to be.
Implicitly obedient.
Especially in relation to God and what a testimony this was.
It says here.
He offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called. And here we learn something that we don't learn in the Old Testament accounting, that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from whence he also received him in a figure. So he had that confidence God promised me in this sun descendants.
As the stars of heaven, there is only one way that he can fulfill that.
Is that if he's offered up, he will raise him back to life again in this beautiful brethren, the tremendous trial of faith. And I sometimes say, if God gives us trials of faith, remember brethren, it's because he wants to display his glory, and we will only be the only see the display of that glory and the measure that we follow in simplicity.
Of obedience to what he asks us to do.
Portion that lets us see into the very thoughts of Abraham, because as you say, in the Old Testament, we know he had faith by what he did. But here it's his very thoughts. Because I might act in obedience to someone, you might tell me to do something, and I might outwardly do it. But in my thought process I might be wondering now, is this really going to work out in the end? What's going to happen? And so there might be an outward show of of of doing it.
But inwardly there may not be peace. But isn't it wonderful that as Abraham rose up early, and as he and Isaac went up that mountain together, there was settled peace in Abraham's soul about what he was doing? It wasn't just an outward obedience that he was performing. And when his son turned to him and said, behold the fire in the wood, But where is the lamb for a burnt offering, you might say. Well, what? What went through Abraham's mind?
Well, Abraham had utter confidence, and earlier he said to the young men that they would return. I and the lad will go Yonder and worship and notice this, and will return unto you. He had every confidence that even if he had to take that knife, and I'm sure Abraham thought.
That he was going to have to take that knife and slay his son. That's what God had told him to do.
But he knew that if he took that knife and slayed his son, it says he staggered not at the promises.
Because in his own mind these promises were so real, so convinced of he was he and his soul of these promises.
That he said, yes, I may have to take that knife, and I think he had every expectation of doing it.
But he said, we'll come again because right here we find that Abraham knew that if his son was slain, God was going to raise him from the dead, and that it was going to be in Abraham that those promises were going to be fulfilled. But if you let me say this too, I think it's interesting to see that this test of faith for Abraham was not given to him early on in his path of faith. You know the wonderful thing about faith is, brethren, we mentioned it's a gift of God the other day.
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And God never tests us above the faith that he gives. But one reason he does test us is so that our faith will grow.
You know the disciples said to the Lord Jesus on an occasion increase our faith. But if you notice carefully what the Lord said to them, he gave them an illustration to show that the way their faith was going to increase and develop was to put it in operation. You know if you have have a friend and you've known that friend a short time, you might feel like you can trust that friend. But if you get to know that friend and you've known them for many years, and they've always been worthy of your confidence.
Your faith in that person grows, And brethren, as faith is put in operation, and as it is tested, I believe that's the way our faith grows. And Abraham had so proved his God in the steps of his pathway, the little steps. And then as our brother Bob brought out the the having a son in their old age, he had so proved the Lord in those little things that when the great test came, his faith had grown so that he didn't stagger at the test. And as Bob said, there was immediate obedience.
To carry this out. So I think this is a great comfort to us as God put some tests detrying your faith. He's not going to try you above that you're able to bear.
So faith believes God.
And in connecting with what Bob was saying about reasoning.
We used to hear an old brother. I might name him, but I don't need to. Who said to us?
Reasoning is not faith, and faith does not reason. They are not together and we have a verse in Second Corinthians 10/5.
Says casting down imaginations, but if you look at the margin, it says reasoning.
And every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. That's where faith comes from, believing God, obeying God.
Effect about it is that.
When God puts us to the test or, and I think it can go the other way, when we put God to the test.
Our knowledge of himself grows.
And God wants us to know Him better. And so sometimes.
As Abraham, after certain experiences in his life, if you talk to him.
In his heart, he knew his God better than he had known him before. And our God wants us to know Him. It's his pleasure to make himself known to us, and for us to get to know him in an intimate way. And so.
When we see him.
And exercise his power on our behalf. Then there is a growth in our knowledge of himself. It's just like Jim said, our faith does grow, but to me, even it's true.
But a more wonderful thing, almost, is the fact that what really is growing in our minds is the greatness of our God. And so as we get to know him better, we'll trust him more.
They grow with exercise.
And I know that thou canst do everything.
That no thought of thine can be hindered. That's growing in the greatness of God the.
Can't hinder one of God's thoughts.
But, brethren, that in this supreme trial yesterday we heard about Abraham being the friend of God.
And it was as if God came to Abraham and said.
To him Abraham I have a secret. I also have a one and only son and only begotten son. And Abraham I'm going to sacrifice him as well and Abraham for that one, that only begotten son that I have. There will be no substitute how much Abraham entered into the picture.
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We do not know. It does say in John's Gospel. Abraham, your father saw my day.
And rejoiced.
Whether that refers to that or not, I'm not sure exactly, but I say how much did Abraham, being the friend of God, understand what we see in that whole story? The picture of God the Father and God the Son in the work of redemption. I I believe he did see something but but it is beautiful to think about it that it was.
God coming to his friend Abraham and opening up one of the most beautiful secrets of his heart.
To Genesis again, which bears on what Bob is saying, I believe the 18th of Genesis.
When the Lord comes to his tent door.
Of Abraham in the heat of the day.
And it says there were three men that came.
And.
You get it? I'll just start reading. The Lord appeared unto him. Well, he saw it.
Genesis 18.
In the plains of memory. And he sat in his tent door in the heat of the day, and he lifted up his eyes.
And looked and looked, three men stood by him.
When he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door and bowed himself toward the ground and said, Now he only talked to one of those men, but the other two were angels. But this one because, my Lord.
Evidently the knowledge of who was in front of him was there. That day the Lord appeared to him. He genuinely called him Lord. And if you look at that word, Lord, it's.
Capitals, isn't it?
There's one that is, Oh yes.
And here it's the other word Lord singles capitals. Well, I believe that that it was 7 times perhaps that the Lord appeared unto Abraham, but this is the most distinct 1.
Please to take manhood on this occasion.
And we believe that.
He was looking on. This is Lord of the Old Testament was the Lord blessed Son of God of the New. He was looking on to the day when he would take manhood.
And never relinquish it. You'd never give up manhood. And he's gone back to heaven. He suffered on the cross as man. He's but he's risen from the dead and he's gone back to heaven as man. And he'll be a man forever. And we're going to enjoy him as forever a blessed man. Blessed man. Christ Jesus. We're going to enjoy him forever as man.
It's 22. It's something that particularly brings before our hearts what it costs the Father to give the Son. Isaac doesn't particularly have a role in it as much as the Father, and what it was to the Father's heart to to give up his only son. Now, if you and I have an opportunity in the Halls of Glory to speak to Abraham in this way.
We might say to Abraham, Abraham, do you know what it must feel like for the father to give the son?
Abraham can say yes.
So where I was given the unique and wonderful privilege of passing through an experience in my life, that gave me something of the feeling of what it meant to God, my father's heart, to have to give up his Son. And so God does pass us through experiences in which faith is called upon that we might know him better. And Abraham knew God better as a result of that experience, and he was able to enter in and share something.
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In a more innocent way than perhaps most of us, if not all of us in this room have ever experienced.
As to the matter of what it means to the heart of God to give the Son. And yet God gave Abraham in to exercise his faith, the proof of his own relationship with Abraham, and in the truth of the resurrection. And so when God does allow us to go through things in life, he wants us to benefit from it and to know his heart, not only his power, but also his heart.
Abraham learned something in that experience of the heart of God.
I think most of us have, at least in an abstract way, some sense of the great power of God that can I say, he can do anything.
Except make our coffee makers work and so on. But but God has tremendous power and yet.
We sometimes fail to trust his love.
And Abraham was one who had to trust not only the power of God, but the heart of God.
When he was willing to be obedient in the offering of his Son.
Beautifully brought out in verse 17. I've often pondered this and what you've just shared is I at least helped me personally because it says in verse 17 of our chapter by Faith Abram, when he was dried up, offered up Isaac. Now I just say I'm going to do be careful. I could have had you or I've been writing this. We might have gone on then.
To verse 18. But the Spirit of God then repeats it, and he says, and he that had received the promises.
Offered up his only begotten son. It's the same one Isaac and his only begotten son. And it seems to me that's the power and the love. That Isaac was the one in whom all the promises were going to be fulfilled. And it was God's power alone who gave Sarah, due to the deadness of her wound, to even bear this child. And then Abram is called to OfferUp Isaac.
But his heart was involved too. And so we have in Genesis 22, take now thy son. Thine only Isaac. There was, or I think that's in parentheses so you can read it. Thine only Isaac. And so you get the feeling it wasn't only calling him to OfferUp what God had promised, but his heart, affection was wrapped up in a way that only a father's heart could be wrapped up with his son. And so you have that here.
By faith, Abram, when he was tried, offered up Isaac.
They say again. It seems to me that answers Brother Don to what you're talking about. You've been sharing with us about power.
And then it goes on. And he that received the promises offered up his only begotten son. That's the heart, affection. We do get tested on that, don't we? Both of those, whether we're going to trust not only his power but his love.
God Isaac.
I rather God spared Isaac, but he didn't spare his own son.
God spared Abraham, but he didn't spare himself.
Other deer that in Genesis 22 it he adds something to the verse that Doug quoted, whom thou lovest. And isn't it significant that that is the first mention of love in the word of God, the love between the father and the son? And I don't suppose we really enter into what must have passed between the heart of Abraham and Isaac as they started that journey.
And as they started up that mountain, and as the wood was laid in order, and as Isaac was laid on that altar, and Abraham had every expectation that he was going to plunge that night into the heart of his son, can we understand really what passed between Isaac and Abraham, thine only son whom thou lovest. God knew how much Abraham loved that son Isaac. And brethren, I think we need to consider this.
In connection with the type that we have.
In First John, when it says the Father sent the Son, isn't that more than if it just said God sent Jesus? God did send Jesus, that's true. But the Father sent the Son. Does that do something to your heart? Does that do something to my heart to realize, at least in some little measure, what it must have meant to God the Father to send the Son into this world knowing what the end would be?
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When I've often said when Israel sent Joseph to his brethren, did he know what the result would be when David sent When Jesse sent David to the camp of Israel, did he know what the result would be? No. I suspect if Israel had had any idea the the day he sent Joseph to his brethren that the son he loved he wasn't going to see for many, many years and was going to be treated so wickedly by his brother, I suggest he would have kept him home within the veil of Hebron.
If Jesse had known that David was going to be judged, even the nodding that the motive of his heart by his brethren, and then go down and fight the champion of the Philistine, I say, dare say Jesse would have kept David home. They didn't know the end result as a father who loved their sons, but God the father knew the end result and the father sent the son. I think we just need to stop and meditate on that love that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all.
22 Is much more the trial of the Father, not so much of the Son, the obedience of the Son, but the trial of the Father. God wants us to know.
How much he loves us to give, his only begotten son to get.
Children for their father's house.
Forsaking the father, forsaking the son.
Our Holy.
Isaacs of death for three days.
Abraham looked it up, looked up and he saw the place far off 3 days journey. Isaac didn't know. He didn't know what lay ahead of him.
But the Lord Jesus is under the sentence of death and past eternity. He knew what he was coming into this world for.
For baptism to be baptized with And how am I straightened except to be accomplished?
Men. Women.
Are brought before us in our chapter to encourage us in the path of faith to endure.
And.
We might not ever be called upon to offer up our son or our children.
But.
Faith has done it.
If there's a father here who has baptized his little children.
He did that by faith and if done intelligently.
You're really saying to God?
This child is born of me.
Cannot enter the Kingdom of heaven, and so they're placed in the waters of death.
So that we can, in a figure, receive them out of that death to raise them, put Christ on them, and raise them for the glory of God's Kingdom. But that's all by faith, and the only benefit to it is the reality of the faith connected with it. Some haven't done that, but when you've gone into the waters of baptism for yourself.
You've done the equivalent, you've said. I know, Lord, you're done with me, all that I'm.
All that my portion can be from you is to die, and I have to go into death. But it's the death of Christ, and so we're baptized into his death that we might be raised up out of that water.
But it's only effective we can be baptized.
And have no meaning to us. It's only effective by the faith that we realize what we've done. And so God takes these precious things that are important and valuable to us. And sometimes He takes them away to give them back to us on a new ground and resurrection ground. So when we receive our children back out of the waters of baptism.
00:35:15
It's for the purpose of raising them and newness of life is for the purpose of training them for Christ. Purposes and interest in the same true thing is true of every one of us. And some of us were baptized older age and life, but we were saying to God as I was born of my mother.
There can be no replenishing. There can be no sand of the sea, no stars of the sky from me.
I have to go into death and in order that I might be raised up, and so that's what happened to Isaac in a figure.
As born as it were of Abraham, he couldn't become the sand of the sea. He couldn't become the stars of the sky. But in resurrection eyes it could be that.
I just want to say, you know.
Baptism in the Lord's Supper can become just forms with us.
But God wants us to attach faith to these things, that they become realities to us. And if they become realities to us, we do forfeit our life, don't we?
No wonder.
To be brought into common thoughts with God about this. And God knew that the only way anybody could be blessed was if his Son went down into death and rose again. And that's the only way any of us are ever going to be blessed is in resurrection life. Everything of this world and this life is coming to an end. It must be. But the Lord Jesus has opened up a whole new world, a whole new life, resurrection life.
And he brings us there, but when he brings us there, he wants to have common thoughts with this. And how lovely to think of Abraham and the glory sharing with God his father the thoughts that God had as he gave his Son. And it receives him back again in resurrection life for all eternity. And then he has a lots of others around him, like like his son, to share it together.
Well, we look forward to that and how good for us even right now, to be able to enter into the meaning of resurrection.
We have Isaac now blessing.
Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. That is interesting.
Isaac Never.
As Jacob got so far out of the pathway of faith. But the end of Isaac's life is not a real happy one. He was lacking in vision and he got deceived by his son Jacob. But it is interesting again to see that God sees be beyond.
The outward appearance of things and there's anything that makes me slow about judging what there may be of God and other people. Brethren, it is verses like this. There was faith in Isaac when he blessed, and you read the count in in Genesis. It's Genesis 27 about Isaac blessing. It seems like what prevailed in his thinking was to get a a savory meal out of.
Esau from his venison and.
It was not much you would consider spiritual, and he blesses.
Jacob thinking that it is Esau and then in verse 33 it's interesting and I think this is where faith comes into the picture.
Genesis 2733 and.
Esau comes in, and it says Isaac trembled very exceedingly and said who?
Where is he that hath taken venison and brought it me? And I have eaten all of all before thou camest, and have blessed him.
Now notice the last phrase of that verse, because this is where I think faith prevails. Yay, and he shall be blessed. God had told them, had told him before the elder. The elder shall serve the younger, and he knew that. But it didn't seem like that was in his mind when he purposed to bless his sons.
00:40:28
But here is where faith prevails, yeah, and he shall be blessed.
And he does give a blessing to Esau, but he does not take away the blessing from Jacob, because Jacob was the one that appreciated the things of God.
These cases of Jacob and Esau.
And.
Then Jacob blessing the sons of Joseph, Ephraim and Manasseh.
That in each case it's.
Not the elder that gets the prominent in the 1St place. I think it's consistently that way in scripture we've had about Cain and Abel. Cain was older than Abel. God comes along and he he doesn't make anything of the natural man that's born of man. Nothing ever. He comes in by election picks out another one and that's the way he's gotten us. Just the way he got Abraham he took him out of.
Idolatry called him, and blessed him and.
Blessing. We've been through that. So the natural man, the flesh naturally doesn't get the 1St place. It's grace that brings in and chooses an election.
That sister down in Bogota, Colombia, asked that question when I was down there some time ago, she said. And before our meeting started, she was just talking to us. She says, Brother, why is it that it is always not the first, but the second? It wasn't Cain, It was Abel, It was not Esau. It was Jacob. It was not.
Manasseh it was Ephraim. Why is it always that way?
And so we turn to 1St Corinthians 15. It's the not the first man, It's the second man, the Lord out of heaven. And so that's the picture that you get in all these cases. And it is beautiful that Jacob seemed to have learned that principle when he blessed Joseph's son. You remember when Joseph brought his sons to Jacob to bless him, he put.
Manasseh at Jacob's right hand and Ephraim at his left hand.
And it said, Jacob guided his hands wittingly, and he crossed them and blessed to give the bigger blessing to Ephraim. And it was because I really believe he had the sense in his soul of that principle that God, it's not the first, it's the second man that God has in mind.
You've raised that question about First Corinthians 15. The first man is of the earth.
Earthy the second man is the Lord out of heaven. Now in the purposes of God they have always from all eternity been in the one, that would be the second man. But in the plan of God in nature the first one had to come first, and then the second one came by the 1St man.
Wonderful plan of God.
Isn't that the basis of which God can righteously give up by grace to the first man has the right but he always spoils it and so God can give it to whom so ever he will. And there's no no claims can be made. And so that's why it says when the fullness of time was come, there was a time when the first man had the chance.
And then God after that was over, God could do it his way. That's grace. How good.
There isn't much in Jacob's early life that calls for much admiration. But it's wonderful to see how how he had learned some things and at the end he how he shines so brightly coming and.
00:45:10
As you're saying, when he he crossed his hands wittingly and.
When Joseph brought his two sons to him, Jacob, he crossed his hands wittingly. Well, now this is a law. God could have done the same thing for Jacob back in the early days, when it was a question of blessing to his two sons. He could have done the same thing with Esau and Jacob. He could have done the very same thing then. But Jacob had had to learn, and he had to suffer.
For what he had done, and Rebecca had to suffer too. The boy that she loved, her son that she loved most of all. She never saw him again after he went, he after he fled from his brother Esau.
She never saw her son again and she suffered for her part in that and what they did.
I'm sorry, go ahead. No, I just want to say lovely to see that Jacob in his last days he he, he worshipped.
And it says, leaning upon the top of his staff, or he worshipped upon the top of his staff, he become.
A worshiper man, he never had been that much in his life, but he ended up. What a beautiful ending.
To that Jacob never had it so good as when Joseph sent and brought him down to Egypt and took care of him. Jacob never had it so good in his lifetime. But all the glory of Egypt and all the wealth and the luxury and the splendor of Egypt, it really didn't. It didn't mean that much to Jacob. He told Joseph he didn't want to be buried in Egypt. He made sure he wanted to be buried.
In the land of Israel, in the land for the glory was going to come to that land, and that's where he wanted to be buried. So. So the Egypt with all its wealth and its glory, it really never captured the heart and the mind of Jacob.
In this 22nd verse.
5 Faith Joseph when he died.
Made mention of the departing of the children of Israel and gave commandments concerning his bone.
I think we read twice in that account.
Of them having those bones of Joseph as they walked.
Up toward Canaan.
That it is a slight indication.
Of the memorial that the Lord has given us to do.
Breaking bread in remembrance of him and his death.
They, I'm saying the children of Israel, they had an evidence of the death of that brother that they had treated so poorly.
There with him now we have as we go, our 40 years in the wilderness.
Not just twice, but all the time available. A reminder that our Savior died to get us.
A lot of Prastine, Isaac and Jacob's lives like we were mentioning Isaac never seemed to get out of the pathway of faith so much in his lifetime. He started toward Egypt and the Lord gave him a word and he didn't go like Abraham his father had gone. He stayed in the land of Canaan. He never got out of the pathway of faith, but it is rather sad to see how his days ended.
Rather, he could not see but Jacob, who was such a scoundrel, really, I mean deceiving so many people, managing things for his own purpose, not really fully trusting the Lord. God breaks that man when he wrestles with him and he touches the joint of his thigh, and his thigh is out of joint and he can't struggle any longer.
God makes that man a prevailer.
And to me, it is most beautiful to see the end of Jacob's story. What is he doing?
00:50:01
That scoundrel, while he's down in Egypt, what is he doing down there?
He's taken into the very presence of Pharaoh, and he blesses Pharaoh without controversy. The lesser is blessed of the greater, really, in that picture. Jacob is more than Pharaoh in that exceedingly beautiful. How God takes a man that is a scoundrel and brings him into such an exalted position. What a beautiful thing, brother. Is there any question that he can do the same for any one of us?
For as much as we've been scoundrels, he can He can break us, and he can bring us to the point of being prevailers with God and men. Think of what God valued in Jacob was that he believed and wanted those promises, but he wanted them ahead of time in his own way. He wasn't patient to wake God's time, but he did believe God that he would wrestle about them.
But he had to learn that it was all on the grounds of grace, and that's why he lived so long, really in the Shadow. It's interesting that when the sun went down in connection with Jacob's Ladder, you never read of the sun rising again for 20 years till he wrestled with the Angel at Peniel. Wasn't that a long time to live in the Shadow brethren? But he lived in the shadow of trying to make bargains with God. We don't make bargains with God. We don't get the blessing that way. He tried to tell God, well, if I do my part, you do this. And so on.
But he had to learn in wrestling with the Angel at Peniel, that if there was going to be any blessing in his life, it was not on the grounds of anything, that he could do nothing in himself. But it was all on the grounds of pure sovereign grace. It was God's part and not and not his. But I've enjoyed, as he went down to Egypt to see Joseph, that he stops in this 47th chapter of Genesis. In fact, let's just read it because I I think it ties in with this expression.
Where it says later on he worshipped leaning on the top of his staff. I think you have the beginnings of it here in the as he goes down into Egypt in the 47th.
Of Genesis, I'm sorry, In the 46th chapter, chapter 46 and verse one. And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beersheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. And God spake unto Israel in the vision of the night, And said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, here am I. And he said I am God, the God of thy father.
Fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will dare make of the a great nation. I will go down with thee into Egypt and will surely bring me up again. And Joseph. Joseph shall put his hand upon my knife. I think this is so beautiful because this is not the Jacob you read about a few chapters before. Not the Jacob who's doesn't seem to fear to do anything. He doesn't seem to fear to take matters into his own hand and go out and meet his enemies and and so on, and even to speak to God in certain ways.
But now we find a man who is ready to go down into Egypt at the call of his son. And evidently he's afraid. And he stopped here. And he offers a sacrifice. And God appears to him. And he says, Jacob, don't be afraid to go down. I'm going to go with you. I'm going to to strengthen you. I'm going to preserve you. I think this is so beautiful. And it's interesting that he calls his name twice here. Jacob. Jacob.
Some of us were noticing a while back that there are 7 individuals in the word of God.
Who, when they were called, had their names repeated twice, and I believe there are only 7 whom God called in this way, and Jacob is one of them. And it's interesting he doesn't say Israel Israel.
Because he's the God of Jacob. Israel is what we are. By grace. We're a Prince with God.
But Jacob is what we are by nature. But aren't we thankful, brethren, that even when we act as men in the flesh, he's the God of Jacob? And so it was to Jacob here that he called, and he gives him this precious promise. And Jacob now, I believe, arises from Beersheba and goes down not in his own strength, the way he had traversed the land of Canaan, but he goes down in the strength and confidence of his God. And the end result, I say, is what we have in our chapter, he worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.
6 Psalm 40. Psalm 46.
Where it speaks of the the God of Jacob. God delights to be called the God of Jacob. Remember brother saying how that he loved that expression. He says I go out in the morning sometimes and and with high hopes of having a good day and he says before I get through he says I I've kind of made a mess of things and I didn't act like I should have done and so on and so on like. But he says I can come home at night. He says I can always come home to the God of Jacob. The God of Jacob is our refuge.
00:55:30
Yeah, yeah. And so how wonderful God delights to be called the God of Jacob. Fear not, he says no. Worm Jacob. Fear not, thou worm Jacob. Oh, what a God we have.
A wonderful example to us of faith and encouraging example, I'd like to turn to Genesis 49.
And here he is blessing his sons, and they're mentioned in our chapter 2.
This is toward the end of his life. Not only bless Pharaoh, but he blessed his family. Verse one it said. Jacob called into his sons and said.
Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. Gather yourselves together, and hearken you sons of Jacob, and hearken unto Israel your father.
He takes.
That place of dignity that he had given to him by God, but what I've enjoyed.
Is down in his blessing of Joseph.
In verse 26.
The blessing of thy father. That's Jacob Israel.
Have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors, or his parents unto the utmost bounds, is what you were saying, Brother Bob. Isaac is his father, his parents.
They didn't attain to the spiritual height.
Jacob attained to and when it came to the end of his days to bless Joseph, he could bless him with a blessing.
That was above the blessing of his father, or, I think Mr. Darby might suggest, his parents. And it's lovely to see how this dear man of God, I think it's in Genesis 35. He has to say, God was with me in all the ways I went. He didn't walk with God, but God walked with him.
And there's a difference, but still.
God didn't let him go. God did walk with him. And God by walking with him and through correction and government in his ways, this man responded to such a degree that at the close of his life he could bring a blessing on Joseph that Isaac was not able to bring to him. It's it's beautiful.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
And Jacob, we got a one who had a poor start, but he had a good, good finish.
I think we he had a good start, but he really had a poor finish. Abraham had a good start and a good finish. Well, it's good. Best of all to have both.
Be nice to verse 23 forward about Moses. We have 1/2 an hour left, maybe a little less. But it's interesting to see in this report of Moses that before it talks about Moses faith, it talks about the faith of Moses parents. I think this is another encouragement to Christian parents for their children to see that Moses had.
Parents of faith, by faith, Moses when he was born.
Was hid three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper child and they were not afraid of the King's commandment. If you look at the Old Testament account, it might appear that they were afraid of the King's commandment. But there was that little baby, and the sentence of death was placed upon that little child by Pharaoh. They had to be thrown. Each manchild had to be thrown into the river. I think it is so beautiful, the way they acted.
01:00:14
They did not act in ignorance of that commandment, but that mother took.
Basket.
And protected it and put her little child in there and put.
That child exactly where the king had commanded.
That child to be put in the river. And I think it's so beautiful because when Pharaoh's daughter comes and takes him out of the river and ultimately takes him to the court of Pharaoh, Pharaoh might have said, I commanded that those boys be put in the river. She would have been able to say he was in the river and I took him out of there. The King's commandment had been fulfilled. He had been placed in that place of death.
And was taken out of there, I think that is so beautiful to see the faith of Moses. Parents, we live in a world that is under the sentence of death, and we cannot ignore that, brethren. We cannot ignore that. And it seems like a tremendous challenge to bring up children in a world like we live in it is that it cannot be otherwise but oh brethren, to be able to count on God.
Who would have ever thought that? The very daughter of Pharaoh.
Would have given back that child into her mother's, his mother's arms, and said, take this child and raise it for me, and I will give thee wages tremendous intervention of the hand of God.
We've just it's so lovely in Exodus chapter one to see how his birth comes about, and I don't know that the chronology of it is here, but the way the spirit of God has recorded it, it's really encouraging.
In chapter one of Exodus, the last verse, it says Pharaoh charged all the people saying every son that is born he shall cast into the river and every daughter you shall save a life And there when a man of the House of Levi's.
Of the daughter of Levi and the woman conceived and bare a son. They weren't afraid of the King's commandment. They weren't afraid of the threats of this world. They went ahead because they saw in our chapter in Hebrews He is a beautiful child. He's not going to be consumed by the world and its threats. And they went ahead in faith and had this little boy and God preserved them. They weren't afraid.
Of the King's commandment, and you know it's a real detriment to us.
And especially you who are beginning the path of life as fathers and mothers, parents. It's a real snare to you. If you become you begin moving in fear of the world. I don't know what I'm going to do. You don't need to move in fear of the King's commandment. You move in the faith of the preserving God of your family and.
Maybe someone could help me, but I've always wondered all my Christian life, Moses.
Whether Bob said we know that name Moses was given by Pharaoh's daughter and it means the drawn out one. Is that not right?
He comes out and you might say in resurrection ground he's his parents put him in that place of death, but he is a drawn out one. But what I don't understand is my pharaoh's daughter gave him that name and that's what he's known by consistently. I don't know why that's so.
Providence put Moses in the court of Pharaoh, but faith took him out.
Face took him out.
I don't have any answer to your question, Henry, but it's just another thought before we go on.
Talks about that. They saw that the child was a proper child.
01:05:02
And we sometimes read that and think that.
They looked at this baby and they saw a very healthy little baby and they were loath to allow anything to hurt him. Well, that's certainly a natural thing and it would be a natural and normal response, the response of any normal parent that seeing their child born, they would see a proper child and it would be very beautiful. But it says in the new translation that he was beautiful here and in Acts Chapter 7, when Stephen is recounting this, he says they saw the child exceedingly lovely or beautiful to God. Mr. Darby has a note, Beautiful to God.
My point is this.
That this is faith in its, you might say, most elementary form for parents.
That they look at the child, they look at you, parents, you look. And I remember when I saw my first born and then on our second one too, those little babies that the the nurse brought. And they they weren't physically beautiful, but they were the most beautiful thing in the world. But even that is not why.
That that these parents had made this decision that they were going to hide Moses. They saw by faith what God saw. What God saw was a potential deliverer of the people of God. And that's what made Moses beautiful.
He was naturally speaking a beautiful child to them, as I say, any normal parent would see in their child.
But but beloved brethren, those of you who are, as Brother Henry said, raising your children now and starting on that path of life, and those who are a little ways along it. And even those of us who are grandparents can't enter in in this, in this to look at these treasures that God has given and view them the way God views them as beautiful to God because of the potential that they have for the support and the health and the well-being of God's beloved people in the assembly.
And when we view them by faith through God's eyes, there cannot be any.
Quarter given. Nor would we think of giving any quarter to the world that would come in and take those beautiful children away and use them for their own means and for their own purposes of The world sees our children beautiful, and what it sees is that somehow our children can be used to support the world that Cain built.
And our children can be trained. And it's such a tremendous commendation of what Moses mother received when Bob quoted this. And Bob, I I I'm not making you an offender for words, but you said take this child and raise him for me, but it's take this child away and nurse him for me. And so those parents did that. In reality they took Moses and they hid Moses all the time that that mother had.
However long that was, it was enough time given by God to instill in him a love for the people of God, a love for God for Jehovah, and a love for the people of God. So that when the time came after he had been raised and had all of the blessings of Pharaoh's court, and Pharaoh's court would make a claim and say, now look what we did for you, we saved you, we preserved you, You owe your life to us. You owe us. And that's what this world is saying to our children.
Look at the conditions you've grown up in. You owe us.
And Moses said no, I don't.
I owe the one that my parents.
Feared not the one that they didn't fear, I owe, as it were Jehovah and his people. And so we find that while they had No Fear in of of the King's commandment, later when Moses is brought to the place responsibility, he has No Fear either.
He was brought up and was given those things, well beloved brethren, parents, grandparents, and all of us in the assembly. May we look at these children and these young people as God looks at them, beautiful potential preservers, and do everything we can to take them away from the world that wants to use them for its own gain, That we, the assembly, might be preserved and blessed by them.
Important the first years of a child's life are the impressions that are given, and as Pharaohs daughter gave that little baby back to Moses Moses mother.
And instructed her to take it and to raise it, to nurse it. We don't know how long Moses mother had that child, but I'm sure she must have instilled in his little heart a love for God. And I love for the promises of God that the promises of God were not in Egypt because he went to Pharaoh's court. And I can imagine we don't know how long Moses mother lived, but.
01:10:24
It was a full 40 years before he comes to the point of verse 24, if I'm not mistaken.
Who's 40 years old and Moses, Mother might have thought. Just wonder.
What's going to ever happen to my boy Moses? And all those years? Finally, at 40 years old, he's mighty in Word indeed. He comes out and he takes his stand to identify himself with the people of God. He refuses to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. That was a lie. That was not the truth. And he takes his stand with those slaves, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God.
That is not a normal reaction. You don't just simply choose.
To suffer. People don't do that, naturally speaking, but he saw.
In those slaves, the people of God that were connected with future glory and the promises that God had made for those people. I think it's so beautiful that it finally came to fruition in Moses at that juncture.
At this, before we go on, Brother Bob, we're talking here about the son of Pharaoh's daughter.
And I want to suggest to our hearts that there are two characters that we, especially parents, have to see in this world. There's the Pharaoh character of this world, and there's the Pharaoh's daughter character of this world. The Pharaoh character of this world is that violent character that would outwardly do anything to corrupt and destroy.
And it's very noticeable and it's very obvious in our world today. We might look at that as the drug scene or the violence, immorality, very open pharaoh that says cast them in the river, kill them. But what we're far more easily tripped up with, and what we are as parents in this group, as believers are far more prone to get tripped up by, is the pharaoh's daughter character of the world, which is a very beautiful, loving, caring.
Innocent looking character. Something that protects and cares for. You know, when Pharaoh was taken into that court, he wasn't taken in there.
And taught how to kill and how to be immoral. He was taught in all the wisdom and the learning of the Egyptians. He was given the very finest of everything. And it takes faith, brethren, as much faith, to reject and to train our children to reject the Pharaoh's daughter character of this world as it does to say, As the saying goes, just say no to drugs. Just say no to immorality. Well, that's the Pharaoh character of the world. And we can say that that doesn't take faith. We see it. We see the horror of it.
But brethren, what we need, faith anointed as parents and grandparents in our eyes, is to see the Pharaoh's daughter character, this world which looks so beautiful.
It looks so good, it looks so attractive and to say to our children and our young people.
We don't want you to take up with the Pharaoh's daughter character of the world either. They both had the same purpose. Pharaoh and Pharaoh's daughter both had the same purpose, and that was to destroy the people of God. One did it through open violence, one was going to do it through being nice, and that's the world we live in. It will destroy, if it can, our children, either by open violence and corruption or by being very nice. And we need faith to see that and to steer our children away from it.
Arrows Pharaoh of the Genesis was favorable to God's people favor the Pharaoh of Exodus, though he proved to be a tyrant. And the powers that be though are ordained of God, but a that power they this Pharaoh of Exodus. He went beyond what the power that God had given him.
In throwing in at having those babes thrown into the river and so that.
They were not afraid, Moses father and mother. They were not afraid of the King's commandment. They felt that the Lord was with them, we would be with them, and he was acting beyond this fear was acting beyond what God had had given them and.
01:15:05
Great decision.
And it has a lasting testimony. If he had remained with Pharaoh's house, he might have been one of those inhabitants of the pyramids over there.
Dead.
Milestone time, but now we find Moses on the mount of Transfiguration with the living God.
What a what a beautiful result.
The glory.
Years of age, Moses had his mind made-up. He'd come to what do we say he'd come to?
Well, anyhow, 40 years of ageing, if a man hasn't got his mind made-up at 40 years of age, it's a question whether he ever will. But at 40 years of age he had his mind made-up what he what he was going to do and which way he was going to go. And Pharaoh, he realized that too, when he he could see what which way Moses was going to go. But he says, but when at 40 years of age, and he had, he made-up his mind and he was rather suffer affliction with the people of God.
And so he turns everything. All that he ever knew or ever learned, He learned all in the court of Pharaoh. He was a no doubt. He was a he was a strong, powerful man. How he he learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians. And who can tell? Afari might have gone, but he made-up that by faith given of God, he made-up his decision. He would rather suffer affliction with the people of God.
And that's the wonderful thing about grace, about faith. Faith looks on into the future.
And sees the purposes of God. And this is what Moses wanted.
And so he endured us, seeing him who is invisible, because we don't want to give the impression as we take up the lives of these individuals that the path of faith is going to be easy. It was very difficult for Moses, and when we read the life of Moses we can see the truth of what is recorded here in this chapter He chose to suffer affliction with the people of God, and later on in this chapter it speaks of the wrath of the King.
There were those things. There were difficulties. There were trials, There was reproach. Maybe you say, I try to follow the Lord in the path of faith, and I have one problem and difficulty after another. I try to do what's right and I'm reproached even from the other young people. Well, look at the life of the Lord Jesus, the perfect example. He never digressed from the path of faith. He began it and completed it in perfection. That's what you get in the in the next chapter, he's the author and finisher of faith, that he began and and completed the path of faith.
In perfection. But who suffered more in that path than the Lord Jesus? He could say Reproach hath broken mine heart.
He suffered reproach even from those who were closest to him in his pathway and in his public ministry. And so if you choose to follow the Lord and you take up the path of faith and leave the world behind, it's not going to be easy. But wouldn't you rather go over a rough Rd. in good company than the smoothest road and not be in good company? And so, as our brother was saying, here was Moses later on in the company of the Lord Jesus.
On the Mount of Transfiguration, we'll say to Moses in glory, was it worth giving up the throne of Egypt in a pyramid erected in your honor?
Was it worth all the problems and difficulties and justice? Read The Wilderness. They blamed Moses.
When something happened, they blamed Moses for their problems and difficulties. There were times when all his brethren turned against him and spoke of stoning him. And you say to Moses in glory, was it worth it all? Oh, he'll say it was worth it all and more, because I say, he endured as seeing him who is invisible. But it's what we said at the beginning of these reading meetings. Brethren, if we don't have our eye on the future, we're not going to give up present advantage. Moses gave up present advantage. He gave up the luxury of the palace of Egypt.
Why did he do it? He had the end in view. He had the reward before him. He he saw a person, and that person so motivated his heart that he was able to follow on even amidst the reproaches and trials.
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Moses esteemed the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. That's quite a calculation to make, but I think that's something that's challenging to us. Do we prefer the reproach of Christ to the treasures in Egypt?
Brethren, if there's anything that's going to be to our account in that coming day, it's to suffer reproach for the name of Christ.
And the treasures in Egypt you can amount, You can amass fortunes. But they all have to stay behind. Absolutely everything has to stay behind. We'll leave it all behind, Moses. Riches are forever for incalculable. We need to really think these things through in relation to the present world that we live in, especially our dear young people. But all of us, brethren, we are deceived into putting our trust, our sights on these.
Material things Moses forsook Egypt with all its glory.
Just before we get to the end of our time Brethren, I just want to point out something that I really enjoy in this chapter, and I think we often miss it down towards the end of the chapter because we got several others here verse.
31 is Rahab verse 32 Gideon, Barrack, Sampson, Jeff, the David, Samuel and the Prophets. And then it speaks of those who did wondrous.
Things through the strength of faith and then we come down to.
The middle of verse 35. And I just want to point these out because they're just as much part of the witnesses of faith as the others that triumph in faith, and we revel in the triumphs that they gained. But it says here after the first phrase of verse 35 and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance.
They might obtain a better resurrection. Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourging, yet, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, They were sawn asunder. They were tempted. They were slain with a sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, you might say. Where's the triumph of faith in these men? They were not delivered. They died.
In their witness of faith. But, O brethren, it's because.
Of resurrection. And let's always remember that we may not get God's answer down here in this world.
That should not discourage us. God's answer is in resurrection.
And the verse that has so impressed me is in two Timothy chapter 2. It says.
Remember Jesus Christ of the seed of David raised from the dead according to my gospel.
There was Paul, given his last words to his son. In the faith, Timothy, everything looked dark. They were giving up on every side. It looked like the cause that Paul was standing for was a failure. It was doomed to to failure. But he says, Remember Timothy, Jesus Christ of the seed of David, raised from the dead according to my gospel. Remember brethren, God's.
Full answer comes in resurrection. We may never see it down here.
So these that were not delivered, is there an answer to their faith? There certainly is.
It is in resurrection.
Not worthy.
Is a true statement.
The world wasn't a good enough place for these in resurrection. They're raised up to the glory.
Men that put them to death thought, well, let's get rid of them. Let's get them out of this world through death.
God looks at it differently. The world wasn't worthy to have them. He took them up.
One day he'll break. Take us all up there too.
#100.
We see the glory of which thou dost assure us the world despise for that high prize which thou has set before us, and may we count it worthy to meet the sun from heaven.
01:25:00
There see our Lord by all the Lord to us in glory Given 165.
Forever.
When I take you to meet me, I saw him from the earth.
There is a heart, Glory.
By all my Lords, you are spending glory.
I think it's chapter 41.
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Isaiah chapter 41 and verse 8.
But thou, Israel, art my servant.
Jacob, whom I have chosen.
The seed of Abraham, my friend.
Thou whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and said unto thee.
Thou art my servant. I have chosen thee and not cast thee away. Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. Yeah, I will help thee. Yeah. I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Verse 14.
Fear not thou worm Jacob.
And you, men of Israel.
I will help thee, saith the Lord and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
Let's pray.
Friendship With God
Address—D. Rule
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Let's sing it 327.
Lord, save the sorry.
My birthday, Oh my God.
And everything.
No one in heaven.
Of all.
Such was thy grace.
Like for our sake.
Louder from heaven.
Calm down.
Flash.
And blood party.
And make our.
Sins are guilt.
And love divine.
I'm born by the the the curse.
Word lying.
To set as thy.
Some free.
Standard.
Now and glory bright.
Life.
Glorious day.
On.
The.
Shelter.
Wandering World's display.
That we.
Will stay.
As God's help.
00:05:04
Would you turn with me to James Chapter 2?
James chapter 2 and verse 23.
And the scripture was fulfilled, which saith Abraham believed God.
And it was imputed unto him for righteousness.
And he was called the friend of God.
Some here may remember that I made some.
Remarks recently, a few weeks ago at Addison.
On this subject, and they were rather brief. And afterwards the brother came to me and asked if I would consider speaking a little more at length about it. And I also realized that some of the thoughts in my heart I hadn't been able to communicate very well either. And so with God's help, again this afternoon we're going to take up.
What we have brought before us in this verse, friendship with God.
Here the only man in the whole of the Bible that I know of that.
Is so-called the friend of God? Is the man Abraham? And yet I would desire, brethren, that everyone of us would want.
To enter into and enjoy that relationship with our God.
That he too might refer to us as the friend of God.
We're not talking about being a believer. We're going to look the Lord willing, at Abraham a little bit, and he had a relative Lot. And I don't think it would be right to say that Lot was a friend of God.
At least not in the scriptural sense of it. And so Lot was a believer. Abraham was a believer. We expect to see both of them in the glory. But we.
Realize that their relationship with their Lord, their God, during their lives here on earth was not the same.
And of Abraham, it said he was the friend of God.
This subject came before me by the way of the conscience rather than the heart after September 11.
After September 11, there were many people addressing why the events of that day happened and what God was saying.
And.
We.
All perhaps have had our own thoughts on such a subject, and it's not my intent, not a call from the Lord, to speak about that this afternoon.
But what struck my conscience was the statement in a conversation between the Lord and Abraham.
When?
The Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham?
That which and Mr. Darby's translation, that which I am doing.
Brethren, we're not talking this afternoon about the sense of having an understanding of prophecy.
That's not what is meant or on my heart about having friendship with God.
Abraham.
Knew about the future. And if you would ask him in his equivalent to what we call prophecy, he could say, well, the children of Israel are the people. The seed that are going to come from my loins are going to be down in Egypt for 400 years. And after that they're going to be delivered and they're going to go back into their land. And he could talk about the future in that way.
But before the judgment.
That took place.
In a neighboring town, if you will, to where he lived.
Of Sodom, the Lord stopped by his house to have a conversation with Abraham, and he said Abraham. And he said, the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that which I'm doing? In other words, to the Lord, He couldn't think of exercising that judgment that was planned on Sodom the next day or two without first stopping and talking about it with Abraham.
And in fact, giving Abraham a chance to intercede, which he did with God concerning his that city.
00:10:02
And so here it says, shall I hide from Abraham? Or can I say not here? But it says he was called the friend of God.
I'd like to introduce perhaps something that helped me in meditating a little bit on friendship. I'm going to tell you about a friend that I had, but I don't think anybody in this room knows or knew, including my wife.
His name's Bobby.
And I'm going to describe him as my friend, as he was.
So that you perhaps, though you don't know him, you might relate to somebody that you've had in your life that you've called a friend.
And by doing so, we might make relationship in a sense to have a better sense of what it is to be a friend of God.
When I was seven years old.
My family moved to the house in which I continued to grow up until the day I was married.
And when we moved in to that house on Lenape Drive, across the street from us was another family that had three boys.
And the middle boy's name was Bobby.
He was within.
Five days of my age.
Six days. We born the same week, so we were the same age. And from that point on, Bobby and I were buddies. We were pals, we were friends. I got to know him.
And it seemed like we did everything together. I was seven years old.
When we came to know one another, we went to the same grade school together. We went to the same.
Junior high that our city had, we went to the same high school and in fact we went to the same college.
Together. Thank you.
Bobby was my friend. We walked to school together. We were in the same classes together. When we went home, we went home, we walked home together. And summertime was especially a great time for us because right behind our houses.
Was a ravine that went down into woods with a Creek and we could go up and down and explore maybe 2 miles in each direction along the the Creek bed and catch our crawdads and our little fish and go fool's gold mining and building our tree houses and our hideaways and our forks together. And I would go out in the morning and or he would and when I'd come outside the house and he started out across the street from me, but his house parents built the house.
On a vacant lot right beside her house. So most of the years he lived right beside me and his house and my house were maybe 20 feet apart. And I'd go out in the morning. And I don't know, I haven't done it for years and I'm not sure I still can, but it's nostalgic to me in that sense. But.
We had a special whistle that I never used with anybody else, never even used it on my children, but Bobby and I were pals.
And so when I would come out in the morning, I would crank up the whistle better than that.
And he knew it because it was special. It was just used for communication between the two of us and he would come out and we would.
Buddies. Friends have secrets they share together. I wouldn't have thought of not having some something important to me that I wouldn't share with him. And I think it was true of him.
You would share with me?
I had brothers in my family, some of them older, some of them younger, and they were friends and pals too in a way, but he had brothers too.
But we were close, closer really, and some of our Blood Brothers at that time.
When I was in grade school there came a year I remember it with considerable feeling to this day.
There was a particular organization that Bobby joined that my parents said no to me.
And that was a little cloud really on the horizon of our friendship because he joined with some other boys to do certain things and my parents said I was not allowed to do that.
00:15:01
And so we couldn't be together all the time in the same way.
Well, I don't want to spend the hour talking about Bobby, so I'm going to kind of cut it short except to say when when we got into junior high.
We had different responsibilities in life and.
And there was another family, another house was built on the street behind us. And there was a boy named Jeff that.
Moved in there and.
We all went to school together, and when we were in high school, our high school had a fraternities and sororities. I know that's not common, but ours did. And Bobby joined the fraternity and so did Jeff. And there's a certain secretness to that, a certain bond there.
And to make that part of the story short, our friendship waned.
Because we didn't share the same things in common. There were any fights about it. There were any parting of the ways, really. If we saw each other today, I'm sure we would embrace.
But what was in common between us wasn't there in the same way anymore.
And so there was gradually, you might say, a certain separation.
I'm thankful to see in those same years there were people in this room. Bob's one, Doug's another.
That went the other direction, from getting to know them to getting closer. Until today, I would call them my friends.
I want to turn back with you to Genesis.
Chapter 15.
Genesis chapter 18 and consider with you a little bit about the friend of God.
And to me, some of the things that made him the friend of God.
So that you too and I might enter more.
Into the enjoyment of it, and perhaps into the reality of being a friend with God.
Genesis chapter 18 verse one. And the Lord appeared unto him, that is Abraham in the land.
Planes of mammary. And he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day, and he lift up his eyes and looked and loathed. Three men stood by him. And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door and bowed himself toward the ground, and said, My Lord.
If now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant. Let a little water I pray thee be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, and I will fetch a morsel of bread and comfort your hearts. After that you shall pass on, for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do as thou said. And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly 3 measures of fine meal.
Need it, and make cakes upon the heart. And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man, and he hasted to dress it. And he took butter and milk in the calf, which he addressed, and he said it before them, and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
This is the first step here, something significant I think in it in.
Abraham's home was open to the Lord.
His friend. He was always welcome there and he was free to come at any time.
Sometimes we compartmentalize our lives in such a way that, well, we're here this afternoon and we expect to be here tomorrow and the next day, and the Lord is going to have our attention and the things of God are going to be foremost before us.
But then Monday or Lord's Day afternoon, for some of us, we're going to leave and other things easily take up our time and attention in such a way that sort of the Lord is on the side for a little bit.
While we take up something else. But to me Abraham was a man that.
Always.
Had time and was ready for God's visit in his life and he serves him. He was ready to give of his substance to the Lord.
Especially of his time and of his energy, really. It's amazing how much diligent Abraham is here. He hates to do this. He hates to do that. And what is he? He's 199 years old and it's the heat of the day.
00:20:03
But it was nothing if it was the Lord that had come.
And so he says.
Verse 9.
And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent. And he said, I will certainly return unto thee, according to the time of life.
And lo, Sarah, thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door which was behind him. And Abraham and Sarah were old, and well stricken in age, And it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women. Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord, being old also? And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child?
Which I'm old is.
Anything too hard for the Lord?
At the time appointed, I will return unto thee according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. And Sarah denied, saying, I laugh not, for she was afraid. And he said, Nay, but thou didst laugh.
Next little part of the story here, Abraham and his friendship with God.
It strikes me, is that the Lord?
Comes into the House of Abraham. Comes to the house and he addresses need that he saw with Abraham and his wife.
That's the characteristic of friendship.
You know, sometimes when somebody needs to be told something, we think about the person we think is closest to them and then go to them and say, why don't you say so and so to them?
That's because we recognize that that person to whom we have gone to do the saying of the talking is someone who is close to that person, and we might even go so far as to say they'll accept it from you.
And, umm, we're acknowledging that our own relationship with that person is not on the basis where.
They might be open to receive from us.
Something that can I say the wounds of a friend.
That come in, but here with the Lord he talks to Abraham, friend to friend.
And he looks first after the needs of Abrahams heart, confirming a promise to him.
And dealing with perhaps some unbelief that was found there, but nonetheless dealing with the need in the household first.
And then he's ready, if you will, to go on. Now verse 17 it says, and the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham?
That thing which I do or which what I'm doing.
Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him. For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after them, after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he has spoken of him.
And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, because their sin is very grievous.
The Lord was about to do a very important thing. He was about to bring judgment down upon Sodom and Gomorrah. In fact, He was on His way to do it.
And I don't want to speak irreverently or disrespectfully, but I'm going to put it this way to help you to understand the exercise of my soul.
Did the Lord stop by your house?
On the way to what he allowed on September 11.
Did he stop to commune with you? I'm not talking about what you had to think about after that date.
I'm talking about before.
Was there, is there such a relationship between your own heart and the Lord in your own life that as it were, the Lord said, shall I hide from you that thing which I am doing?
Perhaps it's no wonder that there's only one person in all the Bible that for which the words are actually used, the friend of God.
00:25:00
So he says to him.
Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I am doing?
Now what does he immediately say after that, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
Everything that's happening in the world today is, in a certain sense, associated.
With God's purposes and affecting your life.
God had certain purposes with respect to Abraham's life and what he was going to do and everything that the Lord plans to do with this earth. He's going to have you in association with him, with himself when he does it.
And so he recognizes that your life is today in all that's passing before it in this world in which you live.
Has an effect.
Has a relationship to himself and yourself and the Lord. When he says I've got to talk to Abraham about this, I can't just do it without bringing Abraham into it. He said. I know that he will command his children and his household. They shall keep the way of the Lord, He says, to do justice and just afterwards.
What is that?
Why does he say that right there?
It appears to me from looking into the word a little bit on this question of friendship that there's a difference.
A fundamental difference between friendship with God and friendship with peers, that is, people of your own class, if you will. My friendship with Bobby was boy to boy, equal to equal.
And we were friends, sharing common things, but neither one of us, you might say, had the 1St place over the other. It was one to one equal equal.
But it appears to me from the word of God that can I put it this way if you want to be a friend of God.
It's going to be on his terms.
He is absolutely supreme and it has to be that way. It can't be any other way.
And God in his friendship with Abraham. And I believe there will be time. We'll look at Moses who spoke with God as it says, face to face as a man does with his friend. And I think we see in Moses characteristics of friendship with God as well.
But when it brings it out here, it says I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him.
God knew Abraham, He knew the character of the man, and he knew that here was a man that was going to walk with him in what he did.
If you and I are to walk in a practical friendship relationship with God, we're going to have to do it. We're going to want to do it.
In fellowship with him, in his thoughts and in his ways.
Hold your finger here. We're going to come back. We see the same point made when the Lord Jesus talks about friendship with the disciples.
And which I believe can be applied to us as well in John 15. So we'll come back in a few moments to where we are, but let's go over to John 15 to see another example of this same point, that friendship with God, friendship with the Lord Jesus is not as an equal to an equal.
Verse 9. John 15. Verse 9. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue, ye and my love.
If you keep my commandments, you shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments.
And abide in His love.
Verse 12 This is my commandment that you love one another.
As I have loved you, greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth. But I have called you friends for all things that I have heard of my father.
00:30:26
I have made known unto you.
Paramount or preeminent in the thought of friendship is the communication of the heart of one to another. And here the Lord Jesus, in addressing the disciples as His friends, He says to them, I have called you friends for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made out unto you.
He to them, the things that were his were theirs. That's what friends are all about, and so they share together.
In relationship with one another.
And so he says, though in verse 14, Ye are my friends if.
You do whatsoever I command you.
In other words, you can't be a friend. I can't be a friend of the Lord Jesus.
If I don't do the things.
That would give fellowship between us if we don't share in the same things.
And here he emphasizes 1 tremendous thing that he wants the.
That he expects of those of us that would desire to walk in friendship with him.
What is it that we love? One another?
That we love one another to the point where we would really, truly called upon of the Lord physically give our lives.
For one another, not only physically but in a practical sense, deny our own lives for our brethren.
Tremendous mark of friendship. David and Jonathan were friends.
And in one sense, it almost seems like Jonathan, as much as he loved David, couldn't quite go to the point.
Where it would be to give down his life.
For David.
But here the Lord Jesus said greater love.
I know, brethren, in the abstract and in the nature of our hearts, God has given us the capacity to love even our enemies. But I'm going to speak of it in the practical sense. Let's try starting at least and learning how to do it with our friends.
And then let it grow by the Lord's power to extend even to enemies.
Sometimes we know these things in a very.
Wordy sort of way that doesn't really affect day-to-day life. But here the the Lord Jesus counted the disciples as his friends, and he saw their love and he called upon it.
This is my commandment.
That you love one another as I have loved you. Now let's go back to Genesis.
18.
Mentioned before, and now we're going to see an example of it in the verses. We're going to read that friendship.
And I say this is a tremendous privilege. Friendship with God brings a person into the place of intercession.
We see it with Moses, We see it here with Abraham. Isn't that something to be desired? The nature of your relationship, your personal and private relationship with God our Father, is that that brings you into a role of intercessor for others.
So we read here in verse 20 the Lord said, because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great.
Because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it.
00:35:02
Which has come unto me, and if not, I will know.
Then the men turned their faces from thence and went toward Sodom. But Abraham stood yet before the Lord.
Abraham drew near and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Per adventure, there would be 50 righteous within the city. Wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place where the 50 righteous that are therein?
That be far from thee to do after this manner to slay the righteous with the wicked, and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? It's interesting to me. It's the Lord that says that you'd ask me before meditating on this subject. I would have said, I don't know. But it wasn't the Lord that said, Shall not the judge of all the earth you write? But here there is such a relationship of a friendship that the Lord himself.
As it were. Almost, you might say. I don't say quite pleads, but he's talking face to face.
One-on-one with Abraham. And so he says to Abraham, he says to Abraham, won't the judge of all the earth do right?
That's closeness, brethren.
Verse 26 And the Lord said, will I find in Sodom 50 righteous within the city.
Then I will spare all the place for their sakes. And Abraham answered and said, Behold, now I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which him but dust and ashes per adventure there shall lack five of the 50 righteous. Wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there 40 and five, I will not destroy it.
Spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there, there shall be 40 found there. And he said, I will not do it for 40's sake. And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry and and I'll speak for adventure. There should be 30 found there. And he said, I will not do it if I find 30 there.
And he said, Behold, now I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord. Per adventure, there shall be 20 found there.
And he said I will not destroy it for 20 sake.
And he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak at this, but this once her adventure 10 shall be found there. And he said.
I will not destroy it for 10 sake.
And the Lord went his way as soon as he had left, communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned unto his place.
Please forgive me, that seems too strong but.
I'll say it again to try to get, can I say, communicate it to your conscience? What's on my conscience?
Did the Lord stop at your house on the way to New York?
And give you the chance.
To say, but Lord, if there's.
50 Righteous in the building.
Will you spare it?
I have no doubt in my own soul that Abraham had a primary concern. He had a generic general concern for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
But he had a very particular concern for one man and his family when he did this interaction with God, and that is he had affection, he had a love for his nephew Lot, and he knew where Lot lived and he knew where Lot's family lived.
And so he interacts with the Lord for the city.
Cared about it, but I don't doubt in my soul that in Abraham's heart and in the Lord's knowledge.
He said I know the man, Lord said I know him.
And the wonderful thing is, Abraham talks to God as one that knows God.
Lord says I know him and Abraham in a way. He says, well you would you destroy the city with righteous in it?
That is, he speaks friend to friend, somebody he knew carefully and on a daily basis in such a way that their thoughts could communicate with one another. And if there was uncertainty in one, he wanted it to be said. And there was an answer given to the questions asked. It wasn't just be quiet, let me do my thing. It's important. I'm on a very serious business here. No? And so Abraham went as far as his faith could go.
00:40:23
God went beyond Abraham's faith.
God knew what he was going to do.
He knew and he was going to satisfy in the end the heart of Abraham, because when he went down to Sodom, before he brought the judgment on Sodom, he had a job first to do, and that was to go to Lots House.
And take the righteous out, so that the right, the judgment, would not fall.
On lot at least, and even on some of his family who were in position with him.
Although not of the same faith. And so the Lord goes his way to do what has to be done.
And Abraham had the privilege of intercession and I believe the real desires of his heart, even if he couldn't fully express it and enter into it with God.
Completely, he could see that his nephew Lot, a righteous one, had been spared.
Now turn over with me to another example of this in Exodus chapter 33.
We'll read a little bit of the chapter to get the context, and I don't know that it's particularly a different point than we find in with respect to Abraham, but it emphasizes the same point at least you'll notice in verse 11 before we start reading Exodus 33, verse 11. And the Lord spake unto Moses, face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.
That's a characteristic.
Feature of what friendship is all about. And here we find Moses, in a way, in what's taken up here, in the same way as Sodom and Gomorrah really. That is Moses interceding with God face to face, as a man, with his friend.
Verse One And the Lord said unto Moses, Depart and go. Hence thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I swear unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, unto thy seed will I give it. And I will send an Angel before thee. And I will drive out the Canaanite, and the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hibite, and the Jebusite, under a land flowing with milk and honey. For I will not go up in the midst of thee.
For thou art a stiff necked people.
Lest I consume thee in the way.
So here we have the.
The problem, if you will.
The Lord says to Moses.
Moses, I promised you that you could have that to your seed. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that you could have that land.
And I'm going to fulfill my promise, so I'm going to send an Angel ahead of you.
And that Angel is going to clear the way for you. He's going to drive out those that oppose, and you're going to have your promises fulfilled.
But I myself, I can't go with you.
Because the people are stiff necked and if I come into the midst, I'll have to consume the people in a moment.
So you go on and as it were, I'll send the Angel, but I can't go with you.
So it says the children. Verse six. The children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the Mount Horeb.
And Moses took the Tabernacle and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp.
The Tabernacle was the place where God dwelt in the midst.
Of his people.
That all the people rose up and stood every man at the tent door, and looked after Moses until he was gone into the Tabernacle.
And it came to pass, as Moses entered into the Tabernacle, the cloudy pillar descended and stood at the door of the Tabernacle, and the Lord talked with Moses.
00:45:11
Friendship, right?
And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the Tabernacle door, and all the people rose up and worshiped every man at his tent door. Going to stop and interject at the moment doesn't come to me where the verse is found, but it says the Lord.
Made known unto Moses his ways, and his acts unto the children of Israel.
I may not be quoting that correctly word for word, but I think I have the thought right.
The children of Israel saw what happened as they went from Egypt to Canaan. All the events that took place, they could describe them, some of them could say I saw this happen, I saw that happen they that is, they saw the axe, the acts of.
Of the Lord.
But have you ever had a situation in which something happens and someone says, what did he do that for?
Not a clue as to why that thing was done, and with the children of Israel, in many cases they didn't have any idea.
But with Moses it was different. He was walking, as it were, a friend with God.
And what He was doing, what the Lord was doing, and why He was doing it before He even did it.
You discuss it, communicate it.
To Moses. So that's what takes place here. Moses goes into the presence of the Lord in the Tabernacle. Everyone else waits around on the outside, if you will, while Moses talks, as it says, while the Lord talks with Moses.
Verse 10 And all the people saw the cloudy pillar stand at the Tabernacle door. And all the people rose up, and worship every man at his tent door. And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as the man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp. But his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the Tabernacle. And Moses said unto the Lord, See thou sayest unto me, Bring this people, bring up this people, and thou hast not let me know.
Whom thou wilt send with me.
Yet thou has said, I know thee by name, and thou hast found grace in my sight.
Moses says, Lord, you gave me the job. I'm supposed to take these people up.
But as he says here, you haven't let me know who you're going to send with me.
We've got to have it out. We've got to get it understood. And Moses had liberty.
To express himself in that way, not as one at a distance, but as face to face.
As a man with his friend.
And he said you said.
What does he say? Lord says to him, I know thee by name.
He appreciated that. You know me, you know how I feel, you understand me.
Now Moses wants it both ways in that sense. Verse 13 Now therefore, I pray thee, if I found grace in thy sight.
Show me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in Thy sight, and consider that this nation is thy people.
Lord.
Said you know me, you know me by name, you know all that I am, and I want to know you in the same way.
And you say I found grace in your sight. And if I found grace in your sight, then?
What about these people?
The Lord said your people to Moses. Moses turns around and he says, the Lord thy people.
He's not going to let, if I could say it that way, he's not going to let the Lord be disassociated from those people.
God had put a love in their heart for the people and had called them his people. And Moses says they're your people.
We've got to do this together, as it were. You can't leave me to go on alone.
00:50:02
You're going to have to, well, what are you going to have to do?
Verse 15.
Verse 14 So the Lord says to him, My presence shall go with thee.
And I will get the rest. It's almost as if the Lord says, OK Moses, I'll go with you.
And the Lord figures out, you might say, the proper way that he could go with Moses.
And maintain His Holiness with the stiff necked people.
But here I'm talking more about the personal relationship between the two. And Moses responds and says to him, He said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.
For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight?
Oh Moses, he won't stop. I love him. It's not only I found grace in thy sight, but he says to about the people. They found grace in your sight too, Lord.
Do you intercede for the Saints of God, all of them gathered and scattered as His people?
I was thankful for a remark a brother in this room made to me after some of these thoughts were expressed before.
Said you know.
I thought about that in connection with the assembly.
Thaddeus is our friendship with the Lord in such a way that when the Lord is dealing.
When he has his hand on his people.
That he, as it were, comes and sits down with us.
We might discuss the matter together, that he might make known to us what he's purposing.
At the present time, what he's doing now.
Not simply what he's going to do when he takes this home and we're all in his presence together in perfect harmony.
But when he has a needs be where you live, in the assembly, where you are.
Or where I am or in a particular family circle need, is there a sense of it has to be discussed between us, that is our own soul and the Lord. Well, that's the way it was here with the Lord, with Moses.
And so he says.
Verse 16. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not in that thou goest with us? So we shall be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.
And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also.
Also that thou hast spoken. OK, Moses.
Go the extra mile. I'll do that too. Also that you brought into the conversation.
Tremendous thing to be with God.
And so he says, For thou hast found grace in my sight.
And I know thee by name. And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And in the end of the chapter, Moses has a very personal and wonderful opportunity for the Lord to make himself known to Moses in in even a greater way than Moses had up to that point experienced. And I believe that if we, as it were, cultivate that friendship with the Lord, as the closeness develops, so will his heart be communicated in a deeper and fuller way to our own souls.
Just want to spend a few moments before we close back in James chapter 4.
Mentioned before that if we are to have fellowship.
As friends with our God, with our Lord Jesus Christ, it will be on their terms, not our own.
God is consistent and perfect within himself, and the only way to be in fellowship with Him is to be on the same wavelength as He is. And here we find in James chapter 4 something that hinders friendship with God, so we should take note of it.
Chapter 4. Verse One. From whence come wars and fighting's among you come they not hence even of your lust, that war in your members Ye lust and have not. You kill and desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight in war you have not because you ask not you ask, and receive not because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts. The adulterers and adulteresses know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God.
00:55:12
Whosoever, therefore, will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Solemn, isn't it?
The world is governed by its lusts.
Mr. Darby translates the verse here pleasures and defends the translation in part by saying that.
The things that we lost, we find pleasure in.
And this world lives for its pleasures.
It knows nothing else. It has no other benefit to finding satisfaction in life than to go after and try to satisfy the lusts and the pleasures that come from them.
And we can even ask God for things, that we might consume it for our own pleasure.
But when we do that.
When we join in that.
We're not on the same page with God, and in fact, for those of us that belong to the Lord Jesus and to our God, we have a relationship with Him.
That is such that it's actually here called adultery.
It's to violate the very nature of the relationship that we have with God.
To seek.
To find the friendship of the world in place of friendship with God.
This world is at enmity with God.
And if I'm going to be the friend of the world, I can't be God's friend. We won't share in common.
Oh, brethren, Abraham's home was open.
To his God, may He find a place to come and visit us any hour of the day.
Anytime and find us ready and welcome, that we might share together, that he might commune with us and tell us what he's doing, that we might intercede.
And enjoy his friendship. Let's pray.
Connecting Rods
Address—H. Short
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Tea. And I'm particularly.
Thinking about the second verse, thus may we abide in union with each other.
And the Lord and possess in sweet communion joys which earth can never afford #17. Would someone start that, please?
I feel, I guess about as comfortable right now is.
As I would if my wife said to me, honey.
We're having company for supper tonight.
The ingredients are in the kitchen where you prepare a meal for them.
And I kind of think I got the ingredients, but how to put them together I'm not sure of.
But what is on my heart?
Sometimes thing gets on my heart and I don't want to talk about them, but I can't get out of it.
Is the other morning I was reading in the book of Exodus.
Chapter 38 and this will introduce our subject.
I was reading from Mr. Darby's translation and I read that.
But I'm alone.
And I don't know why I never noticed this before, but it was emphatic to me a couple of days ago and I want to share it with you.
In Exodus chapter 38 and let's read from verse 9 and speaking about the Tabernacle and it's being built.
He made the court on the South Side southward. Hangings of the court were a fine twined linen.
And 100 cubits.
Their pillars were 20. They're brazen sockets 20. The hooks of the pillars and their fillets were of silver, the word fillets. I was astounded how Mr. Darby translates that Connecting rods.
Connecting odds there And then you find it. The end of verse 12, they're connecting rods of silver. Verse 17, they're connecting rods of silver.
Verse 19. They're connecting rods were of silver the fillets or the connecting rods of silver. Now call your attention back to verse chapter 37.
And verse 38 And the connecting rods with gold.
I don't usually single out.
A company of a believers, but I'm going to.
Right now for my sake to try and get myself at ease.
Probably won't let the young sisters that ease though that I want to just say a word for your young sisters about connecting rods because might not bring to your mind what it brought to my mind, but I'd like you to think about a connecting rod in my mind when I read this.
00:05:20
You know that little car you own or now they own? Big cars too? BIG4 Wheelers and such. There's something that makes me really nervous.
When I travel.
It frustrates me and I'd be going down the Interstate and following a little bit slower moving semi and I get over in the passing lane and I'm taking my time passing them.
And up becomes behind me, one of those four by fours, I think they call them or one of those little racy cars and I'm a little bit worried they're going to push me right off the road. They're coming so fast.
And so I speed up and I get out of their way as fast as I can. Now that doesn't frustrate me, but what frustrates me is when I look over and see that the driver is a young girl. Oh, and I think, oh, that young girl, she's intimidated me. And if I had just known it was a young girl, I wouldn't have been intimidated. But.
Why I want you to know how that relates to this subject is because I always think you know those little girls. They.
You know that black pedal on the right makes that little car go fast, and the other pedal on the left stops it and they don't have a clue what's going on to make it do that.
And I'm going to give you a clue what makes it do that inside that engine.
Depending on what kind of an engine it is, there's four cylinders, and there in those four cylinders are 4 Pistons.
And those four Pistons, all they do is go up and down. They don't wander anyway. They just go up and down.
And the lower you press that black pedal, the faster they go up and down.
Down below them, somewhere not far away, is what's called there's a crooked piece of metal and they call that crankshaft, and all that little piece of metal does is go round and round and round.
And the faster you press that black pedal, the faster that crankshaft goes round and round and round.
But neither the piston nor the crankshaft would go anywhere by you pushing the pedal if there wasn't between that piston and that crankshaft a connecting rod.
There is a little rod in there and it's quite an amazing little thing because.
It not only has to go up and down with the piston, it has to go around and round with the crankshaft. And when you are speaking down the road, your Mitt, you're you're taxing that connecting rod.
And if you do it enough, it gets loose and it breaks and you find yourself alongside the highway.
And you'll say, somebody stop and help this poor little girl. But don't feel bad because my friend Gus, he taxes his boy Wheeler too much. He's going to be on the side of the road. I'm just teasing him because he was showing us one time last winter how that thing would go through the snow drifts that most of us carefully avoid.
So.
I tell you.
We tax in our lives.
The connecting rods.
But without the connecting odds, there will never be one Tabernacle in the book of Exodus. Interesting book. A lot of it is given to the making of this Tabernacle. I'd like to go back a chapter or two. First thing I want you to remember about those connecting rods is that except for one case, they say.
Eight times they're mentioned in the Scriptures, and all eight times in the Book of Exodus, except.
Perhaps, and Mr. Darby doesn't use that word. In Jeremiah the pillars had these fillet, this fillet that seemed to hold it together. And in the judgment of God on the people of God, when the House of God was dismantled that Philip, it's not called the connecting rods, not even called the Philip there, and Mr. Darby's translation, but it was removed and disbanded.
00:10:24
In the House of God.
Dismantled.
Connecting rods are really important. In chapter 36 about the Tabernacle, we find a lot of things brought.
To Moses for these workmen, we may come back to this.
But down in verse 13 they had all these things brought, and it says in verse 13, And he made 50 tax. They too, you know, were connecting things but of gold. And couple the curtains one unto another, Or Mr. Darby translates that together.
They couple them together and that's what a connecting rod does. It holds things that.
Are at least two and sometimes more.
But a connecting rod makes them into, as it says here, one Tabernacle.
Now when I was first saved and came into the assembly, I had a spiritual father named Mr. Brown.
And early in my life he said this to me one day, or else in some ministry. But I took it for myself. Wherever he said it, he said it in my hearing.
And I think it was to me personally, but I'm not sure. But he said what God hath joined together.
Let not man put asunder.
God has joined a lot of things together.
Thou in thy house.
We might look.
We'll just quote it for now from Matthew 19.
Now let's look at that, because that's what's on my heart. Two things are on my heart, in particular, our marriages.
And the assembly.
The assembly is mentioned in chapter 18 of Matthew.
And for some reason the spirit of God has been pleased. And I would say this too, in Matthew 18. It's a functional assembly that you and I have responsibility. And it's not the assembly of Matthew 16 that Christ is building, but the functioning assembly. And then in Chapter 19.
Down in verse six it says.
Verse 5 And they said for this. And the Lord said, they asked him if it was lawful to put away his wife for every 'cause, you know, they wanted to separate something that God had joined together. And they said as far as they were concerned they were they were saying for any 'cause we can do this separation, and I feel sometimes loved ones that we approach life that way.
We'll separate what God has joined together for any 'cause the.
And so the Lord takes them up on that view, and he says to them the.
He says in verse 5.
And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be 1 flesh, you see.
If there's just one person, you don't need a connecting God. But if you're going to bring 2 into one, you're going to connect the piston with the crankshaft. You've got to have a connecting rod. You've got to have something that's willing to to be able to go up and down, round and round to maintain unity and oneness. That we have something that is functional and we tax. We tax severely sometimes.
The connecting rods in our lives. And so he says What Therefore God hath joined together.
Let not man put asunder, They say unto him, Why did Moses in command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? And he saith unto them, because of the hardness of your hearts. And then in Ephesians chapter.
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Two. I think I want a verse there.
And this will give us the doctrine as the basis of this exhortation, this exercise of soul.
Ephesians chapter 2 and verse 15. Having abolished in the Lord's flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances for to make in himself of twain 1 Newman, so making peace, that is, the uniting of the Jew and Gentile into one Newman. And there they are brought together with this connecting rod.
Then in chapter 4 of Ephesians he speaks of giving gifts.
And I believe this is the doctrinally sound application for us.
These connecting rods, it's not just a figment of our imagination, but it's a it's a living reality in our lives.
And he soon as he went back to heaven and formed this church down here on earth, he had a concern for it. And he gave these gifts in verse 11 and he gave them in verse 12 for the perfecting of the Saints. Now down in verse 16 he says, Well, I would like you to notice in verse 14 that we not be tossed to and fro.
Carried about by every wind of doctrine, slight of men, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. Sometimes, you know, we think the answer to our problems is separating what God has joined together, and it is never the answer to our problems.
To get away, to do away with the connecting rounds, whether it's father and mother, husband and wife, brother, sister and the assembly, brother, sister in the family, it doesn't matter. God has joined things together and difficulties come in. They do come in and these connecting rods are tried. They're put to the test.
But you get rid of the connecting rod, you're never going to improve your circumstances. So let's get these connecting rods covered with silver, get them in working order and determine and purpose in our heart that we're going to be a connecting rod in these relationships of light. And so these gifts were given, and here is why.
He says in verse 15. But speaking the truth in love may grow up unto him.
In all things, which is the head from whom the whole body fitly joined together?
You see, there was to be connecting rods. All of these members are to be connected together. The Lord's thoughts were never that. You know that book, Chapter 11 of Hebrews. It's preceded by chapter 10. And Hebrews like the book of Exodus, where this oneness is insisted upon, where this oneness is formed in the Tabernacle, chapter 10, it says, don't you forsake the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of summit. Listen.
You think you can dispose of your brethren? You think you can go on without your brethren?
You think you could throw the connecting rod away between you and your brethren? I tell you, if you do it, it's going to be a costly, costly thing in your life if we're going to make it through Chapter 11, through the wilderness. And that's the burden of the book of Hebrews, just getting from here to there. That's the book of Exodus. Where? Out of Egypt. But we're not in the land of Canaan. And all of these connecting rods are found in the book of Exodus. It's here where we need this exercise.
To be joined one to another in love, and these gifts were given.
And it says.
And compact it by that which every joint supplier for every joint of supply. I personally believe the joints are these gifts that were given by the ascended head. It isn't. The joint isn't exactly a member. The joint isn't the piston or the crank shaft, it's the connecting rod. And God gave these gifts to keep us going on connected together that we could grow up to a normal full strong.
00:20:23
Full grown man that's in the assembly now. We've had it in Matthew concerning our marriages. It's here in Ephesians concerning our marriages and we've had it concerning the assembly now in the home. Now I'd like to go back and kind of tie in with our brother. Don's speaking about Abraham as a friend of God. You know we had.
Chapter 12. And I want you to notice something, remember.
Chapter 13. Remember those connecting rods were of silver?
It says of Abraham in chapter 13 of Genesis, Abraham notices carefully went up out of Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had lot with him and to the South and in this expression and Abraham was very rich in silver. That's not all that's mentioned, but that's all I want to call our attention to.
Here was a man that was very rich in silver. He could, we'll see he did it here, and he does it later. He could cover a connecting rod with silver and keep things going as they should have been going before when trouble came in. It's a wonderful thing, beloved, to be very rich in silver. And I'm not talking about a bank account, but something. I'm only applying this silver now.
As to that one function, it had.
Of covering the connecting rod.
Being covered, if you didn't have any silver, you couldn't cover your connecting rod with it. And Abraham was very rich in silver. You know, there came a time in the nation of Israel history.
They didn't consider it very rich to have silver, and there came a time in Solomon's day when silver was counted as nothing. I don't think that was a good thing.
Gold was in such abundance that the silver wasn't counted as worth anything.
That Solomon went on and he went down. When it says that he was on a downward course, God had told Solomon, I'll make you rich, I'll increase you and make you rich. That didn't satisfy Solomon. He had go out and hire Hiram and he had to go out and heap to himself horses and go out and get more gold and more gold. And pretty soon in Solomon's day, silver was not esteemed of any value. And what happened at the close of Solomon's day?
The Kingdom was divided. The connecting rod was not there in the nation of Israel broke into the connecting rod. What God had joined together had been put asunder by man because silver was not valued. I'm just using it in its application to the covering of the connecting rod. Well now here. Notice when this takes place.
Abraham went up out of Egypt. What had happened in Egypt? He had denied. He had put asunder what God had joined together. And so at the close of Chapter 12, you know, he had made this agreement. We might say in Chapter 12 we have.
Abraham standing down through verse 9, his position before God. We might think of that as that.
Golden connecting rod. It can't be broken.
The silver cord can be broken, but here is our standing and we, I think our early brethren. They uncovered our standing, and they uncovered precious truths about the assembly and its relationship with God. But somewhere in our history, since 1830s, the silver has not been valued. We've emphasized the gold, our position before God.
00:25:08
But we haven't given much heed to our practice, and in verse ten of our chapter 12 we find the practice. The walk that should have gone with this position is faulty in Abraham's life and he does fail as we had brought before us and and he denies his wife's relationship, he says.
It's because she has she. Verse 11 he said unto Sarah, I his wife. Behold, now I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon. Therefore it shall come to pass. The Egyptian shall see thee, they shall say, This is his wife, and they will kill me, but they have will save the alive. Say, I pray thee, Thou art my sister. What was the connecting rod here that was lacking?
It was lacking. The connecting rod is love, having our hearts knit together in love. And Abraham didn't love his wife enough to die for her. That's the standard for us who are husband. We are to love our wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. That's the standard God has for you and me in relationship to one another. We ought to lay down our lives for our brethren. That's the connecting rod of love. And it wasn't there. He wasn't willing to take that step.
And so the Lord has to reprove him, but it says there in verse 16.
And and he entreated Abraham well for her sake, and so on. And then the Lord brings in these plagues and his sovereignty. And then he says to Abraham in verse 18 Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? Why didst thou not tell me?
That she was thy wife. He knew there should have been this connecting rod between Abraham and his wife. But things that come in and Abraham wasn't willing to sacrifice his life to keep this connecting rod together. And so the Lord has to painfully teach him. But it's kind of lovely he learned it. And you know, this has happened in all of our lives. I might say this, you know, burn on my heart is true.
Known up here is not truth bought, and we might know the doctrines of Christianity and be able to put them into into discourse. We can teach others about them, but if we don't know how to apply these truths to our everyday life.
You don't have to go to Brazil or Mexico or I saw Brother Bob knew what I was thinking about this morning when I woke up, he said, Brother, you here come down to Mexico with me last night when I was getting ready to go to bed.
I saw this coffee maker in the corner. Oh great, now I can make my coffee in the morning. I don't even have to go downstairs. I don't even have to pay for it. I just make my coffee which I like every morning. I'm a soldier you know that knows how to endure hardness and if I don't have this coffee. So this morning I woke up and I took my shower and I came out and excitedly tried to get that dumb package loose. 1St that I got it.
I was determined to get that coffee out there and I got it in and I put the water in and I pushed the button and I thought, I wonder why this red light?
Doesn't come on.
The motel of this stature and a dumb coffee maker doesn't work.
So the Lord says now in me.
Is that a necessity of life? You see how hardened I am as a hard soldier? Jesus Christ? I thought I couldn't possibly make it through the morning without my cup of coffee. And you know, there in a moment I said Lord Jesus.
I'm sorry. And then he said, you know, well, why don't you go over and flip that switch on the wall and see if it'll come on? It did it. Did you know? Why am I saying this? Because, friends, brethren, if we don't know how to bring the Lord Jesus into every little detail of our life, why talk about going out and serving him in the gospel if we don't know how to accept?
00:30:02
A coffee maker. You know, I can tell you another great trial that happened to me this morning.
I always wake up before my wife, and when we're in a motel room it makes a little hard because I have to turn a light on. And I looked at my beloved 40 years she's born with me, and I looked at that sofa in that lamp beside it, in that nice coffee table in front where I could put my legs out, and while I read that looks inviting, but that's the way my wife's face was looking.
And now if I turn that light on, it's going to shine in her eyes and then this real hard hardened soldier for the Lord went through this struggle. Now I'm like going to go over there to that black leather chair, which is a nice chair all right, but there's no footstool and I won't be self enjoying my coffee and my Bible reading.
And I made a decision. Then I said, I'm going to love my wife and I'm going to endure this morning by sitting in that leather chair and having my feet on the floor.
I'm not saying it just to make you smile, but I'm telling you.
Christianity is real. You know what came to me when I made that decision? Went over. It's like the Lord said, hear me see that wastebasket down there? And I did. And I picked up. It was good and sturdy. See that garbage or that laundry bag over there? It's nice and soft. And so I connected those two things together and I put my feet up in this comfortable leather chair.
But if I can't take this from the Lord, if those things are trials for me, how do I ever expect to live for the Lord? But that's what the little foxes are that spoil the vine. You get upset because your car won't suck. You get upset because something that irritates you come into your life. Your wife doesn't do something just right. You don't do something just right. And so all these connecting rods are stressed and sometimes they're broken, and it's all because.
We're not rich in silver. We're not rich in silver. And when Abraham was rich in silver, it says in verse one of chapter 13. Abram went up out of Egypt. He and his wife, the connecting rod was restored. Now look in chapter 20.
Oh.
I I don't mean to be irreverent. Rather, but.
Your Christian life is that simple. It's that real and don't. That's why I feel that we need to spend more time in the book of James than the Book of Ephesians, because we've lost the silver that covers the connective out. We don't even know the basic, fundamental truths of how to get on with each other. We don't know what these connecting rods are. We're not willing to sacrifice and become that little thing.
They have to go round and round and up and down to keep something moving smoothly.
Abraham failed again. He broke his connecting rod again in chapter 20. I think it is. Yes it is with Abimelech.
And again in verse 14 have been elect took sheep and oxen him in certain women serving and gave him untrue Abraham, and noticed his expression and restored him Sarah his wife.
Oh, the connecting rod had been broken again in Abraham's wife in Abraham's life, and Sarah is reproved.
Said she said. He says to Sarah, It isn't always US men's fault, you know, we're not always alone in the problems of life. He says, verse 16 And said unto Sarah, he said, Behold, I have given thy brother 1000 pieces of silver. He needed a silver to cover this connecting rod. And then he is rejoined to his wife, and we see.
In chapter 21, the blessing that comes from Abraham.
And Sarah becoming connected again as man and wife, not as brother and sister.
00:35:01
Do we have riches in silver? Now I'd like to go to another man.
Let's go to the book of Hosea.
This came before me when my brother Don.
Was speaking about.
Being a friend of God.
That's a That's a high privilege, beloved, but it's not the highest.
I suppose I don't think of Agnes as my friend. She is, but I don't think of her as my friend.
There's something higher beloved than a friend.
And it's a wife, and we're going to see it here. And you know, dear Hosea.
We just had our 40th anniversary and.
I said, honey, they're wonderful. I said the wilderness journey's over. We've completed our 40 years together. It's all downhill now.
But you know what happened the day after our 40th anniversary? She woke up still married to me, and I woke up still married to her. And the wilderness is not yet over.
But through that wilderness, in God's mercy and grace, the connecting God has stayed connected. You know, you're younger men. The young, younger. You know why I don't call you young people? Two reasons I don't want to separate from you.
Probably the real reason is because if I call you young people, it implies I'm not and I don't want to get old, so I'm not going to separate it. But when I was a boy growing up, the importance of connecting rods was a little more vivid to us. You'd go out to buy a car and I don't know if this was true. Some of I think Marvin could probably confirm it or say it wasn't true.
But I tend to be inclined to fancy looking car. I look more for rust than I do anything else, and sometimes I got bit. I remember my brother did that too. He bought a beautiful 38 Chevy and before he got home it could hardly pull itself up a hill.
But he had a beautiful car anyway, but it wasn't functional and one of the things they warned us about was the connecting rounds and we heard the report that.
A clever car salesman might put either heavier oil or perhaps even a little sawdust in there to to muffle down on a loose connecting rod, because that was a bad thing to do to buy a car with a loose connecting rod.
And so we kind of learned the value of having good, solid connecting rods. And that's what Abraham learned. And now here, Hosea, he too is going to give us an example of a man who didn't lose the value of silver. He didn't lose the importance of having an abundance of silver in his life. And this dear prophet he's told in chapter one.
And think about this, beloved, the beginning of the word of the Lord, verse 2 by Jose and the Lord said to Hosea, go take dear wife of ********* and children of hordes.
Not exactly the kind of wife you and I would like to be married to.
You couldn't get into a more difficult trial than this.
The Proverbs teaches that to an odious woman when she is married.
You might say to Hosea Hosea, there's no possibility.
Of you keeping this thing together?
Oh, you know, might say. Well, at least he was a man, a husband who really blame his wife.
Most of us.
You know, we can do it. We have to recognize and own that. The biggest problem with my wife is the man she married. And that's the way it was. But it wasn't so in Jose's case. And is he going to be able to keep this connecting rod? Is he going to be able to keep this woman of ********* as his wife Go take it says to the Lord, the Lord says to him, take thee a wife.
00:40:16
Well, she is unfaithful to him.
And then the Lord brings in chapter 2.
And he says, well, I want to come back to chapter 2. Let's go to chapter.
3.
This woman wasn't faithful to Hosea. And then the Lord says, Then said the Lord unto me, Go yet love a woman beloved of her friend. See, this is a demotion for Jose's wife. I assume it's the same woman he took in the first chapter. He's now calling her his friend.
She doesn't want her to stay that way, but for now he has to call her and give her that relationship of being a friend. I think it's alluded to in the Song of songs. That woman says, this is my beloved, this is my friend. I think that isn't really a high appreciation for her husband. I think she was still struggling to accept the fact that her husband loved her.
And that he wanted to be known to her as her husband, as his spouse. And he spends the whole book gaining her confidence. So she will take that place in his presence as his wife. But Jose had this problem, and he says, the Lord says, take a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress. Here's a real difficult situation, beloved hitting impossible situation, one that Hosea could have said that for it. We're breaking this connecting rod.
I'm justified in breaking this connective connecting about, you know, that's the first thing we do when we want to break a connecting rod. You know, they we've never been divorced, obviously, never even considered it. Not a word in our vocabulary. But we have been divorced in times, in our marriage when something like this, something serious came in, like she may have said, you tore your pants again or why didn't you put on those dirty work clothes?
To go out and do that with your good clothes on, and that was a serious thing for her to say to her husband. After all, I am her husband and so I just broke the connecting. I'm not going to talk to her again.
Oh, beloved.
And So what happens when you do that? Well, in my case, I don't know if that was the incident, but it's an incident similar. I go out and.
I'll show her. You know, we've said our last words for the rest of our life as far as I'm concerned.
So the Lord let me one time ahead if somebody gave me this old travel trailer with the lid on a camper, Not a camper, but. And I lift it up and the Lord pushed it back down, broke my thumb.
All right, Lord, I'm sorry.
And that's the way the Lords had to with me in my life.
Always bumps on my head.
Abraham got bumps on his head too, rather, and he failed too. And the Lord took him up and said, okay, you better get that connecting rod back together and hang out. I don't know how we made it, but I've had a lot of connecting rods, I guess, and we made it to this hour. Well, Jose had a problem worse than anything you and I have faced, perhaps. Can he connect this thing together? Can he get it together? And here's what it says in verse two of chapter.
So I bought her to me for 15 pieces of silver. He took her, and he said to her, I said unto her, Verse 3 Thou shalt abide for many days, thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man, So will I also be for thee. And then the application is made to Israel and their relationship with the Lord.
Hosea said honey.
We've had a breach in our marriage.
00:45:01
You've had problems in your assembly.
This wonderful beloved you have problems in your assembly to never allow the thought. The cure to that problem is me leaving.
At sewing away the connecting on forsake, not the assembling of ourselves together.
I wish the Lord had a love for divorce sometimes.
In the assembly I'm talking, I kind of wish sometimes that I'd been able to separate from my brethren.
But I knew I couldn't. God had joined me together with them. And what God had joined together, let not man put asunder. But you might be thinking today the answer to my problems is to break this connecting rod with my brethren, with my wife, with my husband. That is not the answer. And Hosea said it's not the answer to put away my wife. And he bought her with the silver. Now go back in Chapter 2 and you see.
The application of it what happened, beloved, when Hosea brought this connecting rod back into his marriage? And we I say it's a type of Israel and the Lord.
And in chapter 14, or chapter 2, verse 14, therefore will I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her.
We all Gray heads were slow to learn.
A soft word to Our wives do a lot more than that stern look.
Will ever do, but we're slow to learn it.
But the Lord comes out and he speaks comfortably to this bad woman.
You got bad, brethren, You got people causing your problems. I enjoy that. That they say if you got an enemy the way to get rid of this, make them your friend.
Can we do it? Do we have the silver? Do we? Are we rich in silver? Are we able to cover this connecting rod with silver and bring it together? I will give her vineyards from thins the valley of Acor for a door of hope. That's where they were going to be stoned. And she shall sing there. Lovely to sing, You know. My wife and I sing every morning together.
We don't put it on tape because we don't want anybody else to hear it, but we sing every morning together. You sing in your life, you and your wife, you and your brother, and you enjoy being out of sing with your brethren.
It's it's embarrassing because of the way I sing, but I love to be with a sing with my brother. I love to be there. I love to sing with my brother. And he brings her here and there's going to be this singing and she shall sing.
As in the days of her youth, she's restored Beloved, the connecting rod.
Jose had this silver to buy her with. The connecting rod has been restored and then it says.
As when in the days of her youth, when she came up out of the land of Egypt, you know, Abraham came up out of Egypt rich in silver. And then here's what she says, and it shall be in that day, saith the Lord, Thou shalt call me, Is she my husband?
My husband, he restored this marriage, and that day she shall call me is she, and shall no more call me Bailey for Lord.
That time of discipline was over. You know God has connected his children with himself as father.
The brother was telling me, you know God wants to be our father. But while you cannot put asunder what God has joined together, neither can you put together what God has put asunder. And so if we as his children love the world, we become the enemy of God. We have the love of the Father in US. And the Lord says, you come out from among them, and I'll be your father.
And so we separate and we find their God is able to come into our lives not simply as our Lord, but as our Father and the Lord. Jesus could come into our lives and as simply as the Lord, but as our husband, that one who nourishes and cherishes and builds up his body, the church, he loves it and we enjoy that nourishing and cherishing. And we don't have to call him Lord. We don't have to have that trailer lit fall and break our arm or other things that have happened.
00:50:21
Table saw cut my finger. These are things that happened to other men in the course of work. They happened to me in the course of rebellion. But the Lord doesn't want us to always be in that kind of a relationship with him. He wants this connecting rod wholesome and good. And now in closing, I want to go to the end of the book of Exodus. That book, remember where these connecting rods are found in chapter 39.
And as I say, no, as the Lord said, you get rid of that connecting rod and it's over for you. You're not going to be able to function as the Lord wants you to function. And so we have to address these things, these little foxes in our life that break the connecting rods where tax them severely. But you know, we don't talk much about Israel this way. Very rarely do we speak of her and her beauty.
That people that came out of Egypt. But I tell you does she not put us to shame here in Exodus. You know this is that wilderness journey and.
I might say whole Chapter 39 and and I'd like to go back. Well, no, let's just go on here.
The Lord had wanted them to have this Tabernacle one, and they did that in the verse 32, it says. Thus was all the work of the Tabernacle of the tent of the congregation finished. And the children of Israel did according to all that the Lord had commanded Moses, so did they. I kind of liked the way Mr. Darby translates that they have done.
All that the Lord had commanded them. And they finished this Tabernacle, and then this verse 33 And they brought the Tabernacle unto Moses. Moses is that man of the wilderness. He's the man that wouldn't leave the children of Israel to perish in the wilderness. You know he had occasions when he could have said to the Lord, Lord, go ahead, wipe them out and start all over with me.
He wouldn't do it. He was, as we heard, a friend of God. And he said, Lord, there's got to be a connecting rod between you and this people, and I can't let it be broken. And so he interceded, and the Lord hearkened to his intercession. And Moses came up with this connecting rod. The Lord said, Moses, I'll be with you. He said, that's not good enough. Lord, you got to be with us. And this man of the wilderness, he had this joy this day, because this people had done the work of the Lord.
As the Lord had commanded him to commanded them. And they present this Tabernacle unto Moses, this Tabernacle it over and over again was identified, that the Tabernacle may be one. And they said, Moses, we want to give you this present.
We want to give you this present, and they present it to Moses. And here is the result, the man of the wilderness below it. Yes, the Lord is going to present the church to himself unspotted and unwrinkled. But how are we presenting it to the Lord today in the wilderness? Can we do what the children of Israel did? Can we say, Lord? I've endeavored to keep the unity of the Spirit, and in the uniting bond of peace I've done, Lord, all that you commanded to me to do. I've been humble amongst my brethren. I've been meek amongst my brother. I've been yielding amongst my brother. My my brother have never had any problems with me.
I've gone on so well for the Lord. No, it's not true. We haven't been able to present the Tabernacle to the Lord in oneness. We haven't been able to finish the work the Lord has given us to do. The Apostle Paul could say, I have finished the course. He had finished the course. But you know, someone was saying something about the young folk and their ways. And I said, well, brother, I said, when you consider what we gave them to work with.
We ought to thank God for what they're doing. Well, thank God. And I want to tell you something, young Prince. I'll separate from your little distance right now.
00:55:04
My father's father and I'm talking about spiritual father, so he'd be my grandfather.
And there was Brother Potter. I never met him. I've heard a lot of good things about him, But he was my father's father. Mr. Brown was a father to me.
And after Mr. Potter had gone home to be with the Lord, another brother was talking to my father, Brother Brown.
And he said, You know, Brother, Potter told me once, I'm so glad that the Lord is raising up Clifford Brown to care for the flock of God.
Young friends who very brown said. You know what he said. Mr. Potter never told me that, he said. Well, maybe he couldn't have trusted me to tell me that. Well, I want to do something. I want to tell you I thank God for the young men and the young women here this afternoon.
That God has raised up to carry on a care for the flock of God.
I want to do it to you now so you'll hear me say it. I don't want it to have to come to you after I'm dying, after I die, because I might not die. So I just want to tell you that now I appreciate you and we haven't given you much to work with, but the children of Israel brought this lovely present to Moses. And then it says.
In verse 42, according to all the Lord commanded Moses so the children of Israel.
Made all the work. They kept those connecting rods beloved, in place. And Moses did look upon all the work, and behold, they had done it as the Lord had commanded. Even so had they done it. And Moses blessed them well, beloved, they finished the work that the Lord had given them to do, according to the word of God.
Presented it to the man of the wilderness, Moses, the dear servant of God, who must have touched his heart to see with all the failures of this people. They accomplished their work according to the word of God, and it says Moses blessed them Well. Beloved, in a few moments, perhaps now very far off, you and I are going to finish this wilderness journey, and we're going to come before our Moses.
That one who has carried us through the wilderness and he's going to review the work that we carried on in the wilderness and he going to look for these connecting rods. He's going to see if we have kept together what he had joined together or if we've put asunder what he has put together. And he going to review it at the judgment seat of Christ. And when it be nice when that judgment seat is over that there could be.
Blessing that there not be just a big pile of wood, hay and stubble to go up in a bonfire that the Lord's heart could be delighted. Beloved with your life and mind. Our journey through this wilderness as friends of God and as beloved of the Lord. Well, beloved, a lot depends.
And whether you get rid or value the connecting rods covered with silver, don't despise, don't tax, and certainly don't break those connecting rods, Lord Jesus.
Some Rivers and Gardens
Address—D. Nicolet
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Good afternoon with #256.
Hymn #256 Praise the Savior. Ye who know him who can tell?
How much we owe Him gladly. Let us render to him all we have and are Him. #256 Praise the Savior.
Trust in his face forever.
He is able to change you. Never. Never.
Saw her God inside of her Lord.
What I have on my heart this afternoon, trust is from the Lord.
Is through in a way kind of continue with the two subjects that have been presented in the addresses friends?
And connecting rods.
But I'm going to present it by looking at two other objects in the word of God with the Lord's help, and perhaps with the Lord's help will be able to.
Bring them together like to look a little bit at some rivers and.
A gardener, so in the word of God.
We'll start in Genesis.
Chapter.
2.
Genesis Chapter 2.
And I'd like to start reading.
But we'll start in verse 7.
And the Lord God.
Formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils.
The breath of life and man became a living soul, and the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden. And there he put the man whom he had formed, and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
And a river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from thence it was parted and became into four heads. The name of the first is Python, that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah. Where there is gold, and the gold of that land is good, there is delium and Onyx stone, and the name of the second river is Guyhan. The same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia. The name of the third river is hitacle, that is it which goeth toward the east.
Of Assyria.
The 4th river is Euphrates.
And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden.
Of Eden, to dress it and to keep it. I'd like to read that verse in Mr. Darby's translation.
00:05:06
I think it's quite striking.
And Jehovah Elohim took man and put him into the Garden of Eden, to till it and to guard it. Now I'd like you to turn with me to.
The Gospel of John.
And we'll start with, umm.
Believe it's Chapter 7.
Yes, John, Chapter 7.
Verse 37.
In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying if any man thirst.
Is there anyone here today who's thirsty?
Like us to ask our hearts before we go on. In reality, be real and ask yourself privately before God who knows the thoughts of your heart. Are you thirsty this afternoon? Have you been trying the waters? The springs?
That song we sing, I thirsted.
And tried the barren springs.
They mocked me.
Have you been trying the things that the world has presented to you? Well, sources of refreshment.
And found that you're still thirsty.
The Lord Jesus is saying something to you this afternoon. If anyone is thirsty, if you're thirsty, if you can honestly say Lord, it's true.
I've accepted you as my savior. Perhaps there's someone here who hasn't.
Well, the way to quench your thirst is to simply tell the Lord Jesus that you want.
Him as your personal savior. But perhaps you've done that.
And you find that you're still thirsty.
Why isn't he supposed to satisfy? Come to these meetings and we hear about things and we see brethren sitting with smiles on their faces and talking about things they enjoy about and enjoy that they've meditated on and they seem to be so happy. How come? Am I still thirsty? What's wrong?
Well, the problem, dear friend, isn't beloved brothers and sisters. The problem isn't the Lord Jesus.
The problem isn't his precious word. The problem isn't the water he has, whatever the problem is, and I don't know what the problem is. I don't know why you might be thirsty, but I know whoever it is, it's I don't want to say this lovingly. It's your problem. There's something wrong with you, something you've missed, something you've overlooked.
Something that somehow is keeping those living waters that the Lord Jesus has promised. Jesus is God the Creator. Would he make a promise that he didn't intend to keep?
Let God be true and every man a liar.
Would he ever promise anything that he wouldn't keep? He says here, If any man thirst, or we could say if anyone thirst, are you thirsty this afternoon? Well, here's a here's a solution for it. And that solution is not the latest professional football game, because if the team you want to win loses, you're still going to be thirsty.
And you are also already know if the team you want to win wins, you're still going to be thirsty.
No matter what happens in this world, you're going to be thirsty if you're drinking from this world.
So here's the solution, and it's the only solution. If any man thirst, let him come unto me. Where are you going this afternoon?
In your heart, where are you looking this afternoon to be satisfied?
Where are you looking to have your thirst quenched?
I can't tell you how the Lord Jesus will do that.
Because I don't know you, and I don't know your heart and you don't know mine. And I don't know the needs of your heart and you don't know the needs of my heart.
But if you're thirsty this afternoon, I do know this. The only one who can never lie because he's light and he's love is saying come.
00:10:01
An open invitation come come to me.
And drink.
Drink. What does that mean?
That means that you take.
What he gives, and I'm going to suggest it will come through the word of God.
And you make it your own. We talked a lot about faith these last couple of days.
And faith will open this book, which is a well of living water and the only one to be found in this world, and will take what's in it and read it and say that's for me. And I want to suggest that's at least one aspect of drinking.
To say Lord, I am thirsty. I am not really fully satisfied. I'm searching, I'm looking.
Be honest with yourself and I'm still not satisfied, Lord.
But you said to come and drink.
And out he that believeth on me, verse 38.
That's part of drinking to believe that the Lord Jesus is.
That he means what he says. That he is the one and only source of refreshment, of eternal life, of joy, of happiness. He that believeth on me. What are you believing on this afternoon? Some people, perhaps, and I am not finding fault with any of these things in themselves, but if they're the thing you're believing on, I would find a lot of fault with them. Some people believe on the stock market, and they've had a rough few months recently. Some people believe in their education.
And the unemployment rate in the United States is the highest it's been for years.
Some people believe in their strength.
And I just recently read when I was getting into my e-mail, a headline of that some young man, A huge giant of a man, 330 lbs, powerful man, 6 feet, I don't know how many inches tall who played in a professional sport that needed supreme strength to compete in.
Was getting ready for this season to compete in that sport. He had won honors and awards.
And in a few hours, he was dead.
Of heat stroke.
Are you trusting in your strength?
It's going to go away.
And no matter how strong you are, I'll guarantee you somewhere in the world there's somebody that's stronger.
So what are you?
Trusting in.
He that believeth on me. What are you believing in? What does the world believe in? It has everything that it believes in, all sorts of things. It's believing in coalitions today.
To bring peace, it's believing in military might to bring vengeance and justice.
And I do not in any way denigrate the powers that be, nor the military that has made it possible for us to sit here and be so comfortable. And we should speak very carefully about those things. And we certainly should spend some time as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, praying especially for those dear young men and women who are involved in this awful conflict.
But is that what you're believing on?
Are you believing on the security at the airports to keep you safe?
Are you believing in the FBI that it's going to find all the perpetrators of wickedness? We could go on, couldn't we? What are you believing on?
If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink he that believeth on me.
The Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, the one, as we have heard, who knew all about you, who knows all about you, and knowing everything there is to know about you, loves you with an infinite love, and has one desire and one desire only. And that is that you might have His joy fulfilled in your heart and life. Let him come on to me and drink he that believeth on me, as the Scripture has said.
Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
Well, we talked about a garden that a river flowed into. God created that world, and then there was a place in that world called Eden, and in that place he created a garden. It must have been an incredibly beautiful garden. And it's so delighted his heart, because that's what Eden means, I believe, is delight or pleasure, that he sent a river of his blessing into that garden.
00:15:16
And from that garden, that blessing flowed out in rivers. I will say in terms of our scripture of living water, four more rivers, a universal blessing to the lands around.
And now we've come to the Lord Jesus himself who says, if you're thirsty, come to me and out of you, not out of a garden, but out of you will flow rivers of living water. You know something was broken if I can use.
Brother Henry's illusion, his illustration from yesterday. There was a connecting rod that got broken. There was a beautiful garden and everything was perfect. And he asked man to do something, he said. I'm putting you here, Adam. I want you to till the ground. I want you to take care of it so it can produce.
And I want you to guard it and keep that which would destroy it out. And the very first verse of chapter 3 tells us that he didn't guard it.
Because into that garden somehow came the serpent, the arch enemy.
Of God and of man.
Did he find his way into that garden, into that beautiful place? Well, I'm not going to push this, but I'm going to suggest that however he found his way in there in the guise of this most beautiful creature shining, glorious, innocent, harmless looking creature. The way he found his way in there is because Adam wasn't guarding as he was supposed to do. He didn't keep that garden shut and walled up.
To keep the enemy out.
And because of that the connecting rod was broken because before long.
Man started disbelieving.
He listened to the enemy instead of the Creator. He listened to the one who wanted to destroy instead of the one who gave the Garden.
And the connecting rod was broken. And what's the connecting rod? The connecting rod is that God? I may I say this reverently, but I believe that it was not only for the heart of man to enjoy that God put that garden there. Do you know what I think he did? Even more than that, I think he put that guard in there, that he might have something his heart wanted, fellowship with his creature. You know, it says of Adam that he couldn't find anything among the beautiful animal creation that satisfied him.
And God knew that. And God said, it's not good for man to be alone. I'm going to make a helpmate for him. And he did, may I say reverently that God could not find that which satisfied his heart in all that beautiful creation apart from man. And so he made a garden. And he was so pleased with that garden that his river of blessing flowed into it. The delight that he had in that garden flowed into it. And he wanted in that garden a place where he could come.
And he could enjoy fellowship with his creature man, enjoy thoughts, common thoughts with him, come to him in the cool of the day, and walk with him in that beautiful garden that was watered with that river and that flowed out universally, and blessing to all the land around.
And Adam sinned, Adam and Eve, and they disbelieved that God, my God, your God, they disbelieved him.
And that connecting rod was broken, and the connecting rod was the joy that God could have.
In communion and fellowship with his creature man, he could no longer have it, and he drives the man out of the garden.
How sad.
Now I want to we'll come back to this, but I want to go on now and I want to look at.
A couple other well known passages in John and then we'll turn to one other in Revelation before we continue to turn to.
John chapter.
15.
We'll just read these verses and we'll comment on them in a little bit.
But I'd like to put these into our thoughts as we're talking, Lord Jesus speaking.
Very familiar verse, verse 13 of John 15. Greater love hath no man than this.
That a man lay down his life for his friends.
00:20:04
Ye are my friends. I just want to stop there. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man should lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends.
You see, Dear Believer, in the application I'm making, a connecting rod has been broken because of sin.
And man can no longer you and I can no longer by nature enjoy the communion and fellowship and joy of walking with our God, apart from one being a friend of ours. May I say it that way, and laying down his life to restore a far more glorious connecting rod. And I want to tell you, it certainly is coated with silver, the redemption work, the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ at the cross, that you and I might be brought back into connection with God.
And enjoy communion and fellowship with God.
So that this connecting rod has been now re established through the work of Christ at the cross. And he calls you dear friend, if you know him as savior, if you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, trusting in His blood to wash your sins away, He calls you his friends. He's laid down his life for you, and he calls you. He calls me friends. What a wonderful thing. What a wonderful.
Joy to see that this that was lost to man because of sin in the garden.
Has been restored in a far more glorious way. And now we'll turn to Revelation and see what is going to replace that garden. Turn to Revelation.
Chapter 22.
Revelation Chapter 22.
There's some wonderful descriptions that are given here.
You and I, who know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, we are in a coming day, perhaps very soon now.
Going to see the full glory and beauty and understand it in a way that we never could understand it as mere men in this world of this scene that's described. But it says here in verse one of chapter 22 of Revelation, he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal.
Proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb, and in the midst, in the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river was there the tree of life.
It's wonderful, you know, in the garden. That tree of life was in the midst of the garden.
It's not my intent to ponder it today, but I don't understand why. If Adam and Eve, maybe it's because of their innocence and they didn't realize the incredible importance of it. But in the day that we live in sickness and death and sorrow and all that's going on, I just wonder over and over again, why didn't Adam as soon as he heard about that tree of life that was in the midst of the garden of which God said you can freely eat of that, that's one of the trees of the garden. You can freely. Why didn't you run straight for that tree?
And get the fruit and take a big bite.
The Tree of life, it was open to him.
There was a tree of the knowledge of good and evil there in that garden.
And he got it mixed up.
And she said to the serpent, trying to answer.
The tree that's in the midst of the garden. We're not to eat of it nor touch it. How can you till a garden if you can't touch what's in it?
And what was in the midst of the garden? I'm going to suggest, if you read it carefully, and I think the original Hebrew supports it, that the tree that's being referred to as the tree of life that's in the midst of the garden. And it doesn't say where the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was. It's just in the garden.
And I want to suggest to you that had they believed God and acted on the blessing he wanted them to have, they would have run straight for that tree of life.
And eaten the fruit, and they didn't.
And the Lord has a connecting rod broken. Something is taken away from him. He can't have communion and fellowship that he wants with you. Dear friend, beloved brother, sister, young, old, in this room today. He wants, he values. He looks for communion and fellowship with you and with me. Now if President Bush were in the city of Saint Louis.
I'm pretty sure at least one person in this room would not be invited to see him because he would have no need of Maine.
I'm not important, and perhaps this whole room is filled with people that he really would have no need of having, except if it were voting time.
00:25:04
He wouldn't have any specific need of having you come and sit down and talk with him. It wouldn't mean anything to him.
But this is the creator God of the universe, the one who hung the sun and the moon and the stars with a word of his power, who brought everything that you can see into being. And he not only has time for you, he desires your company. He's not saying. Well, if you. I'm pretty busy this afternoon, but I'll try to work in between 4:00 and 5:00. He's saying come and drink. I want to walk with you because a connecting rod was broken in Eden.
And I can't enjoy fellowship on that basis anymore. And so I died on the cross.
So that I could have you.
You would come to me and drink, and I could give you such joy and blessing that rivers would flow out of you because they can't flow out of the garden anymore.
Rivers of living water.
But in this new creation, in this new, in this new city.
It talks about a river, that the Tree of Life is on either side of the river. You don't have to go to the midst of the garden. Wherever you're standing, there's the Tree of Life. I don't understand that. But I know it's fully, perfectly forever available for you and for me. And we're going to enjoy it. But then it says this.
There shall be no more curse. Well, we could go on with that, but I just want to tell you.
That a garden, because of sin was lost. And I say reverently to God, first of all, the connecting rod was broken. And through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, he's going to bring a place much more beautiful than that garden. And it's going to have a river in it, and it's going to have the tree of life in it, and it's going to have so much more in it, so much greater blessing than would have ever been realized had Adam and Eve never sinned.
So much more wonderful joy and blessing for you and me.
And I want to tell you that bringing you and me there, those who were born in sin, those who practiced sin, those who, if we were to refer to ourselves as trees, would have to say the root is bad and the fruit is bad.
The root, my nature is born in sin. I am not fit.
For the presence of God, I cannot stand in his presence because of my nature.
And I prove it because of what I do, what I say, what I think.
I bear fruit that is obnoxious to God every bit, and more obnoxious than the fruit that Cain brought to him to seek to worship him.
And so I want to submit that the most wonderful, if I can say it this way, friend.
That you could ever have has provided the way to bring you into this scene in Revelation 22. You know, in Hebrews 11, it says they look for a city whose builder and maker is God. They look for a city which have foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Are you looking for that city or are you looking for a garden? Here, the 11 young people I'm going to finish up this afternoon by making some specific references that I want specially to talk to you about.
You can try to find a garden here. You can try to make a garden here.
In this world, and the world has its rivers, there's the abandoned and the far par rivers.
That are better than the River Jordan for healing.
And those rivers refresh this world. But I want to tell you what that river means to you as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and I want you to listen carefully to this. It means the river. It means the place, the source, where Satan intends to cast you, that you might die even as he wanted to cast the baby Moses.
There was a river in Egypt.
And that river meant life to those in Egypt, but it meant death to the people of God, to those little babies.
And there's a river that refreshes this world, which man is ever trying to make into a garden.
And that river means death to you. The link the connecting rod has been broken because of sin.
And if you're going to try to find a garden in this world and use the world's source of refreshment to make that garden bloom, I want to tell you, beloved young people, you're going to have nothing but agony and dissatisfaction and unhappiness for the rest of your life. It's not a matter of what the brethren teach or what do I have to go to meeting or this or that. It's a matter of your happiness and who is going to be the source of it, this world that spit in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ.
00:30:18
Or your savior Jesus Christ.
Which one is going to give you the satisfaction you're looking for? You're not wrong to look for satisfaction. We all want that and we're not denied that the Lord wants us to have. That's why he said come on to me and drink. He wants you to be happy. But are you trying to build a world to find your happiness, a garden rather to find your happiness here.
And you're trying to use the methods and the principles that the world that spit in my.
To spit in the blessed face of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Are those the principles that you're going to pick up and use to find happiness now that you've bought, belonged to Him, and been washed in His precious blood? You're going to pick up with a Waze and the habits of a world that that thought that the best they could give the Son of God the Creator was a cross, and then sit down and laugh at Him and be entertained by His death?
You know, no one was entertained by the Twin Towers.
No one sat there and was entertained by that sight. Many people have visited it. I have yet to hear. Perhaps there were some hardened fools that thought it was a funny thing, but I have yet to hear of any who have visited that and thought that was an entertaining thing. I have yet to see a photograph of people watching. There are photographs of people caught as they watch that Twin Towers collapse. They're not laughing, they're screaming in horror.
That the heart of man could sit and laugh and be entertained.
By these by the crucifixion agony of the Son of God.
Is that the world you're looking at to find satisfaction?
Is that where you're going to build a garden?
Turn with me quickly to Song of Solomon.
There. This book never ceases to amaze me, and it's well, I guess I would have to say every book in the word of God. I just feel like a.
Fish out of water. I guess the word is so incredible in its depth, but it's such a beautiful book. I just want to make a simple application. I want you to think now of the bridegroom speaking to the one that he loves, that he's going to make one with himself.
In Chapter 4 of Song of Solomon, here's what he says to her. And I would like you to think of these words in this way as I read them. Allow your thoughts to think of the Lord Jesus saying these words to you this afternoon. If you know him as your personal savior, allow him to use these very words to speak to your heart this afternoon.
Verse 9 Thou hast ravaged my heart, My sister, my spouse.
Thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse, How much better is thy love than wine, and the smell of thy ointments than all spices? You know, this morning we had a most precious time.
Thinking about the love of Christ for us and we could have turned to the first chapter, the Song of Solomon. And early in that first chapter it says we will remember thy love more than wine.
And I think earlier it says Thy love is better than wine. And then a little later it says we will remember thy love more than wine. That's the bride speaking to the bridegroom. That's what we did this morning, you might say. We said, Lord Jesus, we're remembering thy love.
And it's better than every joy this earth can afford. But that's not the end of the story. There's His side of it, and his side of it is Your love to me is much better than wine. No matter how we value his love for us, never forget how infinitely more He values those little displays of your love and mind for himself. You've ravished my heart, my sister, my spouse.
00:35:10
What words are those?
The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God in type, if I may say it that way, speaking to you and to me, you've ravished my heart. Your love for me is much better than wine. And then he goes on and I went to read down in verse 12. Now a garden enclosed. He's still speaking. A garden enclosed is my sister, my spouse. A spring shut up, a fountain sealed. My plants are an orchard of pomegranates with pleasant fruits. Campfire with spikenard.
Spiked dirt and saffron, calamus and cinnamon, all trees of frankincense, myrrh and aloes with all the chief spices. A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters and streams from Lebanon. I don't have the time, and more than that, I don't have the ability to give any kind of an exposition on the beautiful meanings that must no doubt be involved in this description. But I do want you to know something.
This is what the Lord Jesus sees in you if you know him as savior.
What he could no longer enjoy, may I say reverently, reverently in Eden, because the connecting rod was broken. And he says he looks at you and you and you and you and each one of us here who know him as savior. And he says, you've ravished my heart.
You have a garden that I was denied in Eden, and it's a beautiful garden.
And it's full of things that delight my heart.
And I want to come into that garden and I want to enjoy that garden.
I want to have communion and fellowship with you. I have restored the connecting rod. I've died on the cross. I said this before. It's been covered with silver, the redemption found in Christ. You know that you are not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold received by tradition from the vain conversation of your Father's, but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without spot and without blemish. Oh, what beautiful silver on this connecting rod.
And he says, now I have a garden. And that garden is so precious, beloved young people hear me.
He says that garden is enclosed. It's not open to the world. I don't want the world to come in and defile it.
It's enclosed, and the springs of water, the refreshment that is in that garden, are shut up from the world because if they're uncovered, they're going to get defiled.
You sometimes hear about how legal brethren are. We'll try this instead.
Try thinking this, that you are so precious to the heart of Christ and he is so jealous for your affection that he doesn't want one spot from this world to defile the garden that he wants to come into and enjoy in your company and in your presence.
And so he says, I want a really strong wall built around that garden because it's not open to the world. He's going to do something that the first Adam didn't do. The first Adam was going was supposed to till and guard the garden, and the Lord Jesus says, as it were, he didn't and the enemy got in. But I'm the second, I'm the last Adam, the 2nd man, and I'm going to guard this garden. I'm going to put a wall around it and guard it.
So that the world can't come in and defile it.
We fail.
And I suppose there are aspects we don't have time to go into as to our position in our, as some say, our standing in our state here. And maybe this is more the aspect of our standing, but it ought to be our our desire for our state too, that practically daily we enjoy this, the realization that so precious am I. Is that possible if you knew me?
If you could.
Make any noise at all? You'd laugh to think that I would say I'm so precious.
To the heart of Christ, that he has enclosed me as a garden full of delights. But that's what he's done for each one of us.
Well.
I wanted to talk about those four rivers for the young people I'm going to stop. They want to close now, but let me just say this in very quick summary and then I'll leave it to you to study it out.
00:40:07
If any man thirst, let him come on to me and drink.
He that believeth on me as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
What's flowing out of your life? To those around today, we have heard some solemn gospel messages.
And it's very clear that this world is well aware whether it wants to be or not.
That something is badly amiss.
And it has some great needs that it can't fulfill.
Do you know you can fulfill those in that sense, if out of your life is flowing rivers of living water, the garden and clothes that he dwells in, which he was denied in Eden, that had four gardens and four rivers flowing out of it. Those four, four rivers, if I can say it this way, beloved young people, dear brethren, those four rivers can flow out of our lives now. So the rivers that would refresh the world don't need to be shut up.
Now I, as I said, I'm going to close, but I'm going to read the verse I believe in the New Testament that has, as our brother said yesterday, the doctrine of this.
And what, at least in the application I'm making answers to those four rivers 3:00.
Thank you. So I can go a little longer. I'd like you to turn with me to 1St Corinthians.
First Corinthians chapter One.
And I'd like to suggest that these are the four rivers that the Lord as a connecting rod now.
To this world would like to see flowing out of the garden that he has made in each of our lives.
Verse 30. But of him, that's God, are ye in Christ Jesus, who from God that could read is made unto us Wisdom river one, Righteousness river 2 Sanctification river three, and redemption river 4.
What do I mean by that? No man can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God or ransom for him. How can I be used in redemption? Oh, are you redeemed in the precious blood of Christ? Well, let that river flow. Let that be one of the rivers that's flowing out of the garden. The message of the joy and the satisfaction of redemption. And not only what it means to be saved, to know him as your personal savior, but the fact that this isn't the end. You know, there are so many people in this world today who This is the end. This is it. This is as good as it gets.
And it's not very good.
It starts out by wisdom we speak.
I'm sorry, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus? I'm going to read that in the New translation. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus who has been made to us wisdom from God, two kinds of wisdom in this world. I want to speak. I appreciate what I think was Brother Jim talked about that we we not overuse or or overemphasize these things that that happened on September 11Th. I think that's a very important thing to remember.
But you know, men are desperately seeking for wisdom right now, for a lot of things. To make this world a peaceful place, free of terrorists and on and on and on, free of certain diseases. I thank God for wisdom. We're enjoying a pretty wonderful place because of a lot of man's ingenuity and wisdom that God by his grace has allowed man to have. And we shouldn't look down on that.
But that's not the river of wisdom that needs to flow out of your garden and mine. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Is that river flowing out of your life, beloved young people? Is your life reflecting?
A walk that is walked in the fear of God, that is, walked in respect to what God thinks. That first and foremost takes into account what your Creator Savior.
Desires.
It's not fair to be scared of him.
It's fear to do anything that would displease or dishonor him, or to forget to take him into my every thought and action.
I don't need to fear one who has already given me peace. Let me turn quickly to that, because I want to tell you, I I to this day, I have a problem with this. This is something Satan really smacks me with, I suppose. He finds our weaknesses, each one of us, and he he knows how to, in each case, work on our weaknesses. One of my many, many is a lot of fear.
00:45:08
Romans 5 I think this was read earlier today.
I'm going to misread the first verse because this is how I always think about it instead of just reading God's word.
Verse one of chapter 5 being misread now, therefore being justified by faith. We feel peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm always forever wanting to feel something. That's not the point. The Lord Jesus has been the connecting rod at the cross and I've accepted him as a savior and he says it's not a matter of feelings. You have it.
Now I admit there's a whole side of this as to enjoyment that is connected with my walk.
But I don't feel peace with God.
It was up to my feelings. I wouldn't be up here. I wouldn't. I would hide from you, brother. If my salvation and my Christian life and my blessings were based on my feelings, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God.
Is your life showing this?
Is the wisdom the fear of God? That's why I say that verse about peace.
And it's not the thought of fear as being scared of God, scared of what he's going to do to me or how he's going to get me. I'm real good at that, I'm afraid.
But to let my life be a river that flows out.
To a land.
That is full of treasures.
And this river, if I understand right the the meaning of the name is overflowing or a flood over flooding water. I don't want to get imaginary or or or so on in my thoughts, but I just thought of it this way. The world has its treasures of gold and jewels and things that it treasures.
But the river of the fear of God flowing out of your life and mine can flood it.
So that those can see there's someone who isn't living their life in the fear of gold.
Or the fear of riches or wealth. Or fame. Will they get it or will they lose it? There's one who's living in the fear of God.
Well, we don't. I just want to suggest that each of those rivers answers to one of these. The next one is righteousness.
I could never ever be or find righteousness in myself, or have a basis to stand before God on my righteousness.
There is none. Righteous. No, not one. That's it. Final. There are no arguing with God. You may want to, but it's not going to work. God has already said there's none. Righteous. No, not one. All of man's righteousnesses are as filthy rags. That doesn't. That even takes in the organizations that are collecting money for the victims of 911.
If it's being done as a way to get into the good graces of God and merit God's favor, God says it's filthy rags. It doesn't count.
So is there a river flowing out of your life that shows that Christ is my righteousness? That I'm righteous in him? That He's given me that robe of righteousness? You can take that on and on, dear young person.
Have you gone to the Lord Jesus, thirsty and drunk, and the river of wisdom and the river of righteousness and the river of sanctification, holiness, separation? Why? Because you have to be a do gooder. Because you can't do this. You can't do that. You can't think this. You can't go there. No, because you've been satisfied and you don't need those things.
They're not going to supply, you know what they what this world, it doesn't look like a famine in our land. This world is in such a moral famine. You know what they ate in the history of Israel when the famine really got bad? It says that an *** has had a donkey's head sold for a vast quantity of silver and a little measure of doves done sold for a big quantity of silver too. And you know what?
00:50:03
That's what's important in this world today, Phil, and foolishness.
What is it that Hollywood, movies, entertainment. What do they dwell on? What do they give you to feed on filth, moral corruption and foolishness. And people are hungry for it because it's a horrible famine and they pay a great price for it. These movie stars, these entertainment figures, they're incredibly wealthy people. How have they made their wealth? By providing you a donkey's head and a cab of calves done of pigeons dung.
That's how they've gotten so wealthy. Are you feeding on that, or is a river flowing out of you to refresh your world? But that's all it has to feed on, and it's coming from a separated holy life. Does that mean you can't enjoy anything? Has nothing to do with that at all. It means that you will, first of all, walk in enjoyment with your savior God.
And that you will keep yourself by His strength. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. You'll keep yourself through His strength from those things that bring corruption and defilement and filth into your life. And you'll be sanctified and redemption. The last river, you know I want to say. I want to say it very carefully, because I want to tell you I consider myself a worse failure than you're ever, than anyone here will ever know when it comes to.
Preaching the gospel or giving the gospel to others. God grant that we be 100 times more faithful and giving out and living the gospel before those around us, but that's the last thing here in this list. That's the last of the rivers mentioned. And if you want to tie it in with a little extra study you'll find it's also has no characteristics mentioned in Genesis. It just says the river Euphrates. So I'm I'm telling you then by saying this that if you want to study this, you can connect.
Each of these four things with those four rivers in the order that they're mentioned, and then see what the spirit of God gives you from that. But I just want to tell you that it doesn't do a whole lot of good for you to talk about knowing Christ, that you're as your savior if you haven't walked in the fear of God, in the wisdom of His Word, in a sense of your righteous standing through the work of Christ, and as separate from all the filth and foolishness in this world.
If you haven't lived and walked like that, I want to say carefully, what good does it do then to tell someone else about Jesus?
What good did he do for you if there's no change in your life? I want to be very careful. I mean this very reverently.
But what use is it to talk about something that I don't put to use myself?
Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. I want to close with the story because Bob said I could go to three.
I.
Some of you probably have heard this or read it, but I want to tell you how simple it can be to be that garden with waters flowing out of it.
That the Lord Jesus can have his place, that he was denied in the Garden of Eden.
That now you and I can give that to him and the waters can flow out to others who are in need. I want to tell you how simple it is. This is a true story. I don't know if the facts are accurate. I know the event happened. We'll call her Susie because I don't know what her name was. A six year old girl.
Who, when she was three, had a stroke and was partially paralyzed.
When she was 5, her parents were killed in an auto accident and she was orphaned.
When she was six, she started going blind and they thought that she probably had a brain tumor.
And they took her into the hospital to give her.
I don't know, Ralph. I guess you know what it was an MRI or something like that, some kind of a test, a scan to pick out this tumor that was causing this blindness.
And here's this paralyzed little girl orphan now going blind. And they they are on a busy schedule in the room testing the testing room. And so they tell her, Susie, you must remember to lay very still when we put you in the tube and we do the scan.
Don't move, don't talk, just be very still. And so they slide her into the tube and they close the door and as they begin the scan immediately the image becomes blurred.
And they realize that Susie is whispering or talking or doing something. She's moving. So they stop and they're getting a little frustrated. They've got a heavy schedule of a lot of tests to run that day, and they pull her out and they say, Susie, remember what we said. You must be quiet. You can't move, You can't say anything because that'll make the image blurry. And they put her back in, slide her into the tube, and they start to scan, and they can hear some mumbling. And sure enough, the image starts blurring.
00:55:24
And this time rather frustrated the head radiologist or whoever it was doing this as they got Suzy I, said Susie.
We said no talking. You've got to be quiet. You can't move. No talking. And Susie and her partially paralyzed condition, twisted words, said I wasn't talking. Susie, you were talking. No, I wasn't talking. I was singing. Susie, you were you were singing. What were you singing?
I was singing Jesus loves me. I always sing Jesus loves me when I'm happy.
Got a river like that flowing out of your life?
There's a world that needs to be happy.
And you're a garden that's making the Lord Jesus happy because of what he did on the cross.
How about letting those rivers flow now?
Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out crater. Love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends.
Now he says, come and drink and let the waters flow. But you got a drink first.
Jesus Loves Me
Children—D. Buchanan
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 sure like to have you up here.
We're not going to give any candy away, but I still think I'll be worth coming up.
Shall we start out singing? It's a good way to start, isn't it? Look over on the back sheet. Sometimes they're not folded right, but if you look on the back, it says children's hymns and courses. Let somebody pick one off of there. Who wants to be the first?
Yes.
#40 I'm glad you gave that one out because that's my favorite and that's what I want to talk about this morning #40 Jesus loves me.
Jesus loves me this side.
He is from Yes please I love me.
Yes, she has lost me.
He has lost me. Survival tells me so.
Satisfied. Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, he's just lost me.
The Bible tells me so.
Last last week. Last week I was last week. Yeah, I think it's nice.
Who tells me so?
He wants lost me and he said where I very breathing and held from his shining bright and Valentine's.
Watch me where I lie. Yes, she's got lost me.
Yes, she's like me.
Yes, she's sunscreen.
By what tells me so?
She has lost me. He will stay from beside me all the way.
If I trust him, should I die, he will take me all my night. Yeah, she is outside.
You have a steak and slice me.
Yes Jesus, that's why I sleep. Not by someone else me so.
You know, down in El Salvador.
There was a little girl that was singing this hymn in Spanish. Jesus loves me.
She was singing in her house. She was a happy little girl and she liked to sing and she was singing this. And, you know, somebody got saved from that. There was somebody come there to work in that house and they were working there and they heard this little girl singing this song. And they were so impressed how happy that little girl was. They wanted to find out why she was happy. And they started reading their Bible and they got saved. Not wonderful, you know the Lord.
He can. He can do wonderful things.
And he loves the little children and big people, older people, you know, they notice that we, we sing this song once in a while almost every day when we go to the it's called the boys home or it's really a prison for delinquent younger boys and girls in this particular section, this boys. And almost without fail, every time we go there.
00:05:09
And they get to pick out a song.
They pick out Jesus loves me, and I think that's probably true with the older ones too in the prison.
Jesus loves me.
And I'm so glad that in this hymn sheet they have that third verse in there.
Jesus loves me, though I'm bad. It doesn't mean that he loves the Vadnais, but he loves the boys and girls regardless of how they are, whether they're good or bad. He loves this. Okay, how about another one, another song?
Yes. Or would you like to sing?
Wide, wide is the ocean, OK? It's not in here, but I think we all know that. Why? Why does the ocean? And if you want, you can use them, your hand motions too, OK.
Why? Why?
The sea is my sailor's life.
For his wife teaches me that his love reaches me.
Everywhere.
You know, isn't that nice? Both of these songs were about love.
And that's what our verse is about today. And that's what I want to talk about today. Love. Wonderful subject. How about another boy or girl? A song?
Am I missing one way back there?
#5 in this one, happy day. OK, very good. This is also about love, really. Oh Happy Day #5.
Oh, happy.
You're ready, my heart. Well, may this flow. We might rejoice.
When Jesus was nice in the way.
He was in our world to watch him pray and every door, everything, every day.
I am my Lord, and hear my.
Eagerly as I followed on where you're wondering about one divine.
I'll be great, happy to be married when I came up on my sins away.
00:10:37
Maybe we have time for just one more song.
Anymore in the back we want to sing.
Nobody tired of singing already?
You know, in heaven we're not going to get tired of singing, are we? Alright then, we'll just pray.
But we do say a verse. I'm not going to ask everybody to say a verse, but.
I think there's probably some here would like to say the verse.
And if you learn the one that I that's in the Sunday school paper, it's a very easy one, a very easy one, only one line.
Who would like to say the verse good?
For stuff.
Is of God first? John 47 right? Can I take this off here?
How about another? You want to set 2.
You want to see it in the mic so everybody hear it. I'll hold the mic over here then who else wants to say it?
Come on boys.
We got somebody way back there. If you come up here, we could all hear you. Or you can say it back there, too. OK, Stand up.
Very good. I could hear that all the way up here. How about somebody else on this side? Come on, boys.
Yeah, let us love one another, for love is of God.
First John 47. Yeah, you want that?
Peyton.
On your, which one of you wanted to say it?
Oh, come on you guys, I know you, so I'll help you. Let's love one another for lovers of God. Fourth John 47. I'm kind of scared of these mics too, and I especially when I was a boy, I wouldn't dare to sat on the front row. I guess that's why they get me up here now, so I catch up.
How about on this side?
Can I say it you want to say it about one of the girls?
I can't bring the mic over there so.
Let us love one another.
We'd like to talk about that in just a little bit. You know, when I, when I went to high school.
When I got to be my the senior year, that's the last year of high school. And I guess seniors have their reputation of being the ones who know a lot.
And the kind of cocky. And the first day of our English class we went to our teachers room and he says, I want everybody to take out a piece of paper. You got to write a one page theme on the subject of love.
Well, boy, that really got me.
You know that sounds easy, doesn't it, love?
How do you describe? How do you write something about love?
I got an F on that paper.
I wasn't very good in English anyway. I never liked it very well, never was good at it. And that one just threw me for a loop. I just, I just couldn't get my thoughts together. How to write about love, You know, I, I knew the Lord Jesus as my savior. I knew about that. But how to write that down for an English teacher? I, I just, I just didn't know what to write anyway. But it is a wonderful subject, love.
00:15:03
And it's something that we need very bad. I don't know if I can tell you exactly what it is even this morning here, but we all know here what it is to be loved.
I was over in Romania a couple months ago and we went to an orphanage, or what I thought was an orphanage. You know what an orphanage is, Who knows what an orphanage is?
What's an orphanage?
That's right, it's a place for kids who don't have homes and maybe they don't even have parents.
Maybe their daddy and mommy died or something happened and they don't have anybody to care for them. And so they have a place for boys and girls that don't have homes and somebody to care for them. Well, we went to this place. Actually, we went to two of them. And actually it wasn't really an orphanage, the first one we went to, because these boys and girls did have daddies and mommies, but their daddies and mommies for one reason or another, didn't want them.
And so these boys and girls, they were mostly girls in this one.
They were all in this, we'll call it an orphanage, even though it technically it wasn't an orphanage and most of these boys and girls had something wrong with them.
But they were lovely little boys and girls and so we went to visit them.
And it's an experience that I'll never forget. There was probably around 60 to 80 boys and girls, mostly girls. About 90% of them in this case were girls. We walked in there. There were four. There were five of us. No, there were six of us that walked in there. And we hadn't told them we were coming or anything. And some of the ladies from here had put together some dolls and dressed them up. And we were going to take these dolls and other little toys.
Over to give to these little orphans that we thought needed a little love, a little demonstration of love. And so we walked in there unannounced, and there were children all over. And before we even got to the gate, a whole swarm of boys and girls came out and all surrounded us. And they started hanging on our arms and they grabbed us around the waist and they hugged us.
You know.
They were starving for love.
They wanted somebody to love them.
And there were, they were being cared for there and the people who were taking care of them. I think we're doing a very good job.
I believe they did love those boys and girls, but what can four or five people do with 80 boys and girls?
Wasn't enough to go around.
Most all of you have somebody. I think all of you have somebody to love you, a dad or a mom or somebody like that.
And so we don't realize what it's like to be without love. It's a very necessary ingredient of our life as we grow up. Love and trust. When you Somebody Loves You, then you can trust them, can't you? There was a boy down in Lima, Peru.
Who grew up?
I'm not sure what happened to his dad or mom, at least his mom. And when he was about 8 years old in the big city of Lima, Peru, which was over a million people, this boy was left.
To live on the street.
He made it all by himself. At about 8 years of old, he ran out and got out on the street and he learned how to fend for himself, take care of himself. He slept on the street at night time or wherever he could find a place. And that boy, that little boy grew up.
Without learning very much about love.
Later on when he was up, probably in his 20s or 30s, he got saved.
00:20:05
But you know, even though he had learned to trust God.
I got to quite acquainted with that man after he grew up.
And that man had a very hard time trusting anybody, believing in anybody because of his upbringing, because he didn't have a dad or a mom who loved them and he didn't know about God's love. And so as he grew up.
He It was just like growing up a wild animal. You fend for yourself. Have you ever watched how dogs do, for example, when they get a group of dogs, and if you get a group of dogs and they're hungry and you pour out some food out there, what happens?
What happens?
They'll eat it, but what else will they do?
They'll fight for the food because they're hungry.
And it can be pretty tough.
And sometimes it's that way with people too, sad to say. Why?
Lack of love, lack of love. People don't believe how much God loves them, and maybe they haven't had a dad or a mom who's taught them really what love is. Well, I'm so thankful that all of you boys and girls have been taught, I believe, about love. You know what it is?
You know, I was, I was trying to think when I was getting ready to have this meeting, well, what was this story that I could tell about love and why there must be hundreds of them and I couldn't come up with one. I guess I'm going to have an F on this test too.
But then I got to thinking, well, my goodness.
There is. The best story of all is about God's love, and we've been hearing about it here in these meetings, how God sent his Son down to this world to become a little boy, to grow up, to take our place on the cross.
That's the best love story that was ever told. There will never be one. Is that equal that I was noticing in our chapter that we've been studying in Hebrews 11 of all those lists of of men of faith that really not as even a single one of them, except maybe Abraham and Isaac really give us much about love. Yes, and that when they do.
Now I want to go back to our verse a little bit.
There was there's one word that was left out.
It's left out on the Sunday school paper and I don't want to find fault for the the those who print the Sunday school paper. But the very best word in my opinion of that verse wasn't on there. Nobody said it. So if you'll open your Bible, let's look and see what that word is.
They send John first, John chapter 4. Those of you who got your Bibles here.
You can look it up with me and we're going to notice.
What I think is the most important word.
In that verse.
First John chapter 4 and verse.
Seven and I'm going to read it.
First John 4/7.
Be loved.
Let us love one another.
For love is of God.
And everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.
Now the important word is be loved.
Now what is beloved?
Is that a? Is that a just a greeting that people are accustomed to put on the beginning of salutation of a letter?
Oftentimes, you know, we get letters addressed to us and it will say beloved brother or sister so and so.
00:25:06
What does beloved mean? We're talking about love and be loved. What's the difference?
Well, let me explain it this way. If you just separate that word be loved into the two words that are, I believe it's put together with that is to be loved. That's what it means to be loved and to love. You see, on one case, if it's beloved, that is Somebody Loves You.
If you are the person who is doing the loving, then it's love.
I we say to our dad or mom, Daddy, I love you, mommy, I love you and so who gets to love them, Teddy and mommy if they say that to you?
They say son or daughter, I love you, then you are beloved, Somebody Loves You.
That's very simple, isn't it?
Now I'd like to talk about this Bible.
I am going to our Bible is in two parts.
What are the two parts of our Bible?
The older, new what?
Testament, the Old Testament and New Testament What's the last book of the Old Testament?
The last book? That's not a hard one, is it? What's the last book of the Old Testament?
What's the first book of the Old Testament? Come on.
You know.
Genesis, thank you. And then what's the last book?
I'm sorry, I'm not. Yeah.
Malachi.
What the last book of the New Testament?
Yeah, Revelation. What's the first book?
Matthew.
That's the two parts of our Bible. If we could sum up the Old Testament in the Old Testament's a long book. It was the Old Testament is written before our Lord Jesus was born into this world and before he brought us a new covenant or New Testament, a new way of dealing with God, a new way of approach to God so that we could have our sins washed away. It's it's, they're different. They're too, they're, they're very different, those two books.
And but we need the whole to have the Bible in the Old Testament.
God made a covenant or a testament with his people and it was based on.
The law.
He gave it to Moses and the whole Old Testament pretty much is a story.
About the people of God under that covenant.
And what did that covenant say? What did the 10 commandments say to do?
Anybody can anybody tell me what one of the 10 commandments are?
If you go by our courthouse in our town where we live, the 10 commandments are up there on a stone engraved in it. And a lot of places it's that way. And there's some people that are wanting to get rid of those 10 commandments.
What is the very first one say?
Thou shalt.
You know that's in the news.
That's the new do you know?
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God. That's right. Thou shalt love the Lord that's to love. God told men he's to love his God. And there's a second part to those 10 commandments and it says thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And pretty much in a nutshell, that's the whole Old Testament story. And God wrote it down. And we have a record of a lot and lots of people and how or how they did or did not do that.
But when you come to the New Testament.
It doesn't start out that way. By the way, how does the Old Testament end?
00:30:06
Turn over your Bible. Let's find that place right between the New Testament and the Old Testament.
It's after Mella at the end of Malachi.
And before Matthew.
I'd like you just to notice what the very last words of the Old Testament are.
I'm going to read it here. This is what Malachi wrote, the last one to write in the Old Testament, he said, and it says he, Speaking of the prophet Elijah, shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
Not a very happy ending, is it? You know, when I was a little boy.
And my folks used to get together with some of the other parents and we kids would go out and sometimes it would be dark outside and we'd go out and sit in the corner where it was dark and tell scary stories. You ever do that? We used to love to do that. And I had a cousin who could tell the scariest stories. And we get all nervous and scared.
Dory get to a real bad place and then all of a sudden she'd say. And they all lived happily ever after.
We never ended those stories.
In a bad way. We always had to make them come out good.
We like that, don't we? Yeah, I did. We kind of liked the scary part a little bit, but then if we got too scared and it got too bad and we hope that the story would get better, well, that's just in our little boyhood minds that we like things like that, but we like them always to end up good.
And I do, I still do. I still like them. In fact, even today, sometimes when I'm reading a book and it gets kind of bad, I'll do what I call cheating and I'll turn over and look at the last chapter and see how it ended up. And that helps me sometimes to get through the story because I, I know how it's going to end up. Well, isn't it wonderful that God has done that for us? You know, he's really told us the story.
He told us two stories. The first story is about Adam and all his children, and we read how it ended up.
Lest I come it's might the earth with the curse. And why? It's because the heart of the father is not turned to the children, and the children to the to the fathers. A lack of love.
A lack of fulfilling what God told them. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul. Know thy mind and thy neighbor as thyself. Those two commandments that are the main part of the 10 commandments.
So to sum it all up, the Old Testament is a story of about how you should love. Thou shalt love.
Sad to think that that's the way it is.
I don't think that's changed today, but the New Testament now, it's different.
It's very different.
I like to think of the New Testament as the beloved book.
That is, the New Testament is about those who are the loved ones.
God loves 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.
We are the beloved ones. You boys and girls are the beloved ones. Somebody Loves You more than you know, and not just your parents.
Our God loves us, and he's opened up a way so he could love even the bad.
It's not a conditional love. He loves us regardless. How can God love bad children or bad adults? grown-ups?
00:35:00
You know I.
Sometimes you go to certain areas where the world where there's a lot of sin, there's a lot of crime, and you see a lot of bad things. For instance, you go to a jail and harden men and women there that have lived a life of sin and they're bad. They've been bad people.
It's pretty pathetic to go up to a place like that.
Or maybe if you go to a hospital in a foreign country where there's sin has destroyed people's lives, you walk into one of those hospitals and you see people groaning and suffering all the results of disease and sickness and sin. It's pretty sad. It's hard. I find it hard to go to a place like that.
These people are in bad shape.
You walk down maybe we used to go once in a while to a place called Skid Row in Chicago. And these people that were on alcohol and they come up to you and they're all drunk and they can't talk straight. And they lean on you and they slobber on you and they want your love and they they hang on you.
You see, even people like that need love.
And I find it kind of hard sometimes to love people like that.
You know there's something in me and says, well, if you want to be loved, why don't you straighten up?
Oh, boys and girls, there's a God. I love people like that.
And there's a God that loves you and me.
Because really?
We can't say we're any better because if we think we're better.
We better go back and read our Old Testament.
And find out if we are any better.
But thankfully, we can read our New Testament and we can find out.
How that God loved, and when the Lord Jesus was here, he showed that love.
To the different people that came to him on one occasion, the boys and girls, the disciples thought he was too busy to be occupied with the boys and girls, and they told the boys and girls to go away. He's too busy in one sense, they said. The Lord took him up in his arms and he sat down with him and talked to them.
Well, that's what it is to be loved.
Now our verse, beloved, let us love.
One another. The secret to loving one.
Another is to realize how much God loves you.
That's why that verse, the most important word in that verse, is beloved.
Because.
If we go down a little farther and justice before we close, and I'd like to read down a little bit more in that chapter. What it says, it explains it a little bit more in first John Four, it says.
In verse nine, well, let's read. Let's go on and read consecutively here in verse 8.
He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. And this was manifest the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God southern loved us, we are also to love one another. So the secret to being able to love one another is to realize how much God loves us and to when we see that, we see how that the Lord Jesus.
In desire to show His love towards us, took our place on the cross, died for us in order that He might give us a new life that's capable of loving right as God loves.
The love that the world talks about is not exactly the same love as the Bible is.
This is the real, true, genuine love that loves everybody.
So, boys and girls.
00:40:01
That verse is a very good verse.
But the only way to love one another is first of all, to see how that God loved you and to accept the Lord Jesus as your Lord and Savior and to seek to please him because he loved you and to show that same love out to others. That's the only way to really love. And that's what the New Testament is about. And may the Lord help us as we grow up to learn how to express that love in our lives because it isn't just going around and saying, people, I love you.
Now that's nice to go take. Tell your daddy or mommy I love you and they like to hear it and I like it too. And I hear the daddies and mommy say unto their children I love you, but it can't just be.
Expression of our lips.
If our heart is not in it, we have to say it from our heart, I love you and to show it by what we do too. And I, I would have liked to ask you different ways here that we could show people that we love them. And I'm sure you all could come up with a lot of different ways that you could show love to other people. It isn't just going to say I love you, but acts of kindness, doing many little things.
To please somebody else.
That is the one of the ways that we can show love and that's how God has showed His love to us. Well, I guess our time is up here. Let's just close with prayer.
Gospel
Gospel—J. Hyland
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This evening with hymn #3 on the gospel hymn sheet, my hope on nothing less is built than Jesus and the blood he spilt. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on his blessed name. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. I'm going to suggest that we stand up to sing this hymn hymn #3 and if someone could please start it.
My.
My soul.
Is my blessings day.
Oh, Christmas light rock, oyster.
And bother.
By reading 3 portions of the Word of God, we're going to read a portion from the life of the Lord Jesus. We're going to read an incident in the book of Genesis, and we're going to read a verse in the book of Proverbs.
I think as we read these, you'll see very easily the connection. Let's go first of all to Luke's Gospel, chapter 14.
I'm Sorry, Chapter 13. Luke's Gospel, Chapter 13.
And verse one.
There were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans.
Whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things, I tell you, Nay, but accept ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those 18 upon whom the tower of Siloam fell, and slew them.
Think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem, I tell you, Nay, but accept ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. And now I'd like to go back to the book of Genesis, Genesis Chapter 11.
00:05:07
Genesis Chapter 11 and verse one.
And the whole earth was one language and of one speech. And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plane in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. And they said, one to another, go to let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone and slime, had they for mortar. And they said, go to let us build us a city.
And a tower whose top may reach unto heaven. And let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men builded. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is 1 And they have all one language. And this they begin to do, And now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do.
Go to let us go down and there confound their language.
That they may not understand one another speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth, and they left off to build the city. Therefore the name of it is called Babel, because the Lord did their confound the language of all the earth, and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. And now a verse in Proverbs, Chapter 18.
For 18 and verse 10.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it and is safe. Well, you know, sometimes the Lord allows circumstances, perhaps in our lives personally or perhaps in the world around us, to bring before us perhaps a line of things in scripture that we know is there. But we've never really followed it out before. And I have been impressed in going through the word of God recently to notice.
How many times we have towers mentioned? And tonight we couldn't hope to go through the word of God in the time that is allotted to us for this gospel meeting and mention all the towers and their significance. Because these things in God's word are not idly recorded. They have significance. They have something to say to our consciences and to our hearts. They have a lesson that needs to be learned. God doesn't just record these things as interesting stories.
And historical facts. It's true, they are interesting stories and they are historical facts. But we're going to find tonight that with the Lord's help that they are much more than that. And I trust that the Spirit of God will help us to see just beyond the event itself, but to see the reason that it is recorded in God's word.
Towers have been very much the subject of conversation in the United States and around the world since September 11Th.
And there have been story after story of those who perished in that on that day, not only in the disaster in New York City, but at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania. Stories of those who perished, stories of those who were saved, stories of those who were spared in one way or another. You know, I believe that God often allows catastrophes.
Catastrophes to the magnitude that we have experienced right here in North America to wake us up and to speak to us.
You know, I don't know since the 11Th of September how many other people have perished in various accidents and instances around the world. I suggest that if we were to draw up some statistics this evening, we would be astounded with how many people have died since that horrific incident in New York City on the 11Th of September. But, you know, God often allows circumstances and tragedies like that to speak to us.
And it's interesting where we began. Here in Luke's gospel, we have the Lord Jesus speaking to those many who thought they were pretty good, many who didn't realize their need. And I trust that every one of us in this room tonight realize that if we're lost and without Christ, we have a great need.
00:10:01
But here we find that the Lord Jesus speaks to them, and he brings before them two instances what we might say were the current events of the day, that which no doubt was the topic of conversation. If you had gone from city to city in that day and from town to town and talked with people on the street corner, no doubt these two things that had happened were the subject of conversation. And tonight we want this to be more than.
Than just a rundown or a summary of current events.
We want to, by the grace of God, present the glorious gospel message concerning the Lord Jesus who came into this world to save sinners. But I was struck in coming to this chapter in Luke, Luke 13, and to realize that the Lord Jesus in speaking to those in his day.
He drew from the news of the day because, I say, the current events of the day are often allowed to speak to us. Sometimes they speak softly, sometimes they speak loudly. Now I would just say to qualify my remarks that we can become over occupied and overwhelmed by what is going on in this world, but you know, even as believers.
It's good to be intelligent bystanders as to what is going on in this world.
And here we find the Lord brings 2 instance instances before these ones. The first one was an instance of violence, the second was an accident. Aren't we reminded of those two things in the world in which we live, violence fills this world. You only have to read a corner of your newspaper to realize that violence is on the rise in every sphere of society. And I believe it's on the rise in North America because we're giving up the light of Christianity.
Here in North America, having been to some other parts of this world.
I've realized that what places of value on life is Christianity, and the light of Christianity has placed a value on life in the Western world beyond.
What you will find in any other, any other corner of the world, where something other than Christianity.
Is professed.
But as we give up the light of Christianity, as we set aside the word of God.
As we bring up a generation who know nothing about the Scriptures, nothing about God, nothing about his Son, the Lord Jesus, perhaps other than to hear his name cursed on the street, I believe we're going to see more violence and corruption.
Rise right here in North America. You know, we often quote that scripture in Second Timothy Perilous times. And yet, you know, perhaps up until now we really in this country haven't known physically at least.
What real perilous times are.
But if the Lord leaves us here, we might find out more and more what it is to experience real peril here in North America. And so the Lord Jesus brought this incident concerning, this concerning.
Pilot who had mingled the blood of these men with their sacrifices. And it's not my thoughts to go into the details of this incident.
But simply to point out what the Lord Jesus said to those who were listening to him.
And that is he said that those who were those who had had their blood mingled with those sacrifices, were no worse, no worse sinners, than those who were standing with an outward cloak of piety before the Lord Jesus on this occasion. And he said, Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
You know, it's a solemn word. It's repeated twice here.
Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
You know, perhaps in the society in which we live, we don't really understand much about real repentance.
It's often been pointed out, and rightly so, that repentance literally is a change of mind. And it is to realize first of all that we are sinners, and to see through the eyes of God that not only are we sinners, but we're rotten through and through, and that there isn't even one spark of good within us. Isn't that contrary to what they teach you at school today? Isn't that contrary to what you hear in the world where there's this spark?
They tell us there's this spark of divinity within each one of us, and if it's fanned in the proper way and developed or placed in the proper environment, it's going to eventually flame up into something wonderful.
00:15:11
That's contrary to the teaching of God's Word. God's Word says there is no difference and God's Word says there is none. Good. No, not one. And God's Word tells us all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Do you really believe that tonight? Is there someone here in this room and you're going on in your sins on that broad Rd. that leads to destruction?
And when the Word of God is opened on an occasion like this?
And whoever has the privilege and opportunity of presenting the Word, because it is a wonderful privilege to hold forth the word of life. But whoever has the privilege of opening the word and presenting the gospel brings before you the fact from the word of God that you are a Sinner. You close your ears to it. You say, well, I've done some wrong things, but I'm not so bad as all that.
Brother was telling me one time of a man who came to his home.
He was looking for something to eat and.
As he was given something to eat in that home.
The brother in whose home he was sitting sought to bring before him the gospel.
And when he spoke of sin, this man said, oh, I've never sinned this.
I wonder if there's anybody who would have the audacity tonight to stand up and say they've never sinned. This man said he'd never sinned. He just made mistakes.
He'd made one great mistake because the brother realized after talking to him for a while that while he as he kept wiping his cup and his knife and anything else he touched.
So he wouldn't leave fingerprints behind, This brother realized there was something more than met the eye and.
I think his wife went into the other room and called the police and they were only too glad to find out that this man who said he'd never sinned.
Would be picked up. And that's exactly what happened. He had escaped from prison.
He hadn't just made mistakes. He had sinned. And you say, well, I've never gone against society. I've never committed a crime that would warrant me being put behind prison bars. But, oh, tonight I want to tell you that sin is a serious thing. And that one act of disobedience was what drove Adam and Eve out of the presence of God. And one act of disobedience was what brought down sin and death upon the whole human race.
By one man's disobedience, sin entered, and death by sin so death passed upon all men.
For that all have sinned, and all to get into the presence of a holy God tonight, and to realize that you are a Sinner, and to see what you are through the eyes of a holy God, I believe, will bring you to repentance, a change of mind.
And to confess that sin.
Oh, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins.
And so he tells them here, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. And then he goes on to speak, not so much of an act of violence now but he speaks of an accident.
The Tower of Siloam for some reason.
Falls down and 18 souls are ushered into eternity.
Seems like a small number, doesn't it, compared to what we've heard of in recent weeks.
But those who were listening to the Lord Jesus might have thought.
Well, God was speaking to them. They must have been great sinners for God to allow the Tower of Siloam to fall on them, and usher them into eternity. The Lord said, Nay, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
And tonight I want to impress upon our souls.
That we have not. You have not perished, yet many have perished here in North America.
In the last few months. But here you sit with opportunity to receive God's wonderful offer of salvation, God's escape from coming judgment, God's invitation to come to the Savior, and not just to escape from coming judgment, from coming wrath. That's true for those of us who know Christ were saved from wrath through him, But it's much, much more than that.
00:20:10
It is to be saved for glory. There is a hymn we sometimes sing. Death and judgment are behind us.
But that's not the end of it. Grace and glory are before, and I know I look into the faces of those who thrill as we speak of that which is ahead for the child of God. But what about you tonight?
You weren't in the World Trade Center when it collapsed.
You weren't on any of those planes.
That blew up for one reason or another and crashed on the 11Th of September.
God has spared your life graciously.
So that this weekend you could come to these meetings.
So that this evening you could have from the heart of God.
Presented ever so feebly, but from the heart of God.
A message of hope, of salvation, of love, of peace, and of joy.
I was solemnized.
To hear a story just the other day.
Concerning 2 People, a man and a woman.
Both who escaped.
The awful, horrific catastrophe of the collapsing of the World Trade Center.
One of those one of those individuals, the man.
He had just started a new job that day and he had transferred from his office on one of those high up stories in the World Trade Center to another location in New York City.
Another woman was on the ground floor of that Trade Center when the first plane hit, and she too, escaped. But that's not the end of the story.
It's so solemn, I don't know if I can speak of it.
But both those individuals who escaped that day.
From certain death.
We're on that American Airlines flight.
That took off from New York City.
And crashed in Queens.
Shortly thereafter.
The lady had told her family.
That she was returning to the Dominican Republic to celebrate the fact.
That she had escaped and was still alive.
The other man, if I remember correctly, was going to take a vacation.
Why do we tell these things tonight? These are not just merely updates on what is taking place in the world around us, but I tell this tonight. Young person, boy, girl, older person, to solemnize our souls in the presence of God and to solemnize our souls as to the reality of eternity.
We must meet God. It is appointed unto debt man once to die, and after this the judgment, And therefore, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, it tells us in Second Corinthians.
We think we know about terror and I'm not minimizing anything.
But knowing the terror of the Lord.
We've seen the terror of man at his worst, perhaps, but what about when the judgments of this world are meted out by the Lord Jesus himself? Oh, if we were to go to Revelation tonight, we would find those who are left behind for judgment, and they look for escape from that which is poured out on this earth in the wrath of the Lamb. And it says that they hide themselves. They cry to hide themselves from the mountains and rocks, to fall on them and hide themselves.
From the wrath of the Lamb, in the face of him that sitteth upon the throne, are you going to be left behind for the judgment of God?
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I tell you, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
It was a solemn thing for pilot to mingle the blood of the Galileans with their sacrifices.
It was a solemn thing when the Tower of Siloam fell and killed 18 souls.
But there is a judgment coming on this world that's far, far worse.
Than anything that this world has experienced. The judgment of a holy God, the day of the Lord. It's solemn. These things are real. We're not fooling tonight, and not only the judgments that are coming on this world, but even worse than that.
To stand at the Great White Throne before the Judge.
With heaven and earth fled away.
And to stand there speechless in your sins.
And to look into the face of the one who tonight wants to be your savior.
And to have the books brought out and opened in the plenty of time to go over the records. No hurrying in that courtroom in that day. No case is dismissed because the courts are jammed.
No loopholes or typing errors.
But the books brought out and the records gone over, as we would say, everything there in black and white.
And then wonder of wonders even the book of life brought out.
To show that your name is not written there, lest there be any shadow of a doubt in your mind.
That your name should have been there. That book brought out in your name, not there.
And what happens to those whose names are not written in the book of life?
Something worse, Something far, far more serious.
Than anything that has or will have happened prior to that event.
Something far more final than anything that has happened prior to this.
To be taken.
And in the language of Scripture, bound hand and foot, and cast into outer darkness.
And the most solemn thing of all to be shut out eternally from a God of love, a place where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth.
You know, whenever you take up a subject in the word of God, it's always good to go back to the first time something is mentioned.
And that's why I read the incident in Genesis Chapter 11. We've spoken of the Tower of Siloam.
We've spoken of the World Trade Center and those towers that came crashing down on that day.
But here we go back to the beginning, where we have the first mention in the word of God of a tower.
And I believe what we have here to generalize and to sum up this incident in the building of the Tower of Babel, is man in independence of God lifted up in all his pride. I don't know if you noticed, but since these scriptures were on my heart this evening, I noticed in coming down the hall to the Gospel Meeting outside this room.
Several paintings.
Of towers of various sorts. I have no doubt if we had a historian here we could go out in the hall and perhaps he could name those various towers.
It looks like most of them were our paintings depicting towers from ancient history.
Man has always been fascinated by towers, and here we find that after the flood, man travels and they're together and they come to the plain of Shinar. You know, this plain of Shinar is mentioned again in the first chapter of Daniel in connection again with Babylon.
And I don't pay particular attention to meanings of names in the scripture and their significance.
But it is interesting to notice that Shinar means holy cast off. Isn't it? A picture of the world we live in today. Restraint today.
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Is gone. It's a day when restraint is wholly cast off, and they have an expression in the world. If it feels good, do it. And men today are following the app, their appetites and their desires, with no one to put restraint or to tell them what to do. We have come, have we not? Almost to what we might say is an amoral society, no standard men fulfilling the lusts of the flesh and of the mind. And I don't.
Need to tell you about this and it's certainly not my intention to tonight.
You see it every day in stark reality when you go to school or to work, or even to stand in line at the grocery store.
And see.
What's there in the news racks? I don't suggest you read it.
This is a day.
Fully cast off.
That's what we find. The land of Shine artifies to us.
And they come to this plane, and they say, lest they be scattered, they ought to build a city and a tower.
Whose height would reach to heaven now? Again, the city often brings before us in Scripture Man going on in independence of God. The first mention of a city, if we were to back up in this same book, is in connection with Cain. I think we alluded to it this afternoon. He went out from the presence of the Lord and he built a city again. Isn't that what men are doing today? They've gone out from the presence of the Lord. They don't want God. They don't want the light of His word. They don't want prayer in the schools.
They don't want their young people to hear the Scriptures or the gospel.
Gone out from the presence of the Lord and aren't they building a city, isn't man lifted up in his pride. Boffin said. That when I was growing up in the city Of Montreal and our Centennial, Canadian Centennial rolled around in 1967, they had a great World's fair and exposition.
It was ironically entitled Man and His world. And if we were to follow through concerning Babel Babylon, this place of confusion, because that's what it became and that's what this world is without God. It's simply a place of confusion. No purpose. People without a purpose, People doing their own thing. Violence and corruption and rebellion against authority on the rise on every hand.
And later on Nebuchadnezzar looked around that great city, and with all the pride in his heart he said, Is not this great Babylon that I have built? But God came in, in His judgment, judgments, a very real thing. He has appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained. And so we find that they take up this task of building a city and a tower.
And what happened? It says the Lord came down.
That's a striking comment, because if we were to go back to the 6th of Genesis, before the flood came, before God judged with the flood, you find that it simply says, and God looked down. Interesting, isn't it? He looked down and he saw not only the outward rebellion and corruption and violence that filled the earth in Noah's day, but he looked into the very heart of man, and he saw that the imagination of man's heart was evil.
But here we find something else. He doesn't just look down here as man is lifted up in his pride, seeking to build this city in this great tower. He comes down to see the tower and he says, no, they're not going to continue. You know God is in control tonight.
Man goes on, He builds his great towers. He makes his plans.
He speaks of superpowers and those who are in control of situations in the earth.
God is in control. The wrath of man shall praise thee, and the remainder of wrath thou shalt restrain.
He's working all things after the council of his own will. He's behind everything. There's no surprises with God. Nothing takes him off guard. He knows all about it before he it happens and he allows it to accomplish his purposes, and it will be ultimately for his glory. Sometimes it's hard to understand that, but it will be ultimately to accomplish his purposes and for his glory.
And so he said, I'm not going to let them continue. And he came down and confounded the languages. And you know, we still use this expression today to Babble.
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Later on, it's referred to as Babylon. You ever hear someone say, well, that person just babbles on. It's a place of confusion.
But you know, I want to go now. We've spoken of some very solemn things, and I trust the spirit of God lays these things on your soul if you're not saved tonight. But you know, we read that verse in the book of Proverbs, In Proverbs, chapter 18. I'm just going to read it again.
Because this is the glorious side of it all. Proverbs 18 and verse 10. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it and is safe. You know, I saw a statement written. I just forget where it was, whether it was in the newspaper or a gospel track. I'm not sure where it was. But it said this. It asked this question. Is any tower safe? Well, tonight we want to tell you about a tower that's safe.
The World Trade Center wasn't safe. It came tumbling down. The tower of Salome in the Lord's Day wasn't safe. It came tumbling down, but out. Tonight, the glorious side of the gospel is that there is a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, referred to in our verse as a strong tower.
I also read a solemn statement made by one of the architects or engineers that worked on the World Trade Center as it was being erected. He made this statement. He said these towers are so strong that they can withstand the impact of a 737, should never make statements like that. They said God couldn't think the Titanic and he sunk it.
They set a 737, couldn't bring down the World Trade Center, and we know what happened.
But all here's the only safety, here's the only sure refuge. And you know those of us who have fled by the grace of God to this strong tower, Those of us who are have found our salvation in the Lord Jesus, those who are washed by that precious blood.
Nothing can ever pluck us out of that tower, so to speak. We're there, and we're safe for all eternity. The devil himself can't bring that tower down. The devil himself can't root us away from the one who has saved us. Oh, what's security? People are looking for security tonight. Just go to any airport in this world and people are trying to have security.
There's lots of breaches in security, aren't there? We hear almost every day of some breach in security.
But here is the place of security with no breach. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, and if we were to go over to the New Testament we would read these glorious words. There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
Have you found your refuge tonight in that strong tower?
I'm going to ask that question again.
May it burn into your soul. Have you found your refuge in that strong tower?
The Lord Jesus Christ.
Or are you struggling on with life and trying to find peace and safety and security?
In all the things that man has set up in society to try to attain those things Education, affluence, money.
Before this gospel meeting, I wanted to get a little exercise and.
So I took the elevator to the 12Th floor of this building, and I walked down those 12 floors, down the stairs. And then I turned around and I walked back up those 12 flights of stairs. And then I walked back down again. And for someone who's not in the best physical shape, it was a good little workout. But you know, as I walked, particularly up those stairs, I thought about three men that I read about recently.
Three men who had.
Everything.
As the world would say, to make them happy.
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Samuel Preston.
Louis Weatherford and John Newton, three young men who lived here in the United States many, many years ago. I say many years ago, and this story will bear it out.
One day they decided that they needed to go out and have some fun and go to New York City and, as they said, paint the town.
And so they boarded a train in their hometown for New York City.
And they arrived by train, and in the hustle and bustle of Central Station, they found a cab and instructed the driver to take them to the Ambassador Hotel in New York City.
As they got out of that cab, here were three country boys.
In the heart of New York City, and they gazed with awe.
At that 29 story building, did I say this story happened long ago? Indeed it did.
They went inside and they had made reservations. They checked in.
They got on the elevator and they went to the top floor because when they had checked in, they said they wanted the best suite in the Ambassador Hotel in New York City, and they were informed that that would be on the 29th floor of that building. They got there and they found that it was indeed a luxurious suite.
They settled in and they got refreshed. And then they decided as evening approached that they would go out on the town. And that's exactly what they did. And in the wee hours of the morning they returned to that hotel. And in those days you didn't stick your key in your pocket and take it with you. When you left the hotel, you left it at the front desk, and when you returned to the hotel, you picked up your key.
When they came to the desk, they were informed that the elevator in their absence had malfunctioned and that they had two choices. They could either walk up the 29 flights of stairs to their suite, or the hotel would give them a suite room, at least on a lower floor. And the next day, when the elevator was repaired, they could go back.
To their suite on the 29th floor.
Those men were exhausted.
But they decided when they talked about it that it would be worth the climb to again enjoy the luxury that they knew awaited them at the top of that building. It would be worth the climb.
And so they told the man behind the desk, yes, they would make the climb, and they started out in the first few floors. It was kind of a lark, and they joked about it.
But you know, as they got a few floors up, they began to get weary and their escapades that evening only added.
To the fatigue that they felt, and the higher they got, the more fatigued they became. And one of the men decided he couldn't make it anymore, and he sat down on one of the landings. His friends let him rest a little while, and then they encouraged him to press on.
And so, floor by floor, slow, ever so slowly, they made it finally to the 25th, 29th floor.
They got to the door of their room and one of the men rummaged in his pocket for the key, turned to his friends and said one of you must have the room key.
His friends looked in their pockets. They shook their heads. They said. We thought you had the room key.
You can imagine their distress.
They had climbed almost to the point of dropping with exhaustion.
Those 29 flights of stairs defined that they were without the key. Why do I tell that? Just because it's an interesting story? No, I was solemnized when I read that story to realize there are many like those three young men in this world tonight who are so busy trying to climb and by one effort and another get along in this world, climb the ladder of success.
Climb the corporate ladder.
Many even trying to climb to heaven tonight, but they don't have the key.
What is the key? Oh, it's the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. How many are going on the on life, struggling up the mountain of life, struggling up the staircase of life, so to speak, without the key, without the Lord Jesus Christ, only to find at the end of it all that it's all in vain.
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Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
But here we find the name of the Lord is a strong tower. Oh let's go in our minds eye for a moment to Calvary's cross.
Where we see the Lord Jesus.
Having been on trial in the city of Jerusalem.
Taken outside those city walls. They've cried away with him, crucify him, They've led him outside those city walls. They've taken him to the place of a skull. You know why It was the place of a skull. That's as high as man's reason would take him.
What was the height of man's reason? What was the height of man's intelligence? It was to take the Creator and the Sustainer of the universe, the one who had come to be the Savior.
The one who had common blessings, and to take him to the place of a skull, to take him to go Gotham, to take him to Calvary, and to stretch out his hands, as he upheld all things by the word of his power, and to nail him there.
And to leave him to hang as a spectacle for men and angels.
To sit down and watch him in his agony.
To pass by and revile him.
And then when man had heaped on the Lord Jesus, all the abuse.
And all the reproach and all the ignominy that God would allow.
The sun was darkened at the brightest moment of the day.
And thank God he bore my sins in his own body on the tree.
Thank God he died for me, because at the end of it all he cried. It is finished. He bowed his blessed head. He dismissed his spirit, He could say of his life. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
And so many of us can rejoice tonight to echo with the Apostle Paul, the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. He gave himself at Calvary's cross.
Wicked hands never touched the body of the Lord Jesus. After that God made sure of it.
And Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, who finally comes out boldly for Christ.
They come, they come, and they take the body of the Lord Jesus and they lay it in a new tomb in accordance with the prophecy of the Old Testament.
And then, early on the resurrection morning, we find those who come to the Sepulchre, those whose hearts were so attracted to the Lord Jesus that they wanted to be close to him, even if it meant just being close to his dead body. And they come. But do they find a dead body in the tomb?
Oh, no. They find the stone rolled away. They find an empty tomb. And they hear these glorious words. Words that thrill our souls over and over and over again. I trust he is not here. He is risen. Come see the place where the Lord lay. He had been in the tomb. Indeed he had. He died and he was buried. But the Scripture doesn't end there.
It says he rose again the 3rd day according to the scripture, and he was raised again for our justification. Because if Christ be not raised, our faith is in vain, we're still in our sins, and he remained on earth long enough to give ample testimony to his own.
That he had bodily risen from the dead, He said, Handle me, and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bone, as ye see me have. He appeared even to about 500 brethren at one time. And then the day came, when he led his disciples outside to Bethany, there on the Mount of Olives, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them. And as he lifted up his hands and blessed them, his feet left the mount of Olives.
And a cloud received him out of their sight. And the Lord Jesus tonight, the Savior that we're Speaking of, this strong tower that you can flee to tonight.
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He's a savior on high in the glory. He lives there at God's right hand. He loves you. He wants you. He died to redeem you only believe His word.
Oh, tonight it's repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. We spoke of repentance earlier, but I'll just for a moment I want to beseech you to put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Is that difficult? Is that a long, complicated gospel message?
Most of what we have said here tonight, perhaps you won't remember, But remember this short gospel message preached in a prison so long ago. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Are you saved tonight? Do you know Christ as your Savior?
Are you washed in the blood of Jesus? You know there are three colors we hear so often about, especially at a time when patriotism rises through circumstances in the world.
And in this country you have no doubt heard this expression many, many times in the past few months. Red, white and blue.
You know, those are not just the colors of the American flag. They are colors of scripture. First of all red. I like the order in which we say those. It's it's, I think it's very interesting. Red, the blood of Christ. That's the basis sacrifice. We had that this morning in this afternoon in the reading meeting.
Cain brought a more, Abel brought a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. Why? Because there was the shedding of blood and all through the Old Testament. From that point on God was teaching that the basis for blessing was the death of an innocent victim. There had to be the shedding of blood. When Israel was redeemed by the blood of the Passover lamb, that victim had to be slain. The blood had to be taken and put on the lentil and the two side posts. And God said, when I see the blood.
It was God's estimation, God's value of the thing. When I see the blood, I will Passover you.
And what's God's estimation tonight of the blood of Christ? Precious. We're redeemed with the precious. That's God's estimation of it. God says it's the precious blood of Christ. You get that in first Peter, one read. That's the basis, White. That's holiness. You want to have your sins gone tonight?
You want to be made the righteousness of God in him.
White often speaks to us in Scripture of purity of holiness. The basis is the blood.
But as a result of that, we're brought into a position where our sins are gone forever, and we're brought into a position before God in all the loveliness and beauty of Christ, and accepted in the beloved and blue. That's the end, isn't it? That's heaven. That's glory. Are you on your way to heaven tonight? You know the Lord Jesus is coming.
I'm really surprised he didn't come before this hour, concluded the.
The Lord Jesus is coming any moment.
Behold, I come quickly. The coming of the Lord draws nigh. I say I'm surprised. I thought the Lord might come between 7:00 and 8:00 this evening, but He hasn't come. Why? Because he's long-suffering to us. We're not willing that any should perish, but that all should come.
To repentance. He's giving you an opportunity tonight to repent. He's giving you an opportunity to come to the Savior. He's giving you an opportunity to run into that safe tower. The name of the Lord is a safe tower.
It's a strong tower and the righteous runneth into it and are safe. Are you safe tonight from coming judgment? Are you saved for glory? Are you looking for the Lord Jesus to come at any moment? Let's pray.
Our blessed God and Father.
Gospel
Gospel—R. Thonney
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With #17 on the hem sheet.
#17 Have you any room for Jesus, He who bore the load of sin as he knocks and asks admission Sinner, will you let him in?
Room for pleasure, room for business, but for Christ the crucified, not a place that he can enter in the heart for which he died. Have you any time for Jesus, as in grace, he calls again.
Oh, today is time accepted, tomorrow you may call in vain #17.
Are guests sing one more hymn #31 I will sing of my Redeemer.
And his wondrous love to me on the cruel cross he suffered from the curse to set me free.
I will.
Sing of my.
Redeemer and His wondrous, wondrous love to me.
On the.
Crow Crossy suffered from the.
Curse to set me free.
Single. Single.
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My reading.
With this bloody.
Purchase me.
On the cross.
I will raise my.
Name 1St and try out.
Flower all down.
All the way.
All the rain.
All over the stands.
Turn to Psalm 90 to begin with this evening.
Psalm 90.
We've been speaking about Moses today, and this Psalm was written by Moses.
Just like to take one verse out of this Psalm.
To begin the subject that's before me this evening.
Verse 3.
Thou turnest man to destruction.
And sayest return, ye children of men, maybe? This seems like a strange verse. Why does God turn men to destruction? It's because he wants them to turn to Him.
It has been interesting to me to see the reaction that has taken place in this country since God has allowed.
A good bit of destruction in New York City and in Washington, DC.
It has had something of that effect on people, they have realized.
That things down here are pretty flimsy. Nothing down here is certain. It is a feeble world that we live in. You might consider the United States the greatest power as far as military might and economic might are concerned, but I think we have seen that confidence in this country has been.
Severely shaken, and rightly so, There is only confidence in one.
And God turns men to destruction and then says.
Return, ye children of men. I'd like to.
Read a verse that was quoted last night in.
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Acts chapter 20 please.
Because this verse has impressed me increasingly in these last few months since the attack that took place in New York City.
Verse 21 of Acts chapter 20.
Testifying, Paul says, to the Jews and also to the Greeks.
Repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Two things that are necessary for salvation #1 repentance toward God #2 faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. What saves the soul is faith.
In the Lord Jesus Christ it says clearly in Ephesians chapter 2 for by grace.
Are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves? It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
Faith is what saves the soul, but there is no salvation if there is no repentance. And that to me seems to be a tremendous message for this country that we live in. And tonight we want to speak individually to each person that sits in this room. I do not know how you stand before God in your soul, but as I do know what God says in His word, that it is a matter.
Of repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
To me it is amazing how God in his dealings with souls, has to so often bring them down to destruction. What an awful heap of rubble was left by that destruction that took place in New York City.
Was that necessary? God saw that it was necessary. Oh, how important to realize that God speaks in our day and that He has spoken and that He continues to speak. And it seems sad to me that because of the deafness in general to the Word of God, God has to use other means to get through to people.
Seems that in a measure he has gotten through in speaking the way he has done recently.
This last trip to South America.
There is a young brother.
In the meeting in Montero, Bolivia, where we used to live, you'll know him. His name is Wilfredo Montes. He was a young, young fella in the meeting there when we first went there in 1975, he was in the Sunday school. Nice young kid, didn't seem to be anything that bad about him.
He was never a rebellious type of a person, but.
It just didn't seem that things clicked with him. His father was in fellowship, and Wilfredo, in the course of time, came along in the steps of his father, it seemed. But then he wandered off.
And I talked to him and it was evident to me that something wasn't clicking there. He wondered. And in the course of time.
He joined up with a woman, had a couple children and it became evident that there was no divine life in Wilfredo.
Even though he didn't seem to be rebellious when 1 spoke to him.
Down there they have a different way of fishing.
And one time Wilfredo, at this juncture in his life, not.
Making any profession of faith in the Lord Jesus at all, even though he had been raised in a Christian home, decided to go fishing with his friends and the way they fish is they light a stick of dynamite and when it gets down to.
00:15:01
Where they think they it might be the right time, they throw it into the water and the explosion of the dynamite stuns all the fish and they go downstream and pick up the fish as they.
Float to the surface and float on downstream.
Poor Wilfredo forgot to let it go in time and it blew off his right hand and his right eye.
He came to in the hospital and the doctors amputated what was left of his poor mangled hand and I he was brought at that time we were living in Cochabamba. He was brought up there so that they could try to save the other eye that was left and thankfully they were able to save it. The doctors were, but it was from that time that Wilfredo.
Got straight with the Lord. It's evident from that time forward what took place in that young man's soul. Was that awful thing necessary? If you get to know Wilfredo now, and knew him before, you know it was necessary to take place. Too bad to have to lose a hand and an eye.
But God turned him to destruction and said return. You children have been and Wilfredo returned, thank God. Why is it that thing so dramatic, so drastic, have to happen so often in life before we are willing to listen? You know why is because naturally we all have our own thoughts about God.
And about ourselves and they, if they're not formed, our thoughts are not formed by the word of God. They are wrong thoughts. And so God to get through to us in his mercy, in his grace, speaks loudly and says, return you children of men. And I want to emphasize this question of repentance toward God.
Go back to the 17th chapter of the book of Acts please. Paul is speaking to the Athenian people in Greece and he says at the end of his.
Discourse in verse 30.
The times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent, because he hath appointed a day in the which you will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
My desire tonight is to probe the conscience and hearts of those that are sitting here. I cannot see your heart. I cannot make a judgment, but this is what God's Word teaches and I want to probe. First of all, before we go into this, I want to say that the gospel is mainly an objective message about God's beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Savior of the world, the one that the Lord Jesus sent into this world to save sinners.
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.
God is a God of love. God is a God of light. He knows every single detail of your life and mine, and still He loves with a love that is so great that He gave all that He had. His only begotten Son and the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to manifest, to declare who God really was. That God is light and that God is love everywhere.
He went in his life down here. He manifested those two things. He manifested what man was.
And at the same time, people did not feel repulsed by him. I marvel at it. So oftentimes when I speak to people about God, I know they feel repulsed by me. But the Lord Jesus came to that poor Samaritan woman who was living in very immoral life. She had lived with five husbands, and she was living with another man at that time when she met Jesus.
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And Jesus talked to her about the living water that he would give to satisfy the thirst of her heart, and she said.
Sir, give me this water that I thirst not nor have to come here and draw it out. And Jesus said to her, Go call your husband and come here.
And she said kind of 1/2 truth. She said I have no husband. Well, that was kind of half the truth. And Jesus said to her, you have well said I have no husband. You've had five husbands and the one you have now is not your husband. You said that truly. But I marvel at how she did not feel repulsed by him. She felt drawn. And she even went into the city afterwards and said to the men.
Perhaps some of the same men she had been living with, she said. Come see a man that told me all things that ever I did.
Is not this the Christ?
Oh, there was a poor woman who repented and who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. But repentance is so important. And it's because, as we've mentioned, the natural heart and mind that we have, the mindset that we have, thinks wrong thoughts about God, thinks wrong thoughts about who we are as well. And as was mentioned last night, repentance means a change of mind. It comes from the Word.
Pent That means to think. Repent means rethink. And I want to say if you're going away from God tonight, rethink your position. Repent. Without repentance, there is no salvation. And that's what is impressive to me because in this supposedly Christian country, there are a lot of people that are going along in their lives.
Doing all the sinning that would they would like to do, they accommodated in their minds, in their thoughts. This is not near as bad as some other people do out there. I don't see how God could ever judge me for this. It is evident by their way of thinking that there has never been any repentance. And for as much as they may say, I believe in Jesus.
There is no salvation without repentance. Absolutely none, very clearly.
We heard last night about the tower of Siloam that was built and that fell upon 18 people and killed them, and Jesus said those people that were killed weren't sinners above all the rest, He said if you do not likewise repent, you shall all likewise perish. Repentance is a prerequisite.
That is extremely important and I think, and this is where I want to probe for those of us, and I have to include myself in this, that had been brought up in Christian homes, We tend to think high thoughts of ourselves. We think I'm not that bad. I've never done that much bad stuff.
Let me tell you, dear young person, dear older one too, I had to repent. Yes. I never got off into The Dirty part of the world, but I had to repent. I had to rethink my thoughts. My thoughts were wrong.
You want to know what God says about me? I'm not that great a person.
Let me tell you read what God has to say about me over in Romans chapter 3.
Romans chapter 3 and verse 10.
Here's what God the sentence that God passes.
The human race.
As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth, There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way. They are all together. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good.
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No, not one.
Doesn't that seem a little bit hard?
Doesn't that seem a little bit rigid? No one that does good, No one that's righteous. That was my thinking and I thought in my own way, I really don't fit that much in that picture.
God had to allow circumstances and a time of trouble in my soul until I came to repent and believe what God had to say. Yes, it is true. Looking at me, who's standing here, Absolutely not righteous, not having done good. Not one is there that has done good.
Their throat is an open sepulchre.
You think of the way people talk about God.
Talk about bad breath.
You shrink when they open their mouths and what comes out is a stench to God.
With their tongues have they used deceit. The poison of ASPs is under their lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. In the way of peace. Have they not known there is No Fear of God before their eyes?
This is the picture that God paints of me.
And I had to come to the point of recognizing, even though I felt that I wouldn't, according to my own judgment, my own estimation, that I really didn't fit into that picture. I had to accept God's word as true. That's faith, that's repentance. And I think that's so important for those of us who are brought up in so-called Christian homes.
Because we think we're all right and we have to have our thoughts changed about who we are. That's repentance.
I'd like to turn to two people in the scripture because we can always see.
In others, perhaps the working of God better than we can in ourselves. To two people, one who said he believed but never had repented.
And another who was brought in the sovereignty of God to repentance, true repentance, and evident faith in God.
Let's go to the book of Acts Chapter 8 for the first case.
We're going to talk about a man whose name was Simon. He was a sorcerer.
He was involved in witchcraft, pretty common in our day.
Let's read from verse five of chapter 8 of Acts. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ and to them. And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake. Hearing and seeing the miracles which he did for unclean spirits, crying with loud voices, came out of many that were possessed with them, and many taken with.
Palsies.
And that we're lame, we're healed. And there was great rejoicing in that city. But there was a certain man called Simon, which before time in that in the same city used sorcery and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one, to whom they all gave heed from the least to the greatest saying This man is the great power of God. To him they had regard because that of a long time.
He had bewitched them with sorceries, and when they believed Philip preaching their things concerning the Kingdom of God in the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.
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Notice verse 13. Then Simon himself believed also, and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John, who, when they were come down, prayed for them that they might receive.
The Holy Ghost, for as yet He was fallen upon none of them, only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through the lane on of the apostles hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, Give power, that on whomsoever I lay hands he may receive the Holy Ghost. But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.
Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter, for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which you have spoken come upon me.
There is a man that professed to be some great one in the city of Samaria, and he had the admiration of a lot of people in that city, bewitching them and.
A greater power came to Samaria, the power of God in the gospel, Paul says. I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation, to everyone that believeth, to the Jew 1St and also to the Greek.
And so there were many saved in that city. There was great joy in that city.
Simon the Sorcerer was not able to keep his position of being a great one. He said I'd better join this movement that has come to Samaria. And so he came and he believed and he was baptized and I suppose it was noised about the city. Did you hear the news? Simon the Sorcerer has been baptized as well.
That something happened when Peter and John came down. Something happened that showed just where he was in his soul.
He offered the apostles money to be able to dispense the Holy Spirit like they were doing. And Peter immediately detects here's a man that never repented. He was a great one as a sorcerer. Now he wants to be a great one in the Church of God.
Both those things are wrong and Peter tells him in verse 22, repent. We never have any record that Simon the sorcerer repented. In fact he shows and what he says in verse 24 that he had no real faith in God. He said pray ye for me. He didn't even have prayer faith to pray for himself.
Oh, how solemn it is that there may be those who are passing amongst us.
And they think they're saved and they really aren't. How awful to wake up to that awful reality when the Lord comes from heaven to give that shout. And you sit there in your seat. All the rest who are believers are gone in one moment of time. And there you sit in your seat, knowing of a certainty that.
Judgment is going to fall on you and all its fury. I plead with you, if you have not repented and accepted God at His word, whether you understand it or not, God is true. There's one thing that we can do that God cannot do, and that is lie. And when He says something He is true. You can accept it with all confidence.
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Because God cannot lie. There's lots in this book that I don't understand.
There's lots in this book that doesn't seem reasonable to me, but I accept it because I know God to be true. Absolutely true.
So Simon the sorcerer, as far as we know today, is in a lost eternity. Oh, you say he was. He believed and he was baptized. No matter. He never repented. He is not saved. Isn't that solemn? When I see people arguing, defending their form of life and excusing their sins, I say.
I don't really know.
They say they are. I don't really know.
Let's go back to the other person that I am have in mind to speak about. It's in the book of Daniel. And this time we're going to talk about one of the mightiest monarchs that ever lived on planet Earth. His name was Nebuchadnezzar. Tremendous story of this king of Babylon.
He was a what scripture calls a king of kings. Interesting. He not only had power in this world Kingdom, it says he had power in the beasts of the field and of the fowls of the air. He had power over them. A special power that kings today don't have.
So he was a tremendous monarch. Nebuchadnezzar had come into contact with some of the people of God. He had invaded the land of Judah and had destroyed Jerusalem and taken the children, the young men that were there captive to Babylon to educate them in the wisdom and the knowledge of the Babylonians.
And in Chapter 2 of this book, we're not going to go to it.
Nebuchadnezzar had a dream.
And he says it went from him. Actually, I think it was really a test that he wanted to give to his wise men. He called for all his wise men to interpret the dream that he had had. And they said, okay, tell us your dream. And he says, no, I'm not going to tell you my dream. You tell me my dream that I dreamed and you tell me the interpretation of it. He acted like a despot that he was.
Pretty rigid demand.
And so he was so furious that he commanded all the wise men to be killed.
Said he ordered his captain of his guards to get all the wise men together to kill him, amongst those were for the Hebrew children, young men, I suppose at that time Daniel, his three friends, and Daniel requested of the captain of the guards a little time to be able to pray, And Daniel prayed, and God showed him.
The dream that Nebuchadnezzar had dreamed, and he also gave him the interpretation of that dream. It was a tremendous display of the power of God through Daniel and his friends. And at the end of chapter two, he falls down before Daniel to worship him, acknowledging he is God, is truly the right God. He was impressed, but that's all it was.
A passing impression. Maybe you have been impressed too by different things that is evident that God has done in this world. Passing impressions are not enough.
Chapter 3 Something else happened. Daniel doesn't appear in chapter 3, but his three friends do.
They're called Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and.
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Evidently, Nebuchadnezzar had never repented.
In acknowledging, as he did in the first chapter, the God of heaven, it was merely a passing impression, and he acknowledged it in an outward way. But there was no true repentance with Nebuchadnezzar, because in chapter three he raises up an idol.
And commands that all bow down and worship that idol.
Under penalty of death were the ones who would refuse to worship that idol.
So he gathers all his authorities, he want to unify the religion of that world in that day. And there was that image of gold in the plains of Babylon. And when all the musical instruments sounded, they were to bow down and worship.
When the time came, all bowed down in worship -3 three young men.
Would not bow down because they knew the law of God said never to make an image nor to bow down to an image.
And so they're called to appear before Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar, being the death spot that he was, was furious that anyone would dare to disobey him.
And the young men answered in a very appropriate way. They said, Our God, whom we serve is able to deliver us from thy hand, and if not, we will not bow down somebody mightier. The Nebuchadnezzar had commanded them not to bow down, and they were first of all obedient to the higher power.
They were not rebellious.
And Nebuchadnezzar and his fury commanded the oven to be heated 7 times hotter than it was normally heated.
And he commanded the most powerful men in his army to take those three men, to make sure they had all their clothes on, to bind them hand and foot and throw them into the furnace of fire, and they were thrown in.
And the heat was so hot that the soldiers in that army fell down dead.
And the three men that were thrown into the furnace, they fell down into the middle of the furnace, but only one thing burned on them was the ropes that had them bound. And they got up, and there they were walking in the middle of the fire, not 123 But as Nebuchadnezzar looks into that fire, that furnace of fire, he sees four men. And he's astounded because they're walking around as if there's nothing wrong with them.
And he comes close to the door of the furnace, and he says.
Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come forth and come hit her, and being obedient in the measure that they could be obedient to the King, they came right out and they looked them over and there was not even a hair of their head singed. There was not even the smell of fire on them.
And Nebuchadnezzar again, is so tremendously impressed.
This God has got to be the true God.
You know, it is impressive how we can be impressed at a moment's notice without having any real change in our hearts and souls. And there was no change, evidently, with Nebuchadnezzar. We come to chapter 4, and chapter 4 is written as a letter, interesting letter from Nebuchadnezzar the king, and I'd like to read a good part of it.
Nebuchadnezzar.
The King unto all people, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth.
Tonight to those who are in St. Louis, MO, United States of America.
Peace be multiplied unto you. I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me. How great are his signs, how mighty are his wonders. His Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and His dominion is from generation to generation. I Nebuchadnezzar was at rest in my house.
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And flourishing in my palace, I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. Therefore made IA decree to bring all the wise men of Babylon before me. They might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream.
Then came in the magicians, the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers, and I told the dream before them. They did not make known the dream, make known unto me the interpretation thereof. But at the last Daniel came in before me, whose name was Belty Shazzer, according to the name of my God, and in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. And before him I told the dream Sane O Belt, a Shazzer, master of the magicians.
Because I know that the spirit of the holy Gods is in thee, and no secret trouble of thee. Tell me the visions of my dream that I have seen in the interpretations thereof. Thus were the visions of mine head in my bed. I saw and behold a tree in the midst of the earth.
And the height thereof was great, and the tree grew and was strong in the height thereof reached into the heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth. The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much. And then it was meat for all the beasts of the field, and the had shadow under it. And the fowls of the heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all the flesh was fed of it. I saw in the visions of my head upon my bed, and behold a watcher.
And an holy one came down from heaven. He cried aloud, and said thus.
Hew down the tree and cut off his branches, shake off his leaves and scatter his fruit.
Let the beast get away from under it, and the fouls from his branches. Nevertheless leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass in the tender grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts and the grass of the earth.
Let his heart be changed from man's, and let a beast's heart be given unto him.
And let seven times Passover Him. This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the Holy ones, to the intent, that the living may know that the most High rulers in the Kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will.
And setteth up over it the basest of men. This dream I, Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now thou, old Belti Shazer, declare the interpretation thereof. For as much as all the wise men of my Kingdom were not able to make known unto me the interpretation, but thou art able.
For the spirit of the holy Gods is in thee tremendous challenge to Daniel.
You can just texture. What a solemn moment this must have been. Nebuchadnezzar and his palace, perhaps on his throne, telling Daniel the prophet his dream.
And it says in verse 19. Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonished. For one hour, for one whole hour, Daniel stood there silent. He realized the awful interpretation that was contained in that dream. And he realized that Nebuchadnezzar was such a death spot that he could have had him out and executed in a moment's notice.
He stands there for one whole hour, and it says his thoughts troubled him. The king spake and said, Belty Shazer, let not the dream or the interpretation thereof trouble thee. Belti Shazer answered and said, My Lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies. The tree which thou sawest, which groon was strong, whose height reached unto the heavens.
And the sight thereof to all the earth whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much.
And then in it was meat for all, under which the beasts of the field dwelt, upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation. It is thou, O King, that are grown and become strong, for thy greatness is grown and reaches unto heaven.
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And thy dominion to the end of the earth. And whereas the king sigh watcher, an unholy 1 Coming down from heaven.
And saying you down here the tree down, and destroy it, yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass in the tender grass of the field, and let it be wet with dew of heaven. Let his portion be with the beasts of the field, till seven times passed over Passover him. This is the interpretation, O King, and this is the decree of the Most High, which has come upon my Lord the King.
That they shall Dr. thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the Most High ruleth in the Kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots thy Kingdom, that shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known.
That the heavens do rule. Wherefore, O King, let my counsel, here's Daniels counsel to him be acceptable unto thee. Break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquity is by showing mercy to the poor, if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility.
This was the message that Daniel got for Nebuchadnezzar.
Solemn message.
Verse 28. All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar at the end of 12 months. God waited.
A full year more in his face. God is not willing that any should perish. God's strange judge work is judgment. He does not want to judge, but he will judge if there is no repentance.
There is no question about it and we are getting close to that judgment day. It says at the end of 12 months he walked in the palace of the Kingdom of Babylon.
It's interesting to read the stories of the city of Babylon.
It was an immense city. I don't remember if I have the figures totally right, but it had walls around that city. In fact, it had double walls around that city. The outer main wall was a wall, if I remember right, 300 feet high and it extended for 22 miles on four sides. It was such a huge city and a huge wall, it was considered totally impregnable.
That city. So he walked in this city. You remember too, perhaps some of you that may have studied history, that the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
So he's walking in the palace in the Kingdom of Babylon, verse 30, The king spake and said, notice, 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 of my majesty?
Nebuchadnezzar had eye trouble.
He was inflated. He thought he was really great. He was.
Great, But what is any one of us for, as great as we may be?
Compared to the God of the universe.
Absolutely, Man at his best state is all together vanity.
And that Nebuchadnezzar had never repented us, and if there was going to be any lasting blessing in his soul, it was necessary that he be brought to repentance. What happens now? While the word verse 31 was in the King's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken. The Kingdom is departed from the end. They shall Dr. thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts.
Of the field they shall make thee to eat grasses, oxen, and seven times shall Passover thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the Kingdom the men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagle's feathers, and his nails like birds claws.
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Kind of a frightful sight.
This man, he lost it, he lost his reason. And when men do not turn to God.
Do not give God His honor and His glory in a proper way. They become like beasts of the earth.
There he was out in the grass, eating grass like an ox.
The hairs grew like Eagles feathers, his fingernails grew like birds claws. I wouldn't want to meet up with that fella out in the dark, especially seven times passed over him and what happened?
Verse.
34 at the end of the day.
I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up mine eyes into heaven.
And mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed. Who did he bless? Did he bless himself? No, there's been a change, there's been repentance. With Nebuchadnezzar I bless the Most High, and I praise and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion in his Kingdom from generation to generation. And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as what?
Does he say? Does he figure as someone great now? No, as nothing before him. He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
At the same time my reason returned unto me, and for the glory of my Kingdom and mine, honor and brightness returned unto me, and my counselors and my Lords, sod unto me.
And I was established in my Kingdom. An excellent majesty was added unto me. Now notice how he ends. I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven. All whose works are truth in his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride, he is able to abase.
Again I say, dear friend, this evening God commands men to repent. God turned Nebuchadnezzar to destruction, and said, Return, ye children of men. And after seven times of being in as a beast of the field, Nebuchadnezzar, that mighty king returned to give glory and honor not to himself any longer.
But to the God of heaven.
This is what God is calling on men everywhere to do today to today.
Do you still have wrong thoughts about God? Do you think that God is a killjoy, that he just wants to give you a miserable time and that you can't have any good time if you're going to receive Christ? If that's your thinking, I say to you tonight, repent.
That's God's word to you. Rethink the issue. That is not the case. The only true joy is in knowing God the way He has been revealed in the person of the Lord Jesus.
With all my heart I played. There's anybody that is turning the other direction before God has to speak any louder. Please open your ears. Listen to him speaking to you. Not so important. You listen to me. I make mistakes and it's important that you listen to God. He commands, He doesn't say if you'd like to, you can repent, no.
He knows the awfulness of the judgment that's just before this poor world, and because of that he says, repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved and thy house. Lord bless his word. Let's just pray, gracious God.